A vast offering

Near where the river meets the sea between Manzanilla and Mayaro, there is a long stretch of what (from a distance) looks like pinkish white sand (as opposed to the rest of it which is brown). Drawing closer, you will see that it's not sand, but millions of mainly whitish and pinkish shells, glistening in the sun like a fresh carpet of snow.

My tropical 'snow' angel

I wave, you wave, sea waves.

Whenever I go to that spot and see the shell carpet, I wonder what makes the sea choose that particular stretch of sand to make its deposit? Water currents? Energy currents? And where do so many shells come from all at once? It's like a never ending supply. A vast offering.

Acknowledging Earth Day

Wish

Last night I sat on the verandah upstairs to eat a slice of pizza. I swung the reclining chair around so that I would be looking over the back garden and the field toward Port-of-Spain in the distance. The sky was like a large screen, bright and a little hazy. My decision to sit there was perfect timing. I had only been sitting a few seconds when a long white streak cut through the atmosphere. A shooting star (meteoroid)! One of my favourite natural phenomena. It was beautiful, lasting quite a while before disintegrating totally. Reminded me of high school days in the Chemistry lab, burning magnesium strips.

You are what you eat

Over the weekend I went to a friend's house to visit and have lunch. At one point we were standing at opposite ends of the room, chatting across the floor. "Oh, here!" she said suddenly, tossing a brown thing to me. It was the heart-shaped potato featured in these photos. She then gave me a heart-shaped rock and said she couldn't think of anything else to give me for Christmas (belated gifts).

She told me that she had been having a dinner the other night and the guests were all around, helping. She had dipped into the bag of potatoes to make some aloo and her hand pulled out the heart-shaped spud. She immediately thought of me (I guess because I'm always finding heart-shaped things in nature) and quickly hid it, before anyone else saw it and added it to the pot.

Last night I boiled it in its skin (to keep the heart whole) and, when it was done, sliced it into four, spread cottage cheese on each segment and sprinkled black pepper on the cottage cheese. I then ate it for dinner.

I'm back

I got Satya back the next day with everything intact. It was an odd thing that happened - a CD I had put in her drive did not show up on the desktop and when I tried to eject, it would not budge. I restarted and was met with a frightening, white screen and no little apple indicating that Satya was booting up. To cut a long story short, the people at the mac place opened up Satya, got the CD out and Sat was working again. What a relief!

But ... I still decided to take a few days away from internet on the whole and it was good. Didn't go on at all. Spent time being quiet, spent time in nature, spent time tuning in. Would still not have been on were it not for clients sending e-mails which I needed to look at.

Rainbow seen on drive back from La Vega with Gab the other day.

At times ...

(St. Lucia log)

Yesterday I felt to go to the sea. The idea of it was cleansing in a way that nothing else could be. I felt for a quiet beach, but Rodney Bay, which is walking distance from where Mel lives, was crowded with a pack-load of tourists. We had a light lunch at Spinnakers, then walked along the beach and found a fairly quiet spot toward the end of the bay. The sea was gentle and warm and I went in alone. At times I just floated, surrendering to what is unimaginably larger than I am. At times I folded up like a foetus and was submerged and drifting in a massive womb. At times I tried handstands (which more ended up being flips) - and turned myself upside down like a salt shaker, emptying out. At times I just gently breast-stroked my way through the water. At times I went under the water and, as it supported me, I stretched myself out into whatever pose felt good ... Neptune yoga, maybe? At times I went under the water and spoke into it, knowing it was listening and understanding, even though I didn't really know what to say or how to put the essence into words. It, in itself, is beyond words. At times I just lay down or sat cross-legged in the shallow, allowing the gentle waves to shift me slightly. Then, when I felt to, I came out.

Bamboo and light swirls

Yesterday, walking through the bamboo, swirling my camera. The green parts are the bamboo. The white parts are the sunlight filtering through.

Journeying

Discovery

Plunge
Dancing

Where were you during yesterday's earthquake?

Yesterday I was at my friend Dion's house and we were editing when the earthquake struck. I was just going into my e-mail to check a list of names for the credits and I heard him say: "Is that an earthquake?" I stopped what I was doing and felt the house rocking gently. Very gradually it started to get stronger...

