‘I hoped you’d return,’ said Dodd. ‘What you said last time moved me.’ Dodd Caine runs a St Kitts booze store by the ship’s dock. I’d met him when we visited last month. ‘You said I was loving, but disillusioned with humanity. You’re right.’ Dodd is a lovely black guy in his 60s and a cowboy hat. Broad upturned smiles, almost meet his ears. Customers don’t just buy his booze. They hang around, waiting to speak with him, feeling his love. ‘I remember,’ I replied. He’s shared love with customers for so long, I thought, he needs a bigger challenge.
‘I think you’ve come to challenge me.’
‘If I did, I know the challenge.’ He needs to step up a gear and disperse his love in more satisfying ways.
He almost ignored my comment. ‘I can’t disperse my love enough and...’
I interrupted. ‘Exactly! You can’t disperse love enough. That’s your challenge.’
He nodded thoughtfully. ‘I needed someone to come and say this. Many people don’t disperse love enough. Few do anything about it. I need someone to guide me...’
This guy’s special. It will be a pleasure to try to help such a loving soul. ‘Here’s my email address,’ I said. For the second time today, inter-cultural peace, love and harmony is worth more than expensive trains, taxis, and cable cars.
Ramshackle buildings intrigue like newest creations. The International House Museum was so amazingly ramshackle, it tugged me inside. It’s a Caribbean cultural and historical wonder collected by two sons of the soil. After Edgar Challenger died, Winston ‘Zack’ Nesbitt’s dedication earned awards, including recently a Medal of Honour from the Queen of England. Do visit if you’re ever in St Kitts. And be inspired as Zack and a 9-year old boy proudly show artefacts as diverse as a sardine tin ukulele, an oil-fired fridge, and an ice-cream crusher, and photos of persons of note, from beauty queens to presidents. Outside, meet pet monkeys Wilfred and Mildred, opposite Sensee fowls and a mongoose. A hen laid an egg as I watched. The boy gave a toothy laugh and me the egg, complete with ‘yucky wet stuff’ on the shell. Zack searched through piles of papers to hand me a glossy magazine with a full page article about his cultural curiosity. He loved his work, creating peace and harmony in his little enclave. When I promised to write about his work, he beamed. For the third time today, inter-cultural peace, love and harmony is more valuable than expensive trains, taxis, and cable cars.
PS If a rich benefactor reads this, please contact beautiful 33 year old Jeida Mitcham, Upper College Street, Ghant, Basseterre, St Kitts, West Indies, and help her buy two new legs. She lost hers when a car mounted a pavement and smashed into her. Inter-cultural love and legs are more valuable than a car.