Wow. She's 7 years old!

It seems like just the other day that my granddaughter was born, but today she turns 7 years old.                                                                      It was supposed to be spring in Colorado but despite knowing that their idea of spring can end up being like the heart of winter, I longed to see my family there and so wanted to celebrate with her that I timidly decided to attend for the party they planned for  Saturday last.                                                                                                                                                                                                    The weather report was indicating temperatures of 53 high for the weekend so I was not too worried but boy were they ever wrong for it snowed heavily on Friday night and by Saturday morning we knew we would be in trouble with almost twenty kids to entertain INSIDE!

Luckily, her parents are very resilient so they rose to the occasion and the kids all had a wonderful time, doing arts and crafts and horsing around, as did us oldsters!

Most of the parents stayed at the party too to assist and keep their and the other kids entertained, in light of the changing circumstances caused by the weather.

Maddy, whose main concern was getting many gifts was not disappointed either and there was food galore many dishes creatively named and decorated.

The kids did get to go outside for a wee bit too, to play Pinata which involves beating a  stuffed dragon with a baseball bat until it opens up and the sweets stored inside fall out.                                                 Some kids would have liked to have stayed outside longer if they were allowed, but the parents weren't taking any chances with the flu season not yet over.                                                                                                                                             My granddaughter does not allow the snow to stop her from doing anything though as she even went to swimming lessons, yes in an inside pool. She is becoming quite a good swimmer having mastered even the backstroke already.                                                                                                    It was a wonderful party and a great family gathering despite the weather and I am sure happy I went to cold Colorado to celebrate with my granddaughter who is rapidly growing into a beautiful and brilliant young lady.

Touring the Everglades and jamming mento style

Airboats ready to go

I think from the first moment I saw a photograph of an airboat, I was sold.

Last weekend I finally got the opportunity to ride in one and was not at all disappointed.

I can't say why it took me so long or how my grandson Shadrach found a tour before I did since I am normally the "tour guide" who drags every willing participant

Shadrach holding a baby gator

along!

Anyway, he found Sawgrass Recreation center some time ago, went on the tour, showed me pictures and told me about it and I couldn't wait to do the tour myself.

It sure lived up to all my expectations, not the gators and colorful birds we saw in the Everglades but the boat ride.

 I was extremely fascinated each time I saw the captain heading towards a patch of sawgrass reeds then
drive straight through it.
I actually felt like a child for, no matter how often he did it, it still pleasantly surprised me.

I have been around boats most of my life for I absolutely love the water. In fact, I swear I was a mermaid in my past life but that's for another blog!

However,  these airboats go straight through bushes, not around them, for as the name implies, it appears they navigate through the air rather than through the water.

As we flew along through the weeds at really high speeds, I was even more intrigued ( though I shouldn't have been,) when the captain told us that we were in only six inches of water! 

Before we started the tour, we were given earplugs and told the engine was loud and it was, but to me, that was part of the adventure so I lost my plugs quickly.
We saw quite a few gators out there but I am accustomed to seeing them and their cousins, the crocs, so my real fascination was the boat ride, though, at the small zoo section of this attraction, I did see the absolute largest reptile I have ever seen in my life. And he was green to boot. All the other gators I have ever seen were black or grey. This one was green and so huge it gave me the shivers.

Made me kinda feel he could have been around in the days of the dinosaurs!

Anyway loved my airboat ride through the Everglades and can't wait to repeat it.

The versatile musician and distinguished artist Colin Smith (in glasses) leads the jam.

As if that ride was not enough for a  great weekend, my cousin Barry (aka Colin Smith) leads a great mento band, the only mento band in Florida too. It is called Tallawah. 
He had a musical feast at his home on Sunday afternoon, despite the weather reporters predicting a storm starting about 4.30 pm. Well, the prediction was partially correct but fortunately for us, they got the time wrong.

 We, therefore, enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of familiar and entertaining mento music and had repaired inside for a food feast of delicious Jamaican dishes including curry goat and roti, now renamed "coati" by my other cousin super-cyclist Hayden, all before the prediction came through. That storm struck at about 8.30 pm but luckily did not last too long although it was quite fierce.

