Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

[wandaweberg]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Soul Hunter:
[qb]

.




poor little youths have no idea what’s coming… [/qb]

Vi, this one made me think of you! tee hee

[Laurel]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Reminds me of my XXX husband ... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[jerry_newbie]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Mr Soul Hunter, i did'nt think i was going to be able to visit jamaica until December. over the past week you have taken me there several times.

thank you for allowing me the opportunity to join you on your journey.

Jerry

[geocox]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Soul Hunter,
When is the wedding? This group has you'all hitched up; look out man. The women being pushed in your direction are special gals, intelegent, HOT, lovers of Jamaica, and loved by this board.

Now you’re loved, I think you should look into this direction, there are stranger ways to meet that special woman.

GIRLS,
me thinks you’all have planted the seeds and now they need time to grow; it looks like they will.
Back to this special report …….

Geo

[Vi]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Geo…such a nice thing to say!!! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

WandaB..yes girlfriend...that's just how I like to see dem critters...on a 4x6 glossy [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sammy]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

SH

your report is simply divine...thank you so very much for sharing such a personal vacation with us.

[Soul Hunter]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Thanks to all of you for your kind words.

wandab thanks so much for taking the time to read what's starting to look like an epic!

jerry glad you're enjoying the ride - december soon come!

geo mi a work pon it [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

sammy thanks for the luv - really appreciate it!

[damask]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Soul Soljah, truly awesome your report. coming in from the cold to a slice of paradise

[Soul Hunter]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

”see the morning sun,
on the hillside.
not living good, yeah, travel wide,
said i'm a living man,
and i've got work to do.
if you're not happy, children,
then you must be blue,
(must be blue, must be blue), people say.
i’m a rebel...”

Robert Nesta Marley - Soul Rebel

Day 11…

The big bashment has come and gone and I awaken to my last full day on the island. As usual, the house is buzzing by the time I make it out of my room. True to his word, uncle C.W. arrived bright and early, circa 0700 and snatched up Mama and friends and started on the drive back to Spanish Town. A cuss two badwud under mi breath for him not waiting until I could say goodbye to Mama, and then set about taking a few pics of Mom’s digs. She’s fixed the place up nicely, and though she’s not done adding a few knicks and knacks, it does indeed feel like a home:


sitting area – that for some reason only Maggie sits in…


guest room number 1


dining room and kitchen


living room


my room


guest room number 2


the queen’s room – mom’s room


and a shot of the roof – for the heck of it…

[Soul Hunter]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

I grab a seat at the dining room table and join aunt M.J. and aunt P.E. on a trip down memory lane. Mom joins us and pretty soon aunt M.J. has the house rocking with laughter over silly stuff she and mom have been through. Here’s one I hope no one can relate to:

Mom and aunt M.J. decide that they want to go on a cruise. Mom is living in Florida, and aunt M.J. is back home in Montego Bay. They talk to mom’s travel agent and settle on a cruise to the Cayman Islands, or somewhere thereabouts. While he’s at it, the travel agent books mom a flight to Jamaica for the week after she gets back from the cruise, and also takes care of aunt M.J.’s ticket from Jamaica to Florida the day before the cruise.

So aunt M.J. arrives, and the next day they board their ship in Ft. Lauderdale. The cruise gets under way and about 4 hours into it, through a conversation with two guys on the ship, they discover that they aren’t going to the Caymans like they thought, but rather to Ocho Rios! Aunt M.J. turns to me at this point in the story and says, “but can you imagine? Mi fly up from Jamaica, only fi cruise go straight back to Jamaica?” So they arrive in Ocho Rios, call up aunt P.E., who is thoroughly perplexed, and with the two guys in tow (who it turns out are a couple) proceed to take them on a tour of the island. That’s mom and aunt M.J. Always into something.

I seriously hope that if ever I’m fortunate enough to meet a woman who will take me as her husband, she’ll be the second coming of aunt M.J. To be around this woman is to be around someone who enjoys life. She inhales it in every breath she takes, exudes it from every pore. Anger seldom dwells within her – she lifts spirits just with her laughter, and is so personable, so powerful in her being, that you just can’t deny her spirit…even if you wanted to.



Unfortunately they can’t spend all day with us, and as aunt M.J. and P.E. get ready to take their leave, I gather the ladies around for a quick photo. What I didn’t anticipate was that this would become a full-blown photo shoot!

