Jamaica born and raised, I enjoyed a childhood on the north shore of Jamaica in Ocho Rios. Born a hotel brat, my brother and I were speedo kings all summer every summer and lived either in, on, or under the water.
Unfettered freedom was mine when at play in the water. At 10 I often swam continuously for hours in the sea, snorkling out 1000 to 2000 yards from shore and free diving to 60 feet and spearfishing , swimming back to shore with our catch sometimes with curious Sand Tigers or occasionally Gray Nurses (sharks) who clearly were contemplating piracy of our stringers of fish, the real pirates – the Barracudas, were always along as wingmen whenever we dove.
Memorable moments include cooking Conch on the beach fresh from a dive, or riding on the hood of cars along the coast road late at night with burlap bags and flash lights or kerosene ”Bottle” lanterns during massive downpours, which coincided with the mating march of the Mangrove crabs or “Land Crabs” into the wee hours of the morning and struggling to stay awake at 3 or 4 in the morning as the first freshly boiled batches of crab were ready to be devoured. Once while hand spearing lobsters under large corral heads in an Easter wind chop 200 yds from the beach of our hotel home, my brother and I were were suddenly bumped and jostled by coarse skinned critters we could not identify in the murk when suddenly the manager of our hotel watersports area was present on a small sunfish sailboat yelling at us to get on, reluctantly we did and then once onboard we could see that the water was literally boiling with sharks. A very large dead porpoise in an advanced stage of decomp. had washed in with the storm winds and the sharks had come with it ripping massive hunks off in every savage strike, the rest of the day was spent in a drama of using all available motorized craft to try to tow the cadaver back out into the deep.
I have hiked and fished the waters of Banff National Park and those of the Bow Crow Forest from Rocky Mountain House along the frontal ranges to the Crowsnest and much in between since my arrival in the Canadian Rockies in 1979, Canmore has been my home since 1984 and the forested lands of Kananaskis Country rank among my favorite in the world, to say I absolutely love this place is to fully understate the depth of passion I feel. I believe I am blessed to know that it is not the only such place of incredible power in the world and I will not close my eyes to seeing the beauty of other such places when I discover them.
I believe if you can reach a place in your life where the memories you are generating born of the experiences you are having, can rival those most memorable from your youth, then likely you should smile deeply and revel in this life.
Fly-rods, good cameras, spontaneous sprit and an unquenchable thirst for discovery with people of like mind!