With my eyes growing increasingly larger, I rolled my chair over to his and and gripped onto his shoulder. I remained locked in that position for the duration of the quake, my fingers tightening as the rocking intensified. Good thing for him I don't have long fingernails.

With my free hand I dialed furtively on my cellular phone while Dion did the same on his Blackberry - calling his wife and mother. But by that time the quake was done and circuits were jammed. We were unable to get through to anyone for quite a while. Dion says it's best to call during the earthquake because no-one else will be using their phone.

Even though I sat there frozen, I was not petrified. Had walls started to crack and things fly off of shelves, yes (!) ... but rather, I was frozen into a surreal state of fascination and unknowing ... thinking that if earthquakes weren't potentially dangerous, it would be a wonderful experience to just sit there and feel the earth rocking us, enjoying the motion like babies in a cot, safe in the knowledge that nothing would fall on our heads, the earth wouldn't crack open and swallow us or there would be no tsunmis triggered.

As much as I don't like hurricanes, I prefer them in the sense that at least we can be warned that they are coming. Earthquakes just happen out of the blue ... and you never know when they will come, how long they will last or how strong they will become. This one felt long and intense ... but I guess it depends on where you are at the time. I would hate to be in a tall building with glass walls (like Nicholas Towers) ... or worse yet in crowded Christmas Mall with tons of crazy shoppers scampering for cover!

All the more reason to avoid malls for your Christmas shopping and invest in the I SPY Christmas gift special. Quite a few orders have been made already. Don't miss your chance to get yours before my current stock is sold out!

***

NOTE: I will not be updating the blog this weekend because I will be at a yoga workshop from today until Sunday.

So, my weekend:
Friday
Sat(nam)urday
Sun(salutations)day

One-of-a-kind Christmas gift special! (with video clip)

This Christmas you don't have to sit in traffic for hours ... embark upon futile hunts for parking spaces in jam-packed malls ... lug heavy bags and parcels back to your car ... or wrack your brains for innovative or appropriate gift ideas for children, adults and families.

Happy Hippy Productions is pleased to offer you the ideal gift alternative ... the I SPY environmental series on DVD ... at the extra special Christmas price of $60 per DVD!*

*

Front of the I SPY DVD

*
*
This gift is:
(a) Interesting, educational, enjoyable and different
(b) Affordable
(c) Environmentally conscious-raising
(d) Suitable for all ages (young to old ... i.e. the whole family)
(e) Easy to order
*

The I SPY Environmental DVD contains four entertaining and educational environmental documentaries filmed by diverse groups of children aged 7 - 10: I SPY Wildlife, I SPY Things in My Garden, I SPY Recycling, I SPY Trees. Each documentary is approximately 13 minutes long. Just under an hour of total viewing time for the whole family.

Inside of DVD

Back of DVD

*
Order now
at the
SPECIAL 2007 CHRISTMAS PRICE
of
$60TT each

* (Special offer valid until December 31 2007)
*

To place your order and arrange for collection:
Call Elspeth at 786-2539
or e-mail nowiswowisnow@yahoo.com

Orders placed after buy-out of current stock may have a ten day waiting period.

Opening sequence of one of the episodes:
I SPY Things in My Garden
(episode filmed by the Gunsam and Joseph children, Santa Cruz)
Youtube upload quality does not reflect quality of actual video.

Turn, turn, turn

I must admit I feel a twinge of jealousy when friends living in temperate countries write and mention in their e-mails 'the signs of coming winter', the nippy weather, the frost, etc.

I love the four temperate seasons - best of all the cool-to-cold autumn, winter and spring. I'm not much of a summer person, which is ironic as I currently live in a hot clime.

When in England, I used to love waking up and beginning the day by looking out of my window onto the expanse of grass outside. It was like opening a new, surprise gift every day ... not knowing what to expect. One day it would be green. One day it would be silver (frost). One day it would be unexpectedly sleeping under a serene, untouched blanket of white. One day there would be footprints and other kinds of prints in the snow. One day there would be little green shoots pushing out of the white expanse. One day there would be slush or white patches. One day there would be a whole set of yellow daffodils ...

Here we have two seasons - wet (which I prefer) and dry. Waking up in the morning there's not the diverse variety in terms of drastic changes in temperature and things like frost, sleet, snow, sudden new flowers, etc. Mostly I see the variety above, in the sky and the clouds. Every morning when I go for my walk there's something different about them that attracts me ... not so much like opening a new gift, but like observing a new painting.

