Cloudy days and no rain

 
For the past few weeks we have had some very cloudy days.....cloudy days? what am I saying, we have been having lots of hazy days..tons of hazy days.
Yes, I know you are thinking how can haze be present in Barbados, the sunshine island of the Caribbean.........doubt me?
Here's the evidence:

For an aging asthmatic like myself, this is not good for my health at all.

This haze is actually immense dust clouds emerging from the coast of Africa (Sahara Desert to be precise), and carried across the Atlantic Ocean by the Trade Winds. 

We are 3,000 miles west of Africa, and we can't hide since we are the first land mass that the dust encounters (we are the most easterly island in the Caribbean chain of islands.)

Locally referred to as "The Sahara Dust", health officials don't seem too concerned about the higher hospital admissions and doctors visits during this period.

Huge quantities of this mineral dust converge on the island every year, and consumes our atmosphere covering everything in its path for weeks and weeks.

Still doubt me?  Lookee here......

Look at the hood of my vehicle "Beast"

This presence of high concentrations of  mineral dust for such long periods of time raises concerns about the impact on human health, since the dust readily penetrates the respiratory system and when deposited in the lungs leads to aggravated asthma (I can vouch for this), severe respiratory symptoms and chronic bronchitis.

Yet those in authority have found it convenient to believe the studies that have been carried out that conclude there is no correlation between the dust and the increased respiratory ailments of the population.

Let's hope that we get some rain soon.  We need it...it would give us a brief respite from this awful haze that has enveloped the island.

A taste of the country

We don't celebrate July 4th US Independence here on the island, but some do.  I understand that US citizens stationed here feel duty-bound to celebrate. I have no problem with this.  However what I do have a problem with is the extremely LOUD fireworks display on the beach last night.
Had no prior knowledge of the celebrations, so therefore scared the bejingles out of Brownie and I who had both turned in for the night and sleeping soundly. Scared awake so violently, my poor boy jumped up and knocked the glass top patio table right over. Needless to say all the pottery items adorning the table are now no more, broken to smithereens.
I myself literally fell off the couch where I had dozed off. Muttering loudly I made sure Brownie was okay, although he was trembling like a leaf. Took a while to calm him down again.
After that I found it hard to fall asleep again, even after migrating to my bed, and when I did, it was not a deep peaceful sleep.
Awoke this morning and decided a nice drive into the country was in order. I remembered that there was an auction sale at a plantation house in the country, and that was where I headed.

Cart road through the fields

Lovely scenic country roads with the smell of fresh manure made me feel light headed.  Many plantations with neatly furrowed land, and crops ready to be harvested.  The air decidedly cooler as I crossed the boundary of one parish into the other. OOH then the best thing happened...on the radio one of my favourite Earth Wind & Fire tunes.  Singing at the top of my voice, I rounded a corner and saw this....

Old Bulkeley Sugar Factory 

On an island whose main crop was sugar cane, there is only one sole operating sugar cane factory. Most plantations like Bulkeley have been divided up and sold as housing plots.
What a darn shame.  Sugar was exported along with sea island cotton, and now we import sugar from a nearby territory. What sugar is produced on the island is sold mostly to the overseas market.

Sitting all forlorn and empty

The equipment shed

I am saddened to see the deterioration of the factory buildings. In its heyday, this was "the" factory.

Driving onward, I passed several more plantations and then I came across this....

Old time road marker

Next I passed Kendal Plantation with some very solemn faced workers weeding the outer boundaries. No whistling while you work here.
Kendal has a lovely duck pond, with several ducks swimming around and relaxing on the banks.

Kendal Plantation

Driving onward, I finally arrived at my destination.....Cliff Plantation where the auction sale was being held. I spent  a nice morning meeting up with some of my regular auction buddies, and eating some local Bajan dishes provided by a great cook who shows up at every auction sale with her great tasting fare. The auctioneer is one of my favourites...he is an animated  character, and can make the guards at Buckingham Palace laugh I am sure. I did not buy anything if that is what you are wondering. The bidding wars were in high gear when I left.
There was a large white van blocking me, so I asked the assisant to announce to the driver that he was blocking me from leaving. The auctioneer's assistant "Bad Boy" who is a character in his own right announced "that the driver with the big white van should go to his vehicle immediately since it had just been hit by another driver."  The driver ran out of the auction quickly and started to inspect his vehicle, I sweetly told him, "I am ready to leave, can you please move your vehicle?" He was not very enthused at the ploy used, but it worked...if not he would have dilly dallied for a while longer before coming to move his van.
On my way home, headed back to the city suburbs, I passed a wayside rum shop with this outside.....

The bike in a bubble

This was a pleasant surprise, since I would have expected to see this in the city, but here it was parked very neatly alongside the old bicycle way out in the country. Do you think they were talking to each other?
The owner came out to greet me when he saw me taking the photo of his "ride."
Love the country...it's always so nice to get away every so often.

