Post Hurricane Tomas
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 08/Nov/2010 01:00, 34 days ago
What a crazy week it was. We spent the week tracking and preparing for Hurricane Tomas which downgraded to tropical storm status. We were instructed to cancel all our weekend plans, schools and businesses were closed on both Thursday and Friday and we were told to ensure we had hurricane supplies which included food that doesn't need refrigeration or cooking plus 5 gallons of water per person. Since I am not allowed to use weights while stretching my left arm downwards, I should not have been carrying water in my left hand but the only way to get 10 gallons of water home was to carry two jugs at a time (one in each hand). It was pretty exhausting. I had to stop several times to give my arms a break, but I did it. Well, we never did get 10 gallons of water but we could see on the weather tracking sites that the storm was not going to be of hurricane proportions nor was the eye going to pass over Jamaica directly so common sense predicted we would be spared and it was all extremely anti-climatic.Above is the gully to Sandy Park, a Jamaican community across the street from us. This gully overflowed its banks when Hurrican Nicole passed through, flattening a house and killing a family of 6. It looks like the bridge suffered some damage as well; there is a large section missing near the far bank. After Tropical Storm Tomas on Friday morning, as you can see, this gully was empty.Fortunately at the last minute our ban on weekend travel was lifted and we were allowed to go to Strawberry Fields Together for Independent VoYces, a literary fair on the north shore. We had made 50% non-refundable deposits on two rooms and none of us wanted to wave goodbye to our hard earned money. So off we went.Our first stop along way was to photograph this fabulous foot bridge we always admire. Bringing our cameras out drew the attention of the owner who was working in his garden. He came to talk to us. He has an amazing piece of property where he grows plants for sale; his specialty is palms. I was tempted to buy one but when we saw the size we realized it wouldn't fit in the car - we didn't have enough space. I was told that he was planning to bring it across the suspension bride on his head. I am regretting not buying it now and tempted to go back to buy a palm from him another day.Our second stop was just a bit further along the river to photograph a group of women doing their laundry We often see folk washing their clothes in the springs along the road, but this group looked like they were just enjoying life on a Saturday morning while getting their work done.We travelled to the north shore to a little piece of paradise called Strawberry Fields Together for a literary festival called Independent VoYces to promote local authors and poets. We stayed overnight and had planned to visit the black sand beach and the nearby waterfalls but for various reasons it didn't happen. The owner and staff were busy with preparations for both a wedding and the festival so they didn't really have time to pamper us. Besides, the weather wasn't all that great, so we just sat back and relaxed in the hammocks and on the decks. We went swimming, played cards and dominos and danced all evening long. On Sunday we woke up to a whole new stage. The roadway in was flanked with advertising banners, comfy wicker furniture and potted palms were set up in the concrete gazebos where guests could meet the authors and poets and have their books signed, and tents were erected to protect local artisans selling silk screened scarves, sandals and calabash shell carvings.It wasn't just authors and poets reading excerpts from their books, but there were musicians, and drumming sessions for children.The crazy thing was the weather was actually worse over the weekend than it had been during the passing of the tropical storm. It was very windy and rained most of the time we were away resulting in fresh landslides to dodge driving home through the mountains.This was George and my second visit to Strawberry Fields Together. Our first was for Drums 4 Peace last August.http://mwapoleni-bunty.blogspot.com/2010/08/drums4-peace.html