About 10 years ago we met Markie up in Red Ground and he took us down in to Porter's Cave. We continued that tradition for a number years often taking newbies. It has been a few years since we have been in the cave, but we have replaced that with walks deep into Red Ground. This year we found Markie ailing with a badly swollen foot and he had to use one of his hand caved canes to get around. His hand was also so swollen that he couldn't open a soda bottle. So we took a short walk and taxied downtown for a late breakfast. Markie picked the place, a little restaurant on the road headed up toward Red Dragon. Markie and I each got curried chicken and porridge and Janet had coffee and ackee and cabbage. Of course it came with dumplings (cooked and fried) and boiled bananas. A whopping price of 1550 J!!! Markie ate what we couldn't finish. He is so thin and probably not eating regularly. He told us the doctor said he was having kidney and liver problems and we didn't think he looked too good. We made plans to take him out for dinner on Monday. We gave him enough money for the walk to tide him over for a few weeks. This year we brought him sneeker, a set of sheets, towels and a few shirts. At 61, he is aging rapidly. I hope our friend Markie is still around for our next visit.
Regards,
Bob
