Veranda Vibes
February 8, 2026
Grand Rising, Everyone!
We hope this day finds you enjoying all the vibrations you find embracing you.
We each have many blessings.
We often forget to honor the small ones we easily overlook.
Life makes it easy to be blind.
Jamaica Weather
77°F high/ 54°F low Wind gusts of 16 MPH
Another cold front arrived!
I should have been forewarned when Marshall was at the pharmacy last week. He came home to report that the stores were filled with folks trying to relieve temperature-induced Flu/cold symptoms.
I wrote of all the Jamaicans last week who were scurrying to purchase hoodies.
Jamaicans are not familiar with quick temperature drops of 20°.
It was a lovely winter temperature, then another cold front brings gale-force winds and drastic temperature drops.
I admit the weather has set me on my ear.
I know when to keep my head covered, another blanket on the bed, and socks on my feet.
Now our routines have been disrupted with strong-man Marshall reacting with a pesky sinus irritation.
Marshall, who is rarely ill is not accustomed to a setback. The man is typically in perpetual motion.
All of our plans had to be canceled.
We’re not sleeping as we should.
Laboring to breathe is not fun. Plus, the pressure and headache that come with angry sinuses are hard to manage, especially when you’re not accustomed to feeling under the weather.
A call to the Bush Doctor happened. Unfortunately, the Fever Oil he recommends is not available on the island. The discussion opened with Hot Toddy, garlic water, bush tea made from the Leaf of Life plant, and, of course, Chicken Soup.
The soothing ingredient of honey for a Hot Toddy is scarce.
Hurricane Melissa overturned the beehives. Bees are rarely seen these days. Even if they were, the flowers from which they harvest nectar have only recently started blooming.
I am constantly amazed at how the power of Hurricane Melissa keeps impacting daily life.
Environmental disruption is something the media seems to forget quickly, but keeps showing up in many ways.
This, too, shall pass along with the cold front. The island needs time and God to pull it through. Jamaica will rise again!
House Repair
Goes without saying that with the big man out of sorts. Physical house repair and the standing refrigerator delivery are all on hold.
But…this needs a drum roll!!
Betsy our long MIA Suv has arrived in Mandeville. She’s been held hostage in a repair shop for multiple reasons. Hurricane Melissa is one. The road to the shop was washed away. The original Car Mart owner contacted Marshall about a man who has returned to Jamaica from Cayman Island who wants to buy her!
Everyone, I beg you to send up a good thought for Betsy to find a new home.
This would be a huge help in our house project.
Gardens
Everything in the gardens is happy with the cool air and the abundant rain the weather fronts have brought (including the tall weeds. The man supposed to cut the weeds so we can plant carpet grass has failed to appear for weeks now!
Sigh! Jamaica teaches you patience. All things happen when they’re supposed to.
I’ve taken a bold step with my heirloom tomato plants. The one had a gangly, tall stalk. I noticed at the bottom, it looked like a new plant was growing. It had a bloom, too. I thought the tall stalk was zapping the plant’s energy. I cut off the stalk we’ll see how this goes.
The second heirloom has two good size tomotoes on it and a few more blooms. I talk to these each day!
My Zucchini and Okra seeds have not germinated yet. I’m moving them to a sunnier spot to see if that helps.
Buff the Magic Bulldog
I don’t feel guilty about not doing strength training.
Living with Buff is strength training enough.
I cannot get dressed without his assistance. Biting on the end of my pant leg as I try to put my foot in is his constant delight. The hem of a dress is food for his fun.
Trying to do Yoga on my Yoga mat must be done behind closed doors. If he is in the same room, he immediately plops down in the center of the mat and refuses to move.
Speaking of refusing to move, anytime I am walking, he’s directly in front of me. Commanded to “Move!” at least three times, he leisurely gets up.
Unless, it’s our daily morning walk chanting to the gate. Then he’s careful to stay cautiously away from my feet and my cane.
He believes he is a lap dog, happily putting what feels like his twenty-pound paws up in my lap. My clothes are never clean more than five minutes before I’m wearing his happy, dirty, freshly dug up dirt dipped nose kiss.