Today the sun was shooting out in massive rays from behind the cloud bank, looking like a scene from one of those religious movies. The angels would have been chorusing and it would have been symbolic of some new beginning or great revelation.

*
To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born, a time to die.
A time to plant, a time to reap.
A time to kill, a time to heal.
A time to laugh, a time to weep.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to build up, a time to break down.
A time to dance, a time to mourn.
A time to cast away stones.
A time to gather stones together.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time of love, a time of hate.
A time of war, a time of peace.
A time you may embrace.
A time to refrain from embracing.

To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to gain, a time to lose.
A time to rend, a time to sow.
A time for love, a time for hate.
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

(The Byrds)

Book your 'Live the Pledge' tickets

Ticket design: Brown & Partners
Printer: Andes Printery

*

Tickets for the Greenlight Network Environmental Concert 2007: LIVE THE PLEDGE will be available for public purchase from the first week in September. There have already been call-in requests for bookings ... so call Greenlight Network's headquarters: 645-0157 or e-mail greenlightnetwork (at) gmail (dot) com to secure your tickets now!


LIVE THE PLEDGE
When? Saturday 29 September 2007
Where? JFK Theatre, UWI, St. Augustine
What time? 2:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Admission? $40

All proceeds will be injected back into Greenlight's creative, environmental awareness-raising projects.

This event is a 6 hour music and multimedia marathon. Bring the family and come! Enjoy, be enlightened, shake a leg or two!

Performers:
5 O'Clock Shadow
Anti Everything
Brother Resistance
Don't Panic
Elspeth Duncan
Glenford Bhagat
John Pollard
Jointpop
Malik
Mark Ng Wai
Broken Mirroz
Ozy Majic
Rahil Babooram
Tie Dye Kitty

Two surprise guest artistes!

Videos!

And more!!

A Magical Mud pimple day (with video)

(Brief summary of today's journey to Manzanilla with Adrian and Joanna)It was a partially dark and stormy day ...

We walked along the beach and found enlightenment.

As we sat on a piece of driftwood in Mayaro munching rotis for lunch, this beach dog (of which there were many) waited patiently for a few morsels.
One of the day's many highlights was this mud volcano (in Kernaham Village), which we re-christened "the mud pimple". Volcano seemed to be too dramatic a word for this pimple which stood there bubbling politely, much to the delight of the crowd of onlookers we met upon arrival. It is not clear whether the girl in the shot is running from the gurgling mud pimple or from the camera.

For live mud pimple action, see the video below.

Life is perfect

A growing island

Apparently the phenomenon off Radix point is not a mud volcano, but a growing island which has almost trebled in size over the past few days. According to the report in the Express newpapers today entitled "SCARY SEA":

A growing island beneath the muddy, churning waters off Point Radix in Mayaro is a cause for concern for oil companies operating in the area.

The companies operating in the area are Petrotrin and Canadian Superior.

Officials from State-owned Petrotrin flew by helicopter at the weekend to the area of turbulence to get a first hand look at what is happening. Earlier, the Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies (UWI) warned in a report that the island, which it described as "the construction of an undersea mound", had resulted "in a significant reduction in the depth to off-shore platforms in the area."

The island has more than trebled in its size in the past few days. "One week ago the water in that area was approximately 50 feet deep, now it is between six to ten feet deep," Rod Stewart , a Volcanic Seismologist attached to the University of the West Indies (UWI), said yesterday.

He said the island was now 40 feet high and it covered an area of some 500 feet in diameter. Stewart said the waves in the area at the time of the visit were "about six feet high."

He and officials of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), UWI and the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), visited the area last weekend to make a further assessment of what was happening.

They travelled by boat and remained about 100 feet from the turbulence due to the formation of the island. The team collected samples of water with fine mud for analysis. The IMA was also making arrangements to bring in a consultant to help in the investigation, it was learned.

A team consisting of representatives of the IMA, ODPM and Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago as well as members of the Seismic Research Unit will continue their study of the area today.

A Petrotrin official said "we will be guided by the findings of the team". He said that in the meantime the company will be taking all the necessary instructions given by the ODPM.

