Gone are the cold winds that bite my cheeks early in the morning. It’s definitely summer now, and with it comes that languorous feeling – the heat is quite oppressive at times and I’d rather be indoors than beat the sun head on.
But then summer brings a lot of things to do – family outings, outdoor barbeques, taking food trips and discovering some unknown places, chilling out with friends, finding fit and fab summer wear, learning a new craft, and as I have said in my previous blog,the possibilities are endless. Some of us like to take yearly trips, either here or abroad, planning them in such details and panache. Nowadays, one would think twice before doing such. The hard times have definitely hit us and those much-awaited vacations have to be shelved for a while, they have to take a back seat in favor of more simple fares affordable to one’s budget.
Thinking of one’s summers is like opening some hidden secrets. And one’s reminiscing starts with “When I was”, ” Back when” or “I remember….” There is something nice about sharing memories. My kids always love to hear stories on how it was during our childhood years. They are ever quite so attentive when you regale them with stories of your childhood. Games like taguan, luksong-tinik, tug-of-war, playing garters, tumbang preso, touching balls, playing marbles come close of course but they never experienced those times when after school, you can still play and linger and come home dirty after such rigorous games with your friends and classmates. Living in the city sets such limits to outdoor fun and activities for kids. It is more laid back for them, what with so many assignments and other such extra-curricular activities in school. It’s either computer games, television and such latest gadgets like touch screen phones and cameras, iPhones, mini-notebooks and the like. Nissa and Josef occasionally buy T3 (the Gadget Mag) just to keep updated with the latest trends.
We used to climb trees, my three brothers and I. There was this guava tree we had in our backyard and every summer that it bore fruits, my eldest brother and I were elated to just eat guavas while hanging on to our favorite branches. At times, my mom would wonder where we got to. Mangoes are in season in summer, some of my cousins and I would pick semi-ripe mangoes and eat them with a sprinkle of salt under the tree. My grandmother used to say that we should not bring salt and throw it beneath the tree because it would make the fruits fall one by one. Now, I wonder where was the logic in that?
Have you ever tried picking duhat during your younger years? We also used to do that, my cousins and I. Armed with straw hats and old bandanas and a small bayong in hand, we would scour all those duhat trees scattered around. Never mind if they were inside one’s backyard, there were no fences anyway to prevent us from climbing those trees. And yes, the juicy sineguelas and the sweet kaimito. What a treat!
Summer is here again but I am somehow looking forward to occasional rain to lessen the summer heat. There was a shower this afternoon but it only made the avocado flowers fall to the ground. I hope there would be enough for us to pick in a few months.
Dreams And Escapes 