Photographed by Forest Starr & Kim Starr
One of the headlines in world news today was the surge in the price of cotton. It is the highest it has been in fifteen years. I am thinking about the inflationary prices of fabrics; shirts, jeans but most importantly on mind is Montserrat Sea Island Cotton. It is a cold comfort, as I recall the many class trips to the cotton ginnery, viewing the ladies weaving the strands of cotton. I can see those finished products, the table cloths, the place mats, the shawls, belts and scarf’s. Sea Island Cotton weaving is still being used for local consumption and retail but not on a large scale for exportation. Today I also recall the first time I saw a cotton tree in bloom in The Bahamas while driving through Stapleton Gardens (New Providence, Bahamas). I was so overwhelmed I stopped, came outside and took a closer look. I touched it with such tender care that you would have thought that I was cotton laborer in exile.
I was not even born when Montserrat had a booming cotton industry. The raw cotton material was exported to Liverpool and Manchester in England; or even around in 1901 when Montserrat first experimented with Sea Island cotton with a sample seed imported from Barbados. Montserrat had turned to cotton production because it required fewer slaves than sugar. Cotton had played an important role in our island’s economy.
In the 1940s and the 1950s there was a mass exodus from Montserrat to England and as a result of this in the 1960s there was a decline in the cotton industry. In 1969 the Chief Minister announced in his budget speech that the cotton industry was losing its significance. Therefore in Montserrat we came from cotton being responsible for our improved finances in 1910 to our economic decline in 1968. When I reflect on the mass exodus of the labors from Montserrat to the UK in 1940 and 1950 I can not help but feel a profound sense of loss and powerlessness as the migration parallels our island’s current situation of the displacement of our people because of the volcano.
In reflection I am inclined to think that it may be because we are a small nation that we do not fare well even in comparative advantage (trade) or perhaps we give up too easily. I say this as cotton sustained us economically in 1910 why not in 1968? Imagine the wealth of a plantation owner in 1683 who was involved in cotton fetching (harvesting) in Montserrat. Then the price was two shillings six pence per pound compared to today’s price of over one dollar per pound.
Today countries such as India has a high demand for cotton as their stock levels are low I wonder where would we have been today if it was not for our people leaving in droves? I recall that we used phrases like ‘cotton picking mind’ (a phrase many find offensive). The whole idea of cotton resonates with me or fascinates me.
No matter what industry or service you work or have worked in chances are you have used cotton before. The next time that you put on a T-Shirt, your favorite jeans or use a q-tip remember that you are touching a part of history. What are you doing now that will resonate with future generations? It may be fascinating to your great, great grand children to find out what you did for a living. They may be amazed to know what you could buy for a dollar. They may find it remarkable to learn why you live where you live, and what activities occupied your time. I implore you to make the best of what you do now and enjoy the fruits of your labour and record it by photos or in writing because history is occurring now right before your eyes.
Photographed by Susan Koster
Blue gray morning mist
White clouds contrast with egg shell beach
Blue deep contrast shallow aqua
Life forms above and beneath lens
Besides a solo swimmer
In vast ocean only a speck
In the frozen frame curiosity
-
Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
This day, thirteen years on the 25 June 1997 still has resonance today in 2010. The residents of Montserrat waited for missing residents with bated breath. The memories still remain vivid. Nineteen people lost their lives and W.H Bramble Airport was completely destroyed
As we remember those who died that day let us console ourselves with the memories we have shared with them. We remember with thanksgiving those whom we love but see no longer: Grant us patient faith in time of darkness, strengthen our hearts with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord AMEN.
Sketched by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli
Lately, there has been a lot of attention and debate concerning debt. Yesterday I saw on Oprah that they had a debt diet where a lady had hundreds of dollars worth of clothes with tags in her closet. I was awash fresh with emotions as I was reminded of the scar on my foot. As a child my grandmother had a trunk and valise filled with clothes (night dresses, bath towels, dusters, underwear) that my godparents, aunts, uncles etc. would buy from abroad. Her rational was that I needed something set aside if I got sick and needed to go to the hospital. For years I would frequently open the trunk and peak inside and secretly try on some of the clothes. It was my treasure trove. One time, I heard her coming, thank God I had just put the clothes back, but at the same time I slammed the trunk shut on my foot, as the draw bolts punctured it. Anyway, my cousin who is ten years younger than I am got all my clothes in the trunk, as they were too small and at that time she needed them.
I guess it has had a psychological impact on me and has made such an indelible mark up to this day. I make it a practice not to have clothes in my closet with tags on them. Likewise, I only buy clothes when I need them. The ironic thing about it looking back my grandmother always wore everything as soon as she got it. She would always chuckle and say, “If I die tomorrow I would have worn my clothes first.” It is amazing what we pass on to our children.
Recently my mother-in-law borrowed my daughter’s playpen and the other day she told me that she would not return it because I am known for selling things. It’s used (there are no tags on it), three years old but I am still empowered with monies worth on this and on a few other items I had in mind to sell. Check around your house and determine your assets if you are feeling the effects the economic crisis or if you simply want to live a life free of clutter. What better time to wear what you have not worn or sell what you are not using?
