Ah the trades!

The trade winds are a blowin'.  This is my favorite time of the year.  January through March, trade winds blow through Saipan, the temperature is a little cooler, and the humidity can barely be felt.  If it could be this way all year, it would make this paradise, well, like heaven, I suppose.

This past week, before picking up my daughters from school, my wife and I, and our toddler son, grabbed some lunch from our favorite place, Himawari, and headed to American Memorial Park.  We found a large tree to park under and we looked out onto the lagoon.  From our spot, we saw the sails of windsurfers zoom and criss cross each other as they power their boards with the trades.

One day I'll try that, but for the time being, I was content, enjoying my company, my lunch, the view, and the trades.  Ah, the trades, another reason I Luv Saipan!

(A video of the windsurfers at Micro Beach)

Sunsets and Tanks in the Lagoon

Saipan was a site of a major battle in WWII.  There are many remnants of that battle throughout Saipan.  At Kilili Beach, on the western side of the island, and along Beach Road, you see two tanks in the lagoon.  The tanks were part of the US invasion onto the island.  I can only imagine how devastated Saipan was during that time, and of all the dead and wounded.  Old pictures of that era give me some idea, but it's only a filtered two-dimensional glimpse of the destruction and tragedy.

Those two tanks in the lagoon were witness to all that, as well as to the 65 years of peace that followed.  There they sit in the warm lagoon watching us as we BBQ, fish, swim, and play at Kilili Beach, and when the day turns to dusk, they get the best view of the sunset.

I'm sure they've got their top ten sunsets of the past 65 years.  Last night, for me at least, was pretty high on my list.  I wonder where they would rank it?  Ah, it doesn't matter, sunsets here on Saipan are spectacular.  Whenever I watch one, I say to myself, "Yep, I Luv Saipan."

2010-01-25

The Little Things

AAH! Since the New Year things have been quite busy.  Fortunately, this week, I was able to walk along the path on Beach Road while I was waiting for my truck to be serviced.

Luckily I brought my camera with me and I decided to get off the path and walk along the beach edge.  I sat down on a rock under a tree and began to observe my surroundings.  It was windy, rain drizzled every now and then, the sky was overcast, and the air was cooler than normal.  I looked out at the reefline and it was a choppy sea due to the wind.  My gaze caught fairy terns flying around like white stunt kites in the wind, dipping and darting, soaring high then dropping low as if they were going to crash into lagoon.

Then something caught my attention by my feet.  A green shell began to move.  It was a hermit crab, about the size of a bing cherry.  The shell it had was bright green, and it was quite beautiful.  I picked it up and let it walk across my hand and then I put it down and shot some footage of it walking along the sand.

Saipan's landscape is beautiful and leaves one in awe at times, but we forget that there are also the little things like this little green shelled hermit crab that contain just as much beauty.

Cheers to the little things!  Just another reason why I Luv Saipan!