A Knight’s Tale (129: Waiting On Barbados Part Two)

Here is a selection from a swimming trip in the waters of Port St Charles harbour:

Turtle swimming 1
Turtle swimming 2
Louisa swimming with turtles 1
Louisa swimming with turtles 2
Louisa swimming with turtles 3

Louisa just had to join the turtles, like pebbles washed by tidal waters, the colours of their carapaces brightly contrasting with their natural element which reflected the skies above.

Louisa swimming with turtles 4

In this last picture, Jessica’s toes curl at top left.

On my ramblings around Barbados in May 2004, some of the local people, who called me ‘the white man who walks’, thought I wasn’t quite right in the head, especially as I had a tendency to set off around mid-day.

On one occasion this proved to be quite happy for the photographer in me when I was able to watch the sugar cane being harvested.

Sugar cane on lorry 5.04 1

It was the approach of this loaded lorry that alerted me to what was going on.

Sugar cane field 5.04

Here was the cane to be cut before collecting;

Sugar cane in containers 5.04

and, further on, containers loaded beside stripped fields.

Sugar cane harvest loading 5.04 1
Sugar cane harvest loading 5.04 2

Tractors were employed to load the vehicles;

Couple harvesting sugar cane 5.04

after which, were this elderly couple engaged in gleaning? I must say I felt for them labouring under the overhead sun.

Jean-François_Millet_-_Gleaners_-_Google_Art_Project_2

They put me in mind of Jean-Francois Millet’s painting ‘The Gleaners’, which caused such a stir at the Paris Salon in 1857.