Early Saturday morning a group of us under the command of one very competitive Roy Morris set out on a journey crisscrossing three rural parishes.
It was an odd lot, from Kammie, the ultimate nature lover and lord protector of the earth, slow walker educator Sonja along with a band of misfits that included journalists and former journalists. The purpose: to take a walk.
Some people assigned all sorts of health reasons for a walk, but by the end of this column you will realise that while fitness was a factor it wasn’t the only one or even the greatest factor.
Sometimes, to use the words of renowned psycho analyst Sigmund Freud, a cigar is just a cigar, thus a walk is just a walk.
So as we meandered along the route starting at St John’s Parish Church and finishing at the East Coast I found myself in the company of different folks with varying point of views, some in favour of, some out of favour with.
At first I found myself almost at the back but I didn’t mind for as Sonja and I struck up conversation for the first time ever, we discovered that our paths should have crossed a long time ago. We are both Irvinites having lived on Irvine Hall at Mona Campus in Jamaica during the 1990s, we knew students from that period and had mutual local friendships.
As we rounded a corner in St Joseph we came across some imposing rock formations which, Sonja, leaning heavily on her training in geography, explained how they came about and instructed me on the correct terms. Anthony chimed in and the discussion gained momentum for a while as Sonja explained why it rained a lot in St Thomas when other parishes remained dry.
Drifting back and forth between people I ended up with Sharon and her mum, where I got a lesson on the country bus route but more importantly I was schooled on old Barbados. Some things I recalled, some I was learning for the first time and they included remedies for aches and pains.
Eventually I fell in stride with Kammie, our unofficial photographer. The conversation turned to the environment, naturally but it also focused on society and the way the different demographics viewed issues or business potentials.
As the day wore on I found myself alone and lost in thoughts about the meaning of life while viewing in awe the expanse of the sea, the majestic rock formations and the beauty of nature up close. Snatches of conversations from the others ahead of me drifted back or the laughter from Desmond, Blackie and David floated towards me in those otherwise quiet moments.
Then I spied a nearby standpipe and realised I needed water but could not get the pipe turned on. I imagined that the competitive Roy or Irecka had wrenched it tight in order to slow down any advancing but thirsty walker. For me there is no shame in coming last but at that point I was suddenly brought back to the thought of food.
Then I remembered the prize waiting at the end of the line, a ham cutter. It was someone’s suggestion, brilliant I might add, for us to enjoy a ham cutter or in my case two. It may seem an odd way of finishing a walk but as I mentioned before, the entire object of the walk was not simply fitness.
I consider pork or ham one of my simple pleasures. I mean I could, for health reasons, avoid it but there is no guarantee that something else might not come along and snatch me up.
Sonji, whom I had not seen since the start of the walk, wanted to know why I was now speeding along. I did not let on.
At the East Coast destination the ham was carved and lovingly placed between two halves of a salt bread. Suzanne said that ham cutters must contain a bit of that fatty layer between the skin and the meat. Irecka and Lisa had their ham straight up while Blackie opted for a cheese cutter instead.
Nobody seemed to mind that Sonja, beverage manager of the small group for the day, had left the drinks back at the starting point.
We prattled on about little things that mattered big in life, deliberately ignoring the stress of work while engaging in other talk. In a matter of hours we had completed our exercise, enjoyed good food and took pleasure in getting to know each other. Readers, I recommend small group walking to you.
• Antoinette Connell is a News Editor.