Guam in the Winter

     (Yes, I know, technically it's Spring now, but because life has been full and busy since my last post, it would simply seem out of place to ignore winter just to go straight into the Spring post. Hence, a slight overlap.  I offer this statement not as an apology or even an excuse, but merely as an explanation.)

Guam in the winter means...a continuation of the Rainy Season.  Or so it seemed this year.

Rainfall rolling off the roof onto our patio.

Guam in the winter means...it's cooler.  OK, maybe only a little cooler in a place that has a rather routine and boring forecast, but still, it's a nice time of year to visit Guam.  The ever-present humidity is a little  more accommodating a little more often.

Our patio umbrella in its glory days.

Guam in the winter means...a lot of wind.  The winds blow more during this time of year.  It also means that if you have a lovely patio table umbrella you'll want to make sure you close it up when not using it, or else you may discover some morning when walking out your back door that the 100 lb umbrella that you thought was secure in its cast iron stand (when it really wasn't!), lending a false sense of security to leave it open after use, shows up instead on your front lawn near the road overnight...in a semi-crumpled heap....curse you, Rogue Gust of Wind [sniff].

Guam in the winter means...enjoying the outdoors a little more, like sitting on your patio, minus the now broken umbrella [grrr] to read a good book or grill hamburgers and watch the clouds roll in from the ocean, and then play a game called Will We Finish Eating Outdoors Before It Rains?

Guam in the winter means...the surf is rougher.  This is a factor to take into consideration if you are a scuba diver.  Guam has an abundance of dive locations around the island, especially on the western side and southern end of the island.  Be prepared for some rough water during this time of year, and plan your dive accordingly.  Or, if you're a reluctant diver like me, you'll probably wait for calmer water anyway.

It also means to be mindful of safe water entry on the beautiful beaches around the island.  Sometimes water entry is banned altogether due to strong rip tides. Again, when visiting the beaches, plan accordingly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Guam in the winter means...the absence of snow.  And that can be a happy or sad thing, depending on how you look at it.  It means you don't have to have that ice scraper and gloves in the car, but you probably will have an umbrella and a rain jacket.  There is no absence of sunshine, unless it's raining, so less chance of suffering from light deprivation.  But  more chance of sunburn.

Guam in the winter means...making reservations to take your Sweetie out [or be taken out by your Sweetie] to dinner on Valentine's Day if you want to go somewhere nice.  [The Hubs didn't do that and we went from place to place only to be turned away until we were accepted at Shirley's Diner.]  Reservations + nice restaurant + Valentine's Day = Happy Spouse.

Guam in the winter...

And the Winner is...

   
    Doesn't it feel great to cross a finish line?  Yes it does!  And that is exactly what I have been able to do today in the National Novel Writing Month challenge.
     Thirty days, fifty thousand words, zero excuses.  At least, that's what everyone hopes for.  And I did it!!  [uncontrollable giggle].  It almost makes me want to break out in song and do a happy dance!
     It has truly been an epic journey for me since I have never written anything on this magnitude before (except for my own personal journals, and I'm not sure that counts as the same thing).
     With four days that amounted to zero words written, a sinus infection striking me one week before Thanksgiving, plus the Thanksgiving holiday itself where we had three additional people come join us (one unexpectedly nearly at the last minute) I was starting to be concerned whether I would meet the deadline by midnight November 30th.  As soon as the Thanksgiving holiday was over (which coincided with me feeling better sickness-wise, but wiped out activity-wise) I knew I really had to punch it if I was going to finish on time.
     If I hadn't, the world would not have come to a crashing end.  Life would still have gone on with me plodding on to the conclusion of my novel draft.  But something kept nagging at me to finish it by or before midnight on the 30th.  I guess I just didn't want any left-over writing to still be hanging around so that I could let the novel marinate for two or three weeks before starting the editing process.
     Whew!
     Glad I'll be able to put the inner editor to work next month.  She'll be happy to finally get her hands on the first draft with her handy-dandy red ink pen and start the job she's been so anxiously waiting for.
   
