Skip to main content

'moon dog'








Sunday night and it's a beautiful tropical evening. Cool, night sounds, quiet and we look forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is in fact a memorable day in history. The eclipse of the sun will happen at about 2.30pm and those of us on the rock will witness a partial eclipse. I am cool with that, half is better than none. The total eclipse will be seen through a narrow strip, seventy miles wide, in the USA. It is the only continent that will witness the show. The last time the entire world experienced a total eclipse of the sun was in the 13th century. Can you imagine the horror and fear when that happened? I am sure many were burned at the stake and thrown off of cliffs and Aztec structures and pyramids, god forbid if one was a virgin! Apparently for some reason virgins have had a real hard time in this world!

Speaking of a hard time I would really hate to be in the current Minister of Ferries shoes. His boss, the PMOTT, will be in Tobago tomorrow to say something. Just that, say something, and I am pretty sure the 'something' has not yet been determined. The much maligned Ocean Flower 2 [OF2] has been the bone of contention, the contractual issues still have to be determined. There is a clause in any Charter Party Agreement that is the ' Cancel Date'. There are terms and conditions that speak to that clause and I guess the lawyers will be dealing with that. As I write this it seems that the OF 2 is headed this way, like a tropical storm, and I wonder when the Minister of Ferries says 'she will not be welcomed' if our ever alert Coast Guard will stop her at the maritime boundary like so many illegal drug shipments. Hey it's Sunday night and the living is easy!

The family headed off to the QPS to do our tree planting yesterday, this the second time in maybe 30 yrs. After our first attempt at official tree planting, children in tow, our tree 'disappeared.' On arrival this time our tree was not available, the organizers were very accommodating, but alas, nary a tree was planted by the familia! It's not an issue, the main thing is that we supported, the two grandparents and two of the grans. I think that I am going to break the law, not sure which law, and head off into the Savannah and plant my own tree. One day, when the tree is fully grown,  the authorities will stand back and say, 'aye aye how dat tree reach deh? and the world will know that it is the Cadiz [ Cades, Cadez, Kadis, "how yuh say dat"] tree! The Lord knows we tried!

The discourse into the land slippage on the North Coast road is a long and tiresome one. Can the powers that be let us know to what extent is illegal squatting responsible for the landslides? The road, built in 1944 by the Americans, as compensation for the acquisition of Macqueripe, is in a mess. The illegal occupation along the road is something that unless the powers that be deal with it the North Coast road could literally fall into the sea. This is serious business and not your normal illegal occupation of state lands. The integrity of the North Coast road is very much in question.

There is so much happening on the rock. Last night myself and my life partner headed down to the QPS for a snack. Hundreds of people, families having a great time! Love it!

Tomorrow is the meeting of all meetings, the PMOTT heads to Tobago to explain why the sea bridge has more or less shut down. He has to explain how come a perfectly working ferry system failed under his watch. He has to explain and justify why businesses in Tobago have lost their shirt under his tenure. He will stand before the people of Tobago and admit that he has failed them! Tough job but someone has to do it! The PMOTT will have to accept full responsibility for everything that has happened to Tobago as a result of the failure of the ferry service under his watch.

Eclipse tomorrow at 2.00 pm. Make sure you have on your eclipse watching safety gears and for those of us who have the tendency, 'some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust on them'.

Good night and good luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Peace and quiet

When you hear the words 'perfect' or 'the best' it makes you feel like a million dollars. Human nature is weird, a simple compliment can turn a whole story into a week of joy! And, yes, I am speaking about the Sunday night popcorn! Apparently, tonight was exceptional. I hope the rest of the week translates into 'perfect'. The horrible news of the deaths of two cyclists over the weekend came as a real shock. We both know a number of people who cycle for good weekend sport and to hear of Joe Brown being killed in an accident was truly heart-rending. When we heard of the accident we started to think of all the people we know who cycle and just hoped it might be somebody we did not know. Is this how it works, you hope that it's not someone you know, what about all the people who actually know the person? Truly a sad day! RIP Joe and Joanna! The issue of cycling and motorists is one that every country I am sure goes through. Is it that the main roads are for...
Post a Comment
Read more

R&R

We had two of the four grands spend the weekend with us whilst the parents went off to the North Coast for some rest and relaxation. From all reports, the sojourn was well spent with both singing the praises of our North Coast, no beach, just R&R. We are ten minutes from the coast and I hate to admit it but it is rare that we venture north. One of the selling points of coming to live in the wilds of Maraval in 1983 was the fact that Maracas Bay was a mere 30 mins away. Maracas could have been next door it did not matter, we just do not do it. Having grandchildren I think puts you in a very different place. When our kids were growing up we were struggling with building a business from scratch, living off of a teachers salary, impossible then as it is now, and generally ketching. But as it is with all things in life we survived. Looking back at those years it was difficult, kids, dogs, mortgage and other loans, but you knew why you were putting yourself through all this hard...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Teacher Lucy'

May Day is significant both as a spring festival in the northern climes and of course as the International Labor Day. The latter was started in the 19th century by the communists and socialists and strangely enough in commemoration of an event in Chicago. May 1st on the Rock is just that May 1st. Within recent times a couple trade unions have recognized the day but our big labor celebration is on another day. On the Rock, you get to celebrate Labor Day twice and get paid for it. The dreaded SEA examine is happening this week and if you somehow forgot one is reminded by the number of photo-ops taken by persons of import. These persons visit schools hand out 'SEA packs' (consisting of pens, pencils and other trinkets), call for all God's best wishes on the poor children and to me scare the hell out of these kids who are about to sit an exam that will mark them forever. The SEA is as bad as it gets and to further stress the kids is simply not something that should ...
Post a Comment
Read more