I have always loved this holiday. When I was a kid, it was always tinged with colour.
The colour of my new clothes that were bought specifically for going to the parade. The colour of the tents that lined the side of the avenue (not to mention all the camping spots). The colour of the water on that first “real” day of the swimming season. The colour of the majorette or dance troop outfits at the parade (as an aside I still LOVE the sparkly outfits even now). The colour of all the flowers and fronds used to make the parade floats. The brightly coloured Gombey outfits, as well as the myriad of colours of the paper bills thrown to them to thank them for their dancing and drumming. The sweet hue of either church drink (a sickeningly sweet fruit punch and ginger beer mix for kiddums) or swizzle (for the non-kid drinkers) that is served no matter whose tent you strolled into. Even the food was brightly coloured – the purple beet salad, the white or pale yellow of potato salad, the reddish brown of BBQ chicken. I would go on in this vein a bit more but now I’m hungry.
So. Many. Colours.
This specific day, more than any other holiday, truly encapsulates Bermuda – as an island nation, as a country with a rich and varied heritage, as a people that valued, and still value, diversity. In a word, our colours.
I didn’t think then of everything that went into making Bermuda Day so beautiful, so fun. I didn’t have to. As a parent, though, the logistics of this single day, the working of the machine… well, let’s just say, I really appreciate the work my parents put into making the magical quality of this day seem so seamless for us.
Ever try to go grocery shopping the day before a holiday, and this holiday in particular? I tell you, it is a supreme exercise in patience. As we all know, Bermudians tend to lose their shopping minds before any holiday, any storm, any weekend… how about we just say, any “event”. Try to find cute outfits for your kids the week up to Bermuda, I dare you. You better know somebody. Try to find milk 48 hours before? Yup, there’s only going to be the light green kind left. There will not be a camping lantern, or batteries for that matter, to be found outside of that table near the front of Gorham’s. I’m not a huge fan of shopping at the best of times, never mind then when it involves more than a half-hour’s wait to get to the cash register. At best! And that’s just for the stuff you need to then start to make the food… which takes forever and a day. At the very least, forever and several days.
There’s a lot that goes into preparing for this holiday as an adult. As an adult that wants to make sure Bermuda Day will be as colourful and fun for your kids, the same way it was when you were a kid.
Every minute of frustration? When your youngest walks out of her bedroom wearing a hotchpotch outfit of a sparkly purple shirt, plaid shorts, with a cheeky smile and is totally ready to shine her own colours – totally worth it.
