Fiat Lux

 is for Queen's College.

Can I really do my first A to Z challenge and talk about anything else at the letter Q? I am a QC old girl. QC. Queen's College.

Barbados like a few other Caribbean countries (most notably Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad) has a school system tradition that mirrors the infamous British public school system. If you are American, or you are familiar with American culture, then think of the Ivy League colleges for a frame of reference. I am not going to trouble to explain that school tradition in this space. Feel free to google it or wikipedia it. In the history of learning, this system has some bright shining spots...and some rotten spots. 

In Barbados, there are about six (6) or eight (8) schools that we call "older secondary schools". Queen's College is one of these. It is formerly a girls school, now co-ed, and its official birth is cited as the year 1883. However, it can trace its origins back to a school that was started 300 years ago (that's for the folks from the "University" at Waterford...). 

The school motto is "Fiat Lux"- Let There Be Light. The lamp pictured in this post is one of the emblems on the school crest. The school song and hymn maintain the same theme. The school colours are royal blue accented by maroon and white. It may actually have been silver years ago (I have been planning to look into that). We have a long and strong tradition of academic and extra-curricular excellence that we maintain to this day. Kudos to the young people carrying that light in the here and now. We also have a habit of turning out firsts for women. Many of the first women to do many things that were traditionally the purview of males in Barbados are QCA alumni. Now, I could keep going and going and going. But these posts are meant to be short. Suffice to say that I am unabashedly a QC old girl and proud of our accomplishments.

I encourage everyone to appreciate the school(s) you attended, even if you can't rouse up a deep, abiding love. These are our formative years and what we learn in those years is largely responsible for our various successes, big or small, in adulthood. 

Once of these days this old school rivalry system will be over, perhaps to our betterment in Barbados. There are negative attitudes that result from the system in society, I'm afraid, mostly because adult people can't put things into a sensible perspective. But till then, and beyond, I will Carry the Light.

Governor Balls

So today's post is to be about something that starts with the letter "G". 

I found a recent shot from a little project I did. I went out to shot wild flowers. Or rather I went out to shoot Governor Balls...and it turned into a wild flower shoot

This is a shot of a plant I grew up knowing as Governor Balls. I don't know how it got the name, or what transpired to compel the person, who came up with title, to liken the spiky orb to the anatomy of authority. But it must have been serious! It must have a proper name, and possibly other names, but I haven't been able to research this. I will, and update this post in a couple of weeks.

I passed a spot a few months ago and realised that there was a patch of Governor Balls, growing merrily towards the sun on the side of the road. I thought then that I should come back and photograph the plants. But I didn't. Instead, I put it off for months. Then one morning I notice that the patch was almost entirely dry. So I figured that I had better get to it before the owner of field decides to clear the land, or a wild fire takes out the patch.

This shot is of a single spiky ball. The plant usually grows 3 or 4 feet tall, on a thin stalk with 4 or 5 of these spiky balls at evenly spaced intervals along the stalk. Eventually the orange flowers disappear and the plant starts to dry. It will eventually become entirely brown and harden.

The decision to stop procrastinating bore more fruit. As I puttered around the tangle of growth on the side of the road I found several other wild flowers, which these days seem rare to me. So I got shots of those too. There are a couple that I really like.

I saw a lot of these Governor Balls when I was growing up but not much in recent years. I think perhaps because I drive more. And there is a more development- the countryside is gradually becoming more residential. So the wild places are disappearing. Along with the wild flowers...

Folkestone

I haven't found an "E" so I will skip to "F".

This shot was taken at Folkestone Beach on the West Coast. It is a popular picnic and swimming spot, especially for locals. 

When I took this shot, it was the first time I had been there in many years. So I was taken aback by the very nice pedestrian walkway along the beach and the sprinkling of seats. 

It makes the beach side more appealing for just popping over and hanging out for a while or maybe taking a stroll or a jog. Some of my shock also came from the extent of beach erosion. Twenty-five years ago, the water's edge would have been much farther away. Where you now see a people swimming, those same people would have been standing on dry sand with no danger of getting their feet wet, even at high tide.

This shot was edited in the phone and I was impressed with how the phone handled the conversion to black and white. Ironically this was achieved by dialing back the saturation to zero. For the non-photographers, this is considered one of the least effective ways to create a monochrome image. The phone editing software, while it has impressed me as much as the phone's camera, did not do a good job with its black & white filter, I think.

I know a few people who would prefer the colour image so I added the shot in colour below. You can decide.

Dusk at Oistins

It took a bit of searching but I fond a "D". A shot of the small coastal town of Oistins. Its really more village sized but it is a major economic and social centre on our southern coast by virtue of history, the services available and the traffic it gets.


Its famous for its weekend "fish fry". A number of vendors set up small shops or stalls of varying sizes and sell food. The main menu dish will be fish- grilled or fried- with various sides. Add the music, beer and conversation and you have a recipe for fun. 

If you are visiting Barbados, try to get over to Oistins on Friday night. It is as popular with visitors as it is with locals, whether they come business or pleasure.

Oistins holds a lot of historical significance for the country. The Treaty of Oistins, signed between the local Assembly and the British Crown at the Mermaid Tavern in 1652, recognised the island's Assembly and its right to "...liberty of conscience". Ask Wikipedia what that means but I do recall hearing that there are historians who question whether Barbados was ever a true colony, because of this Treaty. It has also been claimed that the Treaty of Oistins influenced the American Declaration of Independence. 

This shot was taken in the late evening as the sun was setting across the bay from the town. I thought the evening colours made for an interesting palette. I must find the original shot and process it again to try something new.

Red Land, White Teeth

It is about time I did a photoblog.

I truly adore the English translations of the Arawak (Taino) name for my native land Barbados- Ichirouganaim. There are several variations but all centred around the imagery of a land made of red soil and surrounded by the "white teeth" of waves breaking over sharp reefs. My favourite translation is...

"Red woman lying on her side, surrounded by white teeth."

If you look at a map of us, you can see her... a woman curled up on her left side , her toes pointing south and her knees east. Lying on the edge of the mighty Atlantic, face turned to look across that vast snd humourless expanse of blue-green ocean. You wonder...why does she lie so?

Does she lie in repose, merely resting? Or is she in deep slumber, till the advent of some great awakening when she will stir herself, stretch luxuriously and rise from the ocean a water-goddess clothed in simmering red and blue and green?

Or does she lie weeping? Did she hear the lamentation  of another great slumbering woman and know that one day she would cradle Mother Africa's children in her bossom and their spilt blood would seep into her own red soil?

Whatever the reason a wandering imagination can devise, she is truly a beautiful land of beautiful people. That is what this blog will be about- capturing the beauty of the land and the people as I putter about my beloved Ichirouganaim with a camera. I will throw in some informative words along the way, so you may learn a few things about her and her history as we go.

The idea is to document a "Shot-a-Day" challenge- my small contribution to the celebration of our first 50 years of independence.

Gayle

P.S.: The first day of the challenge will be obviously the 1st of January 2016. But I will post one or two preliminary shots just to warm up.