Guam has mountains, at least that’s what they’re called. Camp 2 was on the slope of Mt. Tenjo. I really believed that it was 7500 feet tall, but looking on the Internet, I discovered that it is 1001 feet instead. On top of that I thought that Camp 2 was north of the Apra Harbor breakwater. Unless they built another breakwater since we left, that can’t be. Of course that explains one of the reasons I couldn’t find Camp 2 when I looked on Google Earth. The other is that the roads that we had have been almost completely obliterated. Based on the swimming hole, the tank farm, and the small stream that appears to be the one that ran through part of the camp, the old roads have all but disappeared.
Perhaps I should write more about boondocks. The trees consisted of short trees with thin trunks (to me at the time it seemed that the tallest were no more than twenty feet). There were deciduous trees with small leaves and a pine-like tree that we called Australian Pines (They had needles, but the needles were segmented). There were also banana trees, papaya plants, and an amazing grass that we called sword grass. The leaves were long, around three feet. When they were green, they were quite literally razor sharp. When they were dead they lost their edge.
A fairly extensive marshy boondocks ran west of the camp from the perimeter road. One of its distinctive features was a nasty little green bee or wasp. Smaller than honey bees, they tended to swarm. Their nests blended into the background, and they attacked anyone who so much as brushed the plant a nest was in. We learned from experience to watch carefully in certain parts of the boondocks and be ready to run – really run.
On the east side of the camp we had a picnic area. Right now I don’t remember much about it other than it had a splendid view of the sunset. Just south of it a small boondocks occupied a space less than one hundred feet in diameter. Less underbrush and better drainage made it a lot friendlier (no bees) than the large one on the west. It was surrounded by a loose formation of sword grass plants. We found from them that if you could get past the green blades, the inside of the tussock was a great hiding place.
The rest of the housing area abutted open grassland. At that time Guam had quail. I have no idea how they got there. The only difference I could see between these birds and bobwhite quail was these were much smaller. On one of my first explorations outside of camp I nearly stepped on a female and her babies. I suspect the brown snakes have totally eradicated them.
You would think that being a volcanic island, Guam would be covered by basalt. Instead, the rocks I remember from the open fields were green and were either degenerating into clay or clay solidifying into rock. Some of the green rocks were solid and some were crumbling. The latter could be mixed with water and became a clay like mass. As a matter of fact, when Joe and I built our little dam, we used that clay as a form that we poured the concrete in. I would bet that dam is still there because it filled up with mud after just a few rains and probably was covered by the time the camp was dismantled.
We had wild papaya plants in our boondocks. One day I decided to bring one home so we could pick ripe papayas right beside our house. I carefully unearthed the roots to save as many delicate root hairs as possible. I dug a hole, cautiously put the plant into it, and filled the hole with dirt. I watered that plant conscientiously every day. It had just begun to look like it would survive, when Richard came running around the house, not looking where he was going, and ran into it, ripping the roots from the ground. There went my first and last attempt at agronomy.
Dad’s supervisor and his wife lived in Camp 2. One of the things I remember about them was they had two cats named Bud and Weiser. The other thing I remember is that once a week they hosted a cook out for all the kids in the camp: hot dogs, hamburgers, and Kool-Aid (or coke). They were well attended and were held at the camp picnic area.
I could go on, but I keep coming up with new things related to camp life. I have to cut it off somewhere, and this is as good a place as any. Next up, the swimming beaches and my introduction to science fiction.