Friday, May 1, 2009

The Shinto Shrine

These children were just waiting for the booths to open at the Tinian Fiesta... so they could eat dinner!

Just a friend I passed on my way to the Shinto shrine this morning...

The view from the bottom of the shrine is always terrific




I decided to rest my legs after the long walk up to the top of the Carolinas... but the climb is always worth the effort!







Tinian is full of interesting extremes, as one often finds beautiful homes next to other homes that are just being worked on...





There seems to be a small canyon just below the water tower that supplies the subdivision

And then there are mansions...

Next to one-room tin shacks...

But even the most modest home has curtains on the windows!

And no matter where you go you will find some kind of garden. Usually it will be filled with flowers, but this one is filled with hot peppers!


And there is always a great view of the other side of the valley-- Marpo Heights (you can see the blackened areas where the fire raged a week or so ago...


I finally found that flower again that people had been looking for. It is in front of a home on the dirt road just south of the subdivision.

This same home has other unique flowers and plants...


and a very eclectic garden area and glass collection!

Many of the trees and bushes found on Tinian have wonderful flowers




and then there is the flame trees!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you realize that you just called the late John Untalan's house a "shack"? If he were alive today, would you call it that to his face? How would you feel is his teenage daughters stumbled across this site and saw their father's house referred to that way?

Because the Longs violated about fifteen building codes when constructing their monument to consumerism, John was unwilling to build his house on that lot- if you look at the land, you'll see why he had no desire to live in a house with a view of Conspicuous Consumption from every window.

People build those tin houses on homesteads because they cannot afford to build nicer houses. They need a temporary structure so the land can be officially deeded to them.

Kevan said...

It was not meant to be offensive, just a descriptive term to show how different the two homes were...

Besides, it would be difficult for Terri and I to throw stones... we choose to live in a studio apartment; lived at one time in a tent in the woods (with five children under the age of 8); and at another time in a "no-tell motel" where they charged hourly rates, and hookers worked the rooms on either side of us; and more recently we lived in the slums of Salt Lake next to a drug house that the DEA raided with concussion bombs...

We long ago learned not to judge people by their current living conditions, as those conditions change dramatically over time.

So, my apologies... no offense was intended.

Dianne Esplin, RD said...

Kevan-- Does Terri have a work e-mail address? I'd like to get a hold of her. We have a breastfeeding training coming to Saipan in August, and I'd to talk to her about having someone from Tinian attend... Are you guys on the Manila trip?? Us too.

work e-mail: diannee@cnmiwic.org

Kevan said...

Terri's email address is:

tclawson@terriclawson.com

it is her only one.