Sunsets

Last Sunday I was late leaving the house to go bike riding. Then, on my ride, there was a sunset so grand I have no words for it -- and no camera. The Lord really knows how to put on a show and sometimes all I can do is drink it in.

This evening (Tuesday) I rode down the cliff road to the marine lab at the University of Guam. Part of it I have to walk up. The rest of the road tells me that I am making progress in getting into shape. I went down, up about 2/3 of the way, turned around and whizzed back down to just before the steep part to a parking lot and back up past where I turned around and didn't stop once until I got to the point where I have to walk. The first time I went down there, I had to stop 3 times to recover before getting to the always walk part.

There also was a quite nice sunset and I got sprinkled on.

I have learned from several people here that you have to be really careful if you get any kind of injury here in the tropics -- that infections take off really quick. This was after I lost a fight with a Corell dish I dropped on the floor where it smashed and got me in the leg. I didn't go right away to see if I needed stitches but was told I should get it checked the next morning. So, I did. Too late for stitches. I don't think it needed any anyway. I think it's healed enough that there will be no infection.

PIU campus has been pretty quiet. The team that went to Thiland will be back by next week and then faculty will start arriving on various dates starting August. Things will get really busy really quickly then.

Pink Sea Sunset

On my bike rides I often get the opportunity to see some spectacular sunsets and cloud formations. This evening I was amazed by the pink sea with a pink sky.


Then, I looked at the sunset where the sun goes down and this is what I saw:

I don't see these sunsets from my home. So, my bike rides are a blessing at seeing God's beautiful ocean, clouds, and sunsets and getting in better shape.

Guam Liberation Day

Tuesday, July 21, was Liberation Day. This island wide holiday commemorated the 65th anniversary of the beginning of the US invasion of Guam to take it back from the Japanese who occupied Guam a couple of days after Pearl Harbor.

There was a parade and fireworks.

The parade was about a mile long and took place on Marine Corps Drive (the Guam "main drag"). I drove down to the Agana Shopping Center which is quite a hike down to Marine Corps Drive. So I brought my bike and an umbrella. I used the bike as a chair and the umbrella as shade. I rode and walked down to Marine Crops Drive and arrived just as the beginning of the parade reached my location.

The crowd was large and the BBQ's were working overtime. I stayed for an hour or two and got some pictures and then went home to watch the rest on TV which was broadcast on the local PBS station.

This year's theme was "We are Guam". Here is the color guard.

It was really a beautiful day and I don't think it rained at all. The umbrellas are for the sun - not rain. I slathered on spf 50 before driving down to the parade area. The float is for the Guam Air National Guard.I think we had some air cover -- a reminder of the large military presence on Guam. It seems every branch of the military marched in the parade. The sky is beautiful also.
In the evening I went to Bayview Baptist Church to view the fireworks. No one seemed to know exactly where they would be set off. Most thought it would be to the North in Tumon Bay but it actually took place to the South at Chamaro Village. The picture below shows the view in that direction. What an awsome world God has created.
I still havn't figured out how to use my camera at night. These are the best of my tries to take pictures of the fireworks. It was a very nice display.

Interesting Things on Guam

The college has been blessed with funds to build the pavilion pictured below. What I want you to notice is the forest of posts under the roof. They are what seem like metal jacks holding up the concrete roof while the concrete cures. I was told it would take 21 days to cure. This is with a new kind of concrete. Previously it would take about 4 months to cure.

The forest is now gone and work has continued. I think they are installing electric wire encased in concrete.
The tree below is a very wonderful example of God's creation. The trunk consists of a chaos of trunklets. I can actually see daylight though the trunk. But, from a distance, it looks like one trunk. When I look up in the branches, they are going everywhere, but from a distance it looks like an organized tree. It's like a bush that looks like a tree. Beautiful and strange. Order from chaos.
The rainy season has arrived. I haven't been taking my camera with me bike riding because I don't know if I will get wet. I see lots of people carrying umbrellas. When it rains, it pours, the wind blows, and lasts quite a while. Today it was partly cloudy and didn't rain at all. Last Saturday I got drenched. It's a good thing people don't melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.

I enjoy hearing the rain falling outside or on the roof. It's one of the things the Lord created that I really enjoy -- like I enjoy his sunshine.

Independence Day Fireworks Celebration

Anne Stinnete and I went to see the fireworks display on the Guam Navy base. Following are a few pictures of the display. It was a wonderful time despite the rainy season downpour soon after we arrived at the viewing area. We ended up eating our Jamacian Grill dinner standing up but we stayed dry!

I really need to discover how to take night pictures without the flash. But that would mean reading the book!

Enjoy.......