Yellow flowers, gallos de pelea and unimaginable hot September things..

Yellow flowers 

 'Mr Kissoon , I come for lil bird seed' the weed man tells me. The grass is thriving in the concrete cracks in the heat - grass, bush, pusilane (hog weed). Is nice to see the bird seed grass there. The man tells me it just does not grow in his yard, even as it grows wild everywhere else. Now I wonder if I should weed them down. 

But the patch though, early morning -ish and the bush which survived the tomato and pumpkin and other things which died before bearing.. yellow flowers every early morning.. and then on the ground another 'bush with another kind of yellow flower and at some point the pusilane/hog weed has tiny yellow flowers.

Place hot, and mind is on snow and ice and days when the windows closed to lock out the cold breeze and not on three kinds of yellow 'wild flowers' which come and go...

I tried some of the pusilane a day which tasted nice but I think give me belly wuk so I will leave them to thrive and cover the concrete and bear small yellow flowers.

Thinking about yellow flowers as a way not to think about the things not done, exercising just not happening, things taking longer to do in the heat and when nerves on the skin are waiting for the breeze to check to see if the breeze is cool or warm. 

 Mind running on other things.. distractions.. while also ignoring some things.... imagining the sea wall and sea breeze though I remember low tide could be hot as well..

 Gallos de pelea

 And as though watching in another country, seeing the story about the migrants and remigrants from Venezuela arriving on boats at the Tuschen Sea dam. In the week of the official back and forth about Venezuela and Guyana and Essequibo.

Shabna Rahman's voice is briefly interrupted by shots of palanquins like, and roosters crowing .. with an small caption .. fighting fowls.  Place is hot and as I watch the story of the people travelling five days on the boar, arriving hungry, dirty, glad to be here.. I am trying to imagine the fighting fowls from Venezuela in Guyana. 

The police man is polite, explaining that cock fighting is illegal in Guyana. Did he even imagine when he went to work that he would have to make a decision about this version of fighters from Venezuela in a week of Venezuelan aggression?

The woman has brought these assets though from a place where cock fighting is not illegal. What will happen to her ?

And I go to google to find out about the 'gallos de pelea' . And while I have indulged in arepas, and chicha and empanada on the Georgetown streets.. , I wonder if the gallos de pelea would be roaming around as well..

And I complain about heat and wondering what the journey on the ocean would be like from Venezuela to Guyana  , if it as hot as it is on land..  

people commenting though, labourers needed.. yep.. as Guybai builds' , 'cheap labour' is needed as one of the guys I know who likes working a few days a week.. 

Cheap labour in Guybai from Venezuela, like how cheap labour from Africa, and China and India..

Heat..

 Wake up and hear voices and there are young men mostly in the street cleaning drains.. according to one man they start work around 4am. 

The guys are not wearing shirts, in the mud.. one comes later to ask for a blessing as he says they will not be paid until work done and they need to get things to clean skin and so on. The come from South Georgetown on the contract to clean.

Last time there were Venezuelan workers, two had asked me for water. 

Guyana apparently needs 100,000 labourers like this, to work in conditions which seem not far from conditions like the other ancestors who had come on boats 'legally'.

Place is hot. I go to make a contribution and encounter a public servant, who is polite and friendly. The public servant sensibly asks the right questions, ignoring the nonsense on the form which has been provided. Place is hot and I realise I can't hail up the public servant because the public servant might be penalised for not asking the stupid questions.

Thinking of the policeman on the Tuschen Sea dam trying to explain to the woman from Venezuela about the gallos de pelea and of having to make decisions about them which  have no bearing in 'law' but in common sense.

Didn't imagine that I could think of the two public servants trying their best.

AC on my head in the minibus

Last day of September and we getting ready for a hotter October. Head is bare though, sun is on the head. A cancer survivor who has lost his hair also in the sun, saying nah, he can't wear hat either.

Minibus pulls up.. loud music. I think  heck is either the heat or loud music and reach home quick. 

Go in and realise the AC is on. and there is ths AC on my head and I don't hear the music. And I remember how I must not go straight from hot to cold but I think my head already not good and take this blessing.

Come to Church Road and conductor says 'Mr Kissoon, do you still practice'? and I get a lil confused and say 'practice..' and he say yes 'counselling'..

And had to unfreeze the brain and say something about ;front line listening and referral and so on.. and we talk about 'help' and 'therapy'.

I don't tell him though that therapy in the heat is writing about random things which really make no sense.