Not MTR Production

The walk was not organised by Fun and Thrills but it had an element of the mtr anyway. For instead of us getting ready for a 5am-6am departure, it was a 3am departure. But this is not unusual  for Professor Lawson Douglas and his team who have been walking around Jamaica for decades  and have done the entire island three times so far, to raise funds for the Kidney Foundation.

This was the third time Charles, Betty and I were doing a walk with   the Douglas team. The first had been Buff Bay to PORT Antonio, the second Oracabessa to Ocho Rios and this was supposed to be from Christiana, Manchester to Allsides, Trelawny. I say supposed as I did not complete the trip, (Charles and I think Tricia did) instead, I got into a support vehicle at  Litchifield to return to where we had left the cars as the others had to be shuttled back to Christiana. Anyway I had by then completed  about ten and half kilometers  of the journey which was about thirteen kilometers.

The other Fun and Thrills member who came  with us was Nicole Brown. My cousin

Sheila who lives in Canada and just bought an apartment here, also came along.

Also with our group was Yves, a  French friend of Nicole's who lives in St. Lucia; Kirk who is Spy's brother and Cynthia who walks the hills with us and Nicola who comes to the movies with us at times.

We were supposed to leave Kingston at 3am but the other group did not gather completely at the meeting place,  Constant Spring golf club, until well after 3 am and we left Kingston close to 4am.

 By 5.30 we were at the departure point in Christiana however and it was dark and cold but a wonderful and most welcome full moon had followed us all the way .

As usual Manchester was super cold and I had worn two shirts, figuring that I would get rid of one when we warmed up, but even when the sun finally got through after about 9 am,  I had not warmed up enough to remove any clothes.

We crossed the border to Trelawny quite quickly and the crossing point is called Line of Parish and as the dawn broke gradually, the fabulous scenery with the mist covered mountains, green productive agricultural fields, beautiful flowers, salubrious hills and lush hills and valleys started to peek out gradually.

The air was so clean, invigorating and fresh, that alone made the trip more than worthwhile.

Lowe River is one of the more progressive districts along the way and there we saw a huge poster of Paul Padmore, the only independent parish Councillor in Jamaica, who operates a funeral home in the area.

Other districts we passed through High Gate Hall, Battersea, Lime Tree and if I had completed to the journey to Allsides, the other district on the way would have been Wait-A-Bit.

Although the topography between  Trelawny and Manchester are very similar, the difference  in development  is stark with the Manchester side having much better roads including a bypass for Christiana while the Trelawny side was potholed, we saw people carrying water on their heads and of course there were far more yam plantations there.

However the Trelawny people are apparently more hospitable  because at the border there is a Welcome to Trelawny sign but when  you return there is no evidence of a similar sign before you enter Manchester.

It was a great walk with lots of camaraderie although Lawson's team walked much faster than we did and once we left Christiana,  I never saw any of them again.

The only rider was Carl Oxford who kept riding to and fro to keep a check on the participants. He solved a mystery for me too for at the 150th anniversary of Munro college in St. Elizabeth last year, I hear a mysterious rider had appeared riding all the way from Kingston and quite a few people, knowing I ride, had told me about it and asked me if I knew who it was. It turns out that it was Carl,

who although attending Kingston college, had ridden down to honour his late relative Douglas Forrest who had been the head master of Kingston college but a Munro Old Boy. Mystery solved.

When  we returned to Christiana, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting us as David, to ensure that Grace had a wonderful birthday, had driven her down  to Christiana to have breakfast with us at Lemar Plaza, then they headed off to visit Chris Dalrymple in Priory.

We sang happy birthday to Grace in front of the small plaza.

Nicole also did not come back with us as she took Yves to Little Ochi to lyme.

Betty did a fantastic job of driving from 2.30am, then all the way to Christiana, hiking almost all the way then driving back almost all the way to Kingston, then Charles relived her on the last  leg of the highway back home.

Another great day of invigorating exercise, camaraderie and wonderful food.

Of Crocodiles

I think I was eaten by a reptile in my past life, for that is the only logical explanation for my chronic fear of reptiles, from crocodiles to croaking lizards.

Anyway, with the help of Mr. Charles Swaby,

the operator of the Black River Safari, I felt so comfortable with a baby crocodile that I even played with it.

Not touching any croaking lizards though. Never. You see , croaking lizards are soft, crawly and yucky and just looking on them makes my skin crawl whereas at least the croc has a hard, coarse skin.

