Musing Style :: Respect the Nutmeg

My country celebrated Independence day on the seventh. Every Friday before the seventh has been unofficially named 'National Colours Day' when nationals get dressed in and just generally put on shoe all the colours of our flag.

I had work though and even though we got away with keeping it a little casual I still felt I needed to make sure looked a bit corporate too. You cant see it  well because of my vest but my shirt it says Spice Isle 473 on it and also gives a nod to our national dish a little lower down.

What a nutemeg looks like while on the tree, this one has just opened and will be picked soon

On national colours day our country is brighter and if possible, more spectacular than usual. The streets are bathed in red, gold and green. Our sky line is blown with row after row of buntings in the national colours and our children....oh our beautiful children are dressed in the most unique frocks, in a multitude of styles! All showing of their colours.

My country is refereed to as the Spice Isle for we are rich with spices and nutmeg happens to be one of those for which we are well known. We adopted the phrase 'respect the nutmeg' after the last Olympic games when our national champion  (yes we call him that, we also call him 'The Jaguar' we are a proud people.) Kirani James won first place in the 400 meter relay race. Back then the announcers could barely pronounce our name, they didn't kno w how to say it because they'd barely heard of us. Respect the nutmeg means though we are little, we are spicy, observe us well for we are prestigious and worth much.

At least seventy percent of people are likely eating our national dish on national colours day. Often they are cooking it in the schools and selling it in the shops. It is everywhere, whether they are cooking it themselves or they are benefiting from the wealth of good cheer and the hearty sense of sharing and caring for which my country is well known. People are eating food that day that is a national symbol of how mixed up our history is but how resistant we are and hope we have continued to fight to prosper, with mother earth at our side.

There are marches in the streets, teachers and pupils all singing songs of national pride. On that day we are eating, we are singing, we are looking very pretty and we loving on we country.


One day, I hope that you will see it.

Peace. Love. #RespectTheNutmeg