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.”
Sturdy blooms of honeysuckle, horseradish, lilies
Layered her encyclopedic memory
A youthful lithe of treasured stories
The composition of a Bahamian rhapsody
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Smell Seven sisters, Dracaena, Angel Trumpet sweet perfume
Bromeliad pots unabashed wipe
The expectant joy of sapodilla in season sweetly bloom
Papaya and breadfruit not yet ripe
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Wine stain of sweet mulberries
Her brittle vine wring with taste
Incomparable pleasure appease
Revel in springs quiet chaste
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Poem written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Brenda L. McCartney
Recently, I was given an opportunity to see conch in their natural habitat and to fish for conch using a long pole with a hook/staff. In varying ways the experience filled me with a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for the fishermen. On the other hand I was concerned about the exploitation and possible extinction of the conch.”
The addition of a new day
Where dinghies charge
Plateaus of the sea bed
Sleepy hollow of hidden lives
Pelagic fish
Can’t hardly keep pace
With forgotten voices
Slaughter indelible
The soulless drudgery of the staff
Golden glow flashed
Wretchedly cold
Different liberties
Awaiting
The foliage of the stern
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Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Have you ever looked at an elderly person’s face and it seemed to express and capture something from the soul? Looking at the picture above, a lady is wearing a scarf on her head. It is almost as if the way she wears the covering on her head is representative of her resilience. According to the Oxford reference dictionary elderly is defines as “somewhat old, a person pass middle age.”
The elderly often have an intensity on their face that transports you into their world. To me it as if I would like to sit and relax as they recollect on their childhood memories and reveal their stories of survival, Compatriot Journalist Rose Willock once said “the elderly tells us how to get on with and deal with adversities [of life and] teaches us to celebrate what is good and true about us a people” For me the elderly represent refinement and are crucibles of our past.
Painted washes
Close up
Far off
Strong Bold
The images; life and work
Illuminates like a red light bulb
Scaled up
A chronicled history
Woven into my world
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Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Brenda L. McCartney
According to the Oxford dictionary history is defined as a continuous, usually chronological record of important or public events.
I visited Cat Island a few weeks ago and am still drawn back to the recent experience I had. Cat Island is one of the island of Bahamas 700 islands and Cays. The highest hill in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas of 206 feet can be found on this island. History records Columbus landfall in the Bahamas was in San Salvador. I learned that the island now called Cat Island was so named in the twenty first century; Cat island was called Guanima, Columba or San Salvador
We spent the day with a group of teenagers. A teenage girl who travelled with us was born in Cat Island recounted her grandmother’s stories who is now 96 and has never left Cat Island. She said that her Grandmother’s birth certificate states she was born in the district of San Salvador. The Cat Islanders further highlighted that the description of San Salvador that Columbus gave was characteristically that of Cat Island. I have never been to the island that is now called San Salvador but I plan to visit the island to get a firsthand glimpse of its geographical layout of the rolling hills.
I smiled hearing the natives claim but can it be that history sometimes can be defined as someone’s view point verified by others documented for posterity.
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Photographed by Coretta Johnson
It is the advent of a New Year and a new Decade. Today we treasure and celebrate new beginnings, last year’s victories and draw our life’s inspiration from hope. It is a time to reflect, release and renew as this is our time to refresh our spirits and stimulate our minds.
Photographed by John Pearce
I can see her now, an old friend who is deceased; her blue green eyes which seemed to take the color of what she was wearing along with her spider like body leaned forward toward me trying to grab my attention as she starred into my eyes as she was telling me about her travel experiences. She said “If you have not been on a cruise you have not lived a life.” It has been a week and I can not shake this conversation out of my memory.
Last week the Oasis of the Seas made its inaugural voyage to Port Nassau. It was raining heavily, to me the heavens poured down in celebration as the people harmoniously gathered by the thousands. The attendance was abundant as they crowded the western coast of Nassau to get a glimpse of this wonder; The Oasis of the Seas is considered the largest cruise ship in the world. My daughter and I also gathered at the nearest vantage point as it left Nassau after spending seven and half hours in port with its 6500 passengers. The ship literally made a 180 degree turn in what seemed like 200 yards in front of me. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered my homeland of Montserrat.
