Caribbean Winter Mirages🎄

Rituals are not always adorned in pretty gift wrapped bundles and placed surreptitiously under a well decorated tree. Those images are but mirages to those who exist far away from wonderous snow laden trees and icy visions of rolling hills.

We knew nothing of rooftops wearing thick white coats, their contours softened by fresh snowfall - or pine trees standing like silent sentinels, their branches heavy with snow, and leaves twinkling with icicles that catch the pale winter sun. We never imagined those gentle flurries dancing in the air, each flake a tiny miracle drifting down like whispered wishes...

Or that other side of the beautiful splendor - the slushy mess that follows the grand enjoyment of the winter season.

Only on Christmas cards did we see snow laden landscapes forming picture perfect panoramas of nostalgic beauty.

Caribbean Life

For the first parts of our year, we had sunny weather all year round, but when others in different zones of the world had snowy winter weather - our heated temperature finally dropped to cooler, welcome weather, when a light sweater was needed.

While I am sure that there were other families in my country with the means to enjoy a Christmas tree and presents, we had no such delights. We did have some funny Christmas songs on the radio though.

Here is Shaggy with a more inclusive, updated version of a Jamaican Christmas song. Hoping that after the recent storm, life will again seem normal soon, and we will feel like singing along.

If Island coconut trees met Christmas snow.

Ah, yes - Nostalgia. Looking back at my early 'winter' rituals.

My personal Caribbean upbringing never saw a single Christmas tree, no presents under a prettily decorated fir - no magical Santa busily whizzing down a sooty chimney. Still, we had no complaints...we were healthy, well fed and completely oblivious to the fact that any such thing existed.

My parents never had the time, the means or the opportunity for the fancy notions of such frivolity being endowed upon their large brood of children. It was a very close call between having enough and hoping for more.

Our ritual consisted of our dear mother waking us up very early on Sunday mornings, Easter and Christmas, dragging us all off to church whether we wanted to or not, half asleep and grumbling. Then back home to our regular meals and regular same old, same old activities. No special feast - just what the Lord, our hard working father and our loving mother had provided on that particular day.

But - we did have one wonderful ritual which we looked forward to with eager eyes and hopeful hearts every year, without fail.

The two well stocked barrels shipped from America twice per year, by our beloved Auntie Mary...or Nana, as everyone fondly referred to her. Her neighbor, Mrs. G, was always there to lend her a hand. And geez, could those two women cram a barrel full of stuff.

Summer and Christmas saw the treasures arriving, fully paid for - most times, they were thankfully transported directly to our doorstep, sometimes we had to go collect them in the city of Kingston. There was unimaginable anticipation to see what gems these two women had amassed for our enjoyment. New clothes, shoes, 'exotic' American foods, flour, rice, sweet treats, and strange canned stuff which were also a treat, much different from the healthy stuff grown in our back yards or Caribbean markets - but to us children, it really meant a lot.

There was no room for toys, we needed the more sensible stuff, and we were quite ok with that.

My favorite were the cans of nuts...those cost a fortune where I am from. Luckily we had a neighborhood peanut man to help us out.

Many years later, living in the US. 🏠

Now living in the USA, I finally met a fully laden Christmas tree, glowing with golden lights. I stand in awe of windows flickering with candlelight and the warm pulse of hearth fires. Wreaths hang on every door, and strings of colored lights trace eaves and fences, casting a festive glow onto the snow below.

A Christmas snow-covered landscape unfolds like a dream across the world, blanketing everything in a soft, luminous stillness. Awesome to behold.

🛷 The Life Within

Children bundled in scarves and mittens pull sleds over the hills, their laughter echoing through the crisp air. A snowman guards the town square, top-hatted and carrot-nosed, while carolers gather beneath a lamppost, their voices rising like breath into the twilight.

The Sky Above smiles down at me...amused at my childish fancy.

As dusk falls, the sky turns lavender and rose, then deep indigo. Stars begin to prick through the velveteen sky, and somewhere in the distance, sleigh bells ring faintly - whether from a horse-drawn sleigh or something more magical, no one can quite say.

Finally - Nana's house welcomes me.

Now we all love our aunt above and beyond everything. But...

Nana Mary is the most stubborn woman that God ever created. No one could get her to leave her little apartment to go anywhere she did not desire to go. So everyone had to make the trek to her place for all holiday and special occasion celebrations.

She never had enough space, but we all jumbled together in hers and the upstairs Mrs. G's place. No one was going to miss being with her or her delicious cooking to boot, for the holidays.

I finally had the opportunity to place and find my gift under a tree in Nana's house. I joined the ritual of sending barrels and funds back to family...some had also begun to make the trips to the US and other parts of the world themselves.

The years have passed. Nana has a touch of dementia now - her memory is very selective, she never forgets ME - I can happily boast...but she is as feisty and healthy as can be, still going strong...She now lives with family, still wanting to be on her own.

Whenever I remember the ritual of winter or any special times...it will be Nana Mary's kindness that stands out above everything. Remembering that without her many generous gifts and encouragement over our growing years...who knows how much harder life would have been for my struggling parents.

I have tried my best to pay it forward...walking in her and my mother's blessed footsteps...while honoring a father's sacrifice.

Remembering my parents this winter season.