The ODPM has advised owners of small craft to stay away from the area until a final determination is made concerning the turbulence in the area.

When the sea first started to churn last week experts had said that it might have been a mud volcano.

Birdwatching

In one of our efforts to find something to do, my friend Nic and I got up early this morning and went to meet some people from the FCN. They were going birding and we thought it would be something new for us to try.

We met two of the members at 6:30 a.m. at the back of UWI. The plan was to go to Arena Forest. However, apart from us, no-one else turned up, so the two birders said it wasn't a good idea to go with such a small group into the remote forest. Instead, we went to look at shorebirds near the Caroni Swamp. The SWARMS of mosquitoes that met us there were about as large as the birds ... and they were relentless. Insect repellent did not phase them. Even when we drove down the dirt track with the car windows rolled up, the monster mosquitoes were banging against the glass trying to get in, quite like something from a horror movie. To make matters worse, they were aedes aegypti, the kind with the striped legs that spread yellow fever and dengue. They were biting us, swarming against our pants and mating in mid-air.

In between slapping mosquitoes, we saw lots of scarlet ibis (the national bird) and other birds (can't recall the names). The birders had binoculars and a small telescopic instrument on a tripod which enabled us to get close up views.

Finally deciding to escape from the mosquitoes, we then went to a fishing depot at Carlsen Field where we saw more shore birds: scarlet ibis, pelicans, laughing gulls and a host of other birds whose names I can't recall. They were all mingling and feeding on the mud flats. An interesting sight.

Birding is definitely a passion for some people, but for us it was simply a pleasant excursion ... something different to do on a Sunday morning.

Picnic at Leslie Street Spit (with video)

Yesterday the weather was great: sunny and breezy. J and I walked seven hours (to and from) and had a picnic on the lakeside rocks at Leslie Street Spit. We were joined by several guests who also enjoyed the goodies.

Review of Greenlight concert in today's Guardian

The Guardian

LOCAL ARTISTES STAGE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERT

BY MARSHA MOKOOL

The Greenlight Network staged an environmental concert featuring a diverse range of artistes on Saturday to coincide with World Earth Day.

Global warming also seemed to be the unplanned theme behind the Nature of Sound Concert held at the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, Woodbrook.

The air-conditioning unit broke down once again, producing an actual global warming effect in the jam-packed indoor venue.

The concert, a compilation of environmentally and socially-conscious music, was the launchpad for the long-awaited environmental CD —Greenlight Network Vol 1—featuring an eclectic mix of 16 musicians and original artwork covers by local artists.

Mark Ng Wai, a talented 18-year-old reggae artiste and guitarist opened the show just after 6 pm, with an environmental song he wrote for the CD called Supreme Creator.

He was followed by punk rock band Anti-Everything, who stirred the audience with an exhilarating song from the CD entitled The Way We Live Our Lives, protesting against injustice, corruption and racism.

Don’t Panic also sang a song about racial unity, while a screen behind the stage projected images of people holding placards with Fix T&T, Fix Crime, and Every Creed & Race Find an Equal Place.

Founding member of the Greenlight Foundation Elspeth Duncan noted, “I am hearing a lot of songs about standing up for a cause and not being oppressed by those in power.

“We must allow our creative spirit to emerge, instead of our destructive spirit.

“We all have a heart and we all care or else we would not have been here. Everybody can make a little drop in the bucket,” said Duncan.

She said that the Foundation would be hosting an environmental concert on an annual basis.

Tie Dye Kitty, one of the newest pop/rock bands in T&T consisting of vocalist/keyboards Richard Hall from Orange Sky, guitarist/vocalist Sean Young Wing formerly of Smith Tuttle, bassist Arron Ramkelawan of Opium Mystic and drummer Triston Khan of Anti Everything, used this concert to make its premier appearance.

Coming out with a bang and a bunch of high octane adrenaline rush lyrics, they left a lasting impression on the audience.

Hall, who made jokes about osmosis evaporation as he wiped the sweat from his brow, sang a song he wrote for the environmentally conscious CD called Ask the Dust, which addressed the potential extinction of the plant.

Rahil Babooram came on next with a satirical composition about animal rights, drawing applause and laughter from the audience with such lyrics:

“Why must the animals bleed... don’t they realise one day it will be the other way around... and the animals will take you to town.”

