Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:
I felt that we needed to go back in time to Memorial Day, because we forgot to write about it. I also feel the need to write about Flame Trees (as many of our friends have also blogged about it) and because the Flame Tree Festival is about to start at American Memorial Park.
Flame Trees...where to begin? I decided to research Flame Trees in order to understand why they are in Saipan and where their beauty originated. This is what I have found... there are well over 60 different species of what are known as "Flame Trees." If you were to type the word "Flame Tree" into Google you would mostly find references to the Australian Flame Trees (which there are many in Australia). Flame trees reside not only Australia but in many tropical and sub-tropical areas around the world. The type of Flame Tree we have in Saipan (according to my brief research) has been given the name: Delonix Regia and it originated in Madagascar. I realized this by comparing the flowers with those of the Flame Trees of Australia and noticing the differences. Other English names it has been given are: flamboyant, flamboyant flame tree, flame of the forest, flame tree, gold mohur, gul mohr, julu tree, peacock flower, royal poinciana. The Flame Tree is a very beautiful tree and I am thinking about trying to grow one in a pot in our apartment as the seeds can easily be taken out of the shell like seed pod. I would share a unique poem by the Palauan poet Valentine Sengebau (whose adopted home was Saipan) as he wrote a poem about Flame Trees that is sad and uses it to refer to the tension between cultures on the island and points to the fact that Flame Trees are not indigenous to the island much like things that take away from the Chamorro & Carolinian cultures. I fear copyright issues so I won't post the poem, but know that these trees are tied to the island like their roots.
On Memorial Day, Kara and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll around American Memorial Park. The flags were flying at half staff in remembering those lost in Joplin, MO during the tornado that had gone through Joplin. Kara and I also took time to watch the video at American Memorial Park that describes the capture and taking of Saipan. It shows video of a baby in the water off of Banzai Cliff and a woman jumping to her death. It is a very touching video that reminded me of the same gut wrenching feeling I had watching the video of the bombing of the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. This video also reminded me of what America stands for and our purpose for being here.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures.
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