After Carnival

The carnival is over. Two days of dancing, of drinking and laughing, sunshine and costumes and music. This port town is tired, it's time for it to rest. But what many people don't know is that now is a rather exquisite time, a special time, as special as the carnival itself. When the town is extra quiet and extra still, the moment is ripe to take a tour and drink in the drowsy atmosphere. So let's take a little walk and see what there is to see. Before we set out, I always like to do a little wind down exercise. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. First, get comfortable in your bed. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, noticing where you feel it, in the nose, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm. You're nice and relaxed. We're going to be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four, and then breathing out for six. So are you ready? Let's begin. In for four, two, three, four. Hold it for four, two, three, four. Now breathing out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four, holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four, holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four, holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. Great, now returning the breath to normal. When you hear the steel pan, you follow it. What else are you meant to do? You don't know for sure where the music is coming from, It fills you with wonder. The wind carries the music, a silver voice bouncing off hills at all directions, carrying its melody. At this hour, all of the steel bands should be silent, yet somewhere in the distance, one band has not stopped playing. It flies solitary, like a bird returning to nest at the end of day. Without even trying, you find that you are closer, the music is louder, a melody rises and falls like the waves of the ocean. Bright, resonant, silver, you approach a wide Avenue lined with large trees. You hear them whisper to each other in the breeze all the way along the Avenue. It's as though they are glad to have your company, to guide you to the steel band. You find the source of the melody, it is coming from a nearby mass camp, a place where costumes are made, sold, and distributed. In the mass camp, a few elaborate costumes have been left behind, standing like museum pieces in the silent yard. The costumes are playful things, made of wire and fabric, large fishes, exotic flowers, all ones carried by smiling masqueraders You pass a strange building. It is a riot of turrets, all piled on top of each other,...