British West Indenial

Hurricane Dean is headed for us, but we spent yeterday at least pretending that was not the case.

There are numerous factors that make Dean significantly less worrisome than the destructive Ivan, but I won't bore you with them.... yet.

Instead, I'll talk about our mervelous day yesterday, and keep pretending that there's nothing troublesome on the horizon.


I picked Kristi up at work early, and we headed out to Willie's, the fruit stand that we love.

Mango season can stretch until mid-September, but I was worried that the storm would ravage the mango trees and end the harvest prematurely. Just in case, we wanted to stock up on al of our favorites before the bad weather hit.



We ended up hanging out for a half-hour, talking with Zelma Lee and young master Kieran about the storm and what they, too felt was the end of mango season.

Zelma Lee made Kristi and incredibly delicious fruit shake to sooth her sore throat. It had frozen mango, frozen papaya, milk powder, and her Secret Concoction of herbs and honey. Kristi felt better almost instantly, and we can't thank Zelma Lee enough for her generosity.



Kieran showed us all types of local fruit, including this Sour Sop.

Kieran's favorite mango is the Carrie mango, which is our favorite as well. Zelma Lee showed us a cutting technique for removing the large stone in the center of the mango, leaving a cavity that can be filled with whipped cream (or Soy Ice Cream) and then scooped out with a spoon, the peel making a very nice dessert-cup.

She also gave us some new mangoes to try:




The Sprirt of '76 Mango




The East Indian Mango, the undisputed favorite in Jamaica




..and the diminutive No. 11 Mango.

We're thankful for her kindness and can't wait to try them... I'll have a full report for you once we eat them, and once electricity is restored after the storm... Sorry, we weren't going to talk about that, right?

I'll have an official Hurricane Preperation Post for you this evening. Rest assured that we would not be staying if we felt it was too dangerous. All of our friends and neighbors aren't worried, and all point to our house as the most secure in the neighborhood.

The oft-mentioned Livingstone Powrey built our place with his own two hands, laying every block with care. Ivan didn't do a thing to it, so we have faith that Dean will not, either.

Alright, we're off to the Saturday Farmer's Market to grab up the last of the fresh produce, and you'll hear more later today.