Dear Nesta,
Cropover come an’ gone an’ we got a bran’ new Calypso Monarch – Ian Webster.
He is de young fella dat come in secon’ to Red Plastic Bag las’ year. Stalwarts, Gabby an’ Plastic Bag, tek a step back dis time an’ lef’ de younger generation to battle it out ‘mong duhselves an’ he come out de winner. I lookin’ to see wevver fans gine be able to persuade Gabby an’ Bag to step back in de ring nex’ year. Ef it should happen, I feel it would be hard – mebbee near impossible – to get dah crown outta de new king han’s. Yuh know how it is, when yuh once tas’e success an’ it get in yuh blood, yuh don’ gi’e up widout a fight. Mek it all de mo’ int’restin’ nex’ time ‘roun’, yuh ‘gree?
De climax o’ Crop Over is Kadooment Day when evahbody – all shapes, sizes an’ colours – come out to party. An’ lemmuh tell yuh, don’ t’ink duh don’ party…….hard! Dis year doh, apart from de “diehards” dat usually tek de opportunity ‘pon dat day to hang out evaht’ing duh got – firm or flabby don’ matter – “goin’ down de road” din seem to be as “wile an’ wassee” – at leas’ to me – as in previous years. I see a picture o’ two people dat woulda had to be contortionis’s, faif, ‘cause upwards to now, I en sure whey duh heads begin an’ duh feet en’.
But from wuh my nighber tell me, it was de Friduh “Foreday mornin’ jump” – growin’ by leaps an’ boun’s – when de girls an’ boys was really out to play. Lord have ‘Is mercy. Wuh it is, does mek people – suppose to be decent – get on so bad? Why duh cyhan party widout behavin’ so nasty? An’ to t’ink young trildrun was ‘mong de crowd lookin’ on. Now, wuh anybody could expeck from dem when duh grow up, wid summuch bad examples ‘roun’ dem? De woman say it was neffin but Sodom an’ Gomorrah.
As yuh know, Crop Over is a big “money spinner” fuh de islan’, an’ aldoh I en hear yet hummuch money we mek dis time, I hopin’ it is mo’ an’ not less, dan las’ year. I onderstan’ a lot o’ Bajans was home fuh de occasion, but as mos’ o’ dem woulda been stayin’ wid fambly, de hotels wunta gain neffin much from dem. But we still had visitors from ethuh parts o’ de worl’ – includin’ we mos’ famous Bajan, Rihanna – as mo’ an’ mo’ people hearin’ ‘bout Crop Over an’ comin’ on down fuh de fun. De “powers dat be” appear to be quite please wid de way t’ings went, an’ duh plannin’ nex’ year gine be even bigger an’ better.
I hope evahbody spen’ a bundle o’ money, ‘cause right now, we could do wid evah penny we could put we han’s ‘pon. Jes’ imagine, Land Tax notices get sen’ out a’ready, an’ Augus’ jes’ start – mine arrive las’ Friduh. Wuh, I never see dah befo’……. duh comin’ out mo’ an’ mo’ early. T’ings mussee really “brown”. As I onderstan’ it, guvment soon goin’ after dem employers dat owin’ a bundle o’ money to de NIS – I wonder wuh duh got plan fuh dah money, neh?
Anyhow, dah is in de future. Leh we stop hey in de present, an’ remember today is Budget Day an’ dis af’noon we should all know wuh Mr Sinckler got fuh we. I would ha’ to let yuh know nex’ time, as I know you gine get dis letter mornin’-time, long befo’ any action start. I could only tell yuh dat I hope I still got de shirt ‘pon muh back when ‘e get t’rough. Pray fuh muh.
Tek care o’ yuhself.Yuh frien’, Babsie.
