High Mountain 5k

Sunday 25th January 2015 was the first time I participated in a High Mountain event, although members of my group, Fun and Thrills are always well represented.

The is because it always clashes with the Jazz and Blues festival which is held in Falmouth on the last weekend of January every year but thank heavens the High mountain organizers changed their event to the second to last weekend this year.

This was the 32nd year of the event and I had really wanted to attend since learning from one of the organizers that the funds raised were going to buy dialysis machines for the Mandeville hospital, for ever since my best friend Hilma died from kidney complications, I have been very concerned about that particular sickness.

I was however disappointed at the turnout as there seem to have been more sponsors and vendors than participanbts but it was not well advertised this year for some reason.

Vendors abounded

I enjoyed participating  however and it was a very convenient date. For I had an outside broadcast from Santa Cruz on the Friday before and had to attend a birthday party in Mandeville on Friday night. So I stayed over in Mandeville and went to Black River on Saturday to pick up a sucking pig from Michael , a good friend from school days. He had promised it to me for the party the following week. So after hanging out with him and his wife Pearl all day Saturday, we went back to Mandeville, so on the Sunday I was fit and ready to drive to nearby Williamsfield for the event.

 Of course while I only entered the 5k walk, some of the Fun a and Thrills members even entered the 10 running segment. Fit lot!

The 5k route took us from Williamfield, on the picturesque  and undulating route to Mile Gully then  the through the Windalco Bauxite property and back. It was a pleasxant route and the rain even fell to cool us down.

I walked at an ordinary pace with Michael Chuck and we came close to last but no bug thing, we finished and it was great.

 The crowning point was  Michael and I driving back through Old Harbour and stopping for jerk pork at Farmers for "dinner."

Absolutely wonderful pork and a great way to end a wonderful weekend.

What a Party!

As we always go to Jazz fest in Montego Bay every year, my brother Bernie's family (wife Judi, kids Stephanie and Whitney and son-in -law Sean) organised to throw him a 70th birthday party to celebrate the event that had taken place in December and honour him for being a great husband and dad.

Getting ready to head to the airport

They had been planning it for around five months and the wonder is he never suspected a thing until they hit him with the news on Sunday morning as he was preparing to depart to the airport.

What a bangerang!

 First he was adamant that he had to go back to North Carolina as he had deliveries to do. But wife Judy informed him that arrangements had been made for two other doctors to do his deliveries.

Then he insisted that he could not stay another day as his office had to be opened but again she countered that it would, as all was arranged with the staff.

 Then he insisted that he could only travel on a Sunday (lol) and it was too late to change his flight. That had already been done he discovered.

Still in disbelief, he declared that we must all have the party and enjoy ourselves as the driver was on the way to take him to the airport, only to hear that the driver would not be coming until Monday!

Only then did it seem to start dawning on him that there was indeed a party and they were not jiving him. That entire process took some 30 minutes!

Convincing the guest of honour to attend the party!

So now he wanted to know where the food and liquor was.

You see he thought it was going to be at the house but in fact a huge tent  had been set up closer to the beach but he did not know it was for him. He had seen it the day before but had been told by someone that a wedding was being held there.

Then it was finally time to get him down to the venue which was easy as he had been told they wanted a family photo by the beach.

Getting into the mood finally and being an ardent fan of Fab 5, Jamaica's best dance band, on the way down he commented that when he returned home he would select some of their cd's. Imagine his shock when he reached the tent, saw some of

He had to stop to take it all in when he saw his friends already there

his friends already gathered there and Fab 5 on the bandstand!

 He became more and more amazed as the moments slipped by he realised that  most of his

The "old boys" gather around the honouree

friends from Cornwall College and Howard University were all there .

Fab 5 was absolutely wonderful and Gem Myers who sang with them was just amazing.

She should have been the one to sing at Jazz Fest instead of the imported Maria Carey who was a flop. I hear it looked like she is losing her voice as every-time she had to take a challenging note, she would start talking to the audience. As a result of her lousy performance, many persons missed Morgan Heritage who came on after her and who I hear was really good but people just could not sit through Maria Carey to wait to hear them.

 I had not gone on the Friday night for it was raining all day and breezy to boot so I was not about to sit in the cold to hear her or anyone else. Great decision it turns out as I stayed home with Michelle Wright and Delroy came around and entertained us. I did go on Saturday night though and Charlie Wilson was absolutely awesome and Peter Cetera really good. We left after the Pointer sisters had done about three songs but I hear we left too early for they really turned out to be quite good.

Songbird Gem Myers with Fab 5

Anyway back to the party.

