“Eating Organic Was The Norm For Trinbagonians”

For the greater part of my life I ate organic food and I did not pay close attention to it. It was the most natural thing... My father had a beautiful garden which he planted as a hobby… He killed weeds by rooting them up with his hands or by using his hoe, rake, spade, fork, etcetera… Pesticide and herbicides were never used in his garden and in most of the gardens in Trinbago… Fertilizer was cow dung and it was all natural, because the cows ate grass. Goats and sheep also ate grass. They all grazed in the fields and savannahs. We had chickens, ducks and turkeys. They all ate corn and water-grass… When I think about the plates of food that I ate when I lived in Trinidad and Tobago… hmm!!! Every single thing on it was organic…

“My Mother Is A Baker”

My mother baked every Saturday. She baked bread, sweet bread, coconut drops, cake, coconut tarts, pone and currants rolls. Everything was done from scratch. We were her helpers. Blessed was the day that my dad bought a blender, but it did not matter to her… We had to use the grater to grate the coconut and cassava, the mortar and pestle, to pound the cinnamon, clove and other spices, and a wooden spoon and a bowl to cream the butter and sugar. After all the ingredients were prepared, the baking started and the house smelt heavenly…

“What The World Needs Now”

Thunder and Lightening… Not my favorite moment and I was happy that it all started when I was at home. I wasn’t that lucky when I was in Trinbago two weeks ago… My nephew was about to drop me off to see a friend, but when I saw the lightening strike, I told him not to stop the car because I am not getting out…
Tonight the weather was worst than Trinbago’s weather… The lightening strikes flashed as though someone was taking pictures. The thunder rolled as though a rock was going to come through the window. I wanted to hide in the closet, but my daughter and son were looking through the window. After the flashing and rumbling the place suddenly got very quiet. I guess what the world needs now is some peace and quiet.

“Milk And Biscuit In Trinbago”

One thing I did not like in elementary school was the nutrition moment – milk and biscuit. The biscuit was delicious, but the milk was another story and there were rules…
You were given a cup of milk and you had to drink it first before you were given the biscuit. Our teacher would walk around with a strap, to make sure you drink it. It was the hardest thing to drink. I used to take little sips until she came to where I was standing then I would take a mouthful. “Swallow it now!” She would shout then she would look in my cup, “Drink the rest!” Now I would be more upset because the rest of the milk was always lumpy. Our teacher would stand there with an, ‘I dare you’ look on her face and her strap ready to pounce…

“Only Old People Die”

I think I must have been about age 5 when I started to really hear about death and I was told that only old people die so I asked, “How old is old?”
“You have about 65 years to go before old age starts to set into your bones so don’t worry about it.”
65 years was a long time away, so I didn’t worry about it for a long, long time until a girl who was 11 years died. She lived in the neighborhood. She was three years older than I was. Fear set into my heart, and I accused them of not being truthful to me, but they said that her death was an accident.
I was supposed to accept that answer and be cool with it, but her death troubled me for a long time. Then life went back to normal… Old people were the ones that were dying for many years, but today young and old dying…

“The Kerosene Lamp In Trinbago”

I was vacationing in the home that I grew up in… It was, as usual, the most comfortable, relaxing home to be in. At nights, I slept blissfully, and to hear the cock crowing in the morning as a wake up call was just delightful. My vacation was just perfect, but then again, I should have known that something would happen to kill perfection…
One night, after I fell asleep, I suddenly woke up. The bedroom was pitch-black. It felt hot and humid. I opened the bedroom door and looked out. The house was in total darkness. I wasn’t sure where to find anything and I wasn’t going to wake my mother, sister or nephew…
“We are going to deal with it in the morning,” I whispered and I picked up a magazine to fan myself. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps and I saw a light… Someone went into the kitchen, lit the kerosene lamp and put it on the dining table… O how nostalgic the smell of the kerosene and the light from the lamp made me…

“Always In A Hurry”

On a very hot humid day, I was waiting on the bus. My son, who was 7, was with me. The bus was taking a very long time, and since I was pregnant, the heat was more overbearing… my son was looking drained, so I decided to take another means of transportation. Every taxi that passed by had a passenger inside. The next choice was a dollar van. It was not one of my favorite ways to travel, because the dollar van drivers are always in a hurry. When we got into a van, the driver drove off and I fell into the seat. I exclaimed, and he apologized, but he increased his speed. My son held my hand and he asked, if I was okay. I told him that was one of the reasons I did not like getting into these vans… When we got to our destination, my son put out his little hand to help me.
As I stepped onto the sidewalk, the driver started to pull off and the door hit me on my hip pushing me forward. I stumbled into my son and we were both grabbing at each other. After we got our footing, I turned around to let the driver have it, but he drove off…