   

The Month I Write With Literary Abandon

   
November is National Novel Writing Month and I am right in the thick of it!
     Thirty days and fifty thousand words later, (beginning on November 1st and ending November 30th) I should have a completed first draft of a novel. That is the whole idea behind National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.  This year I decided to become a participant and so far I am enjoying the journey.  As of the writing of this post, I have a total of 18,340 words written and backed up on a thumb drive and printed out.  I cringe to think of trying to recreate what I have written if, by some catastrophic reason, I lost part, most, or [gasp] all of the material I've produced so far.
     Another part of the NaNoWriMo challenge is to write with no thought to editing.  Just write, write, write. All the editing one will require is to be looked to after November has ended.  As I write this blog post, I am indulging my inner editor because in a few minutes, she is going to be put away again until December!
     So, write on, WriMos, wherever you are.  Write on.  Write with complete literary abandon.  Write knowing you can erase, change, throw out, rearrange, correct spelling and grammar, plus a gazillion other things starting in December.  Your inner editor will be too busy to complain.  Here's to the 50,000-word finish line by midnight November 30th.

A Remembrance Day By Any Other Name...

     In the year 1918, in the eleventh month, on the eleventh day, at the eleventh hour, the armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed in France marking the end of the War to End All Wars, also known as World War I.  Although we have continued to endure wars, this day was set aside by many nations for a remembrance of those who fought and fell  in the Great War as well as those who survived to come home.  This day of remembrance has been expanded to include all those individuals who have fought in the wars since then, and may still be fighting.  In the United States the observance, once called Armistice Day, is known as Veteran's Day today.  In countries such as Canada, Australia and Great Britain, it is known as Remembrance Day.
     No matter what we name the day, let us be sure to take a moment to remember what those poppies we wear on our shirts and lapels stand for, to especially remember all those men who did not come home, to those who served and gave all they had for the cause of freedom and its preservation.  Remember...remember...remember...

Guam in the Fall

Guam in the Fall means it's still the Rainy Season!

Guam in the Fall means sitting outside when it isn't raining.  It means eating sushi made by sushi chefs who know what they're doing.  It means green and orange coconuts [the colors of fall in the western pacific]  It means continuing warm tropical breezes.  It means reviewing typhoon readiness plans to be ready for the typhoon that can develop very quickly with little warning.  It means wondering if you'll be able to take a walk without getting rained on.  

Guam in the Fall means you still have to watch out for Boonie Bees.  It means making sure you have a  supply of wasp freeze on hand, and ant-killer for those pesky creatures that decide all or part of your home is their home-away-from-home when the monsoon rains flood them out.

Guam in the Fall means it's time for the coconut trees to be trimmed.  It means painting those fallen coconuts   to look like ghosts, pumpkins, bats, or whatever, just in time for Halloween [yikes! I'm behind painting last year's extra coconuts!].

It means buying tons of candy early and often to get ready for the mounds of kids that will come 'round on All Hallow's Eve.  We're going to need more candy...

This may be getting close...

The last and smallest candy display.  Don't forget to get more while waiting in line for Check-Out.

Guam in the Fall means the children are back in school and the holiday season is on a collision course with the calendar.  It means going to the orthodontist's office, bask in the haunting spirit of Halloween, and then immediately go to Macy's and bask in the jolly spirit of...Christmas??  Wait.  What?

Guam in the Fall means dressing up for military balls and dressing down for the beach.

Guam in the Fall...

Liberation Day!

On July 21, 1944, after several days of US Naval bombardment to soften up the Japanese defenses, the United States returned to Guam and began its liberation of the island.  On the west coast of Guam the 3rd Marine Division landed on Asan Beach, while the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed in Agat.  The distance between the two was only seven miles, but in between these two landings was Orote Peninsula where the harbor and airstrip were, and the village of Sumay.  Find more details of the invasion landing at: http://olivedrab.com/od_history_ww2_ops_battles_1944marianas_guam.php. 


US Naval Base Guam now occupies what was once Sumay, but 68 years later, evidence of the war remains on Orote Peninsula and throughout the island.  A series of Japanese defense caves can still be seen bored into the limestone near Apra Harbor on US Naval Base Guam.  These caves have since been closed up, but the openings are still very visible.  

Japanese defense caves in the former village of Sumay.

Along the harbor at San Luis Beach are the charred and rusted remains of the Japanese fuel piers, and in Apra harbor itself is the wreck of a Japanese seaplane, as well as the wreck of the Tokai Maru.  The Tokai Maru came to rest beside another world war wreck, this one from World War I, the German ship SMS Cormoran.

What remains of Japanese fuel piers in Apra Harbor.

From the top of Nimitz Hill there is a breath-taking view of Asan Beach. Imagine what it must have been like to have had this view of the 3rd Marine landing!  Imagine what it must have been like to look up the steep, and in some cases, sheer cliff walls, knowing that your enemy was well entrenched above and the objective was to take those heights as quickly as possible!

View of Asan Beach from the overlook on Nimitz Hill, June 2011.

View from the War in the Pacific National Park, Asan Beach, looking up at the heights above.  
Memorial Day, May 27, 2012.