Anyway, it seems my long felt fear of crocs may be receding a bit, since I was convinced by Mr. Charles Swaby, operator of the fantastic and educational Black River Safari,  (also Jamaica's Crocodile Dundee!) to visit his hatching room and touch a baby one. And I did. Not touching any croaking lizard though. lol

Three six loves, WOW!

I know most people would disagree, but I am not really the boastful type...at least not all the time!

Anyway as as someone who just loves to play and dominoes and thus expects to get or give six loves, giving it really gives a rush and I gave 3 six loves on Saturday. Mercy me and these were not amateurs but rather, very boastful people who came to the table declaring that they usually pay for money but were willing to oblige us non gamblers.

This was at Calvin's birthday party at beautiful Pimento Hill overlooking the spectacular Long Bay in Portland.

Although Long Bay is beautiful and unspoiled, it tends to be a bit rough but I had still planned to get a dip. Unfortunately, Portland is also famous for its constant rainfall and Saturday was no different as we arrived in quite a heavy drizzle and each time the sun came out and one felt it was a permanent respite,
 the rain came again.

So we settled down to just enjoying the food scenery and camaraderie and that was no mistake as there was great food galore, unlimited liquor and great dominoes.

Stewie and I  played first and after we dropped the first six love, it was food time.

Then they dragged Stewie away to operate the karaoke set up and the boastful ones insisted that they were not going to play with me and a new partner as they had to give back the six love to Stewie and I . Eventually they relented and I played with Calvin's cousin who was here from Florida for the party.

 We quickly polished  them off with another 2 six loves.

The food break did not help them at all! lol

I guess that is the closest i will ever get to heaven, especially in light of the fact that the last time I  played, that's  two weeks ago at Silver Sands, I got two six loves myself.

The reason for the constant six loves is of course because we play bruk an spoil, that is when the six series is broken we start over again until one time goes to six non stop. But it didn't take too many starts to polish off those guys as they were more style than substance and as usual, men always under-estimate female players.

It was really a great party and  am glad that I took a leave from Jazz festival for the first time in about ten years to go east instead, although I understand my Beres mass up di place.

Anyway, I will see him soon, somewhere else.

Deflecting the Blame

If ever there was a puny, sick, hypocritical attempt to deflect the blame for the appalling crime situation in Jamaica from the politicians, it was that presentation in parliament recently by Minister of Education Ronnie Thwaites, in which he labeled some schools as crime incubators.

For just about everyone knows that Jamaica being in the top five of the murder capitals of the world, is a direct result of the activities of some of the politicians themselves, no one else.

For it is the politicians who created the garrison constituencies which research has shown, has produced some 80% of the violent criminals who continue to haunt the country.

Oh yes, we in Jamaica  like to boast about our democratic traditions but we find it convenient to forget while talking about this  "democracy" to ignore the fact that some 25 % of the constituencies are garrisons or have large garrison segments where the people must vote as the dons, (gunmen supported and armed by some politicians) instruct them and in some garrisons, the people are even virtual slaves who must give the dons a portion of their earnings and send their children to them on demand, to satisfy the sexual pleasure of these well armed enforcers.

In the constituencies controlled by dons on behalf of some of the legislators sitting in parliament, a politician getting up to 120% of the vote in an election has not been considered unusual in Jamaica!

After establishing the tradition of garrison politics, mainly between the 70's and 80's, what we have today is the children and grandchildren of the original dons who were nurtured by some politicians,  growing up to become successful gun criminals in their own right and being the main perpetrators of the extreme violence in the country.

While listing the schools that Thwaites claimed statistics showed produced most of the criminals who were polled in prison, what he failed to tell the country was that most of  these schools were in the garrisons created by the politicians, so it is the environment that the kids were coming from that made them deviants, not the schools.

No attempt by Thwaites or any other politician to sanitise the role some of our leading politicians or deflect the blame from them {many of whom have been  hailed and deemed Most Honourable,) for making Jamaica one of the most murderous places on the planet, can succeed, for our memories are not that short!

Rebel Salute, (Rasta Salute) not for me,!

It was really Rasta Salute and it was all I needed to convince me that I definitely could never become a Rastafarian.

Even if  I were not a sinful and committed pork eater and  even if i had an inclination to become religious, this religion is just not for me!

Why? I just couldn't survive on their food which was really horrible as the only protein available seems to have been fish.....cold fish that is.Yuk.

