A 'Splin' Hand at Christmas

The day before Christmas I tripped over a lumpy curb to get out of the way of a suddenly moving car and went down flat on the sidewalk.  I popped right up with a bleeding cheek, black eye and injured hand.  Not so bad considering what it could have been.  Someone ran to get McDowell who came right away and found me walking home a bit dazed.  The news that Miss Marian had 'fallen' went viral all over Portsmouth.  I didn't fall, I tripped.

I gave the minor injuries a couple of days and had all kinds of advice on how to treat the now badly swollen hand.  None of which I followed.  Dominicans hate ice, they fear it in fact.  But being a good Canadian, I knew my ice and applied it diligently.

Today I went to the Portsmouth Hospital Casualty and spent six hours there:  3 waiting for the triage nurse and then 3 waiting for the doctor.  Again, not so bad.  Most of the wait was outside, in the mountain breeze, listening to the chatter among the others who were also waiting, and I napped.

No pain, just swelling.  My right hand is useless, fingers don't work or close, I can't hold a fork, do up my bra, hold a pencil, but my keyboard tapping finger is fine. It's a nuisance.

The tiny Cuban doctor says ice and time.  She called it  'splin',  I am sure she meant sprain.  Anyhow,  nothing was broken.  She told me that the whole thing will turn all "cowloors" and will take 2 weeks. 

I am grateful to the higher powers who are looking after me.

DORIAN and The Bahamas

Well, Hurricane Dorian is in the process of destroying The Bahamas and has raised the spectre of Maria for many of us here. 

For the past 2 days, while Dorian has been pounding the Bahamas, I have been quite undone and having flashbacks. I was quite happy that I couldn't remember much about the Maria event.  I still don't, but I guess I really never acknowledged the effect of Maria on me.  At the time, one had to just keep going and to not succumb to the catastrophe.   I did well, I got along, remained healthy and happy and unaffected by the hurricane.  Dorian has awakened something.  Definitely not fear, but a sense of great sadness, an ache, some kind of weird yearning.  That the little innocent Bahamas can be wiped out just like that is heartbreaking.

They will recover, just as Dominica has recovered.  Maybe not as quickly and they certainly will never, ever be the same, but with the Caribbean community behind them, and their Sister Islands on the way at this very moment they will be back for sure.

OCTOBER  6

Over the weekend I heard the tourism minister of the Bahamas in the CBC begging Canadians to return.  The Bahamas have hundreds of little Islands, most of them untouched.  Only Grand Bahama and Abaco are non-functional.  Tourism is the lifeblood of the Bahamas.

My Life at the Moment

Stare at this dot

Until you get an idea

.

UPDATE

Just a quickie update

All this week it has been quiet on the street, and today, Saturday it has been unusually quiet.  Although there is political grumble and rustle, there is no activity.  My theory is that there is NO cash flow, and there is no cash flow because school is about to open.  It is very, very expensive to educate your child here in Dominica:  school fees,  uniforms, physical education uniforms, shoes, books, supplies, extracurricular fees - and if you have 2 or 3 or children in school it is a real hardship. Yet it appears all children go to school.  The Dominican web site says that ninety-eight per cent of primary age children are enrolled.   I could not find any stats on secondary education or up to date stats on education in general in Dominica.  School is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16.  How many actually graduate from high school?   Semi-literacy among senior citizens is high.  The Banks are offering loans of up to 3000 EC dollars for return to school funds.  Imagine!

Also, it has been  HOT,  which slows everything down, and now we are expecting a possible mini hurricane next week.

Creepy Crawlies

My constant struggle: Cockroaches and Mildew

I am in a perpetual battle with both.

It's true.  'Roaches will survive any holocaust, apocalypse, Armageddon, nuclear bomb, spray, trap and me. 

I have learned to live with the roaches, but I am not willing to let them run unfettered and will not succumb to their bullying and arrogance.  I am not sure which species we have, American or German and it doesn't matter.  They are all nasty.  Just when I think I have them under control I find them living comfortably in the oven door.  I light the oven, and with a spray can in hand,   attack as they scurry in retreat from the fire and heat.  They also like the toaster.  Same deal.  I put the toaster on empty, they run, I spray, and then toast.   I find them in the freezer of the fridge.  I believe they live in the insulation in the freezer door.  Both my oven and fridge are very old so the seals are corroded and coming away and they can slip in.  I have chased, smacked, poisoned and tried all the various remedies.  Borax is good.   I arduously prevent their proliferation keeping everything as clean and dry and off the floor as I possibly can.  Everything is in sealed containers and stored in the fridge. I do not allow cardboard boxes in the apartment, and I make McDowell shake out his bag when he comes home from the Bar where they abound!  I am somewhat paranoid about them and see them even when they are not there.  Several weeks ago I chased one around the counter only to realize that it was a raisin, not a roach! They are under control, but troublesome.

Mildew is a fact of life in the humid tropics.  The bathroom never really dries out and black mould grows between the tiles in the shower stall. I scrub with Clorox once a week.   Clothes in the closet and drawers get musty.  There is a wonderful product called Damp Rid that keeps this from getting out of hand, but I have never seen it in Dominica.  I usually bring half a dozen boxes when I come.

💪

UPDATE, May 22, 2019

Boiling water will kill them.  I turned out the kitchen, emptied the cupboards and drawers, pulled out the stove and fridge and threw scalding water in the corners.  It kills the eggs.  It was a pleasure to clean up the mess.  It is wonderful to open a drawer and not see scurrying horrors.  However, I am not so naive as to think they will not be back, or that there are not a few who have escaped, or that the neighbours don't harbour them,  but for now it is quiet.

The mildew and mould march on but we have come to a detente.

October , 20.......

Still fighting the good fight. 

UNDERGROUND ART

Well, the bug finally bit and I am returning to my "artistic" beginnings and first love:  zines and mail art and artist trading cards (ATC).  Maybe large watercolour paintings will follow in time.

Mail art is usually decorated envelopes but can include postcards, package wrapping, faux postage.  If you have to mail it to complete the creative experience, it is mail art!

Artist trading cards is a conceptual art movement initiated by the Swiss artist M. Vanci Stirnemann in 1997.  Any medium is acceptable but the card must be 2.5x3.5.  Artists trade or swap these mini works freely with each other all around the world.

This may be difficult from Dominica because the postal mail is weak and material (envelopes of varying sizes and paper) are not readily available. But this only adds to the challenge.  I may end up making envelopes!

Zine ( pronounced ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier for circulation. Zines are usually the product of a single person. 

As a distinct form, zines originated in the 1930s in the United States when fans of science fiction began to publish and trade their own stories. In the 1970s, when punk rock music emerged punk zines appeared. The Do-It-Yourself ethos found fertile ground in zines.

Many major libraries house collections and archives of underground art, especially zines.  Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and Regina are notable. there are annual conventions now in some centres.  Does that render it no longer "underground"?

SO…IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON MY MAILING LIST, SEND ME YOUR EXACT POSTAL ADDRESS.

Some of you are already on of course: Judy, Peter, Sarah, Jennifer D...son, Ann S., Barry, Loni, Lene.

Art supplies are always welcome: Prisma coloured pencils, fine tip black drawing pens .03, washi tape, origami paper, envelopes of any size or paper

Several of the early ones are lost