Random island observations

• One of my favorite trees on the islands is breadfruit. As the name implies the fruit is a staple in local diets -- especially for the Micronesians. To my palate it's pretty tasteless and starchy. I think people like it so much because it can be flavored in different ways as it is cooked. Personally, I mostly enjoy seeing the trees -- they're quite sightly.

• Mental Floss has a rundown on the political status of Puerto Rico -- which includes a fine concise summary of how the US territories fit into the system. Guam functions through an organic act and is thus an "organized" territory -- although it is extremely ironic that the word "organized" should be used as a descriptor of Guam. ~ Link

• The power went out again this morning -- perhaps the fourth time this week. According to Guam rules if you approach an intersection where the traffic light is out during one of the routine power outages you're supposed to speed up. And most people follow the rules.

• It's interesting that it's the Australian media which is making the most of the recent political yammering about merging Guam and CNMI to form a 51st US state. A merger could realistically happen, however, US statehood seems really really unlikely -- given the small population base (even after a merger). But perhaps we could apply to become the 7th Australian state. At least we'd be in the same time zone as much of Oz. Spelling might be an issue -- but no worries mate, we don't trouble much about that, anyway. ~ Link

• It's our 27th anniversary today. Cheryl and I had breakfast with Jeff and Mary Johnson, shopped for stuff to take to the States, went snorkeling, and then did dinner at Lone Star. That's a lot of doin's for one day -- for a couple of 50-somethings. Of course, 27 years ago it was all a different story -- young, unending energy... BTW, the fish were beauteous today -- even the little toothless guys who kept nibbling on my fingers.