QUARANTINE BLOG # 131

August 8, 2020

Columbia County Schools now confirm a third positive case of COVID-19 as parents received another exposure letter.  Superintendent Dr. Sandra Carraway was asked by local news station WJBF how many cases it would take to shut schools down again.  The report says, “Dr. Carraway wasn’t clear with us about how many cases it would take to shut schools down again, but she says right now it’s not enough.”

👉  Hardie Davis, mayor of Augusta, Ga., said that a patron-less Masters was “likely” when the tournament begins in November at Augusta National Golf Club.  The mayor surmises that because the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park is happening this weekend without fans, the situation will be duplicated at the Masters.  The Augusta National Golf Club has made no statement since early April.

👉 On July 24, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill – on strict party lines 224 Democrats for, 189 Republicans and 7 Democrats against – that would remove Civil War monuments from federal parks nationwide.  The legislation in question, HR-7608, if also passed by the Senate, would direct the National Park Service to remove all Confederate monuments, memorials, placards and statues at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Antietam, Chickamauga, Manassas, Petersburg, Fredericksburg and 18 other historic sites within six months.  HR-7608 is both stupid and slimy!

Let us review.  Our nation was divided, there were TWO sides, there was horrible fighting and dying, the union was saved, the slaves were freed, and we struggled to return to wholeness.  So let’s erase half of that history because some of us don’t like that half.  That’s the stupid part.

Here is the slimy part: the provision to remove Confederate monuments and markers was BURIED DEEP – trying to sneak it through – within a 727-page bill that also funds the State department, Agriculture department and the EPA.   Slimy!  Underhanded!  Can’t stand the light of day!  Those who wrote it and buried it are worthy only of the greatest contempt!

And on that nausea-inducing note, let’s sail to Barbados.

The independent English-speaking island-nation is entirely in the Atlantic Ocean – but residents (who call themselves Bajan) refer to the west coast as the “Caribbean side.”

The indigenous peoples who settled Barbados called the island Ichirouganaim meaning “Red Land with White Teeth.” The “white teeth” may be a reference to ocean waves, but the “red land” has been lost to antiquity.

Unlike most of its neighbor islands, Barbados wasn't formed by volcanic action, but is the result of coral growth.  This “rock” is really part of the coral, part of the island, carved out by the sea.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to come upon the island and they named it Barbados. The word Barbados means “bearded ones,” possibly because of the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree, indigenous to the island.

A campaign was started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World.  The winners were the Great Wall of China, Petra, the Colosseum, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer statue (the Great Pyramid of Giza received honorary status).  To make sure that visitors to the island would never miss the best attractions, the government of Barbados created a list of the Seven Wonders of Barbados.

7/1 The huge baobab tree in Queen’s Park, which is one of the Seven Wonders of Barbados.  No one can explain how this ancient tree, native to Africa, got to Queen’s Park in Barbados.  It takes 15 adults holding hands to encircle the 250-year-old Baobab tree in Queen’s Park, the trunk of which is 55 feet in circumference.

The local media caused quite a stir in March, 2011, when they reported the tree was going to be cut down to facilitate a traffic safety improvement project.  It was actually a tree across the street that was to be removed.

7/2 The impressive National Ordinance Collection, includes the world’s largest collection of 17th-to 19th-century iron cannons.  As Paul Harvey might have said, “There is no known significance, but the guns are pointing at the race track.”  Maybe this is the comment of a disgruntled bettor.

7/3 The Jewish Synagogue had its origins soon after the first British settlement in 1627 with the exodus of Jews from Brazil, where they had gone to escape persecution in Spain and Portugal. The congregation was called Nidhe Israel – “The Dispersed Ones of Israel.”  The synagogue is one of the two oldest synagogue in the Western hemisphere.

7/4 The Morgan Lewis Mill in St. Andrew Parish is one of the only two intact and restored sugar mills in the Caribbean.  The other is on Antigua.  The mill was used to produce sugar at the time when the industry was run by windpower.

7/5 The historic Jacobean Mansions, located in the parish of St. Peter, two of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in the Western Hemisphere, St. Nicholas Abbey and Drax Hall.

St. Nicholas Abbey was built by Colonel Benjamin Berringer. His neighbor, friend and business partner was John (later Sir John) Yeamans. When Yeamans began to pay attention to Mrs. Berringer, a feud erupted between Yeamans and Colonel Berringer, culminating in a duel in which Berringer was killed.  Soon afterwards, Sir John married Mrs. Berringer and claimed the Abbey.

Drax Hall was built by the brothers William and James Drax in the 1650’s.  The brothers built Drax Hall as one of the earliest and biggest sugar properties in Barbados.

7/6 The grapefruit is originally from Barbados and started in St. Thomas Parish. Its parents were the Shaddock Orange and the Sweet Orange, immigrants from Asia.  The name “Grapefruit” was chosen because it grows in large “grape-like clusters.”

7/7 Harrison’s Cave is an immense underground cavern with waterfalls, lakes, and narrow tunnels connecting secondary chambers.  Serious exploration of the cave begun in 1970, and resulted in a major development program. The work involved digging tunnels, improving lighting and diverting of underground streams.

The whole project cost $85 million which caused the Barbados Free Press, a local newspaper, to editorialize that with the entry fee of $60, it will take more than 1.5 million people visiting over the next 25 years – 156 visitors every day, to pay for the project.

This quick visit to Barbados has left out much of the island’s history and culture, so let me wrap it up with a bit of Bajan humor as found in their local parables.

Loose goat don’t know what the tied goat see.
One has to be in someone else’s shoes in order to understand what he is going through.

You can’t want it in the glass and in the bottle too.
You just can’t have it both ways.

Every pig got a Saturday.
Everyone will pay for his deeds at some point.

If you didn’t at the christening, you shouldn’t be at the wedding.
Do not get involved in something if you do not know how it started.

The higher the monkey climb, the more he show his tail.
The more you show off, the more your faults are brought to the open.

👉  Psalm 148 NKJV

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
He also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all the depths;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
And He has exalted the horn of His people,
The praise of all His saints –
Of the children of Israel,
A people near to Him.

Praise the Lord!

-30-