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To embrace awe and wonder. Of worlds that might be…Illuminate the imagination. Think, explore and dream, from things seen and unseen, of magical lands and fables. The beauty of snowflakes, the wonder of winter, the scent of bread baking.
Cakes rising in the oven, the aroma of cinnamon-infused air: the sweet scent of meals being prepared: salted pork, dasheen and yam cooking in a large cast-iron pot over burning wood; In a dimly lit hut, you sat. Your stomach churning and mouth-watering, savouring and thinking of what might be. In the background the din of country and western music filter from the wooden hut; Remembering Joleen, I only have eyes for you and stand by your man.
A walk, the chance event of coming across a custard apple. Ah, what is joy and bliss if not this? Running from the swamp in fright, your legs covered with swollen leeches. Imagining boa constrictors sleeping in water pools under waterfalls, still, you jumped in…Created myths that captivated the heart. And, you marvelled at the heavens. Imagining catching shooting stars from a Christmas sky; the arms of the Milky Way arched across the sky.
There is something magical about listening to music on a battery-powered radio set. You, the night, the hut, the kerosene lamp, and the BBC world newscast in the midst of the woods. The isolation that enthrals, she would save her pennies to buy the batteries. There was love out there and beauty beyond compare.
As a child, you turned your fears into joy and wonder, bakes fried in cinnamon-infused oil: comfort and warmth. Dried grapefruit rinds, which she would magically turn into sugar candy. Plantain cakes baked in the wood-fired ovens, and salted pork hanging from the lime trees,
Never lit, fairy lights hanging off the mantelpiece and kerosene lamp casting shadows on the wall.
