For a while I have been thinking about the calabash tree. There have been a series of occurrences that led me to this post and one in particular was this morning when I visited one of my fellow blogger’s website and it inspired me to express my thoughts.
Growing up as children the only thing I recalled that was spectacular about this green hard spherical fruit was that it would fall to the ground in a splash exposing its contents (guts). Its enclosure was whitish pulp with dark brown seeds. After it has been exposed for days on the ground it would turn dark brown almost black. We would feel disgust when we would accidentally step into it.
In my village, St. Johns, I recalled only one family using this calabash fruit to facilitate their daily lives. They would scrape out the inside of ones that would fall from the calabash tree (huingo, krabasi, crescentia, kalebas) wash it and sand paper the exterior until it was smooth and use it as a utensil. As children we thought of them as eccentric, weird and poor. One of the family members was a Rasta. In those days Rasta’s were usually viewed as people who have lost their minds with the aid of marijuana and not a community or religion.
Since then I have learned that the calabash fruit was traditionally used to produce eating utensils (bowls, plates, forks, knives and spoons), musical instruments and decorative items (lamps, sconces). By visiting the Gwada Family’s website from Guadeloupe I have seen some very creative pieces. From the July 11 -19, 2009 my island Montserrat in the West Indies will host their 4th Annual Calabash Festival celebrating their culture and creativity. It will be held for a week as the islands offers a wide selection of festivities that highlight the hidden talents of local artisans and designers.
In retrospect my neighbours were embracing the tree and being creative, while we were being closed minded and constrained.
