Island People Rise

You already know it's coming; it's still cold as balls and it's barely March but still, you feel it.

Something in the wind perhaps, a sudden earthiness in the air, a hint of warmth that despite the chilling cold can only mean one thing; island people season is coming, and it's about damn time. When you're an islander living in temperate climates, Summer never seems to come quickly enough yet never seems to last as long as Winter appears to.

One would think that after 11 years I'd have been used to the changing of the seasons. All things considered, I always am prepared, physically and logistically, it's the mental toll I'm yet to figure out. It may sound trivial but I still find myself overcome  by mental anguish (well fine, not anguish but I'm definitely perturbed) each year at the onset of Winter. Physically I know what to do, I get all my winter jackets out, plug up the heater, dust off the Timberlands, check tyre tread and air pressure, pre-winter engine service, top up fluids, etc.

But mentally, it's a different ball game. The joy of knowing summer is coming is always tempered by the knowledge that it's not going to last very long. Could you imagine the frustration of being a Trinbagonian living in a place that has maybe (on a good year) five warm months out of every twelve? That basically means we have five months to squeeze in all of the things that our fellow trinis get to do all year round.

Feel like kayaking in December? How about hiking in mid-February? Good luck finding a good river lime anytime before June (though if you live in South Florida, none of these gripes apply). As I've griped about previously on this blog, the State of Georgia limits all public water sport on State lands (i.e. everywhere) to the last weekend in May through the first weekend in September. This effectively means we have just about 4 months to squeeze in a year's worth of hiking, fishing, camping, beach, river tubing, kayaking, etc.

Okay, yes it is entirely possible to go camping, hiking and fishing, etc during the colder months (trust me, I know a few crazy people that do) but, seriously, what part of "born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago" do some people not get?

At any rate fire up those grills, dust off those hiking boots, quit using the canoe as a storage bin, Summer is fast approaching and I for one, don't plan on missing it.

DTJ