Aunt P.E. advises moms and aunt M..J that people with big necks “have to shub out dem chin fi mask di fat” which promptly results in:



I get them to stop playing around for a sec so I can get at least one “serious” photo before they leave:



Mom has a painting hanging in the dining room that she picked up some time ago. It’s a beautiful painting, full of life and defiance, three strong women taking a pause in their busy day to have a chat before continuing on their way.



Aunt M.J. loves the painting, and before long all three have gathered around it trying to figure out how they can replicate it before the camera. The back and forth is serious…”no man, u must tan up deh so and mi wi go over here. No, no, fi u hand must deh akimbo, and P.E. suppose to have fi har hand fold up…” They never quite get it right – but close enough…


planning is key!


too much smiling a gwaan, says aunt M.J.

[Soul Hunter]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Pretty soon, even Maggie gets into the swing of things and I snap a few of her too. Mom is debating pulling out of Alaska soon, and if she does, I don’t know that I’ll see Maggie again. I’ll try and make it up there at some point this year, but if this is my last time with this lovely old lady it was truly a wonderful experience having met her. She was a bit of a loner initially – but once we realized we shared a common love (westerns!) it was all curry. I’ll remember closing down many days with Maggie watching Gunsmoke, Chisum, and a black western that may have been one of the strangest movies I have ever seen…


just to prove to the folks back home, that maggy land a yard!

I spend the rest of the day running errands. Picking up souvenirs in Ochi on a Sunday proved futile, and I settle for a HTB bun, a tin of cheese, some “drops” for a friend in DC and one of those round buns for the plane ride home. Of course the house needs serious cleaning, and I help mom out – savoring the feel of the hot sun on my shoulders on this my last day in Ochi.

This trip has been an emotional journey for me. Spending time with mom, the uncertainty over aunt T.P.’s condition, Mama’s bravery in the face of potentially devastating loss, and then there’s Jamaica and my people. Colorful, vibrant, struggling yet somehow surviving, with both their character and spirit in tact.

As I pack my bags for the trip back to DC, I realize I’m already planning the next trip home. Perhaps when the “sisters” next return so that I can meet the woman who has clearly had a profound impact on me, or maybe Christmas, so I can sit with Mama and reminisce to days of long past when Christmas meant sorrel, good food and cheer, and a bunch of cheap toys that somehow just didn’t seem so cheap back then. Jamaica does that to you – it forces you to look inward, to remember the good, forget the bad, and somewhere in the middle, find some semblance of inner peace.

[RiceKrispiTreat]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Bravo!! I do not usually get the chance to read many trip reports, but I am so glad I took the time to read yours. I finally just caught up and finished the entire report. Thanks so much for sharing! Your family is lovely. I feel like I took a wonderful rollercoaster kind of trip to Jamaica through your writings and now I need a nap! :-) Thank you again!

[cinnni]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Oh SoulHunter
Words cannot even begin to express how much I enjoyed your trip home.

Thank you so much for sharing your family with all of us here at ja.com. They and you sound like beautiful caring people.

With the terrible last few weeks I've had this was just what I needed to calm my own soul and let me get away from my own life to regroup even if just for a little while.

I'm sad to know that this trip is over and you need to hurry up and go back home so we have another great trip to read about.

[TFollis]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

First off... The house is absolutely beautiful. I love the Queens bedroom suit. Did she have it made special for her?

The painting is beautiful !! Your moms, Aunt P.E., and Aunt M.J. are all just as beautiful as the painting.

You have made me want to meet them all and maybe bust in one of dem family gatherings. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Sounded like my kinda party!

Now on a sad note [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I know this report is coming to an end and I just don't want it to. So when you finish up dis one can you start another??? PLEASEEEEE Tell us whatever you want, just keep writing. You have a gift mi friend and it's definitely one made to share.

Bless Up

[TFollis]

Re: Coming In From The Cold...an unremarkable trip report

Quote: "Jamaica does that to you – it forces you to look inward, to remember the good, forget the bad, and somewhere in the middle, find some semblance of inner peace."


Now ya make my eyes get salty again... Those words describe why so many of us long for Jamaica every minute of everyday. Ohhh I want to fly out real bad right now.

Thank You SH for showing us all we are not alone in our love for Jamaica and for reminding us why we love her so much.

Bless