Image taken from Album Cover 'No Rules'
Some of the memories that resonate with me when it comes to Arrow pertain to my aunties (aunts). Right now, I have this urge to call my Dad as I recall the memories of his sisters coming home from London at Christmas time excited. They could not wait to go to Sturge Park in Montserrat to see Arrow perform. There would be lots of gold, black, red, green glittered blouses; high heel shoes and stockings, there would be men and women raw with excitement. Arrow would come on stage in the early hours of the morning to perform one or two songs. That irritated some, but even for them it was worth everything. I remember my maternal aunt who had a passion for the Arrow song “Man Must Live,” she always recited the lyrics as if they pertained to her own life.
As I grew older his works took a more personal interest. When I was studying abroad, in College, receiving the news about the volcano erupting, the song that resonated with me was “Ah Just can’t run away.” Particularly during those College years I would play the song and sang the lines “On the map you can’t hardly find it but it has always been my paradise,” to the tip of my voice as I found it hard to believe that most people I would meet never heard of Montserrat.
His work has brought a lot of recognition to Montserrat especially the song “Hot Hot Hot” it gave us as sense of ownership no matter where in the world we were. When he came to the Bahamas in the late Nineteen Nineties our friendship was born. I remember going to Clifford Park to watch him perform. It was ‘ram pack’ (filled) that night. I was always filled with pride about my island but that night it bore a deeper root.
From then I would go home and always visit him or from time to time I would get personal messages from him. I am grateful to my husband to have the insight to encourage me to purchase a copy of each of his compact disc (CD) and have him autographed them (they are not for sale). Montserrat, The Caribbean and the world over will forever celebrate
In the middle of the morning Rush Hour
By royal command he rests
His movements always legendary
He carries his island in his spirit
The sound track of our lives in a Stranger’s Paradise
The Groove Master made many loose control
Flamboyant magnetic appeal on stage we can see
The world turns with his borrowed energy
Like a torch lit flame, memories blaze
With mix match dance and cadence
Now his music is louder and sweeter
The explosion blend of soca , meringue, rap, salsa
The Art of his natural instinct – songs with social commentary dance
He thrived with passion, tempo, and kindness
Roll Back – Sweet Beat – Breakdown
No volcano can erase his classical incantation
Lava flow pales in comparison
The rest of the world mourns
He was our own
As we Montserratians Hold on to our property
He left us a rich legacy
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Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by IPS Co
About a month ago I decided to vacation on a sparsely populated Bahamian Cay. It was impossible to go outside because of the buzzing mosquitoes at most hours of the day. The reason for the mosquitoes is that the environmental officer went on vacation and was not there to spray the Cay. The vacation property where we stayed had no modern day communication system (telephone, cable, internet). I did not mind because I had planed to maroon myself on the island with books and spend my free time with visits to the untouched waters (beaches). However after about a day there I was curious to know what was going on in the world; so at six o’clock in the afternoon everyday I would religiously perch myself at the dining table listening to my AM/FM radio with short wave frequency. This was reminiscent of the days when I use to watch my grandparents listening to news via radio. My friend Stephanie at this point would say ‘poor soul!’ because it was rare for me to listen to national news. On the Cay I could only pick up one English speaking channel and that was ZNS 1540 Bahamas. My ‘smatterings’ of comprehension of the Spanish language did not permit to me to engage the several Spanish language radio stations that were available. In spite of being hemmed in by the mosquitoes, and the use of the endless supply of OFF (insect repellent) there was an amazing quiet peace. One author once said “the peace that comes from being out of the confusion of getting ahead isn’t a dead peace but very alive” When I first read this quote I saw the beauty of being at peace but this week challenged that thought.
In the Bahamas headline news this week it was highlighted that copper was stolen from a transmitter site and as a result ZNS 1540 is down and may take about a month to be back on the air. Well, at this point I know that you are gasping. My heart is with the residents of that Cay. I can just imagine the residents visiting the few homes that have satellite services just to ‘keep up.’
