The pretty Monarch

How can something so pretty live for just a few weeks? This is what resonates in my mind when I look at butterflies. Flittering around you, making their way in and out, you can't stop and admire one. When I was younger, butterflies and dragonflies were a big part of my childhood. We'd often be found in the cemetary right next to our school playground, because that's where we'd find the most butterflies. For the most part they were simple brilliant yellow or muted white, but such grace and lightness neverthless succeeded in capturing our attention. So now when I come across a butterfly that's even prettier, I have to stop and stare, especially when it's a Monarch butterfly. I finally got a chance to capture this one at the Royal Botanical Gardens, which does boast a butterfly garden. This one actually stood still. They are restless lil' things, but so pretty right? I've always loved the Monarch because of its colours. So 70's...that just reminds me of the things that my family had around when I was growing up.

To the left, to the left

I've now been driving on the left hand side of the road for almost a year and may I say, I've made the mistake of switching to the opposite side of the road just once, while I was coming out of the gas station. The whizzing by of a car stopped me before I could even think about turning into the main road on the wrong side and thus gave me a rude reminder that I was driving in Bermuda. This is where it gets complicated, when you're day dreaming and a turn onto the wrong side of the road is all you need to cause a an accident or even worse, a fatality. While driving a car is much more safer than a bike, it's what will collide with your car that you have to watch out for.

This past week saw the death of an American visitor, who was driving a rental bike (scooter). She leaves behind her husband and 2 children, one of which (her daughter) was with her at the time of the accident. This was her second visit. A family now mourns the loss of their wife/mother. How incredibly sad and unfortunate!

Of course issues have re cropped as to how tougher measures should be put into place to screen North American visitors to ensure that they can handle driving a scooter (since car rentals are not an option in Bermuda) because the current philosophy of 'Don't Worry' & 'Driving around first in the parking lot is all the practice you need' is just not going to cut it. But no matter how rigorous the screening that may take place, you are bound to switch back to your old ways of driving on the right hand side of the road. Like I said, I've been driving for almost a year on the left hand side of the road, and I sometimes still stop and think about which side of the road I should embark on, right after I remember my current co-ordinates.

Easter Monday

If Bermuda is a British territory, then shouldn't Easter Monday be a statutory holiday across the board, not just at the banks and at the governement offices? I'm just saying...

Black History Month

I meant to post this at the end of February but somehow the weeks have slipped away. And then I saw this post from this Bermuda blogger and thought I just had to post this, as late as it may be. His view is that Black History Month is irrelevant in Bermuda, which I thought very interesting. Perhaps it's in the little communities that it's more prevalent. Here are some of my favourite Bermudians decked out in their native African wear to celebrate Black History Month. A performance on some genuine African drums, brought all the way from a certain tribe in Africa was also accompanied by a celebratory luncheon.

Some African vignettes...











And a video of the African Drums (you know I've got a video...)

March break

If you already live on a tropical island, do you still get the itch to escape to another tropical island for March break? What if the island you live on is Bermuda, would you still want to visit another island, one with warmer or lets say a hotter climate. Ain't Bermuda hot enough this winter? We've hardly had any rain. With people March breaking in Bermuda from other parts of the world, would you still March break elsewhere? Where would you go? Florida, Cuba, the Caribbean?

Say what

One of my favourite Bermudian sayings: Do I look like I just came down with that last drop of rain...
The other one is: Stop your noise...

Smokin' a doobie

I once read that in & around 1962 there were only six drug dealers in Bermuda, and Social Services knew and were in touch with all six of them. Well, you're not going to find that level of closeness today and especially not with the number of dealers in Bermuda, of which I have no idea about. I just know there's more than six today.

We've always been told to guard our belongings especially laptops, since they're prized articles in a robbery in the way of garnering some drug money. The government is vigilant about drugs making its way onto the island. How vigilant?

Well, we once heard this story: A certain expat/visitor had with him his golf clubs as he made his entry into Bermuda. The police dog (an Alsatian/ German Shepperd) they had on duty sniffed the clubs, giving Customs officers cause to investigate further. So what did they do? They snipped off the drivers of his clubs. All of them. You would think they'd have stopped at the first one, but just to be sure they cut them all off. No drugs of any kind were found and they waved him away. What about my golf clubs, asked the golfer. How am I supposed to play golf now? Not our concern, was what the wave meant. So, that's how vigilant they can be. And that only gives rise to the black market, which make no mistake, does exist here (or so I've heard).

I also have another hilarious story about a recent robbery which I so want to share with you but can't yet. I will share however, once we've left the island for good. And I almost didn't publish this post, but then I received this in my inbox and thought it very coincidental. One should never ignore coincidences, especially since in life, there are no coincidences.

Minnie's yellow shoes

This is my landlady, MsStopYourNoise's 10 month old grand niece in her Halloween costume - dressed up as Minnie Mouse. When she showed me this picture I just had to take a picture of it. What got me was how her costume was complete with Minnie's signature yellow shoes. Can we talk about the shoes for a minute? When I was a little girl, Minnie Mouse was a huge part of my cartoon world. I'd often look at her in her red and white polka dotted dress and then the shoes and think: I don't think those yellow shoes go with that dress. Where's the yellow in the dress? Interesting how I aware of colour co-ordination back then. But I do remember scrutinizing Minnie's yellow shoes, noting the small heels. Like I said, a huge part of my life. So, when I saw this picture, those long forgotten memories just came flooding back, ones I have not thought about for perhaps 25 some odd years. It took me back to a happy place. A very happy place.