Grenadian Winter

Oh yes, winter in the Caribbean.... the most wonderful time of year... even better than when the kids go back to school in the great white north. We have all seen that commercial on TV when the father happily rides a shopping cart while singing “It's the most wonderful time of the year!”...

It's when we get a short break here in Grenada from feeling like our combined body and soul are going to melt into a sticky, sweaty blob on the sidewalk. Sorry for the photo - at least I shaved that day...

It's that time of year when we can choose a restaurant based on your culinary desires rather than if it's mandatory to have air-conditioning. It's that time of year when you can actually add a bit of warm water to your shower in the morning, and when there is the odd feeling of when the rivers of sweat stop running down your sides and into your underwear - you forgot what that feels like. It's also that time of year when the large overhead fans come to a resting place for a while. Sheets AND a blanket are placed on the bed for those that need it. And it's that time of year when we could (but usually don't...) taunt our family and friends from the great white north by posting annoying things like “OMG, it's friggin cold here.... it dropped all the way down to 26 C.!” ...

(Note to self – posts like that are not encouraged if you wish to maintain some sort of ongoing relationship with people who already hate you for having escaped to sunsets and warmth. We think it has something to do with the way freezing rain and deep snow affects their sense of humour ...when facial hair is frozen and they have icicles hanging off the end of their noses....).

But for us lucky folks who have taken the plunge into tropical life, the answer to the question as to why we love Caribbean winters boils down to one basic thing... we get a chance to wear some of our long-stowed clothes from the great white north when we go out in the evening. Woohoo!

At the first indication of what some would consider a brisk northerly front that's about to pass over our little piece of paradise, the long sleeves and jeans come out faster than you can say, "I’ll have another bowl of Carriacou love bites (fish nuggets) and hot sauce please". We also dig out our winter footwear - rubber shoes specifically made to be full of holes to let the rain water squish out of them while keeping our feet relatively warm. Our now-acclimatized bodies start to feel a gentle shiver when the sun goes down and we start imagining what it would be like to wear that favourite shirt and pants combo that we wore in the summer in Canada.

But then, really... when does a dip down to 26 C require a well balanced Canadian to wear socks, jeans and that favourite long sleeved shirt? You know, that great looking one that was bought on sale with good intentions while you were in Canada, and then you arrived back to the sweltering September heat and promptly hung it in the closet along with all of the other northern stuff that you never wear here....?

Of course, you might argue the point that if you consider the wind chill factor, the “feels like” temperature here might actually be a frigid 25 C, particularly if you are standing on the beach, well away from palm trees, and positioned to capture as much of the breeze as possible with arms outstretched... But, even if we do allow our fashions to be swayed by that fleeting wind chill factor (and perhaps along with an imagined hint of moisture that might fall from blue skies during the brief northern cold front), could we possibly pull out that “winter” jacket? ....the one that we bought during one of our last adventures in Mexico? ....well of course... yes!

Because really, our seasons here in the Caribbean go from hot to hotter and then soar into that f*#king hot season when you hit August and September. Then gradually back into December when it cools to less hot and then finally to an almost cool time of year. So, when that happens, it's our short window of opportunity to feel like we are in the midst of fashion-fun-time... welcome January and February.

In the evenings only, gone are shorts and tank tops and they are replaced by long outerwear and yes, a second layer we vaguely remember called underwear. For a fleeting moment, our fashion sense comes into play when we venture out for the evening. Yes, people actually wear jeans here.

We are so giddy that we blindly ignore the fact that we are not wearing what is shown in this image and rather are wearing yesterday's fashions (more like last decade), and yet we step out in what we now consider to be our best winter finery. We try to ignore the fact that those long-left heavy closet items have accumulated inevitable hanger fatigue with shoulders that poke up in the air and pant legs with horizontal creases in them. Yet, out we go in them so we can wear them at least one more time before they head for a yard sale or are donated to Grenada Association of Retired Persons.

And then..., it happens... mid to late February. The cooling trends of winter start to part and the warm gradually returns again, just as you are heading out in your reclaimed fashion wear and… you’re sweating.... The heat is on the rise and you find yourself looking for fine cotton apparel with a lower thread count – some of them already thread bare but nice and breezy.

And, in a few short months you’ll soon be hotter than a menopausal woman in a sauna. In the Caribbean. Yes, that's a real thing. Lasts from May to November, and during the hot summer months (Aug / Sep) you just want to sit in the sea up to your chin, 24/7, with a wide brimmed hat tied securely around your neck.

It's really cool to watch the tropical fish swim around your feet and that becomes a favourite past-time.

So be sure to prepare by buying skimpy fashion underwear to be worn around the house 100% of the time while you are at home. We regularly have to apologize to people who knock on our apartment door when we are just a few elastic bands short of naked.... Woohoo!