 Glad the forecasters were wrong for it was really a pleasurable evening with family including one, Everett, who is tracing the family tree and satisfied my curiosity on many angles, therefore making it a satisfying way to bring a really enjoyable weekend to a close.

March for our lives

This gun owner summed it up

On March 24th, 2018, I joined millions of people throughout the entire world who marched against the toll being taken on innocent people, many of whom are mere children, because of the not only lax but also ridiculous gun laws in the USA.

These marches were organized by the students who were survivors of the latest mass shootings, this time on Valentine's day at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland Florida.


I live about two miles from where this massacre took place but due to what I heard would be parking constraints, I went up to North Lauderdale City Hall, where a group was also marching in solidarity with the Parkland students.

This was a much smaller march but just as enthusiastic as the bigger one in Parkland and the gun owner with the placard saying "This gun owner says no AR-15," summed up our sentiments  exactly, for most of the frequent massacres are carried out by persons who lawfully bought assault rifles, then turned them on civilians.

Look at what that white terrorist did in LasVegas with the dozens of assault rifles that he had transported to his hotel. He murdered 58 music lovers and injured 851, in one fell swoop and using weapons which he acquired legally, Cruz murdered 17 students in 6 minutes with one such rifle which he too had legally acquired although he was only nineteen years old, in other words, too young to buy liquor!

Some students bearing placards wait for the march to start 

This madness is caused by the laws in the USA which allow civilians to buy and keep assault rifles but this is counter to the wishes of  67% of the population according to a February 20, 2018 poll conducted by Quinnipiac University.

That same poll shows that only 29% are opposed to the banning of this weapon.

He came out to make his feelings for the NRA known

Why should civilians
want assault rifles which are clearly weapons of war,  except to murder people?

The National Rifle Association (NRA) which is a white terrorist organization, has for decades paid politicians in Congress, the Senate and the presidency, to keep these weapons on the streets under the guise that to ban them would be a violation of the constitution which gives individuals the right to bear arms.

That is absolute crap.

 I have never heard anyone who is calling for the banning of assault rifles and greater regulation of guns in general, calling for the banning of all guns. However, these assault weapons are designed to kill numerous people quickly and that is what everyone has a problem with as that type of weapon is only necessary when one is on a battlefield.

Will the new energy being injected into the issue by the young people demonstrating and mobilizing people all over the world, which caused close to 750,000 persons to gather in in Washington DC alone, be effective?

I am sure it will despite the fact that a number of politicians, including president Donald Trump, have sold their souls to the NRA.  His campaign got almost $50 million from the NRA for his presidential campaign and he promised the young people who went to see him, to take action, but reversed his decision the minute the NRA went so see him at nightfall!

However, despite the fact that leaders like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and numerous Republican legislators are also on the payroll of the NRA because these young people influenced support in 80 countries in every continent except Antartica. They have pledged not to give up and have made a solemn undertaking to get registered to vote as soon as they reach the required age, power-hungry politicians who had previously been swayed by campaign contributions, will soon have to either bow to the  majority of voters while the NRA watches their millions in contributions go down the drain or get out of politics for the good of the nation.

People socializing after the march in North Lauderdale

In Isiah 11;6, it says  "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them" and while most of this prophecy has yet to be manifested, what I saw on Saturday, convinced me that the last prediction quoted above, is right on target .

Cancer is no longer a death sentence

Dr. Grace Wang  (L)  poses with six-time survivor Jackie

On Saturday 10th March, I got a great opportunity to see close up the great work being done by the cancer society, survivors, their doctors, nurses, and caregivers, to totally abolish the idea that this disease is a death sentence.

 As one who has long subscribed to that theory, my eyes were opened when I  met a lady who has so far survived and lived a fairly normal life for fifty-one years since her operation. 

Further reinforcement came from a long-time friend Jackie Simmons with whom I had lost contact, but who now brought me up to date on her own victory over six different cancer surgeries over an eighteen year period. These ranged from breast to stage four "inoperable" lung cancer in 2009 when she was given seven months to live. 

