Skip to main content

'orange car'






Probably one of humankind's best ever rituals is a Saturday afternoon zzz, that's if you are not one to have both Saturday and Sunday which is seventh heaven. This weekend we are looking after the last child's children. He refers to them as the 'caimans' and after a horrifying scream of 'how can you say that' he simple says 'try and bade dem'.
After my two hour slumber, hey I am a retired working man, I hear that the 'orange car' has gone missing. OK, I don't know what we are talking about but I look as though I am on top of my game and the search starts in earnest. Of course as always, different interests take over and soon we are on to many other things. As the night approaches and dinner and baths are in order for the 'caimans' I stumble upon the 'orange car'. The boy 'caiman' goes to bed tonight clutching the 'orange car' knowing that all is well with the world. Life is too short to be complicated.

 Yesterday was the final official day for the 'cocoa man'. Many friends and family turned out to say a final farewell. I look back on my own childhood in Arima and I know those days will never return, at least not on the rock, but the values and morals could and we should ensure that we maintain as much as possible. Reminiscing on the days gone puts you in a place where you say that is why I stayed, that is why I made a decision to make Trinidad and Tobago my home. After the service we all went back to a family member's house and there must have been over 75 people that visited throughout the day, all connected in some way, everyone knowing each other. There are not many places in the world where that can happen.

Saturdays are music days at home. From midday we put on the 'gram', actually Sonos, and today's choice was Latin Pop. After a while it's like listening to Disco music. We started off with Despacito then Heroe Favorito and when later in the day Hula Hoop by Daddy Yankee played that was it, back to Dylan and then some serious Motown. I listen to everything, all music is great. My friends and worse yet, my family, don't have the same discerning ear. I have had family ask, 'and what part of the world are we tonight?' Shims, music makes the world go round!

Today was a good day! Driving out the valley to buy 'papers' I met one of the readers of this blog walking in the area and of course we had a talk. We all want the same thing, a T&T that we can live in without all the negativity. We don't mind some of the bacchanal but not with everything, not when it comes to our safety, governance, the economy and the future of our children. Again, these are all man made issues that can be dealt with by having the right people in the right places. The island of Montserrat could not stop the natural disaster of a volcanic eruption but we can surely avoid the catastrophe of a man made disaster.

Another to die for custom for me is to buy doubles on a Saturday. My doubles man [it's never a doubles woman] has his two boys and his life partner working with him. Of course it's always a discourse on things happening on the rock. Today I am asked by his life partner 'what you like about here?' My immediate reply was 'just what I am doing'.

It's Saturday night, the Bajan frogs are noisier than ever, our neighbors visited tonight, they are off to Norway tomorrow, to live, au revoir and we on the rock look forward to a great week. Emancipation Day is on Tuesday, I hope when I go to support no one tells me that I did not meet the dress code and I am disrespecting the culture. Not being the 'blackest man' in T&T sometimes can be a bit disconcerting.

Good night and make sure all 'orange cars' are found before you go to sleep!

Final final, congrats to Akeem Stewart and Nyoshia Cain, winners!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Delta 4 over and out!

Sitting here in Maraval tonight its very windy with the electrical power dipping every now and again. From all reports the storm has gone to the north and the island of Trinidad is OK. Tobago however could be in for a rough patch. The Tropical Storm, now named Bret, is the second for the season and was formed very low in the Atlantic and threatened both Trinidad and Tobago. The last time a hurricane was named Bret was in August, 1999. It was a category 4 hurricane that thankfully did not prove to be that destructive with minimum fatalities and physical damage to property. Of course I marvel at the officialdom in T&T. Today, the party boats were out sailing to wherever. The island is under a storm watch and nobody thought it wise to restrict non-essential marine traffic. The Tobago ferries were restricted, the offshore oil and gas platforms were being evacuated and we were at the same time loading 'feters' to go on a party cruise. What exactly is the protocol? If a storm e...
Post a Comment
Read more

'spinning top in mud'

It's a dark and stormy night here in the Maraval Valley. Hearing thunder in the distance, heavy drizzle, wind, cool temperature. The small 'Bajan' frogs are revving tonight creating a racket. I guess it's the rainy season and this is what you get. It is now one week since Tropical Storm Bret came over the island and for many people things have not yet gotten back to normal. Reading one of the weekly columnists today writing about his growing up in a flood prone area and basically the family taking it in their stride every rainy season. He commented on the fact that his father knew where they were living and never blamed the authorities or demanded from the authorities any compensation for the losses suffered as a result of the annual floods. It is different now and demands are made for every 'big toe bounce'  and it seems that no one takes responsibility for their lot in life. Not sure where this came from but there has to be a line as to how far a government c...
Post a Comment
Read more

R&R

We had two of the four grands spend the weekend with us whilst the parents went off to the North Coast for some rest and relaxation. From all reports, the sojourn was well spent with both singing the praises of our North Coast, no beach, just R&R. We are ten minutes from the coast and I hate to admit it but it is rare that we venture north. One of the selling points of coming to live in the wilds of Maraval in 1983 was the fact that Maracas Bay was a mere 30 mins away. Maracas could have been next door it did not matter, we just do not do it. Having grandchildren I think puts you in a very different place. When our kids were growing up we were struggling with building a business from scratch, living off of a teachers salary, impossible then as it is now, and generally ketching. But as it is with all things in life we survived. Looking back at those years it was difficult, kids, dogs, mortgage and other loans, but you knew why you were putting yourself through all this hard...
Post a Comment
Read more