Anyway, my first visit to Rebel Salute was quite a disappointment  and something I would never repeat, for I guess I have become spoiled by the professionalism at Sumfest and Jazz Festival so I found the whole idea of having to be tortured by a a series of neophytes in the entertainment industry before hearing those who I had gone to enjoy, just too much. For of the 34 artists that they had on Saturday 18th January, only ten,  yes some 30% were up to my standards so I had to suffer through the other 70% just to enjoy these performers. Worse too, one I really wanted to hear was Rodney Price aka Bounty Killer but after suffering for a very long time through I Wayne's monotonous performance, it was just too much so we left at 7.30 am and I am still vexed as I hear that Bounty was as great as expected.

Call me old fashioned, but the only performance that I really loved were, Jah Bouks, Queen Ifrica, Stitchie, Admiral Tibet, Bob Andy, Horace Andy, Edi Fitzroy, Leroy Sibbles. The others were jsut boring, so boring in fact that I spent  so much time sleeping that I missed one of my favourite artists Terry Linen who I heard after I woke up,  was as great as expected.

Thank god though that I slept through Jah Cure's performance for  I did have some qualms about having to listen to him just to hear the ones I love. No I have no problem with his voice or talent, just the fact that he is a rapist and after reading the interview with his victim some years ago in the Gleaner, I decided from then that I would never have the stomach to listen to him!

But back to why that Rebel Salute was my first and last for there is the issue of the unfair distribution of the irie feeling, for while ganja was widely available (I love the smell but eight hours of inhaling second hand smoke was a bit too much for me ) bald heads like myself and our party could not even get a rum or vodka to buy so we too could get into the mood.

No I am definitely sticking to bald head  entertainment for the rest of my life!

Breakinridge, Colorado

I returned to Breckenridge, Colorado, compliments of my daughter and son- in- law, so I could see what happens there in winter as opposed to the summer,  when I had  a great time there. (See http://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/enjoying-mountains.html)

Breckenridge  is about 2 hours out of Denver and is part of the Rocky Mountain Range (Rockies) and in the summer,  I considered it such a beautiful place to visit, but seeing it from the winter perspective was absolutely awesome.

My only not so good experience there, was having to wait some ninety minutes at a restaurant to get a table, the first night we spent there. We had walked from our hotel to Main Street thinking we could get  dinner quite early. Big mistake.

The first restaurant we went to, told us it was a forty five minute wait to get a table so we put our names down and walked on. At the next ones we were told an hour and a half and by the time we got to the third, a New Orleans type featuring Cajun food, we were told the waiting time was two and half hours.

So we walked around a bit enjoying the Christmas lights which shone brightly in the snow from just about every thoroughly decorated tree, shop and structure before doubling back to the first restaurant where we had made reservations. However, the forty five minute wait they promised came and went but as we were in the bar where everyone was having a jolly time, having consumed every type of Christmas spirit, the time came and went quickly and when we were served,  the food was worth the wait.

Of course, that experience taught us how to avoid having the problem in the future and that is to phone in reservations early in the day!

I used to live in Toronto, Canada, a cold place with lots of snow, and hated it. But going to Breckenridge for 2 days and staying at a condo  in the middle of town operated by the Wyndham chain, reminded me of the funny story which tells the difference between residents and visitors.

View from, the hotel room

According to the tale, a man was in hospital on his death bed and was visited by St. Peter  who wanted to find out if he wanted to go up or down when the time came. The man replied that since he was unfamiliar with the places one resides in the afterlife, he  would need a tour of both destinations.

So  St. Peter complied. First he was taken to the place above where he saw everyone drinking milk and honey, flying around peacefully or and lolling on clouds…….. really boring stuff. So he asked to see what happened down below. When he went there is was nothing but the good life with drinks flowing, beautiful girl sand lots  partying, so he chose the latter,.

 Then he died. When he went to the place of his choice however, it was nothing like the place he had visited on his familiarization tour but instead it was hot as hell, dreary, bleak and there was a monster chasing people around with fiery spear. No he said, this was not the place I chose at all, so he demanded to see the boss. When he got the appointment he explained to the snarling demon that there was an error as the the place he chose was beautiful with lots of parties, good looking girls,wonderful beaches etc.  To which the boss sneeringly replied, "Yes, then you were a visitor but now you are a  resident."

So true when for  I lived in Canada, I was a resident and didn't like the snow at all. That is because I rarely got the opportunity to witness the beauty of the sun glistening on snow covered trees (although there was lots of snow there)  as in winter in Toronto the sun never came up till around ten am and was set by four pm so I was always outside commuting during the dark hours and inside heated buildings at work or at school, when the real beauty of the snow could be appreciated.