The entire function was seamless, the food great, the liquor plentiful and everyone had a wonderful time thanks to Judi and the kids.

Bernie was absolutely overwhelmed too as his friend Dr. Mulvaney (Jerry) who we all know as a keen photographer who is always moving around with his camera and equipment, joined the band and did a special number for him.

Jerry has a great voice

I had no idea Jerry had such a  lovely voice although I did know he had a band in North Carolina.

What amazes me even now is how Bernie never had a clue that something was afoot even when my daughter Michele, my daughter in law Michelle Wright and cousin Barry all came from abroad and were gathered in the same place for a couple of days for the first time in our lifetime.

Anyway, he was pleasantly surprised, overwhelmed and had a great time as did everyone else.

CAROLING IN LAURISTAN, ST. CATHERINE

I have heard about people going around caroling at Christmas from I was a child but the first time I have ever seen it done or participated was in 2010 when the president of the Lauristan citizens association, Audley Nain J.P invited me to join them. I had such a wonderful time then that when the invitation was again extended this year, I had no difficulty setting out from Kingston at 5.30 am with friends Richard and Sharon to derive over to join up with them.

Yes, I know, when some people hear of Lauristan, that area off the Sligoville road in St. Catherine, the farthest thing from their mind is carol singing. This is because this community was the scene of a widely reported and  most horrific murder on July 20, 2011 which shocked the nation. For it was there while Charmaine Cover-Rattray and her daughter were asleep at their home   that men kicked off their door, entered murdered them, then cut off their heads and dumped them some distance away.

Off they went caroling in the early morning

Reality though, like so many communities in Jamaica, there are two sections. In the case of Lauristan there is the residential community where returning residents and professionals have made their homes and there they maintain a strong, active citizens' association.

Then then there is a section nearby which borders the Rio Cobre river where squatters have made their home and you do not have to guess who have given the community a bad name! Anyway I have never been fearful of visiting Lauristan even when that bloody news was being reported.

Whereas only a few of us set out in the dark on Christmas morning 2014, having a whale of a time belting out carols and waking up the neighborhood, by the time we got to the community centre the number had grown significantly.

At the community centre, the pots were already boiling preparing the green, bananas and dumplins and hot chocolate while the breadfruits were roasted nearby. How this annual Christmas breakfast is organised is that those who are good cooks bring their specialty while others prefer to donate funds towards having the breakfast prepared on site.

Some of the delicious breakfast being prepared on site

So all during the morning too, people were pouring in with pots and other containers filled with delicious ackee and codfish, curried chicken, roti, turned cornmeal, friend johnnycakes and even hominy porridge. So there was food galore and delicious to boot.

This community centre is located on land that they leased and using a 40 foot container, converted it into  a real utility centre, fully furnished with benches and tables made by residents themselves.

While we waited for the rest of the community to gather and the food to be prepared, president Nain who is in his own right one of Jamaica’s most outstanding tenors and a former member of Jamaica Folk singers, led everyone in more caroling  while real country hot chocolate was served to stave off the creeping hunger.

                                                                         

                                                                                                                             

  A sumptuous breakfast indeed

Then the Rev Simmonds who had journeyed from old Harbour, delivered  a sermon based on the story of the good Samaritan…..love thy neighbor as you love yourself.

By breakfast time just before 9am, the crowd had swelled significantly and it was interesting to see it was the young people who came filing in last as despite our efforts to wake them up with our loud caroling, they had obviously had difficulty getting out of bed after at night out at grand market and other Christmas eve events.

                                                                                                                        

Rev. Simmonds (left) waits his turn while president Audley welcomes the citizens 

But it was a great get together culminating with an absolutely wonderful breakfast and every single person getting a Christmas present from under the tree. And guess what? The grounds were as clean as a whistle when it was all over!

I swear if more communities adopted the spirit of the residents of Lauristan in 2015, this would indeed be one of the cleanest and greatest places on the face of the earth to live for indeed Lauristan is nothing like the picture painted by the bad publicity some years ago but indeed a model Jamaican community.

                                               Citizens wait patiently to be served     

https://youtu.be/L3sgIci5ffs

Give More to Political Parties? Absolutely Not!

I am absolutely amazed, for despite several senators grandstanding and  claiming they object to  the taxpayers funding political parties, guess what? They approved the amendments to the Representation of People's Act  without removing that offensive requirement! 