Jackie credits her survival to the loving care of Dr. Wang and Dr. Sudana Shaheb.

 Dr. Wang is a world-famous Oncologist at the Miami Cancer Institute who Jackie said has for decades, gone way beyond the call of duty to ensure not only her survival but also that of the hundreds of the patients whose care she had responsibility for.

 Dr. Shaheb an Australian medical doctor and anthropologist of East Indian descent, is a professor of medicine at the University of Havana, who regards an appropriate diet as the perfect cure for all diseases. He is on retainer from several Native American tribes who have become susceptible to numerous diseases because they have moved away from the kinds of foods which had nourished their bodies for centuries. Jackie credits him with having also saved her life after her lung surgery, by redirecting her to consume the foods that are compatible with her particular gene pool.

After only a few hours of assisting in the Jamaican booth at the event and listening to Dr. Wang, I am now totally convinced that most people unnecessarily over-react and do themselves serious psychological damage, from the very moment they get the dreaded prognosis, thus defeating or retarding their own recovery, simply because they ignore or are ignorant of the exciting advances being made in treatment and the current  phenomenal survival rates.

I must admit though that my own ignorance about the disease is partly because I have never really had close family affected, apart from an aunt who whose death certificate said death from pancreatic cancer although she was over ninety years old and had already contracted several different illnesses during a prolonged period.

So Saturday I learned about many aspects of the disease, the research and up to date developments at this Relay for Life, held at the Baptist Hospital in Kendall, Florida. 

Relay for life is held worldwide to raise funds for cancer research and I also gathered from the address by Dr. Wang, that the Cancer Society of the USA had funded forty-one

scientists who were awarded Nobel Prizes for cancer research. She also outlined some of the latest revolutionary and life-saving drugs which are now available as a result of experiments facilitated by funds raised at events such as Relay for Life.

At this event Jamaica featured large, under the leadership of both Jackie Simmons, a former Jamaica Tourist Board executive and Dr, Wang herself, along with strong support from volunteers, both Jamaicans and others, drawn from survivors and friends. 

Our booth was the largest and the most beautifully decorated with flags and banners, some hand painted and donated by friends and well-wishers and of the $250,000 overall target set for the day, we raised a whopping $68,000!

While a large bulk of the funds came from donations and the silent auction, our booth also buzzed all day as patrons flocked to buy our world famous beef, chicken and vegetable patties, rock cakes, Tortuga Rum cake, banana chips, gizzada etc. Another best seller was a large selection of orchids.

Jackie leads the 16 and over batch of survivors

In the afternoon, survivors (you are considered a survivor if your cancer is in remission for five years or more) medical personnel and other caregivers walked silently around the hospital grounds.

The survivors were grouped by the number of years they had survived ..... five years and over, 11 years and over, 16 years and over followed by a batch that had survived less than five years so far.

This while all the lights were dimmed but the surroundings glowed with candles lit in memory of those who had passed.

Candles honoring survivors light up the surrounding

For me personally, it was an extremely educational yet enjoyable day.

The dangers of Mistaken Identity.

Have you ever been the subject of mistaken identity? I imagine every single human being has been mistaken for someone else at some time or the other as so many of us have common features. However, most of us have been fortunate in that these incidents only cause us a minor inconvenience at worse or a good laugh.

Here I am with my big afro.

I have long concluded that I have a common face for hardly a week passes without some stranger who I have never seen before in my life, saying to me "Where do I know you from” or worse "Hey Joan, didn't I  jst glimpse you in .....last week"  (a place I have never been or visited recently) or even calling me by some other name. 

However, my most dangerous experience of being mistaken for someone else occurred in Germany many years ago. This was during the period when that country was split into distinct parts, communist East Germany and West Germany.

I had been traveling in the west and although this was long before 9/11 which brought in escalated security checks at airports, I noticed that every domestic airport I went to, I was body searched before I took off and after I landed.

