One of the first things I noticed after moving to Bequia was how early in the morning the island woke up! There weren’t any dollar buses back then and just a handful of taxis, so people wanting to catch the Friendship Rose walked into the harbour; there was only the one ferry, and if you missed its daily departure at 6:30 A.M. your trip to the mainland was a non-happening event! I would hear people walking past my house at Friendship in the pre-dawn hours, and know that the sun would soon rise. I loved to watch those first rays of sunlight as they moved across the valley, and soon got used to rising while it was still dark outside.
Friendship Rose picture courtesy of Jeff & Holly Ridgway
Picture courtesy of Anna Landry
My landlord’s roosters next door usually woke me up each morning, an unwelcome annoyance until I got used to them. In my ignorance I’d always assumed that roosters didn’t crow until dawn, but the Bequia breed quickly taught me otherwise! Their raucous noise began around 4:30, followed by the chirping of other feathered creatures in the near-by trees. I would lie in bed and listen to them, a peaceful and lovely way to start the day. I’d rise once I heard people moving about on the road, their chatter was my cue to make some coffee and enjoy the sun-rise before starting my day.
Picture courtesy of the talented Anna Landry
For many years I was a baker, and those early hours of the morning were (and still are!) my favourite time of the day. Getting up during the wee hours is tortuous to some, but I welcome the silence; it offers peace, a quiet time for me to gather my thoughts as I put my bread dough to rise. Decades have gone by, and some things haven’t changed; our roosters start to crow around 4:30, and other feathered creatures in the near-by trees begin to chirp. However, the sounds of people walking along the road in the pre-dawn hours to catch the 6:30 ferry have altered dramatically over the years; cars, trucks, motorbikes and dollar buses now speed past our house in their haste to get to the harbour in time. It’s nice that people from Paget Farm don’t have to walk all the way to Port Elizabeth anymore, but the traffic on this little island has become pretty overwhelming!
Sunrise is still a special time for me, just not quite as peaceful
