"Wayne B" wrote in message
...

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:05:20 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:



"Wayne B" wrote in message
.. .

This probably won't get any publicity back in the states unless there
is major property damage, but right now we have a spectacular view of
a very large fire which has totally encircled a mountain and is
climbing higher. It's a little after sunset and we're anchored a
few
miles south east of Salinas which is on the south central coast of
Puerto Rico. Trade winds have been blowing strong out of the east
at
15 to 20 kts all day and are fanning the flames. We can easily see
the flames from 3 or 4 miles away.

Hopefully there are no homes or people at risk.

------------------------------------------------

Hopefully it is just the annual burning of the sugar cane fields.
We
lived in Ponce for 2 years and when the fields were burned all the
mongoose invaded the military base to escape the fields. Most were
owned by "Don Q" ... the rum manufacturer.

=====

We passed by Ponce during the day on our way here. It looks like
they have a huge petro chemical industry there. Everywhere you look
there are tank farms, cracking towers and offshore ship
loading/unloading platforms.

----------------------

Sounds like things have changed since we were there in the mid 70's.
Ponce and the surrounding areas were mostly agricultural back then,
IIRC.
We lived in a rented house among the "natives" for the first year.
Our neighbors were about 20 years older than us and were two of the
nicest people we met. They introduced us to some traditional Puerto
Rican food and off-beat nightclubs where we were the only Americans,
trying to do the "merengue" and other Latin American dances.

The second year we moved onto the Navy base. It was the only "fort"
in the Navy .... Fort Allen. Fort Allen was a major transmitter site
for both HF communications to the fleet plus it had a huge, million
watt ELF transmitter for communicating with submerged subs. From
there we went to Annapolis, MD where I taught communications systems
to the midshipmen. After two years there, it was time to depart the
Navy, after a total of 9 years of active duty. Some of the earlier
military experiences were not quite as pleasant, but overall it was a
great experience and I received a lot more benefit than I think I
gave.