Weathering storms in Portland Cottage

It was perhaps no later than 11 o' clock on a sunny Tuesday morning and Linford, the fisherman, was already preparing himself for a nap.

That might seem strange to those unfamiliar with the ways of fisherfolk of Portland Cottage in Clarendon, but in these parts, daytime begins at the stroke of three in the morning.

"Mi tired now man, mi can't talk right now," said Linford, waving me off when I had just arrived in the area. He was stretching out on a wooden bench placed strategically in the shade of a sun-browned mango tree. It was when I started walking away that he, apparently hit with a sudden bout of curiosity, spoke up again. "Who yuh say yuh is again?" he asked, sitting up straight.

I repeated my earlier introduction and told him I was visiting the area to find out what life was like there.

"Burp! Sorry, mi nuh drink nuh tea from morning," said Linford. "Di woman ah yard seh she sick. Someting or di edda bout belly. Mi caan badda," said he, looking annoyed.

Linford propped himself up against the tree and looked around. "It late now still. It hard fi yuh get nobody around here now fi talk to," he said.

The bearded middle-ager told me that because most of the people who lived in Portland Cottage were fisherfolk, their hours weren't like those kept by most.

"Early hours we move out and go sea. Dem time deh, man like yuh just ah turn inna yuh bed. Tee hee!' he snickered.

'Pure hard work'

"We go out early and do what we need fi do and come in back early," said Linford. "Di woman dem gone out by now fi clean and sell di fish what come in."

Two young boys ran by just then, one using a stick to push a piece of hose made into a circle, along the ground. Across the road, another boy their age looked on with a big smile.

"Portland nuh really have nothing fi do still yuh know. Is just pure hard work. Right now ah hurricane time again, and Roy Forrester seh ah whole heap ah storm ah come dis year, so everybody start fret already," said Linford.

Portland Cottage has taken some hard hits over the years from hurricanes. Lives have been lost and homes destroyed, leaving many on the outside to wonder why the area hasn't been completely abandoned.

"Well people always say dat we fi move, but is here we work. Nuff ah we born and grow here. If we leave we wouldn't have nowhere fi go. All we haffi do is just learn from what happen in the past and just try prepare. For, if we move and go somewhere else, storm still ah go come, yuh can't run from weather," said Linford.

robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com