The Smells of Home

The Magnificent Dunn's River Falls

In 1988 hurricane Gilbert hit Jamaica with devastating consequences.  It was estimated that 45 people died in that storm. I had visited Jamaica the year before the storm and the year after to see my father. The year before on my visit, I had noted that Jamaica smelled different. One of the delights I looked forward to upon leaving the plane was the grand smell of pimento, coffee and ginger, blending together to make that distinctive Jamaican smell.

 That pervading aroma of spices was missing in 1987. Instead, what greeted my nostrils upon leaving the plane was a great wafting of refuge and a rotting stench I had not experienced before. In the fall of 1988 the grand aroma was back. It warmed not only my sense of smell, but put a smile on my face. It reminded of ‘Jamaica Land We Love’.

This small tale is told to mark the importance of storms. They are psychic forces that cleanse the land and renew the spirits of all those who are in there wake. When we are angry and vengeful these motions produce a churning within the atmosphere that expresses as storms. Our psychic garbage harms the changing earth. The scaring has to be released somehow. The results are storms of one form or another. The gifts from these storms, of which there are many, is to clear the air and allow us to start over. In other words storms grant to humanity the gift of forgiveness. Because we ‘suffer’ when a storm hits, we come together to help one another and regroup.

The recent storm which raced up the eastern portion of the United States cleared out much of the hateful pollution from the recent battles about money. There was a fog over that portion of the country as the vengeful words and thoughts was centered mostly in that region. The storm has granted us a new grace. Let us start over with compassion and love for ourselves, our family, our neighbors and our country.

 It is not too late.