Montserrat 1989, Hurricane Hugo had severely damage Port Plymouth Wharf. A Dutch company by the name of Interbeton was contracted to construct a new Pier/Wharf/Jetty. As Sir Howard Fergus puts it “The British responded generously, in the islands rehabilitation. Shortly after it was completed in; 1992 Montserrat was booming.” I can vividly remember that hundreds of Montserrat flocked to the shore line and hundreds were stationed at the Taxi Stand to get a glimpse of two Cruise Liners (Renaissance 11 and Freewind Cruises) We all felt good and it seems as if we were served a heavy portion of the economic pie relative to our fellow OECS brothers and sisters.
It has been 15 years since the discussion about not living if I have not been on a cruise. It has also been 15 years since Port Plymouth has hummed her lonely chorus as the harbor is now buried in ash. The Jetty that Interbeton built is still there. It smiles as fishermen sail swiftly by, meanwhile my friend’s words reverberate today and memories of Plymouth lives on. I have since looked up information on cruise ships (Ocean Liner Exclusive Luxury Resort, The Queen Mary 2, Cunard Lines, Monarch of The Seas etc. ) and upon reflection, perhaps she was right maybe I do need to go on a cruise and see the world from the sea.
For days or it may be weeks I had a mild desire to consume sugar cake/coconut cake. Well yesterday this desire was upgraded from mild to intense. While I was pinning for sugar cake my mind raced back to my Primary School days. I use to make a detour to Miss Grace Shop to buy sugar cake at 5cents EC (Eastern Caribbean Currency) a piece.
Some researchers state that some food cravings are when the body is deficient in a particular nutrient, mineral or vitamin or it can be associated with pregnancy. Researchers further reveal that food cravings are common in 60% of the population. While it is believed that cravings in males are associated with being hungry, cravings in woman are related to emotional state (emotions like stress or boredom).
Well I had to go to some lengths to satisfy this craving for coconut cake. I went to a well known candy shop and paid two (United States/Bahamian) dollars for my sugar cake talk about inflation! Upon purchasing the sugar cake I realized that coconut meat had to be contaminated. I was so upset that I had to fling it in the garbage. On my way home yesterday I stopped at the food store and purchase a coconut; after breaking it I found that it was spoiled. As we say back home come hell or high water (by any means) I had to have my sugar cake.
I returned to the food store and closely examined the four remaining dry coconuts (endocarp) with no outer fibers (coir) attached I discovered that the germination pore (three circles on top of the nut) was filled with mold. However, I was urged to crack one open by the cashier when I did the coconut meat (albuminous endosperm) was brilliant white but the water was not sweet. In fact the water was light brown and it had no aerated feel but it was not yet bitter. I registered my concern but the other cashiers insisted that given the white of the coconut meat it was good. I conceded and left.
Well to curb my sugar cake desire I began to separate the parts that had been not so white and improvise and set off on the task ahead. After the grating of the coconut, the boiling of the coconut, some vanilla extract, nutmeg and a pinch of ginger out came the sugar cake. Then there were the compliments, the increase in my blood glucose, and the release of my b-endorphins. My 9,000 taste buds were delighted and I was truly satisfied.
Some say that most woman experience guilt after satisfying their cravings. Well GUILTY I am not. For the sugar cake was my love molecule. Suzane Giesemnan author of Conquer Your Cravings said when we give in to our cravings one will immediately feel better but the effect is temporary and will return again and never satisfied. We will see as greatly rewarded am I.
Today the Commonwealth of the Bahamas celebrates its thirty sixth year of independence from England. Today is a national holiday, and as it is a national holiday the people of the Bahamas celebrate. To paraphrase Carlene Brise in the book ‘Walk Tall.’ If our minds are free of self defeating thoughts we are free. If we refuse to treat ourselves as second classed citizens we are free. Let Independence stand for independence of mind heart and spirit. Let the fireworks the cookouts and the beach parties commemorate our regard ourselves and for all people. Today I celebrate with my husband and my daughter as Bahamian citizens. I am proud of my adoptive home country. Have a Happy Birthday Bahamas.
photographed by Monica Meade
There is something about stormy/ hurricane-like weather that makes the child in me return. I usually get excited watching the waves bash against the coastline as the sand disappears. The sound of the pitter patter of the rain drops beat gracefully against the frosted glaze of the car windows. This morning as I drove along the western coast en route to work I could not resist the urge to take it all in. I rolled down the car glass as the rain gently kisses my body and soothes my skin. For some this grey day is inhospitable as it triggers regretful sighs. For me, this rainy day instills awe and thankfulness. For me days like this indicate a beginning, a sign of a good fortune and a gift to treasure. As the seagulls gather noisily and wander just above the rush of the waves a warm feeling inside me swells, and at the same time this weather represents the quintessential British life that I miss.
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