Peeling the Onion - the Need to Smile, the Weirdness and Life

I know what I like and I'm guessing that you know what you like. I love to laugh - I'm sorry but I enjoy a good joke. Now, my sense of humor may be a little off but I don't think that it's crass or derogatory. I love comedy and I just enjoy laughing. As you think about the movie, Shrek, Shrek said that "Ogres are like onions" and I guess everyone is that way. We all have our ways and layers.

I think that I have bought into the "laughter helping you age better" trend of thought. Hey, I sometimes consider myself a "Conspiracy Theorist" so I'm technically like the "weird relative". You may wonder why all the quotation marks and you may even consider the words and phrases as cliches. Unfortunately or fortunately, I am the "odd man out". The good thing is that I am cool with that. Life is about loving yourself - not gloating or boasting about your bad ways - but accepting the intricate little parts that make you - YOU! In turn, we work on our bad ways so that others can not only tolerate us - but accept us.


I am the introvert and the extrovert. I love helping people and I am a lover of a "win-win" situation. I want to see people thrive. Yes - call me the "hopeful optimist" and yes I do believe that we all have our good ways that can outweigh our issues. I'm not claiming to be perfect or even pretending to be - I just want to be me. I'm going to get mad and I will show it - sorry, I can't hide emotion. However, I can bounce back - I'll try to!

After facing a Category 5 hurricane which ripped into my house and throughout the territory, I am thankful for the ability to smile and to witness the greatness of God's love. I love the little things - the butterflies although I despise their metamorphosis - as the caterpillars eat my pumpkin and tomato leaves. However, I understand the importance of pollination; so yes I fuss, but nature has to go through its cycle.

So as I go through my life cycle as God grants me time, I remain thankful for my blessings and I will keep smiling...and laughing too because I do love a good joke!

Ribbon 

It's Hurricane Season

The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1 to November 30. We recited a poem in school to help us to remember the months of this season:

"June- too soon.
July-- stand by!
August-- look out you must.
September-- remember.
October, all over."

It is claimed to be an old mariner's poem. Since the season ends in November, we know that it is really not all over in October. 2011's Hurricane Otto that flooded many Caribbean islands including the BVI and USVI came in October.

I can remember some of the hurricanes that devasted the Caribbean. I remember Hurricane Gilbert which destroyed Jamaica in 1988. I had just entered the BVI High School (now Elmore Stoutt High School). I never remembered the BVI flooding back then. Lovindeer sang "Wild Gilbert" about the storm.

The next hurricane that I remember is Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Hugo did not trouble the BVI too much but it made a mess of St. Thomas and even more St. Croix. The late Nicholas "Daddy Friday" Friday of the Awesome Jamband sang "Hugo Make Me A Don" and of course this was a hit for the carnivals and the festivals in 1990 in the Virgin Islands.

I think the most notable year for storms that I can remember was in 1995. The Caribbean had Iris, Luis and then Marilyn. Each storm had its own punch. Marilyn was the one that hit the Virgin Islands the hardest. The effects of Marilyn are still evident in St. Thomas to this day where houses still sit roofless. Of course there was a Marilyn song, again by the Awesome Jamband.

We had a story about these three major hurricanes. Iris passed through first on her mission. Apparently, she and Luis had a fling and he was missing her so he tried to follow her path to find. However, Marilyn really loved him and she heard he went to St. Thomas so she rooted the island to find him - but to no avail. I guess we come up with these stories after being months without cable.

Marilyn affected me because it was my first semester at UVI and classes were on hold because of the damage to the school and the island as a whole. So imagine, I resign from my job, pack up and head to school and then school is on hold. I travelled back to Tortola and sought a job in a supermarket because I still needed to be occupied. UVI opened shortly and I was back in class and today I stand a proud graduate of the Class of 1999.

Hurricane Bertha hit the islands in 1996 and I can remember her lifting off a piece of the roof from my home. It's been stormy since and climate change experts have determined that Atlantic Hurricane Season continues to get deadlier. Hurricane Katrina did her fair share to the US in 2005, just 10 years after Marilyn.

The latest cause of misery has been Hurricane Otto who threw lots of water on the Caribbean in October 2011. We saw water coming from places that we never thought to be channels.

We know what this season can bring. All we can do is pray and be prepared as best we can. Canned food, flashlights, a packed bag, first aid items and drinking water are the basic items to keep at hand. Hurricane shutters or wood for barring up should be close at hand.

By 2015, we may need to alter the last line of the mariner's poem and add another line:
October--it's not done yet
November--hope it's over

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