Heart Walk 2012

I think I ticked quite a few people off this weekend.

You see, I am not a morning person, at all. I've been invited to and subsequently missed many events because of that, so the fact that I was out the house at 5:30, on a Saturday morning no less, had more than a few people, somewhat less pleased with me. I apologize for all your collective, many long years of frustration. 

.......but that's a no, I still won't be game for getting up on Saturday/Sunday mornings, don't even try it. :)

View looking east along 17th Street from the
Millennium Gateway Arch

So where were we?

Oh right, Heart Walk 2012.....got up, did it, had a damn good time and managed to get a decent workout in. A win win win situation if you ask me and I think I'll definitely be doing it again next year. 

Maybe I ought to give this early morning thing another look because seriously, the sunrise with Atlanta's skyline as a backdrop literally made my jaw drop....though alternatively I could probably get the same effect at sunset thus negating the whole early morning nonsense....Hmm. 

I'll need to check on the attendance figures but the event had a really good turn out. I wouldn't be surprised to hear figures like 20,000 or 30,000 or more in attendance.

17th Street tun up!!

For a person like myself, the party jumbie, the habitual wajang and otherwise career misfit, it felt good to know that I was finally putting my energies towards something useful. 

I'd been oblivious to the plight of CHD sufferers till I met someone that had it. I feel guilty in that I hadn't been putting the same level of effort into others around me that suffer everyday with other afflictions, like MS for instance. But don't worry, I'll fix that, better late than never...........now that I've gotten a taste for it, I think I'll definitely be getting on board next year for the causes of both MS and CHD. 

Don't worry, church people, allyuh next, I'll be on board soon.

Laters

Fond Memories

One of my fondest memories of growing up was of the time after I'd gotten my drivers license. As I'm sure many of you can attest, a son with a drivers license equals a mother who no longer needs to drive anywhere......ever.

I became the errand boy, the chauffeur, the delivery service (she did catering on the side); people would probably pay good money for this sort of driving experience at 16. But the one enduring memory I have of this time, was my Sunday routine. Like many trinibagonian families, we had a market day. I think my grandmother's was Monday or Tuesday but ours was always Sunday.

Every Sunday morning after church, she'd give me the list, most often hand written in pencil on a torn, wrinkly piece of copybook paper.....you know, the usual market stuff:

2 hand ah green fig
3 pound ah tomato
some (yeah she wrote "some") cucumber
2 bunch a shadow beni
a bag ah carrot, some sweet pepper
pumkin
a watermelon (taste it an make sure it sweet)
stop by de rastaman an get some senna (Jesus......)
5 pound ah Carite (make sure it fresh)
two big bunch ah callaloo bush

The market run was just a cover though, well for me anyway. Market days began for me, what became a lifelong addiction to doubles. See I'm from Maracas......St. Joseph, not Maracas Bay. Which means market was Tunapuna Market. If you're paying attention, you know what lies between St. Joseph and Tunapuna.

Curepe Junction

Oh gawd yes, every Sunday morning, without fail, two doubles, everything, slight pepper (ahem....TwoWithSlight) and a coconut water.....water nut, ice cold, no jelly. It's a pity the pudding lady didn't come out on Sundays or I'd be talking about my black pudding tradition as well, but alas.

Lawrenceville 

I'm telling you this because I have within the past few weeks located a hitherto unknown (to me anyways) group of Trinidadians living in Lawrenceville, GA who serve hot fresh doubles, aloo pie, bake and shark, saltfish, pone, tunnocks, etc every Sunday morning. I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to again be waking up on Sundays, running 3 exits up to get barra hot out the oil, fresh channa, hot bake an shark and I'm sorry but I can't remember the last time I had an aloo pie that good.

All they're missing now is saheena and pholourie. Now obviously I'm not going to broadcast the people's address but if you're interested, give me a buzz, I'll send you the address; hot fresh doubles, every Sunday 11 to 2. The lime is real nice too as there are chairs and tables laid out for folks to sit back and relax, red solo (glass bottle) in hand.

Link up!

Bye Bye Summer........you will be missed :(

It's a shame but it's been ten years and I still haven't gotten used to the concept of seasons. Well okay fine, yes I'm used to the changing of the seasons, I just don't like it.

Being a trini, clearly Summer is my thing. But you see, the thing is, it goes far deeper than just familiarity. Yes I like warm weather because that's what I grew up with; the word "cold" only makes sense for me when placed in from of words like "beer." My problem with cold weather stems from the fact that it signals the end  of water-based activities (at least in Georgia) from Labour Day in September, through Memorial Day in May.

Eight months
Eight months of no pools, no waterparks, no more trips to the lake, no beach access and you can pretty much forget Tybee Island, barbecue season is now over........seriously, what is a stranded islander to do? Well you make the best of it, is what you do. Florida keeps it real, you know damn well Miami's beaches stay open year round, but it's just a crying shame that for 8 months of the year, your nearest open beach is either a plane ride or a 10 hour drive away.

But it's not all bad I suppose; I do look forward to the Fall for one reason in particular, the Fall colours. If you haven't already, take the time in mid-October to drive up to the mountains somewhere, when it looks like the mountains are absolutely ablaze in gold, orange, yellows and bright reds as the trees prepare for Winter.

Shit to do
If you live in Georgia, I'd suggest driving up to Ashville in North Carolina, take a ride on the Blue Ridge Scenic Highway. Needing something closer to home, October is a great month to hit Helen in the north Georgia Mountains for Octoberfest or drive through the rolling hills in North Georgia's Wine Country out past Dahlonega. I hear the riverboat tour out in Chattanooga, Tennessee is another great one for seeing the Fall colours.

It's not an ideal compromise for a river lime jumbie like myself but there's no use in complaining, Winter is coming and it's coming hard, I'll just have to deal with it.