Trini Tuesday-Find the Foreigner

In stead of 'Where's Waldo?' we have a game of 'find the foreigner.' It's not exactly the picture I wanted but I couldn't find the one I was looking for. Do you see her in the lower left corner with the red hair? Put her outside in the bright tropical sunshine and she looks like her head is on fire. You can't miss her.

Given that Diana was prone to wandering away if we didn't have a tight grip on her hand it was pretty convenient that she stuck out from a crowd so easily. Being a red head in a sea of dark faces with dark hair does have that as an advantage. There were times when it drove her a bit crazy. When she was even younger than in this picture and a crowd of children would close in around her determined to explore her bright hair and pale skin with a hundred inquisitive fingers she understandably found that a bit too much.

When Mr. Lime and I wanted to celebrate our anniversary by having dinner in town our dear friends offered to watch Diana for the night. We came back some hours later and asked if everything went well. My friend Flora said yes but she would never take Diana on another walk in the village again. I was concerned that perhaps Diana, who has ALWAYS had a mind of her own, had acted up defiantly and caused a problem. Flora assured me Diana had behaved well but the problem was that every 3 steps some other child was coming up wanting to touch Diana's hair and skin, wanting to know 'Whu happen to she color? She bathe and it come off she?'

Of course there were other issues that came with being a redhead in the tropics. I had to be extremely careful so she didn't get a sunburn. She lived in prairie bonnets and I sort of wished I had a vat I could fill with sunblock and dip her in every morning. It would have been easier than the constant smearing. Around the house she rarely wore more than a diaper but if we went out for the day I covered as much of her skin as I could. At night I'd let her go with as few clothes as possible. Of course every Trini grandmother was sure I was going to kill this child because I had it all backwards. During the day it was, 'Look how de chile will stifle in de heat with so much clothes and a hat!' At night it was, 'But look, de chile naked in de dew. She would catch her death!' To a Trini grandmother there are few things worse a mother can do than allow her baby to go without a knit hat outside at night...bareheaded 'in the dew' (night air) you will catch the virus and die!'

I am happy to report that in spite of my risky parenting style Diana has safely made it to age 16. Long live the redhead!