A WALK WITH ETHAN

Here in Guam, beauty is everywhere--swaying palm trees, flowers of bright oranges, reds, and blues, colorful tourist buses and jitneys, heart-stopping sunsets, and a truly azure ocean. My pictures are a bit jumbled, and I'm not at my own computer so....bear with me.

My grandson, Ethan, and I take a walk every morning. If we're not out and about by 6am, we are in for an excessively warm walk. Our path looks about like the picture. I am a number of steps behind, and Etan is ahead talking a mile a minute. Ethan is Ethan Thomas, named for his Grandfather Kennedy, and he is well-named. At eight, Ethan is a sweet, sensitive, responsible boy, bright, and interested in helping everyone. He is an artist and a philosopher, and he's taken on the responsibility of teaching me about nature and life and love as we walk the dog, Astro. Some Ethanisms: I said: "Oh look, Ethan, it rained last night." "That's dew, Grandma. Dew comes up and rain comes down."

Ethan is concerned that it is his duty to inform people how to get themselves physically fit, so he made a number of fitness signs which he taped to all the stop signs in the neighborhood. Of the poster, he said: "You can tell how a person is feeling if you look at their eyes." He then demonstrated sad eyes, happy eyes, mad eyes, etc. for me. Then he said: "My dog in the poster has sad eyes because he wants people to be happy." In case you can't read the poster, it says: "Don't be like a dog. Don't sweet out of your tounge."

The home in the picture is 47 Poincianna Circle where the Turners live. Anywhere you look, there are swaying palm trees. The little park is directly behind their house.

The next picture isn't great, but if you'll look along the aerial, at the roofline, there is a shadow of a huge "boonie" bee. Everything that is bad, abandoned, run-down, etc. in Guam is "boonie." I am to look out for "boonie" bees because their stings are awful bad, and Ethan will show you all the places he's been bitten if you ask.

If you look in the center of the house, you'll see a bird on the wing. A lady jogging by told us there was a parakeet loose, and Ethan found him by pretending he was a parakeet.

Our four year old grandson, Ivan, is developmentally delayed, and water of any kind thrills and delights him, so Ethan wanted to get out the wading pool for Ivan. Being a northwesterner, I explained that he should fill the pool with water right after our early morning walk so it would have time to warm up before they played in the pool. He was puzzled by my advice, but being the pleaser that he is, he filled the pool. The truth is that the water out of the tap is never cold in Guam!!
The biggest news so far is that Connor, age 7, just lost his fourth tooth! It took him all day to wiggle it loose, but here's the proof.
I do miss my sweetheart, but I'm feeling useful, even if I may not be....I love all of you!! Baby Mason is making his presence known with his own kicking and pushing, but his doctors want him to stay in the womb just a bit longer. We'll see who has the stronger will!! Love to All. Mom