That is Mr. Palmer in that photo. He spoke in a real high pitch voice and would ask if you would "Look at my beautiful shells"
He had two houses for rent in Red Ground, and I stayed there a few times between 72 and 75. It was very dark at night. Few lights at all besides a few hurricane lamps. I can remember listening in the dark to unseen people talking and singing quietly as they walked along the lane. I did get robbed there one night. Sleeping with my shorts on a hook and the window open, I was awaken by Mr. Palmer's Voice shouting "Help help, someone has been robbed". That night, someone used a long stick to reach through the window and snag my shorts with wallet. Those same shorts and wallet were laying on the ground behind my cottage. Thankfully, I had been using travelers checks and they were still there. two or three Jamaican dollars were missing. The girl who worked for Mr. Palmer suspected her brother of the crime and gave him a scowl as he happened by to ask me if I would be interested in trading him for some German Marks. Evidently he was a known thief and banks and businesses would not deal with him.
There was little electricity back then. A hot water shower could be obtained by using garden hoses on the roof of the cottage. Ganja was found in just about every container on the property from old paint cans under the sink to a feed sack full on the roof. One night I discovered the young woman who worked for Mr. Palmer taking a sip of cool water from an ice tray in Palmer s Refrigerator. Not enough juice to actually freeze the water but enough to cool it down, and cool water was a luxury. I kept quiet about my find and shared it with her, unknown to her.
There was no trash back then. Everything was recycled in some way or simply used up. Chickens ate just about anything that got away from the dogs. Food scraps, bones, mango seeds, all used up. Fatties rolled with stripped butcher paper or smoked through a bottle neck with a stone dropped in the bottom. I had rented a car in MoBay and visited many relatives all over the Western End of the Island. I was the driver. It was great. So many little out of the way places in the hills that one could Never find again. Bringing some fish, trading for some fruit, it was fun.