“The Audacious Kiskadee”

Stuart is passionate about his fishes so he takes good care of them. The aquarium is blocked off, but the mistake he made was leaving a space between the fence and the roof. He knew that birds could fly in through the space, so he intended to cover it with mesh-wire. Weeks went by and no birds came in the area where the fishes were, so he forgot about what he intended to do. One day, when he went to feed the fishes, a Kiskadee flew in, swooped down over the aquarium, caught a fish, hovered for a moment audaciously looking at him, with its victim clenched between its feet, did its famous birdcall –“kis…kia…dee”, then flew away with the fish…

“If It Is Budding Trinbagonians Will Make Tea”

At breakfast and dinner, my siblings and I were guaranteed a nice cup of Milo, Ovaltine, homemade hot chocolate or Cocoa. My father paid close attention to how much we drank because one night, in every week, we are going to get the same size cup, full of local herb tea… BUSH TEA. These herbs were from his garden. He would say to my mother, “Make this tea for those children.” We all complained, but it did not help. He sat at the dining table to make sure we drank it all… It was either, Bois Canon (Bwah-kah-no), Lime-bud, Malomay, Portugal-bud, soursop-bud, even guava-bud tea…

“The Foolish Thing”

I am wondering who came up with the idea to put a piece of sponge to act as a brush to make corrections, in the bottle of the BIC WITE OUT... I was just trying to correct an error, and the foolish thing white out the error and non-errors...

“You Are Not The Father”

I was sitting in an office waiting for assistance, when an episode of the Maury Show started… “OH DRAMA!”
Looking at television during the day is not a normal thing for me. I was flabbergasted by what was taking place. Suddenly, a thought came to me… The Maury Show had the wrong name… It should be called, “THE YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER SHOW!”

“A Moonlit Lime In Trini”

My nephews –Stef, Stuart and Marc planned a lime… They know I like beer… I like it because it is refreshing and because of the health benefits… so Carib and Stag was the drink of the night. They also brought B-B-Q Chicken and all I can say about that chicken is, DELICIOUS!
Anyway, we sat in the yard and the moon was full and looking glorious…. After my second beer, I saw the man and his dog in the moon…
An hour went by quickly… Great conversation and laughter makes time slip away… My nephews were looking at me to see how many beers I drank. The moment they were distracted, I took empty bottles from Stuart’s pile and put them next to the 2 empty bottles that were in front of me. Some time later I was boasting that my pile was greater than theirs… They were all trying to prove that I was not speaking the truth, but I was meticulously trying my best to prove my case, over my hysterical laughter… All I could say about this lime is… Stef, Stuart and Marc, you guys know how to throw ah lime…

“Robbery With V”

If you purchase a ticket through Expedia to travel with Caribbean Airlines, in less than 5 minutes, the money is deducted from your account or charged to your credit card. If for some reason you cannot travel and you need to cancel the ticket, the airline only reimburse half the amount you paid… The reimbursement is not credited to your account. You have to wait 3 to 4 weeks for a refund check.
If you have to change the date of travel, you have to pay an additional fee and as usual they receive the payment immediately…
In the interim Expedia--- Caribbean Airlines is going to sell the seat you cancelled/changed again for the going rate… Hmm… Robbery With V!!!

"Blinking Blink"

Sorry to all my followers for not saying anything for a few days… I am in Trinbago using the network that they say can get you online in a blink… I am blinking and blinking but the blinking thing is as slow as ever…

"Words To Entice My Writing Spirit"

Yesterday, I had a dream that I was on a plane heading to Trinidad... I had an interesting conversation with some people on the plane. As usual, in every conversation there are words...to entice my writing spirit, especially the words from the elderly... She said, "Woe to him who stores up what is not his: how long can it last."
I woke up this morning, I'm in Trinidad....

“Ps and Qs”

You have to be on your Ps and Qs when you are dealing with some situations… I was on my Ps and I exclaimed, “WOW! You got to be kidding me!”
I wasn’t on my Qs… so I didn’t ask the right questions… Hmm.

“A Great Lesson”

Everyone needs someone who is passionate about what they are doing, believes in what they are doing, and is willing to walk the road with them… through thick and thin. Sometimes you meet people who you think would go the miles with you, but they are looking for the same thing you are looking for… Someone to take the walk with them… When you think about it, a great lesson is taught in every broken union.

“It Was Glowing”

I heard my parents and other people in the neighborhood say that, “THE SEA IS A MOTHER”. At a certain time of the year, it takes and it purges. The stories I have heard regarding situations that happened in the sea are happy/sad.