I started to wonder if it could be because at the time I had a wonderful body, why every German security person wanted to touch me up!

However, at the third domestic airport, I was disabused of this by a German-speaking friend who told me she overheard an officer saying, "She looks just like Angela Davis."

Regrettably, I had never seen Angela in the flesh but I certainly knew who she was. However, I never saw a resemblance between myself and the person I had seen on tv and in the newspapers apart from the fact that we each had large afro hairstyles. She, however, seemed much fairer than I and even appeared to have freckles.

I guess to most white people though, all black women with afros would look alike!

For the benefit of those who do not know who that famous and extremely brilliant lady is, she is currently a law professor at a leading university in California but in the late sixties and seventies,  during the civil rights struggle, she was a force to be reckoned with.

At that time, she and numerous other black people in the USA, did not see any sanity in Marin Luther King Jr's strategy of peaceful resistance which only caused unarmed marchers to be attacked and mauled by vicious dogs, beaten with  batons by police or even murdered by armed white terrorists and members of the security forces.

Angela and others of her ilk, therefore decided that it was better to go down fighting. In other words, death before dishonor.

At that time, the USSR was the other superpower and as the USA practiced apartheid at home and supported it in every form abroad, the USSR took the opportunity to project itself as the savior of the oppressed by giving practical support to civil rights and black liberation struggles all over the world.

 It wasn’t surprising therefore that Angela and many who struggled against these ills during that era converted to communism.

To put a stop to her activism in the USA, law enforces in California charged her with purchasing the weapons which were used in an assault on the Marin County courthouse in which four persons were killed. However, once tried, she was exonerated so by mid 80's when I was traveling in Germany, I assumed she was no longer considered a dangerous person as she had long returned to teaching.

I, therefore, found it quite amazing that the Germans still had her on a "watch list" and mistook me for her. In retrospect though, I now suspect it was because she had been a vocal and dedicated communist, they weren't taking any chances. And I guess the fact that I had traveled to East Germany and had my passport stamped didn't help.

So although that experience reminded me of the possible complications and dangers that can arise when one is mistaken for another, I have been very lucky.  For we all have seen reports of how, before DNA evidence was accepted by the courts, hundreds and possibly thousands of people were incarcerated because they were mistaken for someone else and worse many were even put to death!

Yes, there are lots of people all over the world who bear more than a passing resemblance to others but thank heavens it has caused no harm for the vast majority of us.

I can't help wondering though how life was for anyone who was mistaken for an Osama Bin Laden when he was considered the most dangerous man on the planet and how dangerous it must be for anyone in the USA, who is unfortunate enough to bear even the slightest resemblance to Kim Jong-un!

Big Cypress Nature Preserve

Thanks to the Happy Hoofers chapter of the Florida Trail Association, under the leadership of Steve, some 48 of us happy troopers enjoyed an invigorating 7.5 mile huke at Big Cypress Nature Preserve.

Photo of  the happy troopers (photo provided by Steve)

The preserve is located in Collier County around fifty miles from Ft. Lauderdale on the way to Naples and Alligator Alley.

Because it is part of the Everglades, the area is rich in flora and fauna.

This was the dry season so luckily we were spared the insects but in terms of animals, we only saw quite a few large and small gators and one turtle.

The gators which seemed quite well fed and shy, were all by the water bank  which we hiked beside when we first set out going south.

                                                                                                                                                             After we reached approximately 

One of the large gators we saw

 halfway, we had a bathroom stop  where women  were directed to the bushes at the east side and the men to the west).

We then headed inland towards Carpenter campsite, where we had lunch which we brought along and hung around fr a while, getting to know each other.

A discarded pot left hanging

While there, I noticed that someone had hung a saucepan on a tree. I guess after cooking they just couldn't bother to lug back that utensil! Or maybe they had burnt it so badly on open fire it could no longer be used.

After lunch we headed back towards our parking lot by a much more forested but dry area,  minus gators.

In this section, the numerous fallen trees lying across the trail reminded us that there had recently been a hurricane in Florida. As we wended our way slowly, we met a gentleman who had been hiking with a young boy and two other adults  who stopped by a large fallen tree along the track to help the ladies go safely over it.

