Portland Rose Garden

It was cold and rainy during the all-school picnic on Monday, but the flowers that were in bloom were beautiful. You can see them all on Flickr.

just another day at the beach

We'd been warned. Sam Son is a tourist spot and gets busy, they told us, but on our first few visits the beaches were fairly empty. No more. Every time we go, it seems to get busier and busier. Even on Tuesday evening, the place was packed with hundreds of people fighting for their own spot on the beach and in the sea.

I finally relaxed my ban on renting any sort of flotation device and with the help of Etty's conversational Vietnamese skills, we rented two big inner tubes for us. And when I say "us" I use the term loosely; again, I sat on the beach guarding our belongings while Stuart, Audrey, Becky and Etty played in he incoming tide. I graded papers and fought off the stream of hawkers with a brisk "Khong" and a wave of my hand.

Then, as usual, the storm clouds came in. We'd been there for nearly an hour and a half, so it really was time to leave in order to get back for my meeting at 7:30pm. The immense dark clouds came over us a bit slower than last time, no fear-inducing black skies this time.

Audrey couldn't help but wonder what it was about Sam Son that resulted in storms nearly every time we vist. Ah, we're just lucky, that's all.

Banyan Trees by Stuart

The link didn't seem to be working well for anyone but me, so here's the brief report, copied and pasted:
The banyan tree is a type of fig that started in India. It grows in hot and wet climates such as Florida, China, India and South East Asia.

There are a few interesting things about the banyan tree.

One unique thing about the banyan is that it grows on other trees. It is grows onto other trees and kills them and that’s why it’s also called a “strangler fig”.

The banyan starts growing by being seeded by birds. The birds who eat the fruit of the banyan deposit the tree’s seeds onto other kinds of trees. Soon the banyan begins to grow onto the “host’ tree and eventually kills the tree. In only a few years the banyan takes the place of the old tree.

The banyan tree doesn’t need soil to grow, instead it fuses its aerial roots into the bark of the “host” tree. Overtime it completely covers the tree from top to bottom and eventually kills it.

If you pass by a banyan try and look for the original tree inside. It will look black and rotten.

Eventually the banyan becomes an independent tree as the as the host tree will completely rot away. This makes for some very odd looking trees (see photo below)

Also if there are any nearby trees it will grow onto those trees, making a very large chain of connected trees.


The name “banyan” comes from merchants in India called “banias” who used to discussed business under the shade of the fig trees which are now called banyan trees.

The way the banyan tree reproduces is through a special kind of pollination.

The pollination is special because it requires two different flowers (both from the banyan) and two different species of wasps to pollinate the tree. Each wasp takes the pollen from their respective flowers and move to the other wasp’s flowers. Eventually they grow into fig fruits which are eaten by birds, squirrels, and other small animals who live in the trees.


The banyan tree is found almost anywhere in Vietnam. From Hanoi, Phat Diem,and Hoi An to Da Nang, Tam Ky, and Hue you will see the banyan wherever you go.

Links:
Wikipedia: Banyan Trees
Plant Cultures: Banyan Trees
Natural History Guide
Stranglers and Banyans

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Finally got around to fixing and then uploading Stuart's webpage on Banyan Trees. It's simple, but fairly informative. Check it out.

cicada "shell"

Stuart noticed it on the tree, just sitting there like the ghost of a resting cicada. Nearby, a small round hole in the dirt marked its entrance to above ground life (just like Wikipedia had told me would happen!).