Love lives on

Today would make eleven years that my mum passed away. ...gone too soon.
Throughout my childhood years, her disciplinary admonishments were quite scary sometimes, and I always thought that her words would drift away into the past as I grew older, but needless to say, not a day goes by that I don't hear her words cautioning me in day to day living, especially where decisions need to be made.
Did I not say to myself I would not become like my mother?  Of course I did!!
However, I am truly thankful that I was raised by a good and kind and honest hard working woman who instilled the same virtues in me.  I live by these same values that she moulded in me from an early age.
Thank you Mum.  You are gone but not forgotten, and even though we are now apart, your spirit lives forever within my heart.

 Love Lives On

Those we love remain with us

for love itself lives on

and cherished memories never fade

because a loved one's gone.

Those we love can never be

more than a thought apart,

for as long as there is memory,

they'll live on in the heart.

- Unknown

This Earth is all we have

Our Earth should be treasured, since it is our only home, but instead we are consuming at a horrendous rate and raping our natural resources at warp speed.
Earth Day 2012  was a day of acute awareness for me.
I had never paid much interest before, and the day always came and went like any other day.
However this year was different. With the arrival of an invitation from The Future Centre Trust of Barbados to celebrate the day by touring Welchman Hall Gully, I made a conscious effort to attend.  Naturally I had to invite two of my gardening buddies to attend as well.
It was a bright sunny Sunday morning, ideal for a gully trek.
Many photos below are flooded with sunlight, so sorry about that. The first photo is from the official Welchman Hall Gully website.

The path through the gully made it easy to enjoy the flora                          

The small pond

                                                    

A wide range of plants, including  a mix of indigenous and exotic tropical plants like nutmeg, palms, ferns, edibles, ornamentals and medicinal plants.
.                                        

Lovely foliage everywhere

                                                 
Welchman Hall Gully, located in the parish of St.Thomas,  is the most famous gully in Barbados. It was originally an underground cave, and developed when the roof of the cave collapsed over time (thousands of years). Our island is made up of mainly limestone and coral, and gullies are of major importance in our ecosystem, as they act as the primary relief routes for storm water flows, and also aid in the process of ground water storage.

                                      

Our drinking water is collected in the underground  network of limestone aquifers after travelling slowly through the layers of this highly permeable rock. It is then pumped back to the surface where it is treated and distributed to homes by our government regulated Water Authority.
A local PSA informs Bajans (*) not to dump refuse in the gullies, as it obstructs the natural watercourses which can cause flooding in some areas.
As an aside, we have been inundated for several years now by the Giant African Snail which destroys many crops and ornamental vegetation. There were signs of these snails as well  in the gully, but we were informed that we should use a special pellet (brown) in our gardens, as this was not as detrimental to the water supply. The excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers as well as the blue snail pellets previously used were hazardous to the island's fresh water sources.



Our guides were full of information, and readily answered all our questions.
The gully is only 3/4 mile long, but after wandering along and stopping and staring at everything, we felt as if we had covered a longer distance.  Even the monkeys (Barbados Green Monkey) were curious about our presence in their tranquil habitat.
After the walk, we gathered under a tent to view interesting presentations on a number of topics including hydrology, permaculture and green infrastructure. Delicious refreshments were served as well.

It was a morning well spent, and it was a real eye-opening experience.  I came away with a lot of information which has served me in good stead in my own garden, and I have also shared the information with my circle of gardening buddies.
We are the caretakers of this Earth, let us do our best to ensure that future generations have a better earth than what we inherited.

(*)Barbadians are also called Bajans, which is a shortened and more endearing name.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Taking inspiration from a comment left by GB, I decided to get to the bottom of my problem, and try to solve it from a different angle.
I've heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention, and so it is, although in this case not quite an invention but a matter of using what you do have.
And so (*) ......the search began....through my drawers (oh dear not those drawers), but my vanity drawers, whereupon I found my old phone and its usb cable.  Promptly charged it up, and started taking some photos which I then uploaded.
And voila!!!
Even though my special day has come and gone, the gifts continue coming.
Yesterday I received a lovely terra cotta pot from one of my friends at my favourite nurseries. It was nice of him to remember me, but then again, it could be a ploy on his part, because I HAD to get a nice plant to put inside the pot!!

I am very happy with my new gift, but then I look at the remnants of a lovely floral bouquet that I received on my special day, and what was once a perky and vibrant arrangement, has lost its shine.

Is this an indication of what I have to look forward to.....really?   Yet, I can still hold on with tenacity and strong will and go gracefully just like these flowers. They are almost a month old now, and like them I want to age gracefully and forego any cosmetic enhancements.
Even though we are all destined to lose our shine somewhat as we get older, we must never let go of our "joie de vivre."
Surround yourself with happy thoughts, and make every day count.
When you awake each day, think of ways to make others happy and do it. Remember that the smallest kind gesture, if given in the right spirit will work wonders for someone who is having a bad day or maybe at the end of their tether.
(*) Don't tell my university professor that I started a sentence with "And" please.