Friday, May 31, 2019

Jamaica


This was our sky the other night -- Creamsicle-orange, with a milky texture. It was very weird. A few minutes after I took this picture it began raining, so there was some surreal combination of sunset and clouds going on.

Yesterday was better at work. The problem kid finally, FINALLY paid for his lost book, so his account is now settled. (This may seem like a small thing but it resolves an issue that's been hanging over my head for months.) Overall I wasn't nearly as grumpy. I was just having a bad day on Wednesday.


While walking Olga the other day I found this bag propped against a rubbish bin with some boxes and other items. It was stuffed full of '70s-era papers. I took it home so I could photograph it -- when I was growing up in Florida I used to see straw bags like this all the time, from Jamaica or the Bahamas or elsewhere in the Caribbean. Everyone's grandmother had one. It made me quite nostalgic.

Remember those old "Make it Jamaica" tourism commercials? Prompted by this bag, that tune has been running through my head for days now.

Anyway, the paperwork was a mishmash of old bills and early '70s report cards for a couple of miscreant boys who weren't doing very well in school, and unfortunately, the bag itself was deteriorating, the handle tattered. After I took this picture I carried it all back to the bin where I found it.

I spent two hours in the garden last night, mowing and weeding. I try not to weed too much, because all that weedy undergrowth is good for bugs and other critters, but things can't be allowed to get too out of hand. When I'm having trouble finding our plants in the thicket, I know it's time!

8 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

It's a shame you took that bag back to the bin. You could have used it to carry dog treats and your personal accessories such as your tweezers, eyeliner, mobile phone and breath freshener.

Ms. Moon said...

I love those old straw bags. And yes, MY grandmother had a straw bag but it was from Haiti. I think she and my grandfather went on a cruise. They must have.
I'm glad that kid finally settled his bill. Yay!

ellen abbott said...

you are a nut. don't mind me, just borrowing the straw bag for a photo shoot, I'll put it back when I'm done. I'm sure the owner was wondering what the hell when it showed back up. I try to keep on the weeds, too many and it looks messy, says the woman whose gardening style is barely restrained chaos, and they steal nutrients the plants I want need.

37paddington said...

you are an archeologist at heart.

Anonymous said...

I love what 37paddington wrote. Yes, I agree. You have the heart of an archeologist.

Allison said...

We used to have a house with a huge yard on a hill that backed up to a native growth protection easement. We planted the banks (steep banks) with St. John's Wort in the naive belief that it would choke out the stink weed and another noxious weed whose name I can't remember. Anyway, it was 15 hours a week to keep the bank weeded, it was never ending stoop labor. I was very happy to sell that house and get a small flat yard.

jenny_o said...

I'm still chuckling at Ellen's comment.

That sky is beautiful.

Steve Reed said...

YP: Breath freshener? As if.

Ms Moon: They were such a thing for a while. Maybe they still are, I don't know!

Ellen: I doubt the owner even noticed, honestly. It was next to a big dumpster on a housing estate (apartment complex). Weeds DO look messy, that's true -- especially when they obscure the real plants!

37P: I remember you saying that before! In fact I often think of it when I'm doing these crazy things! LOL

Robin: I DO love finding things, it's true, and finding value in items that others believe are valueless.

Allison: Ugh! Weeding that bank does NOT sound fun. You needed a sheep!

Jenny-O: It was beautiful, in a very weird way!