sometimes all it takes is a little something ...

Sometimes you become so used to something that you forget how special it is. You just take it for granted. It becomes a part of the routine, something everyday ... normal; even when it's the furthest thing from that.

That happens to me sometimes. I forget how wonderful it is to live in Guam, a tropical island paradise. I lose touch with the fact that there are tons of people who would kill to be able to live in such a lovely, laid-back, fascinating place, especially when the winds and snow and ice of winter are frigidly freezing various body parts. I don't remember that there are so many people who have never seen or been to a white-sand beach, where soft, lapping waves of warm, welcoming water beckon.

And then something will happen that will make me appreciate it the splendor and lush beauty of my island home.

It happened today. After work, I had to go shopping for groceries, so I didn't get to heading home until a bit later than normal. As I was driving back toward my village, on Marine Corps Drive — which runs along the western side of the island from way up north to way down south, including along long stretches of beach and ocean — I came out of the area in which the road is surrounded on both sides by buildings and concrete, and broke into a stretch of road that goes for a mile and change almost right up against East Agana Bay.

I came around this 12- or 14-story hotel/condo complex and it hits me — one of the "routine" sunsets. It totally took my breath away (not so easy now that I'm not smoking anymore). The sun was about halfway down the horizon. It was huge, a giant half circle of brilliantly burning orange, a fiery color that can't be artificially reproduced, a scorchingly surreal orange. The clouds above and to the side of it were backlit by this glorious corona and took on the hue of a brightly light lilac, like puffs of fairy magic aglow with light.

It was stunning. I pulled over into one of the small roadside park areas there — picnic tables and little cement shelters, barbecue grills, etc. — and just took it all in. I sat there for some time, just enjoying Mother Nature's show, trying to take it all in and frame it in my memory forever, because I didn't have my new digital camera, which was supposed to have been mailed here by this week. The colors of the clouds fluctuated, the oranges sometimes got reddish. Majestically, the sun set.

And I wasn't alone in watching it, I eventually noticed. A few others had pulled over to enjoy the sunset. Some had obviously planned for it — they had beer or some other beverage. There were two couples, sitting close, leaning into each other, hands entwined, sharing the sight.

Guam is a paradise of splendid, jaw-dropping beauty. I just remembered that.

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:

• One of the iconic features of Guam, and the Mariana Islands in general, is the latte stone, ancient monolithic stone pillars that are believed to have been the base for the houses of ancient Chamorros. The base is called “haligi” and the capstone is “tasa.” Some of the best samples are located in Latte Stone Park in Hagåtña, but there still are many in the jungles of Guam and elsewhere throughout the island.