Whoever said, “Into every life a little rain must fall,” knew what she was talking about; but this is ridiculous.  It’s rained almost every day since I’ve been here in Trinidad and yesterday it rained all day – much of it torrential.  On the narrow congested road to where my parents live, there were parts of the road under two to three feet of water.  What’s up with that?   So much for sunny Trinidad and getting away from the frigid New York weather. For the first time I can recall I stayed at home in Trinidad because of the weather.  Roads were covered in mud and bridges in mud and debris.  Also my friend who was having a Christmas party had no electricity.

This gives an opportunity to observe how people cope with inconvenience. Especially me.  For let’s face it, this stuff is only inconvenient.   So what if you can’t go sit outside in shorts or go to the beach? There are many places where this is impossible for most of the year, either because of the weather or gunfire. So what if there is no water, we’ve got water to drink and we know it’s temporary.  The water will come back in a day or two.  There are places where people never have running water and must walk for hours to get just enough water to live.  And so what if I don’t go out and hang with friends with great food and drink?  I’m here for awhile and there will be plenty of opportunities to eat and drink in great company.  There are people who are starving in the world.

I’m lucky to be around two individuals who get swept up in the drama of the inconvenience and make an empty water main mean the end of the world.  I’m one of the two, and I’m lucky because the other person serves as a reminder that I tend to go there also.  Go to irritation and make wrong, and I catch it very quickly now, thanks to my lucky amigo who is close by and serve as my canary in the coal mine.  I see where it’s going and I take a deep breath before I over-react.  I’ve gotten so good now that to another observer I would appear the picture of calm.  What’s going on though is I do get triggered, I notice it and then I let it go.

The mark of a master maybe?   Do you think I can leave the temple yet?  There’s still the rice-paper dammit.  😉