Grenada

"Mornin."

"Mornin."

The day begins with a greeting. No excuse for barely opened eyes. The salutation is given.

Early morning hours. Cars whiz down the road at intervals. People walk to work. And the goats and scrawny dogs follow you with blank eyes.

Morning is the best time to walk. Fewer people out and less drunks. It's also cooler, tho by the time you reach home again, clothes are sticking and sweat drips. 

The roads are generally littered with trash. Old wrecks of cars abandoned along the edges of the already too-narrow roads. Drains emit a reeking stench. 

Sometimes there's fog in early morning, brushing tops of distant mountains. Sometimes rain clouds, sending sporadic down-pours. Sometimes blue sky. All promise the same. A hot day.

As the sun rises and the day moves on, traffic along the narrow roads increase. Drivers frequent the use of their horns as they near narrow corners or zip around other vehicles. Music commonly throbs from speakers, sometimes vibrating our house, which is set close to the road.

As the day progresses, more people are seen walking the roads. Here it is considered rude to pass without greeting, so with the moving of the hours, "mornin" turns to "afternoon," then "evenin," then "goodnight."

Night is the worse time for being harassed. Plenty of drunks lime about during the day, and there is always the "crazies" cracked on the ever-present weed, but as the night descends, it worsens. Strange things stalk those hours.

Roadside stands come alive during the evening, selling the popular bbq chicken, and bars are well populated with perverted men.

Darkness comes quickly here. By 6:30 the sun is sliding past the horizon. But with the darkness comes a beauty. If you exert yourself to climb the steps of one of the forts, you will find it spread below. At your feet, stretched out before you lay the towns of Grenada, city lights dot the streets. Yachts, bobbing in the waves, light the harbor. And perhaps a cargo ship will be beginning it's slow journey across the waters, sending its rays as it moves out of the harbor. 

Welcome to the land of Grenada. We have just begun.