From Ghosts to Chickens

A few years ago someone wrote a novel about GTMO -- "The Ghosts of Guantanamo Bay" and the local library has several copies of it. It's not really a ghost story -- it just refers to past events in the year 1997 -- but the fun part of reading it is that the book refers to real places here, along with weaving in some supposed fiction about military life here.

We've been trying for weeks to grow some portulaca, or moss rose, since it's a heat-tolerant plant that doesn't require much water, so it should be a natural for this environment. Flower seeds aren't plentiful here, so I ordered some from a website. These expensive, organic seeds ( had over 300 seeds!) so far have produced ONE plant that just flowered today.

Onion bagels were on the baking list this week -- I have yet to exactly duplicate the onion-y flavor Vince experienced in New York at Essa Bagel but I will keep trying.

Fergus is getting away with all kinds of misbehavior at GTMO -- here he is on the couch, snuggled next to the Singapore pillow (given to me by a neighbor -- you can find things here from all over the world that people don't want anymore) and the Cuba throw blanket.

Occasionally one can see fires and smoke on the other side of the bay in Cuba -- here is the morning aftermath of some sugarcane fields being burned after harvest. A smoky haze banded the horizon for much of that morning.

I've been able to add chickens to my birdwatching list -- years ago, some Cubans brought some chickens through the gate onto the base, and since then, there seems to be quite a number of them still around. This one visits our back patio most mornings, scratching for bird seed on the ground, and is quite content until I let Fergus outside. The poor bird screeches and flaps its wings madly to get up over the fence and out of the way.