Awash fresh with emotions
Those austere motives questioned
Indelibly spring and mark
Force to understand
Impress with maturity
Defines and empower
Absorbed and re-conditioned
-
Poem Written By Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Brenda L. McCartney
Have you recently sat down and reminisced about and what you would do differently if you had a chance to do something again? Recently, I had a fixation, an urge to recapture my past by sleeping on the beach in a tent as I listen to the waves lapping the beach on a moon lit night. I did enjoy the moment but this time it was under different circumstances than when I went camping in my youth. Now, I am woman, a mother, a wife with a transformed life. Still the excitement and commitment was definitely there. The enthusiasm was so contagious that my three year old jumped up with exhilaration at the mention of camping on the beach as well. All was well until she lost her ‘blankie’, she woke up in the middle of the night crying. I found out at 3am that my body almost twenty years later no longer adapts to harsh terrain. It was a bitter sweet moment, groggy eyed, looking for a blanket. The moral of my story is to enjoy the memories of yesterday but recreating what was is a whole different story. Well that is my story what is yours? Today I am happy for tomorrow because of the present and yesterday.
A breezy look at the past imbibe
The urge, the fixation, the desire
The spark came and shed
Feverishly scratching for a moment
…maybe that moment
A spiritual epiphany stealthily tender
Goodbye
As memories ignite with a kiss
The touch of the future
The peace of knowing redeems
-
Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Image taken from Blog Skins
There are certain terms, inflections, idioms, colloquialism, slang, buzz words, expressions specific to islands or countries. At this moment I am thinking about the colloquial words that abound in our native island’s speech. Sometimes it maybe difficult to decode and these expressions are literally and hardly ever found in the dictionary. Yet we know our own particular slang patterns very well.
I remember one Christmas Enrique and I went to Montserrat and he ran to me and said that the girl sitting on the stools at the bar is from The Bahamas. I told him no way, I asked why did he think so. He said her accent, what she said. He also noticed the distinct design of her jewelry, which looked to him to be Bahamian bought, particularly the design of her wedding band. At that very minute my brother who came in on a flight with her told Enrique that the girl at the bar was a Bahamian. Yes, Enrique gave me the look; how dare I do not believe that he did not know his own people.
Okay, so I called my Aunt late one night hoping she would be up, she said she just finished washing her dishes and “lock off de light” and why am I calling her this ‘odd hour of night’ I recalled for years I could not stop using the term when I was going to turn off the light.
The other day, my friend was saying to me she will never forget when she visited Cat Island and she asked a lady how may children she had. She said “I been behind that door five times” which means she had five children. I have heard the term “coat suit” which is a sometime used Bahamian expression for a “three piece suit” several times and each time it brings the same chuckle as it did the first time. Often it is used as an outright joke when someone is dressed up as in “Why you so dress up in your coat suit?”
I hope that you can share a light moment with your friends or co-workers the slang terms, colloquialisms even idioms that you may find of interest. Enjoy your day or what is left of it my friends!
Photographed by Alex Shalman
Okay, I was in the kitchen frying some plantains and was too lazy to use the fork to turn them over, so I used the knife in my hand. My grandmother’s voice echoed in my ear as my husband peeped over my shoulder and said you will make the knife dull. My reply was no I should not use the knife in a hot pan because mama said doing that would giving me ‘cutting in my stomach.’ He said that he is sure that is not the reason why she didn’t want me to use the knife for cooking. He said maybe she just wanted you to use a spoon and that was the reason she gave you. Who can tell if that was her real reason or who can tell how far back generationally this ‘cutting in your belly’ tradition goes back? When you really think of it I was dependent upon and trusted my grandmother and her advice was written in stone. I did not think what she said was invalid or even question the concept. I adapted anything and everything from her. This story is like that ham story where people for years have been cutting off the ends of the ham because of tradition or habit, but the real reason was that originally both ends of the ham were cut to fit in a small pan. As my friend Susan puts it so eloquently “how rich our lives become as we learn each day, from our assumptions, lack of knowledge, oversights, and even mistakes.”
Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Iceland
A photographic essay.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXUytoaA-r8]
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain…
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine…
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we’ve shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth its weeping shores?
-
What have we done to the world?
Look what we’ve done.
What about all the peace,
That you pledge your only son?
What about flowering fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the dreams,
That you said was yours and mine?
-
Did you ever stop to notice,
All the children dead from war?
Did you ever stop to notice,
This crying Earth its weeping shores?
-
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don’t know where we are
Although I know we’ve drifted far
-
Hey
what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can’t even breathe
(What about us)
What about everything
(What about us)
I given you
(What about us)
What about nature’s worth
(ooo, ooo)
It’s our planet’s womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We’ve turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We’re ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can’t we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can’t you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about baby boy
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn
-
Lyrics from Michael Jackson’s earth Song
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usUWkIHVzo8]
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