Monthly Archives: September 2022
Cocka doodle do
My days almost always include some time sipping and staring from my balcony. Yesterday morning I was too lazy to walk (I’m soooo off of my walking routine right now it’s ridiculous), so I sat in the breeze, sipped my coffee and watched chickens taking over our parking lot. Today, I listened to them cackle complaints at the rain, which has been going on all day.
I don’t know what this says about me, but these feral fowl fascinate me: so much so that I invested way too many minutes googling Guam chickens. Apparently, they’ve become a nuisance and have managed to hatch some headlines. One of my favorite quotes comes from a 2021 article in The Guam Daily Post, which focused on the demand for authorities to contain chicken shenanigans.
Mangilao Mayor Allan Ungacta complained, “How do you police chickens? … Do we tell them [citizens] not to go catch a chicken because that’s private property? That’s what I want to know now. How do we police chickens? We police the stray dogs, the feral pig, the stray cats and then now you got chickens too.” (for more on this check out Chicken article)
Hunting birds here is actually a bigger deal than temporarily trespassing on private property to catch your Sunday roast. Besides stray pigs, dogs, cats and chickens, we also have an issue with the prolific, egg-feasting brown snake (accidentally brought onto the island via ships). Since the brown snake population decimated the local bird population, causing some species to go extinct, it’s agains the law to kill birds.
But, the chickens are thriving, and just this week legislation was discussed on making it legal to kill wild poultry (don’t know what the final verdict was). I’m guessing by all the chicken being grilled at fiesta barbecues that perhaps folks aren’t really concerned about the legalities of catching these chickens.
I, for one, hope they’re still protected because I am totally entertained by them, and I’ve come to realize they’re not as stupid as I thought they were. I have yet to see chicken roadkill. I witnessed a few almost get hit while crossing our busiest street, but midway through they saw incoming traffic, did a 180 and hauled feathers safely back to the curb.
Watching chickens run also gives me joy — only two feet and no arms to pump makes it funny (because, apparently, I’m also cruel).
So while I won’t give up eggs and KFC, I have developed a whole new love and respect for chickens. Hahaha and on cue: a rooster just made it clear he’s not happy with my diet.
Dark and Stormy
If only my stuff were here, I’d pull out the copper mugs and whip up a dark and stormy to sip while listening to the howling wind. One of the things I worried I’d miss the most was snuggle weather. I love those cold, dark nights where it’s scary outside, but warm and safe inside. They usually include me making hearty meals and baking something or other.
Well guess what? We get weather here too. The a/c is still on, but oh my goodness the rain storms can be intense. Driving my little rental (with bald tires) up the hill to my building is like riding a wild tadpole up a waterfall. It’s been gray and windy all day, so other than my morning walk (which was pleasantly calm) I haven’t left the apartment — and I’m freaking loving it. I’ve got my tea, my wine (which I’ll open soon), my candles and my books.
I tried sitting on the balcony to read and sip tea, and let’s just say it’s a good thing no one else was outside. Not only did my buddha belly show herself to the world, but also one of my boobs played wind sock while the other did a whip around. My hands were full and it happened so damned fast (those little t-shirt dresses are not your friend).
No one has closed their typhoon shutters, so I’m guessing this is nothing in the way of really bad storms. I can’t even imagine what a typhoon is like.
Joe is missing out because he’s in Arizona having fun with family and friends. A few days before he left we also experienced our first real earthquake. A 5.7 not too far from us. I was getting ready to slap Joe and tell him to calm the eff down in his sleep, but then he said “earthquake,” and I realized it was better to grab onto his arm than bruise it. Our whole room shook, but absolutely nothing got damaged — no cracks, no broken windows, so yay our building is well built.
Mostly, though, it’s amazingly relaxed and beautiful here. Mother Nature throwing us the occasional curve ball keeps it all real. You can literally just pull off to the side of the road, walk a few steps and go swimming. When you get bored of the beach (like that’s ever going to happen), you can drive up into the mountains, which are green and lush and, you guessed it, breathtaking.
This is the beach I can walk too. There’s a parking area for these long canoes that take a team to row. A better writer would look up what they’re called. 
Stunning right? 
the sunsets do not dissappoint! 
the jungle grows right up to the beaches too, and my parking lot 
lol this guy is at the bottom of the hill of where I live. I keep waiting for his Godzilla mother to come out of the ocean, but she seems to be good with him here.
I haven’t done much touring around. I’ve been mostly learning my job and making new friends. I have some fun things planned for October, like (lol can you believe?) a beer fest and a waterfall hike. And, I’d really like to learn how to paddle board (even if it means me just sitting on the board) and do the nature canoe trip. It’s all good, I live here now, so I have plenty of time. When Joe gets back we’ll do some snorkeling and then take diving lessons. Apparently there is a whole new world to discover under Guam’s waters, so stay tuned I will eventually also share that with you.
But, for now, I’m enjoying all the new and waiting for my stuff to get here. I so miss my Rav 4; it’ll handle these roads and rain no problem. Fingers crossed all that will arrive in October.
bettina without borders 