I asked him if he was a boy's scout and he replied "I try to be." Very helpful and pleasant young man.

Christina (Cuba) Terry (Guyana) Sue (Uganda)

The best part of these hikes in my book is meeting new people and Florida is quite a melting pot.

 Celia (Romania) Stephanie (New Zealand)

The interesting thing is it is a state of migrants as very few people living here are actually born here or even in the USA.  I spoke at length to quite a few people along the way but only one was originally from the state. Four were from  Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania and N. Dakota but the others were originally from overseas......... New Zealand, Romania, Cuba, and Uganda and of course me, Jamaica.

I really don't know how come Trump has his favorite (?) home in Florida when he hates immigrants so. Oh well, I guess he only hates non -Aryans so  he can survive here!. (Now why did I spoil my thoughts of a day pleasant day by thinking of him! Darn)

Back to more pleasant thoughts. I was excited to learn that the Bietram's (Terry from Guyana and his wife Sue from Uganda) had just recently returned from a safari in Kenya, which I plan to visit later this year so I really picked their brains about what to see and do there.

I just love the great outdoors. I love hiking, I love going to new places and most of all, I love life.

Another great day in the magnificent outdoors.

The domestic violence epidemic

Because women tend to be physically weaker than men, domestic violence at the hands of their partners and even loved ones, is a terrible pestilence that countless women have been forced to put up with since the beginning of time. And because these women more often than not, have had to suffer alone and in silence, the perpetrators have usually gotten away with it.

Since this practice can filter down in homes from one generation to the next, it has now reached epidemic proportions in the USA (which keeps good statistics) and most likely the rest of the world, if the report published by the Huffington Post on December 6th 2017 is to believed. For according to that newspaper, the number of American women who have been murdered by current or ex male partners between 2001-2012 was 11,766 nearly double the  number of US soldiers killed during the same period in active warfare Afghanistan!

The statistics put out by the National Coalition Against Domestic violence are equally mind boggling as they declare that each year, one in three women becomes a victim of physical brutality by an intimate partner, resulting in one woman being assaulted or killed by a partner every 9 seconds!

I am sure that not even women who are themselves victims, had any idea that the practice within families was so widespread for many may have thought it was only happening to them.

Well, as they say, behind every dark cloud lies a silver lining and if there is to be a silver lining behind the recent debate on the Rod Porter affair,  it is that the refusal by president Donald Trump and his minions, Chief of Staff Kelly, Sarah Sanders and Kelly Ann Conway to firmly and unequivocally condemn domestic violence while praising the perpetrator, Porter,  has elicited near unanimous condemnation and brought the issue from out of the shadows and placed it firmly on the front burner. 

This, plus the stiff price Porter has had to pay since his double life has been exposed, will hopefully cause potential abusers to think twice when they have the urge to abuse women, for now they know it will most likely eventually come out and destroy their careers for the days of their devious actions being forever kept secret, are gone.

For those who are not aware of the Rod Porter affair, he is a former aide to Trump who had access to classified material although he could not get security clearance from the FBI, as his Jekyll and Hyde character left him open to blackmail.

When his record of beating his two wives and girlfriend was leaked to the press, he had to resign immediately although his disgusting supporters at the white house would have happily kept him on, were it not for public outrage, especially by women. 

With other men seeing how the career and reputation  of this otherwise brilliant and from what we hear, hard working and effective  employee,  disintegrating immediately because of his secret, undercover and despicable penchant to destroy those whom he had pretended to love, hopefully they too will get the message.

And if evolving from this issue too, there were  enough legislators courageous enough to push for laws to criminally charge the organizations that keep people employed, after they have evidence that they have committed acts of domestic violence, that would send an even better message that domestic violence will never be tolerated. For when people are not only named and shamed, but also lose all chance of making a living, I guarantee that most will think twice about ever raising a hand at weaker partner.

Indeed, society has a duty to do everything, both criminal and civil, to protect the weak from harm.