In life we are blessed with so much and take for granted the simple things. Today I hope you can take time out and be happy for what you have and be thankful for what you about to receive.
- Image taken from Corbis
This week many children will return to the classroom after a lengthy summer break. Most schools in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas opened last week. In Montserrat we would say ‘their free paper burn,” which means their leisure time was now limited to the rigor of school. In Montserrat as it with most of the Eastern Caribbean school starts today the 6th of September. When I was younger and a child was slow in learning (slow) we would say they went to August school. So, needless to say we did not want to go back to school in August.
Recently, after much debate and an apprehension to enroll my daughter in a certain school, I conceded and registered her at the school. At this point Uncle Gerald would have had a good laugh as he ragged me before now that my daughter would not go to school because I would have to go with her and that was not possible. Monday morning all the children were well clad, every pleat in line, everything was new; uniforms, ,bags, lunch boxes, shoes. The returning students seemed to beam with joy. I must admit I had a different level of respect for the school just walking through. Parents of first time attendees showed up with a joyful expectancy. Of course for the younger ones (pre-school age) there were in tears they wanted to go back home – they wanted their mothers.
As I entered my child’s class room the teacher was enthusiastic and had a certain degree of dignity in her attitude and by the way she carried herself. Later in the evening my three year old daughter came home with a schedule of subjects for each day, something I did not see until I was in High School. Also there were two letters one from her class teacher and the other from her assistant introducing themselves. As I said before I was not sure I would let my daughter attend so I did not attend Parents teacher’s conferences held in June. To my surprise, I learned that her teacher, whose deportment was that of a first time teacher keen to exercise the knowledge she had garnered, was a seasoned teacher of sixteen years. I was taken aback, I breathed a sigh of relief and was reassured then that my child was in capable hands because she took pride in her appearance and strove to develop her field. So far my daughter likes it and now I see why this school has one of the best reputations on the island.
As our children, grandchildren, friend’s children, niece’s, nephew’s, sisters, brothers, cousins God children return to the classrooms let us support the teachers whom we have entrusted with our children. They too have taken the time to be experts in their fields so that they can groom our children when they are away from us. Let us encourage and support them by putting in those additional hours outside school so that their loads may be a little lighter.
Image Taken from MACO Caribbean Living
Feather touch eyes pare
A preserving indulgence
The searing ache
Methylated Spirits
An iridescent stillness
Wildly beautiful
-
Poem by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Zak Kendal
Recently I visited Rum Cay, Bahamas; a place that was extraordinarily comfortable and happy. Its people and culture transported me to my home Montserrat. It is remarkable that small communities like Rum Cay, Bahamas and Montserrat, West Indies have so much in common. Rum Cay had about nine settlements now only one settlement, Port Nelson, remains settled with a population of eighty people most of the original inhabitants have moved to Nassau. Montserrat’s population was displaced because of an active volcano that made two thirds of the island uninhabitable. A Montserratian population once over twelve thousand now has approximately of four thousand with most of the original inhabitants now living in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Also like Montserrat, Rum Cay is very dark and quiet at night; there is a definite stillness outside the populated settlement, only the faint noise of the ocean and a few birds and insects can be heard.
While I was there I learned that Rum Cay has a pond that is called Mermaid Pond. Their legend has it that if a person gets the comb of the mermaid when she surface to plait her hair one will obtain instant wealth. I was taken a back because Montserrat my island shares a similar legend:
There is a white mermaid who appears at the top of Chances Pond every Easter at midnight. Hundreds of Islanders would climb Chances Mountain which is 3002ft using torches. They said that one must arrive before dawn take the mermaids comb from her and ran to the sea before they could be caught they would be rich for life.
The Montserratian legend varies a bit from the one told in Rum Cay but the premise is the same. Who can tell how far this legend is spread or where it really first originated?
