THE YEAR ENDS WITH A PARTY

Okay. Another year has just ended and I cannot help reminiscing about the things that marked my end of year. I mean aside from my usual time with family which has always been a way to end my year for as long as I remember.  What an eventful year 2013 had been.

The end of the year reminded me of the Road Safety Corps  campaign.

“The ember months are here again

              Drive carefully...”

These words have gradually become familiar.  The first time I they made sense to me I ran to my mother to find out what ‘ember months” meant. After her usual referral to the dictionary and not getting the definition there, she explained that it meant all the months ending with the letters MBER, that is, September to December. After trying in vain to understand why special care should be taken in those months, I had to go back to listen to her explanation of how it was essential for one to keep safe towards the end of the year while entertaining the hope that the coming year would meet one in good state, physically and otherwise.

As the innocence of childhood wore off, I too began to take care. The familiarity of those words did not commonize (is that a word?) its meaning. After all, who was the one that did not want to see the New Year? The community I grew up in liked life. That alone meant that majority of the people wanted to live life to the fullest.

Before I became solely responsible financially for my basic needs, the thought of getting new things was the major source of my excitement.  Well, even though time has passed and the girl I was has become a woman, I still made sure I got at least something new for myself, it did not have to be expensive, my end of year gift to me only had to be newly acquired. There have been years that I have been really broke and had even scolded myself for this practice but that was me.

One of my unlike towards the end of year was traffic; human and vehicular. The roads were usually crowded, the markets were too full and scammers were always on the prowl. I also hated the fact that there were always too many commitments. It did not matter to me if these commitments were parties or even weddings after all there was always very little time to enjoy them.

I remember trying to attend one of such parties towards the end of last year- a Sunday party- which meant I had to do church first. I felt I was already late by the time church was done as I had to make a ninety minutes journey to the venue. Anyway, I began my journey and silently prayed that I still remembered the route. That prayer was not answered, at least not in the way I wanted because after making one of my turns I noticed I could not see the next turn. So I decided to use my option B driving method which is to move in any way towards your perceived direction until you get to a familiar place and if not, seek help. This option implied I would get to the party later but I kept up with it. Somehow I hated to stop to ask for direction. I only resorted to it when I cannot view anything familiar or a direction sign.

I was in this state when I ran into them, or drove to the point where they had the stoppers. Some group of youths that had put lots of objects on the road to serve as stoppers. I had to stop. Irritation was what could best describe my stare as they explained to me that they were trying to raise fund for the upcoming end of year street carnival. The first thing that came to my mind was, “What is my business?”

You are right, if you thought I did not give any money to them but it got me thinking. Whose responsibility is it to sponsor any street carnival? Was raising funds for the carnival enough reason to block any road or better still harass road users?

The end of year comes with plenty definitely.  I always knew that so I did not have to be surprised when I saw this carving on a head just before the New Year. 

The youth was a coming in from the city and was on his village. My reaction was only a chuckle and a smile. I did not want to incur the youth’s wrath. As I wondered where and when I missed the trend I could not help imagining how those in the village would react on seeing him. Would they emulate him, silently wish they had it on or mock him?

I alighted at my bus stop and could not wait to share this hair style with my folks. I was glad I was able to steal a picture from him. So at home we had our laughs in between food and drinks in front of the television that no one was watching. Our own kind of party.

While we wait for 2014’s parties, keep faith!