And I must say, it’s been a while. And it’s hard to start blogging again after a week of hibernation. Anyway, I promised I’ll be back. The last week has been full of thoughts and dreadful news that I buried myself reading a series of eight books ( I actually read six) in a little town of Virginia. Reading historical novels and getting acquainted with years of survival and living in a world when horses were the only means of transport in an undiscovered territory is sometimes a great change from the noise of daily living. As I read the last book though, cellphones, e-mails and social networking became ordinary means of communication in a modern world where horseback riding was no longer a necessity but something only the rich populace could afford.
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t spent all of one week reading because in between resting my eyes, I was busy preparing simple meals and trimming our carabao grass. Gardening has its rewards, it lets your mind wander and form words in your head and you think of how blessed you are. When nature shows itself, you can’t help but think that there is something miraculous in the way it rewards you with lovely blooms despite the rains. My Mokara and Hoya Orchids are in bloom again. I saw four new spikes of Mokara showing gentle buds of orange. And all the Hoyas are blooming too. Gardening may sometimes be a pain because it does not thrive on neglect but the joy and the quiet times you spend pulling off weeds, pruning and watering are more than enough to make your day complete.
Last Monday, we have experienced the worst typhoon so far this year. Typhoon Labuyo (internationally named Utor) caused massive floods and landslides all over central and northern Luzon and wreaked havoc to so many homes, crops and properties particularly in Aurora province. I know the feeling of losing what you have to typhoons and finding your home submerged in water. Four years ago, we experienced exactly that and it took us a month to repair our cabinets and replace some of our appliances and personal effects that were destroyed by the typhoon. We lost most of our books too. But still we were lucky because we had a house to come back to unlike those typhoon victims in Aurora where their houses were destroyed. I always dread the thought of storms and typhoons. And it sad to think that every year, we experience at least twenty or more weather disturbances .
Just started on a new book by a Turkish author entitled My Name is Red. It’s sixteenth-century Istanbul and the author Orhan Pamuk is a recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Dreams And Escapes 
It’s good to have even a small garden–trees, plants, flowers, grass, weeds and all. I get to think, too, that despite the traffic and difficulty in commuting daily to work (especially now) and back to Cavite, we are fortunate to have some backyard harvests. I just go to our backyard to get some kangkong when I cook sinigang or when I need some camote tops, pandan and alugbati. And when in season, we have some atis and apple mangoes. When the mabolo is in season we have plenty of it to eat. It saves me some money in lieu of buying bananas. We are yet waiting for a successful guyabano harvest, though. The small fruit, if not eaten by bats, would dry out even before it ripens.
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I envy you for having so many growing plants and veggies in your garden. I love atis and I miss mabolo because I haven’t tasted one for several years now. The only fruit bearing trees we have now are our two jackfruit trees and a native guava tree. We used to have an avocado tree but it died a natural death after the habagat last year. I don’t buy kalamansi though because we have two here in the garden. I have lots of bonito ampalaya now and I harvest every three days.
A small garden is manageable just like what we have here. I do have lots of flowering plants and greens all around. Thanks Leo for the visit, I always enjoy reading your comments.
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