Other WWII historical sites include the South Pacific Memorial Peace Park in the village of Yigo.  Down the slopes to the right of the Peace Park is the cave where Lt. General Hideyoshi Obata, commander of the 31st Division, committed suicide on August 11, 1944.  There is also the War in the Pacific Museum just outside the gate of US Navy Base Guam that has a fascinating display of World War II and Guam, and well worth the time to visit.  There are the bomb holes in the shoreline of the village of Piti, the Japanese coastal defense guns on static display in the village of Agat, to name a few.

South Pacific Memorial Peace Park, Yigo Guam

Memorial sign for Lt. General Hideyoshi Obata.

Cave where Lt. General Obata committed suicide.

There are the Chamorro massacre sites at Tinta and Faha Caves, at the caves near Fena Lake, Manneggon, and the Chagui'an massacre site nearby the South Pacific Memorial Peace Park in Yigo, places where Guam remembers those who suffered the greatest atrocities.

It is interesting, and makes you stop and ponder with awe the terrible events that took place on this island, those who fought to the death to hold it, those who gave the last full measure of devotion to reclaim it, those innocents who died and the ones who survived to carry on to help rebuild their island while carrying the physical and emotional scars from their terrible ordeal for the rest of their lives.

Since the invasion, Guam takes time every year to mark Liberation Day with a parade here on the island, and wherever Guamanians are around the world it is a day of celebration and remembrance.

TCCOR: Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness

If you live on Guam it is important to know the current TCCOR status.

Guam is right in the middle of Typhoon Alley and, as a result, is always in a state of typhoon readiness, depending on the proximity of a typhoon threat.  How would you know how close a typhoon is, and what should you do?  

By staying alert to weather conditions by tuning into island weather reports on local radio, television, cable, or Internet, and by learning the TCCOR conditions, you will be ready in case a typhoon comes knocking .  Guam, as well as Andersen Air Force Base and Navy Base Guam have five conditions of typhoon readiness, often referred to as TCCOR (Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness).  They break down into the following categories:

*  TCCOR 4 -- Normal Operations --  This means that sustained winds of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater from a tropical typhoon are possible within the next 72 hours.   

*  TCCOR 3 -- Caution --  This means sustained winds of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater from a typhoon are possible in the next 48 hours.  At this point you should inventory your home emergency kit and replace any and all missing items as necessary.  Fill up your vehicles, generators, and extra gas cans with gasoline.  Secure outside objects -- move items indoors that can't be secured.  Prepare your household for long term power and water loss (laundry, outdoor cooking, clear refrigerator).  Tune in to your radio or TV.  It is worth noting here that the island of Guam powers down before being hit by a typhoon, so be sure to have a hand-crank radio on hand for outside information.

   

*  TCCOR 2 -- Caution -- This means sustained winds of 50 knots (58 mph) from a typhoon are possible in the next 24 hours.  Close and secure shutters, place rags and towels around the base of windows and doors.  Fill containers with water (bathtub, clean pails, trash cans, washing machine, etc.).  Remove furniture and carpets away from areas where water may come in.  Expecting mothers 38 weeks or in high risk pregnancies should report to the hospital.  Move your vehicles to a secure and protected area.  Pack your freezer with containers full of water to be used as ice or thawed for drinking.

*  TCCOR 1 -- Caution --  Sustained winds of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater from a typhoon are possible in the next 12 hours.  Go inside your home and stay there.  Only essential and emergency personnel are allowed outside.

*  TCCOR 1 -- Emergency -- Sustained winds of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater from a typhoon are observed to occur or are on Guam.  DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.  Wait for the storm to pass and for threat conditions to return to TCOR 4.  Be ready to help with recovery and cleanup.

Here is a quick check list of things you should have on hand before a typhoon strikes:

• SUPPLIES:  flashlights, lanterns, portable radio, first aid kit, batteries, fire extinguisher, candles/matches, duct tape, BBQ, tools to possibly turn off gas and water mains, games and cards.
• FOOD:  maintain a sufficient supply of canned or dehydrated food, powdered mil, canned beverages or juices, 3 gallons of water per person for consumption, extra water for toilets, etc. for at least 72 hours.
• SPECIAL:  A week's supply of medications, personal hygiene items, special food for infants, food for pets, and cash.  Keep emergency phone numbers handy and easy to get to.

For a more detailed listing, refer to the August 24, 2011 in the archive.

It is important to remember that while Typhoon Season occurs between the months of June and November, they can happen anytime during the year.  Will you be ready?