So soon it will be legal for taxpayers to be pressured further to  come up with more money  to  finance political activity. And I deliberately said "more money" since  as Tom Tavares Finson reminded us, we already provide a high degree of funding. He gave as an example the last general elections where the money paid to party workers exceeded $50 million. And I am sure he did not take into consideration what goes into parish Councillors' salaries  for they are more beneficial to the PNP And JLP to carry out their party's activities at the grassroots than they are to us in their divisions! 

Further, does anyone ever know how much of the current million dollar and near million dollar telephone bills  that some minister run up annually go into their working in the interest of the country versus for private political campaigning?

As far as I am concerned, for the politicians to have passed this amendment is totally unconscionable and for the public to just ignore the implications is absolutely remarkable. For don't the Jamaican taxpayer recognise that in excess of 20% of the population lives in poverty and the constant cry is that government has no money to help them ease the pain in their bellies?

And if every other deserving organisation including the Salvation Army which looks after the interest of the poorest among us has to do their own fund raising, why shouldn't the political parties who history has shown have done so much to damage our economy since independence without anyone being held responsible for anything. So now, they are being given free passage to enjoy the privileges of power without any accountability and without them even doing their own fund raising.

According to those who  pushed the legislation for taxpayers to bankroll the political parties, this will prevent those with deep pockets who now  finance  the parties from influencing policy.

Hah. Since we are a country notorious for a lack of accountability and transparency will someone tell me how picking taxpayers pockets going to remedy this malady ?

Besides,  it is apparent that policy in Jamaica is more dictated by the IMF and foreign investors with deep pockets than by rich locals who finance the party of their choice. And this situation will remain as long as we remain a beggarly nation  as we have been since gaining independence 52 years ago.  And from all indications, we will remain so for decades to come because corruption and lack of accountability is so entrenched.

And as long as the level of national poverty  remains, foreign investors with deep pockets  will determine that they want Goat Island or any other section of Jamaica  and do anything they please that will damage the entire environment, without interference.

How is this latest legislation which will only put further financial pressure on the overtaxed population going to correct these situations?

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving 2014 was absolutely wonderful except that I learnt too late that a desert could get darn cold.

For I had visited Las Vegas twice before and had always found the weather to be the closest thing to hell fire (yes, I was there!) and although the temperature drops drastically in the early mornings, I never knew the winters could be so bad.

Brr!

So off I went with a suitcase filled with bathing suits, shorts and short sleeve clothes only to arrive in temperature in the 40's! Wow.

 It is a good thing Melissa of football fame ( Michelle's little sister) lives there and had brought down winter clothes from New York and that is the only thing that saved us.

After that it was great.

Shadrach flying from Tampa met up with me at the Charlotte airport and we were able to sit together for the rest of what was a very bumpy flight and when we got to Vegas Michelle was already there and waiting at the airport.

We visited the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon and although I had been both places before, I realised I remembered nothing.

The grand canyon is really awesome and remains one of the most visited of the 7 Wonders of the World. Long trip to get there though for although we left out about 6 am did not return to hotel until around 8.30 p,m. Worth it though.

Since we could not get over to Phoenix to visit Amrita and her family, they came over and I saw the baby for the first time. What an absolutely sweet baby. Goes to everyone and although they stayed overnight, I never heard her cry once.

I never expected the thanksgiving dinner to be so great for I forgot that Norma, Michelle's mom is a top cook and she brought down everything from New York including green gungo and goat mutton.  We then had a wonderful time at Melissa's home in the suburbs.

Amrita and family with Michelle

 Of course we took in all the sights in Vegas itself which is really an unique place where the unexpected elsewhere is the norm, including women standing almost nude on the sidewalks in 40 degree weather and offering to take photos with those who want to be seen with a sexy chick!

Of course, not being a gambler myself, Vegas did not benefit much from my visit as I lost all of 25 cents, yes a quarter! For I had declared that I would be gambling $5 just for kicks but the stupid machine kept spitting out small wins until I got bored and retrieved $4.75. The last time I visited I decided to gamble $10 and lost it all. Yeah, that's me, the last of the big gamblers!

Anyway, minus gambling, Vegas is still a great place to visit for the architecture and splendor, shows etc are a must see at least once in a lifetime.

And with some members of the family there there was much to give thanks for.

Interesting security signals

In an article in the Gleaner of the 12th November, the commissioner of police assured the Chinese ambassador  of a crime free Christmas for his nationals who operate downtown. Today's paper tell us that thieves are preying on students along North Street but no similar assurance for the youth. 

Interesting signals being sent by the new commissioner.

Way to go Michele

Now that my granddaughter is almost four going on 40, her mom Michele has decided to resume her educational development, hence her decision to now pursue her Phd.

Way to go girl!