Health

Following my last column about the responses to textures, particularly in food, a friend asked how I felt about souse. For a fleeting moment I thought she had made some and was offering me a taste that Sunday morning. Although her message was about the column, my brain is so …

“[…] Access to justice is a human right and divorce is a basic exercise in access to justice. For many women, divorce is the only means by which to escape domestic violence or financial subjugation at the hands of a spouse. “[…] Adjournments or no shows of judges prolong the …

“[…] Dr Keith Rowley, police work is what is known as a “wicked problem”. Rittel & Webber (1973) identified the following characteristics of a wicked problem: “[…] The problem has no end point where you can say it is ‘solved’; solutions are not true or false, but better or worse; …

I have always misunderstood marshmallows. Never quite got their popularity. In the old days, they popped up mostly around Christmas time, along with butter cookies and other treats. I’ve since discovered that they are actually made up of 90 per cent sugar, but that had nothing to do with my …

He is in his mid-fifties, a woodworker of the old school, where craftsmanship was an emblem of pride. He had come to Trinidad many years ago, on a roundabout journey from Guyana that had taken him to places far, and jobs disparate. Now, in modest circumstances, he plies his trade: …

I met the face of grief a couple of weeks ago and it has haunted me since. It was a chance encounter with someone I did not know. It isn’t quite accurate to say it was chance, because I had gone seeking his artisan services. His kiosk bore a handwritten …

Of all the festive days in our calendar—and we have so many—the only one that has genuine significance for me is Old Year’s Day. Nothing to do with the expectations and hopes that accompany heralding a new year. I believe that every day is just 24 hours apart from another, …

For the last three years, we have been mired in grief. Each month seems more challenging than the one before. All sense of normalcy appears to have departed, making it easy to lose sight of joy, hope, and happiness. We have endured two years of lockdowns, masking and handwashing only …

Around dusk, a couple weeks ago, as I was leaving the Massy supermarket in St Augustine, a group of maybe six young boys—I’d guess between eight and 12—were trooping around the car park soliciting donations. They approached me and said they were trying to raise funds for their football club. …

I have never liked mixed peel, those little cubes of candied fruit of red, green and yellow that are ubiquitous ornaments for all manner of sweet treats. As a child, I thought they were spiteful additions to sweet breads, coconut drops, fruit cakes and the like. I reasoned that they …

The fictional Winnie the Pooh greeted her best friend, Eeyore, the donkey: “A lovely day, isn’t it?” He replied: “I wish I could say yes, but I cannot.” The Eternal Pessimist could never countenance a good day. For him, it is all for nought! The heavy rains that wrapped our …

When I turned 18, I did two things that signified for me my coming of age. I opened a bank account, and I took out a life insurance policy. An agent of Colonial Life had come to our home pursuing our business. Convinced by his booming presence, and his knowledgeable, …