One hot and humid night, we decided to go on Clifton Hill Beach. It was a dark night… No moon or stars in the sky. When we arrived, I noticed the water near the Point Fortin jetty, was glowing. I pointed it out and one of my sister said that it was the reflection of the jetty lights. We all went into the sea. I splashed some water and it glowed, then I noticed that we were all glowing.
I read about plankton and I knew it is food for fishes, so there might be fishes around. To be in the sea at nights and there is plankton in the water, is not a good idea…

“Raining/The Sun Is Shining”

It started off hot and humid. The sun was shining in all its glory. The temperature went down a bit, then the sky got cloudy, the rumbling and flash started. Not my favorite moment. Suddenly, the rain started and out comes the sun… It’s raining and the sun is shining… hmm… The Devil and his wife fighting for a ham bone.

“A Beautiful Land Mark”

Their friend was the captain and owner of the boat that they were on. He was a teacher and he was also an avid fisherman. When he invited them to go fishing, they all agreed. The boat was anchored miles from the shore and the excitement was on because fish was biting the bait. Although they were happy with their catch, they looked around and all they could see was water and the horizon… The rain started to drizzle, then it started to fall heavily into a white blinding rain… They all became anxious, except the captain.
“Let me take you guys back to shore. He turned the boat around and drove for a while, but there was no land in sight. They wondered if he was going in the right direction… Suddenly, a red object appeared in the distance and the captain steered the boat towards it… They were all in awe and one of them asked him what it was. “Yeah, what is it,” they all chimed in.
“That is the top of the San-Fernando hill. It turns red when the soil gets wet.”

THE SAN-FERNANDO HILL IS ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL LAND MARKS IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO.

“My Body Crashed”

For some reason, my body decided that it was going to crash… During the day yesterday, I suddenly felt very sleepy so I decide to sleep. My children know that I don’t like to sleep in the day so they proceeded to wake me…
“Come on mom don’t sleep. You have to wake up,” said my daughter.”
“Okay. I’m getting up,” I said, but I closed my eyes.
“No mom. Sit up. Find something to do,” she said.
…My daughter is telling me to find something to do… hahahha. Oh how the table is turning round and round... “I don’t have anything to do. My computer died.”
“I know, but don’t go to sleep. Just let me finish typing this then you could use mine.”
“Not now. I will use it later.” I kept looking at her until she started typing and reading then I closed my eyes.
She touched my hand… “No mom. Don’t sleep.”
“I’m not sleeping.” That was not true. I was having the sweetest sleep ever.
“Mom, give me your hands,” Said my son as he walked into the bedroom… I stretched out my hands and he pulled me up into a sitting position. “Do you remember when we were small you used to wake us up when we fell asleep during the day? You always told us, “Night is for sleeping... Day is to do something constructive”…

“It Bothers Me”

My mother and many of the women in the neighborhood I grew up in, used to put their hands together, slapping them in an up and down motion as though they were dusting off something, then they would say, “I wash my hand off of it.” This meant that they were no longer going to say or do anything about a particular situation.
Recently, I have been seeing so many women on television… dusting off their hands. , but they are dusting them over food… It bothers me...

“It Is Set In Stone”

I have met some people who gave my opinion about a matter. We never spoke about the matter, but they convincingly stated that it was my opinion about it. After they gave their so called my–opinion, they would find me where ever I am then ask me my opinion about the matter…
When I am asked forwarding questions, I don’t ever have an opinion. After I told them that I didn’t have an opinion, they would suggest different scenario then ask me what I thought about it… I don’t ever take the bait and they usually give up, but their suggestion about my opinion is already set in stone…

“Our Dog Took Care Of His Poor Health”

When our dog was ill he did not whine. He would go and find a particular grass, eat some then he vomited. After he was finished, he would drink some water and was back to his happy healthy self…

“She Did Not Know The Herb”

One day, her friend Joanne, who lived two blocks away, came to her home. After they greeted each other Joanne said, “Girl, “You know that my family and I have been suffering with the Asian flu just like you and your family?”
“Yes. We were just saying to each other that we feel as though we are going to die.”
‘This flu is the worst. You see this little tree?” Joanne asked. Holding it up.
“Yes. What is it?”
“I don’t know the name of it, but it is a wonder herb. A friend gave it to me and he told me to boil it and drink it because it is good for the cold. I drank cups of it and I gave some to my family. We are all feeling much better. I brought this tree for you to plant. Pick some leaves and make some tea.”
A loud coughing started and she looked at her son using the wall to support him self, as he walked into the bathroom.
“I am going to boil some now. We need to take something that will get rid of this flu.”
Her son came out of the bathroom. He said hello to her friend then he picked up the little tree.
“Mom! Where did you get this?”
“Miss Joanne just brought it for me. It’s good for the cold.”
“You guys really don’t know this herb?”
“No.”
“This is weed!”
“Oh my God, Annie! I walked from my house to your house with it in my hand!”