HeyJaredPetchary on Substack
Daily thoughts, comments, books, Nature from the island of Jamaica. An appendix to Petchary's Blog on WordPress. A journal of sorts. It will evolve.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 9
- Latest publication
- Sep 15, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 8, 2026
Latest issues
Thunder, a fire (opens the original)
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Emergencies come in packages both large and small. They are ongoing, overlapping, cascading into one, all around the world - merging into one overwhelming one, like the climate change emergency I described in my last post. Jamaica is a place of daily emergencies. Situations grow suddenly, out of nowhere. The police respond. The hardworking, severely under-resourced fire brigade responds. In the case of capsized, drowning refugees in the English Channel, the amazing lifeboat service, many of them
What is an emergency? (opens the original)
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Last night we walked down the road to a church hall, where there was a showing of Chris Packham’s documentary film, “People’s Emergency Briefing.” It is just under an hour long. Mr. Packham is to be commended for packing in so much information, accompanied by some thoughtful, sharp commentary from a range of people in terms of demographics, into a short film. It is very well edited into a compact package, easily digestible. And it covers a lot of ground. There are one or two gaps, but overall it
Dolly Parton by the sea (opens the original)
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Today we went down to the Old Town of Hastings. It’s a cheerful mix of huddled rooftops, narrow alleyways, slot machine halls, and ice cream stands. Gaudy tourist attractions sit on the other side of the coast road from quaint fish and chip shops and overflowing pubs. The town was hosting a food, wine and music festival, and the decibel level even frightened the seagulls, who kept a respectful distance. The music mostly took place under a large tent (there was a smaller, quieter stage where some
Radio Dreams (opens the original)
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Today we bought a little radio. It is small, chunky, and quite perfect. The sound is warm and lovely. The radio has a “retro” design, and quite possibly looked like the one my mother kept in the kitchen, in our London apartment. I remember as a child that there was a programme called “Music While You Work,” which was mostly music with no commercials. My mother sang along to Nat King Cole and other smooth-voiced favourites of hers. The radio was a great source of music in England, back in the 50s
Recalibrating (opens the original)
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“When are you going to start your blog again?” people ask me - especially the Jamaicans I have left behind. “Soon, when I have time!” I reply cheerily, sounding more confident than I actually am.The thing is, I am in an in-between stage. Physically, we are settling in, creating a new home; that in itself requires endless amounts of time. We are also reconnecting with family and friends, welcoming visitors to our somewhat muddled abode - and in all of this, making new friends. We are happy. We lo
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