Skip to main content

Just a Little Scrunter

Even at 7 am, the streets were filled with music. It was like everyone around wanted to shout in some way that the year was almost over, soon it would be time to dust off the Christmas tree and swap the normal curtains for the special Christmas ones. The Corner of Frederick and Park had a special feeling surrounding it. Inside Excellent Plaza, you could see the decorations being hung at Emdad's, ready for the next wave of Christmas enthusiasts to come in and grapple over the price for a few glass angels and furry lint covered santas.

I love the smell that some from Charlotte Street during December. A smooth, fresh mix of rum, cigarette smoke, roast pork, pastelles and puncha creme wafts through the air and around the corners of each street it intertwines with, making shoppers dizzy and slightly crazy.

I remember times I would walk along Brian Lara Promenade, from Royal Bank to Roytec, the sound of parang coming from Excellent City Centre ( de bigger one before it burnt down), the sweet smell of cotton candy and incense, the vendors just a little more animated, people smiling just a little wider, suits just a little more pressed, women dressed just a little more festive, reds, greens, gold...everywhere.

In every store you entered, a warm, loving feeling came over you, whether it was an illusion created to get you to shop more or a secret society only true trinis belonged to just for Christmas I never knew. But everything was just that little bit more.

When the evening creeps up and the night people come out earlier than usual, bringing with them their quatros, straw hats and voices, it is easy to get lost in the magic they create without much effort.

When Christmas comes to Trinidad, every thing, down to the trees light up with every very verse of of Scrunter... Anita...

When Christmas comes to Trinidad, I loose my heart just a little.

Comments

Anonymous said…
i know that feeling... i LOVE that feeling.
4:25 pm, October 19, 2008
Anonymous said…
I don't really like Charlotte Street at all! But you trying to make ppl like me more homesick around this time...sorrel..sponge cake...paranging....Xmas in Trinidad:(....

Makeda :)
6:37 pm, November 06, 2008
Unknown said…
last time i saw u, u were running up charlotte street in a hurry!
7:30 pm, November 06, 2008
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello To the Rest of my Life

I slowly traced my name in the sand. Around me I could hear the waves come to life from a night of dark calmness. 7 am, reading on Sunset Beach was never a place or time I expected I’d ever be. I looked out onto the water and saw him swimming. Above him a plane painstakingly maneuvered its way to the runaway behind me. I braced myself for the sudden gush of wind that would follow its taxi. The sun streamed down on my shoulders as I sat daydreaming. I felt completely content… not a worry, not a care, not a reason to stress, perfect calm. I watched the wind blow lightly over my name etched in sand and I began thinking back over the last few days. I mapped a situation in my head that never unfolded. From the crazy little clues he kept leaving for me to the final invitation for lunch at the lighthouse, I began to imagine myself being pushed over the edge of the cliff by the swift fluid movement of his palm. Fear began to set in. The ride to Grand Revere was full of laughter and singing, wi...
1 comment
Read more
Nothing gives me pleasure more than stealing books. Whether i take them from a library or an individual, the thrill is the same. And if someone is willing to actually lend me a book with the expectation i will return it when i am done, the thrill increases tremendously. When I was around 5 my mom seemed to catch on to this. After theffin about five of my aunt's Miles and Boon from de cardboard box under the step by aunty Mels , and trying real hard to sniff out the bookworms, and finally attempting to chew the pages, my mom bought me my first set of real books to devour on my own. It is a beautiful set of Sesame Street Encyclopedias! Complete with a run through every country by Oscar and Telly Monster soap operas.. i was in love. She followed this with a set of Junior Britannica Encyclopedias and a junior scrabble. I wonder what she was pullin , because i was outside making mud cakes with baby powder icing to feed Ren and Mimi, under the two table horse covered by ah curtain ...
1 comment
Read more