There are so many old stories, legends, folk tales that I have come across in my reading and travels. Could it be that the legends were started to explain the night-time or silence of dusk? Could it also be that there was a similar legend in Africa and slaves took these stories with them where they settled? Or is it that these legends coincidentally evolved simply to entertain children and give hope and provide humor. If we compared Rum Cay and Montserrat to places like Nassau and United Kingdom both centers of migration we will see that many old legends and folk tales are being and have been lost? Will the next two generations know about our old stories that shaped our culture and made us who we are as these legends?
Do you know of similar stories that your ancestors told? I urge you to share your stories with the world, so that we may learn more about each other and so that those narratives are not forgotten forever.
This morning an elderly friend drove up in the church yard with the back of his pick-up truck laden with spice leaves (pimento) for anyone who wishes to have some. I got so excited thinking about what I would do with the spice leaves after church. An older lady asked what could she use the leaves for, I told her that you can use it in souse, porridge, to cook meat, tea or as a bed for grill meats. Personally, I could not wait to go home to boil some porridge. What was truly priceless was a simple expression from my daughter as her eyes lit up and she said mama I love flour porridge that filled me with a sense of pride.
Tonight thinking about the porridge takes me back to the first time I came to the Bahamas and was home sick and cooked some flour porridge (flour pap) and my landlord at the time (I was in college) associated it with growing up poor. She was not an unkind woman and was just misinformed; I sighed and gave her a short shrug and concentrated on my porridge. The few second of discomfort were washed away as my flour porridge eased me through the sadness and longing for home that I felt and linked me back to my grandmother’s nurturing. Thinking about it now, if I grew up poor I did not know it at the time.
Sometimes in life because we are from different cultures/backgrounds there is an inability to connect and words said with certain intonations can have such a profound effect. My friends, we have no control over what people say or do we have to deal with it, perception is everything and only us knows what is important to us. In life we can find something to love about each person.
Photographed by Orlando Barria
It is the official start of the hurricane season and the Caribbean ramps up efforts to be prepared. Tropical storm Agatha pre-empted the start of the season and ravaged Guatemala (Central America on May 29, 2010) and killed more than one hundred people. Dozens more are still missing after landslides destroyed communities. El Salvador and Honduras also suffered death and destruction. As our thoughts and prayers flit around the Caribbean we look back on the chronology of hurricane disasters in the region. Let us remember the displaced especially the many Haitians who are in camps due to the earthquake disaster earlier this year. Also pray for those Islands that are at sea level or are barely above sea level namely the islands of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.
Image taken from My Montserrat
Incited passions
On deserted sandy coves
Pan-seared delights on picnic blankets
Shimmering moments in the sun
Undeniable satisfying
Wild life, wet, salty breeze
Dearest memories
The unthinkable
Replenish lost energy
Brightly colored on
private narrow cays
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Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed taken from Island of Montserrat
There is something majestic about flowering trees. They appear almost like a private paradise when we drive along some streets. This time of the year flowering trees stretch across miles of every Caribbean island. At different times in the year we see flowering trees like the flamboyant (Poinciana) trees, the Yellow Elder, Yellow Pouis, Wild Orchids, Frangipani, Crepe Myrtle, Jacaranda, Pink Cassia, Crab Apple or Creeping Thistle. They stimulate us in one way or the other and one thing we can agree on is that they are breathtakingly beautiful and “reminders of God’s goodness, mercy and grace.”
Flaming red Poinciana – flamboyant
Branches cling to the souls of paradise
Punches of untamed clusters
The exclusive pride of islanders entice
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Natural optimism trek Caribbean isles
The marriage of the blazing sun and flowers appease
Flowering trees stretch over miles in relaxed spaces
Knocks in compliments in swirls of tropical breezes
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The rush of tranquility melts, teases
With littered tropical footprints of vibrant hues
Dramatic silhouettes enchants seduces
With halcyon days, unhindered ocean views
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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!
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