We’ve started something new at Neita’s Nest; something that we hope to become a tradition. It has all the virtues/values/elements of Christmas…sharing …caring…giving…joy…friendship…simplicity…
Our December guests have been invited to exchange gifts with their host. Not just any gift. The requirements are actually quite rigid. The gift must be small. The gift must be unbreakable. It must have been made in their own country. It must be an ornament for the Christmas Tree.
Yes, rigid, but not too difficult. Or so I thought, until I started looking around for the gifts I would give to my guests this season. It was an OMG moment for me. I was clearly locked in the 70’s when Jamaicans were very nationalistic, took pride in labels saying “Made in Jamaica” and when “Tun yu han’ mek fashion” meant creativity to the max.
Sadly, the only thing we have left to import is snow.
I asked around, called around, went around to a couple of shops, even went to a Christmas Fair and ended up being interviewed on radio. I used to opportunity to make a special appeal for this rare item. No calls as yet.
My last stop was The Craft Cottage, hoping it would have been open on this Sunday in December. Not only was it open, it had just the thing I was looking for. A small, unbreakable, Jamaican-made, Christmas Tree ornament. But I have these at home, I remarked to myself. These are the very ornaments I bought from ny neighbour some 5 years ago and which I have been hanging for the past few years. I rushed out of the store and went to my very own neighbourhood and rang Yvette’s gate bell. I was able to add to my collection of angels, santas, donkeys and gingerbreadmen, and was all ready for the exchange.
My first December guests to get the heads up on the exchange of gifts checked in tonight. Our chat over dinner included some of their Christmas traditions back home with their book club, and this new tradition of which they were glad to be a part. Tomorrow after breakfast we will do the exchange, and I will have more than Canadian-made ornaments from these two couples.
I will have memories of a couple whose trip to Jamaica was the culmination of a six-month celebration of 50 joyous years of marriage. I will have memories of a family who lived in Jamaica 35 years ago and whose visit to Kingston today was to take a walk back in time, a sort of stepping into a wardrobe to the 1970’s of which they have fond memories. I will treasure memories of a family whose grace before dinner was the words to our National Anthem, “Eternal Father Bless Our Land, Guide Us With Thy Mighty Hand…” and I will, with pleasure, remember their son and spouse who were also reliving clear and fond memories of previous visits to Jamaica, like their welcome drink today, the sorrel was spiced with ginger and mellowed with cinnamon.
Come! Be a part of our tradition. Bring your ornament and we will cheerfully exchange it for one of ours. Yours to take home will be a little something to help your mind reflect on a time when you gave yourself the gift of a couple days in Kingston at Neita’s Nest Bed and Breakfast, and all it has to offer.
May the new year be blessed
With good tidings
'Til the next time I see you again
If we must say goodbye
Let the spirit go with you
'Til the season comes 'round again.
Our December guests have been invited to exchange gifts with their host. Not just any gift. The requirements are actually quite rigid. The gift must be small. The gift must be unbreakable. It must have been made in their own country. It must be an ornament for the Christmas Tree.
Yes, rigid, but not too difficult. Or so I thought, until I started looking around for the gifts I would give to my guests this season. It was an OMG moment for me. I was clearly locked in the 70’s when Jamaicans were very nationalistic, took pride in labels saying “Made in Jamaica” and when “Tun yu han’ mek fashion” meant creativity to the max.
Sadly, the only thing we have left to import is snow.
I asked around, called around, went around to a couple of shops, even went to a Christmas Fair and ended up being interviewed on radio. I used to opportunity to make a special appeal for this rare item. No calls as yet.
My last stop was The Craft Cottage, hoping it would have been open on this Sunday in December. Not only was it open, it had just the thing I was looking for. A small, unbreakable, Jamaican-made, Christmas Tree ornament. But I have these at home, I remarked to myself. These are the very ornaments I bought from ny neighbour some 5 years ago and which I have been hanging for the past few years. I rushed out of the store and went to my very own neighbourhood and rang Yvette’s gate bell. I was able to add to my collection of angels, santas, donkeys and gingerbreadmen, and was all ready for the exchange.
My first December guests to get the heads up on the exchange of gifts checked in tonight. Our chat over dinner included some of their Christmas traditions back home with their book club, and this new tradition of which they were glad to be a part. Tomorrow after breakfast we will do the exchange, and I will have more than Canadian-made ornaments from these two couples.
I will have memories of a couple whose trip to Jamaica was the culmination of a six-month celebration of 50 joyous years of marriage. I will have memories of a family who lived in Jamaica 35 years ago and whose visit to Kingston today was to take a walk back in time, a sort of stepping into a wardrobe to the 1970’s of which they have fond memories. I will treasure memories of a family whose grace before dinner was the words to our National Anthem, “Eternal Father Bless Our Land, Guide Us With Thy Mighty Hand…” and I will, with pleasure, remember their son and spouse who were also reliving clear and fond memories of previous visits to Jamaica, like their welcome drink today, the sorrel was spiced with ginger and mellowed with cinnamon.
Come! Be a part of our tradition. Bring your ornament and we will cheerfully exchange it for one of ours. Yours to take home will be a little something to help your mind reflect on a time when you gave yourself the gift of a couple days in Kingston at Neita’s Nest Bed and Breakfast, and all it has to offer.
May the new year be blessed
With good tidings
'Til the next time I see you again
If we must say goodbye
Let the spirit go with you
'Til the season comes 'round again.
Christmas Around The world.
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