On the other hand, at Breckenridge in the beautiful Rockies, we never left our apartment until the sun came up and it was warm, so although the snow had fallen the night before, everything looked bright, inviting, beautiful and sparkling. It made one  feel so inconsequential as a human being in the shadow of these great, multi- shaped, snow-capped peaks. The sight of the glistening snow on the mountain slopes shining brightly through the green pine trees just made you want to soar up to the hills and roll off and despite the weatherman saying it was only eight degrees outside, it did not feel cold at all.

In fact, every time I entered a building I had to peel off all outside clothing as it became so hot so quickly. It was absolutely wonderful to have the option of deciding when it was best to go outside and enjoy the great outdoors rather than having to, come what may, as residents do!

Of course, having boots which could withstand 40 degree below zero weather was great for although my original ones were warm and sexy, I kept sliding when walking in the areas where the snow had started to melt.

And guess what, Jamaica was also present in Breckenridge in the form of Rasta Pasta! Yup. Never stopped to taste it, but it was very much there.

You know the difference between Colorado weather and places like New York? In Colorado the snow melts quickly because of the frequent sunshine here with no huge buildings to bar the sunshine like in New York, the snow melts easily and the place warms up quickly.

On this trip I  discovered that whether it is summer or winter, Breckenridge and the environs the Rocky mountains are absolutely beautiful and an nature lover's dream, for in the summer, it is great for hiking, mountain biking, camping etc and in winter for those so inclined, it is skiing and snow boarding.

However although I became thoroughly immersed in the beauty of  the area, there is no way I would be coming off those steep slopes on either snow boards or skis but much preferred to be a passive observer and a lover of the great outdoors, as long as I  am warmly dressed and  not have to become a resident!

It was when I returned to Denver that it struck me how boring and blah cities are. Most of them except for places like San. Francisco have such a sameness about them..... and the suburbs too. Really I am the happiest when I am in the mountains, snowy or not or at the beach when the sun is hot.

That's what I will do a lot more in 2014.

Breckenridge is some 10,000 feet above Denver and descending from the beautiful Rockies, the view was fantastic as the lower we got, the less snow showed up among the dense pine plantations. The frozen lakes we saw on the way down where people ice fished and even did motor racing. were also so beautiful and calming.

Delta, The World's Worst Airline

Delta Airline resumed its Kingston to Atlanta service on the 19th December and I used this service on the 21st December to go to Denver, Colorado for Christmas. Big Mistake, for when I arrived at my destination, it was without my luggage. They had it delivered, leaving it out on the snow- covered porch in the middle of the night (I guess, since I was fast asleep when it came) despite my answering no to the question of delayed baggage clerk when asked if it could be left when no one was there to collect it!

That was not so bad but trying to get back to Jamaica on the 7th January was the real trial.
Of course I could never blame Delta for the Arctic storm that caused a snow storm, but it is how you manage things in a difficult situation that separates professionals from  amateurs. 

I had to rush headlong to catch the connecting flight DL383 in Atlanta as flight DL1578 was about one hour late in arriving from Denver. This was no fault of Delta's however, as on coming into Denver International Airport the plane had a collision with birds and safety maintenance had to be done.

Where I found total mismanagement however was in Atlanta for they had boarded passengers on to Fl 383 although they had no co-pilot!!!!!!

 It appears that because of the bad weather, the co-pilot's flight to Atlanta was delayed by some 4 hours, YET DELTA WENT AHEAD AND BOARDED THE PLANE HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN TO KINGSTON! IS IT THAT THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION AMONG DELTA'S MANAGEMENT?

While the crew was very professional in trying to appease the plane full of passengers who became more and more irate as the wait moved from a few minutes to just under four hours, to add insult to injury, when the flight arrived in Kingston, some 20 passengers w, including myself, were left without any luggage.

Can you believe that with a flight delayed for almost four hours, the luggage from connecting flights could not be loaded on? How much time does Delta need to deal with connecting baggage? 24 hours?

You know, one cannot but wonder if the reason why this flight was treated so disrespectfully is because it was a planeful of mainly black  people!

 Over a day has passed since my arrival in Kingston and yet no one at Delta's office can tell me anything about my luggage.

As one who has traveled extensively, I definitely vote Delta the worst in the world and I certainly do not consider their return to Kingston as an asset for the island.