Oh my, July is almost gone.
It’s been raining since yesterday. We have these habagat rains again because of typhoon Gorio. Gorio is enhancing the monsoon rains all over Metro Manila and nearby provinces. One thing that I don’t like about rainy days is I have to clean our small pond afterwards. We used to have Koi fish but one rainy morning, they were all gone flashed by heavy rains that saturated the garden.
The lazy day makes me remember those days when my eldest brother and I were in grade school. Every rainy season, we would stay with my aunt ( my mom’s older sister) the whole five days that there were classes. My mom was afraid that we couldn’t go to school on time when it rained hard. We lived in an upper place from the town proper and we used to cross the river through a wooden bridge wide enough for our feet to step on. When the water is high, the bridge sometimes disappears and we would use a raft made of bamboo poles. I was always afraid to stand and balance myself while crossing. My aunt’s place was a bit near the school and we just walked to and from it. We have a concrete bridge nowadays where vehicles could pass through.
During summer months, we go home every lunch break and we would have a run at the bridge most of the time. We would go home together with my cousins, neighbors’ kids and some other relatives and go back in the afternoon for our classes. We learned to balance ourselves on the wooden bridge when crossing. Those were the days, part of our grade school life years ago.
When we started high school, Mom and dad decided to transfer us to Manila and we enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas where I finished college too. I had a hard time then adjusting to high school life in the city although we spent summer vacations with dad when we were young. Bus and jeepney rides became a necessity. I could not imagine myself now riding on buses or jeepneys. It was so different back then, pollution was not that heavy and commuters had easy access to public vehicles. Nowadays, LTFRB is so hot on the Grab and Uber rides unmindful of those colorum buses, jeepneys and taxis on the streets of Metro Manila. LTFRB is requiring those private vehicles affiliated to Uber and Grab to get similar franchise but they sat on those applications for a year. I must admit, riding a Uber or Grab is the most convenient way to travel aside of course from bringing your car to work. Most traditional taxi drivers here are arrogant and choose riders and places. It’s not practical to ride on jeepneys on longer routes because of pollution.
The rain has stopped finally and I am here…reminiscing.
Dreams And Escapes 