Delta Variant…Scary!

WordPress reminded me again that I am supposed to write a blog today.

This Covid 19 Delta variant is quite scary. Although I am fully vaccinated with Pfizer, I am worried about this. Josef and Jovy haven’t been scheduled yet at JP Morgan. Nissa will have her second dose of Moderna on Monday. My son-in-law will have his first dose on August 13.

Research say that once you had the virus, your body builds an immunity for up to eight months and when you are vaccinated, your antibodies will work up to six months. What if in six to eight months, Covid is still active? These mutations like the Delta variant are formed the more people are infected. And once you have experienced Covid like I did, you’ll be wary of it.

We will be on enhanced comunity quarantine (ECQ) again from August 6 to August 20. Even everyday Catholic masses were suspended starting today until August 20 but you can attend online. Delta variant is now here in our country. I guess no matter how many CQs this government declares if some protocols are not met, Covid 19 is here to stay. No contact tracing, lack of vaccines and they blame the people when the number arises. Know what I think,they really don’t have concrete plans to address this pandemic.

I went grocery shopping yesterday, basic commodities that we need in the next three weeks. I also ordered food online that we could stock in the ref. Going out is limited during this lockdown.

When will this Covid 19 ends? We are still so far away from that herd immunity that they are talking about.

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Thursday, Is it?

Gosh, this rain never stops. That kind where you could not even go out and garden. Frustration, big time.

I recently found a copy of MARGOT by Jillian Cantor, an e-book. Reading it now. Margot is the older sister of Anne Frank if you are familiar with the latter’s diary. They both died during the holocaust.

MARGOT is the “what if” story though of this older sister, an engaging and interesting read. What if she was alive? She changed her name to Margie Franklin and worked as a secretary in a law firm in Philadelphia. Anne and Margot both kept diaries when they were hiding during the second world war. You’ll find how they lived during those times. I am still in the middle of reading it.

When I find a book that deals with history, fiction or not, I just can’t put it down.

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Congratulations Hidilyn

Sunshine amidst the cloudy skies…CONGRATULATIONS Hidilyn. You made us proud being Filipinos. Hearing Lupang Hinirang in the Olympics was so touching.

It took almost a hundred years for the Philippines to get a gold in the World Olympics, 97 years exactly. Hidilyn was a silver medalist in Rio.

The present administration does not support promising athletes. It is the private sector who are more concerned and enthusiastic about it. They sponsored her this 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Malacanang is not probably happy because duterte’s last SONA yesterday was eclipsed by Hidilyn winning the gold. The headline is not about his senseless State of the Nation Address which took almost three hours without addressing the crucial problems of the nation. Some of our kababayan say that SONA means Speech Only, No Accomplishment…🤣😅😂

Isang malaking sampal kay duterte because he even included Hidilyn in his drug matrix before. He is not happy that the Philippines won over china, his best friend.

Every Filipino is rejoicing except the people in Malacanang and duterte’s cohorts. Who says the Philippines can’t win over China? Hidilyn is getting 33M and millions worth of condominium in Eastwood City. Air Asia will give her lifetime free flights. Two more houses from other private firms. When God wills it, it would happen.

MABUHAY KA HIDILYN. May God bless you always.

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World Day For Grandparents And Elderly

I guess most of us belong in this category. Some excellent bloggers that I follow and befriended are older than I am. I am a grandparent too so I belong here.

Today, July 25, 2021, the Church observes for the first time the “World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. It was instituted by Pope Francis early this year to be observed annually on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary which every July 26. – ( from the Dominican Province of the Philippines).

The Church invites us to care for our grandparents and elderly by setting aside this special day. There is a prayer issued by the Holy See in observance of this day.

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Reminder

I set up a reminder on what day to blog on WordPress. I didn’t know Saturday is included.

Typhoon Fabian which I told you about yesterday wreaked havoc again in some parts of Metro Manila because of the monsoon rains pulled by the typhoon including our town. Two days of rain and some villages and subdivisions here were flooded. We were blessed and lucky that flood waters didn’t reach our place except the two streets near the entrance of our subdivision. Just the same, Josef and I prepared for any eventualities. I didn’t sleep a wink last night except around 5:30 am to 7:00 am this morning. I was monitoring the news in our town. Our good mayor was in our town hall the whole evening with his disaster team and he updated us almost every hour with what was happening.