Taking a bath requires a firmly closed door because he’s happy to help with his huge dog tongue.
All these activities demand my concentrated effort to push his big body away.
He’s a messy delight. I suppose strength training can be redefined as necessary.
Good Food
Hell atop, Hell a bottom
Hallelujah in the middle!
If you’re Jamaican, you know the answer to the riddle is “Sweet potato pudding”.
Last Sunday, well after Veranda Vibes was in your email, we attended another Buddhist chanting event.
It was held at a wonderful lady’s house over an hour away from here.
She has a small restaurant that she opens on Sundays. It was here that I experienced a pudding that I had read about but never tasted,
The rhyme comes from the historic cooking method using a heavy cast iron dutch oven on an outdoor fire coal stove. The pot is placed on the fire coal stove. The blazing fire under the pot is spread out atop the pot as well. The pudding top and bottom cook at the same time to create a crust on top and the bottom, with a smooth thick pudding in the center.
The cookbook I took this recipe from states, “This hallelujah is best liked when the top, called ‘sof pon top’, is softer than the rest of the pudding.”
Here’s a recipe adaptation for a conventional oven, unless you’re brave enough to experiment with an outdoor grill. It would be a great Easter dinner treat if you’re game.
Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potato, grated
1/4 lb. yam grated
1/2 C flour
1/4 lb. raisins
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tin evaporated milk
5 C coconut milk (2 coconuts this refers to the old method of squeezing the milk from grated coconut)
1 C brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C sherry
1/4 C rum
1 oz. butter
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix grated potato, yam, flour, raisins, and baking powder
Mix evaporated milk, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, salt, sherry, rum, and butter
Pour milk mixture into potato mixture and beat until smooth
Pour into a greased 9” pan
This recipe comes from The Real Taste of Jamaica, by Enid Donaldson
A Good Life
The slow winter months of January and February have given way to quiet reflection and contemplative change.
My rhythm of daily writing on Medium and Substack Notes has faded as I have struggled with my tiny seed idea for an e-commerce store employing my paintings to design the merchandise. I had no idea how complicated this would become. Finding a team to polish and automate Jamaica Makins on Etsy and TikTok has taken an amazing amount of time, resources and my energy.
I’m close to opening the endeavor on a small front. We’ll see how it goes soon.
An unexpected gift
The other aspect of these quiet winter months has grown from an unexpected gift from Hurricane Melissa.
I wrote about our Buddhist friends who stayed with us for a while. I’ve spoken of the monthly chanting events that have seemed magical as we drove home.
I’ve not written about what seems to be a profound change in energy. A vibration that surrounds us as we experience and learn about this fascinating practice, promoting peace and well-being.
This is my simple explanation about a tiny piece of a deep practice we’re learning about:
Each morning Buff and I walk to the gate as I chant the ancient phrase…”Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.” Inconsistently, I chant this phrase in the evening as well.
I’m trying to create a daily pattern chanting this important phrase that is, “the name of the fundamental Law of life and the universe as expounded in Nichiren Buddhism.” (from The Liturgy of the SOKA GAKKAI)
This is the first layer of my practice. Slowly, I will add longer chants in addition to establishing a special place in our home to practice in front of a Gohonzon.
A Gohonzon is a beautiful hand-inscribed Sanskrit scroll that lives in a small box with doors that open so you can focus on the inscription, which represents your best life.
These are just tiny steps toward changing my life to make our world a better place, beginning with me and expanding to all my life touches.
In these quiet months, I’ve found I’m honored to meet others who are practicing Buddhism and fascinated by this profound practice.
Regardless of how simple my understanding, I can’t deny the feeling my exploration has created. I genuinely enjoy the learning.
Blessings from Jamaica everyone!
Life is a precious gift. Don’t forget to live it. I’m drawn to latin and Sanskrit these days…
Memento vivre! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!
Thanks for reading until the end.
I have so many more stories to tell!
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Come sit a spell
Om mani padme Hum! Your recipe sounds delicious. It's lovely to hear you are starting to read and practice Buddhism. I am drawn to it as well. May I suggest an author, Thich Nhat Hanh? There are many others but I was first drawn to his writings. Namaste~