He was followed by rock band 5 o’Clock Shadow which performed another track from the CD called Mother Nature’s Warning.

Mike Ross (of 95.1FM) and his two guitarists roused the audience with impressive vocals and lively, rhythmic tunes such as The Cleansing, awakening people about environmental pollution.

Jointpop, another local rock band, ended off the night with Who Shot Paradise, a catchy tune containing a strong environmental message which could also be heard on the CD, and The Water Supreme, a crowd favourite.

The limited edition CD, which also features Brother Resistence, Elspeth Duncan, Sheldon Manoo, Glenford Bhagat, Malik, John Pollard, Namid Lancaster and Ozymajiq, will be offered for sale at a cost of $100 at venues to be advertised.

For more information, please call

645-0016, 758-7915 or 789-0786.

The heat is on

The other day around midday I took a veggie pattie out of the freezer and left it to thaw. About 30 minutes later I returned to cook it, only to discover that it was already 'cooked' ... by the heat of the day.

Yesterday there was some minced soya on the stove in a pot. Every time I went and took some during the afternoon, it was warm, as if it had been heated slightly ... by the heat of the day.

What I am about to say below may sound pessimistic to some, so if you don't feel like reading on, don't.

I think the concept of 'hell' has nothing to do with a fiery place under the earth where the devil lives. The earth itself, once it is 'allowed' to heat up more, will be an unbearable, living hell. The 'fires of hell' could be global warming. The discomfort and horror of 'hell' could be the human madness/crime, natural disasters, the droughts, famine ... all of these things which we are seeing in 'small' yet increasing degrees. The inability to escape from 'hell' could be the fact that once the earth gets to such a point, there will be nowhere left to go ... unless man finds a way to live on other planets. If so, is mankind going to go to the Moon or Venus and start destroying them as well by polluting, plundering natural resources and constructing toxic industries and concrete jungles?

It's ironic that man destroys what is already here (nature) ... only to then go and find ways to 'invent' a poor imitation of it.

Perhaps the children of tomorrow will evolve, to be able to live on this planet. They will develop thicker, darker skin packed with melanin to deal with the intense sun. Or would they have no skin at all and just some kind of liquidy protective layer that is immune to heat ... or an internal cooling system ... or a reflective skin surface that deflects intense light rays back into the atmosphere? They may develop gills, enabling them to survive underwater when increasing sea levels swallow low lying islands. Their immune and digestive systems will be different, allowing them to comfortably eat and drink other things ... because 'regular' food may no longer be in existence ... due to extinction of animals traditionally reared for meat and lack of healthy soil and irrigation for growth of vegetable matter.

Having said all of that ... that kind of world may be a long way off, if ever. I prefer to believe that enough people and the 'right' people will wake up now to make the necessary changes to improve our ways of living on (and treating) this planet.

A successful concert

Just a few pics from what turned out to be a sold out and successful concert ...

Brian from the band Anti Everything ... once of the 9 acts which performed at last night's Nature of Sound concert, staged by Greenlight Network

The CDs, each with an original work of art as a cover, displayed in the lobby. Most of them were sold by the end of the night, but there are still a few left ... for those who want to invest in a great collector's item. Only $120TT. Contact me via this site or call Glen at 645-0157.

Tabla player for 5 O'Clock Shadow. They opened their performance with a powerful Eastern-styled rendition of the song they contributed to the CD: "Mother Nature's Warning."

Happy Earth Day

Oh! Happy Earth Day!
What does that really mean now?
Is the Earth smiling?

Aloe Vera, a healing plant
*

I think it must hurt (especially now) to be the Earth ... to have given so much since time began and to selflessly continue giving all of yourself in the face of increasing abuse from those to whom you have graciously given a free and fully furnished home. What has the Earth asked from us in return? Nothing but respect and greater consciousness of the way we 'walk'. She needs nothing else, because She has everything.

Choosing today as the date for the Greenlight Network concert, Nature of Sound was quite coincidental ... but, given our focus, very fitting.

Together, may our little drops inspire an ocean of Greater Consciousness.

*
(This week's One Deep Breath = Earth Day)

Nature of Sound

I was going to complain about TSTT again (landline/DSL still not fixed) ...

but instead, I'll direct you to something far more pleasing, enjoyable and beneficial.