Jovy brought our car to her grandma’s place in Quezon City just in case. Our two dogs came along. It was full of some of their important things including the 50-inch smart television in their room.

I was praying the rosary at around 4:50 am when I thought I was having nausea because of lack of sleep. There was an earthquake followed by a weaker aftershock. It was 6.7 somewhere in Batangas province. Most of my friends didn’t notice because they were asleep and it was still raining then.

When nature takes its course all you can do is pray that you will be safe from disasters.

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Waiting For The Sun

I am still frustrated. It rained the whole day yesterday so I still could not go out and garden. Monsoon rains and a typhoon in the north are affecting the country.

Visiting some random previous posts from my blog and the most emotional so far were those I wrote during my cancer journey twelve years ago and when Pope Francis visited the country in January 2015.

Sometimes I wonder how I was able to write sincerely from the heart, feeling everything with tears in my eyes. But I did. Those earlier posts were certainly inspiring for me now that I could look at them without being so emotional.

Oh yeah, I am now focused on reading. I’ve read 80 books since the start of the book challenge. I may be able to finish the hundred books I challenged myself to read this year. Lately, I’ve been reading historical fiction. I don’t know why but I love books describing about how life was centuries ago. Riding on wagon wheels instead of cars, candle lights instead of electricity, farms filled with different kinds of vegggies and ornamental plants, beautiful.

I started a different genre though last night about the story of identical twins. One died accidentally. The parents just relied on the story of the twin who was left behind when she uttered the name of twin number 2 when she saw the accident. They were seven years old. The parents were confused which twin really died because the one left behind seemed to manifest the character of the dead one. This is intriguing. I am in the middle of it.

A friend posted a photo of her graduation from graduate school. I told her what an accomplishment. Several years ago, she was a stay-at-home mom then she enrolled in an Education course. She is a guidance counselor in their school. Now she has finished her MBA. What a feat.

I wish the sun would show its face today.

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Rainy Wednesday

I woke up around 4am. I thought I could start trimming the carabao grass but it was wet. It rained last night and it is raining again now. There are pockets of rain water across the yard. This is the kind of rain that won’t stop at the spur of the moment.

Perfect time to read and drink salabat. Yes, I like that ginger brew which I’ve been drinking when I had Covid. Coffee tastes different now.

Since it is in season, I cooked guinataang santol yesterday. It is cooked in coconut cream and instead of using ground, I used tuna flakes. Yummy🌶🧅🥣

• 

Do you know that santol is called cotton fruit in English. The seeds inside look like cotton. It is commonly found in Southeast Asia. Bangkok santol is the best and guinataang santol is best paired with fried fish or pork chop.

Gosh, it’s cold and it is still raining outside.

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Morning Thoughts

Someday perhaps we will meet each other again,

We’ll sit by the fire and reminisce

Those lovely days of old while drinking hot cups of coffee.

We’ll laugh how it was then,

The innocence of youth,

How insecured we were.

Trying to find that elusive thing – happiness.

We’ve gone a long way now,

Counting the grays in our hair

But the essence of friendship remains.

Ah, it is beautiful🌻

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Dreaming While Awake

Oh my! This is simply weird.

I had a very lovely dream last night but for the life of me, I could not remember a thing when I woke up. I didn’t want to open my eyes because that would mean I am awake. I needed to go to the bathroom and that was what woke me. I used to have these little notebook and pen on my night table to write what I remember about my dream but over the years I got lazy. Sometimes you dream myriad of subjects, people and friends you remember, your family, certain places that you’ve been to, places you want to go to, things that are scary or sometimes you dream of that thing you were thinking about before you went to sleep.

Three words.

Begonia.

Immunity.

Antibodies.

Would you believe that I keep forgetting all these three lately? That name of the plant I used to have in my garden, its name is always at the tip of my tongue, but I usually forget. Take the words immunity and antibodies. These words became familiar to me when I had Covid more than two months ago. Goodness gracious, why couldn’t I remember them at the spur of the moment. I have to write them down in my journal. Weird, isn’t it? Does it happen to you?

Whoa, I am really getting old😉😘🙂

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I Am Fully Vaccinated

It is an uneventful week except waiting for my second dose of Pfizer vaccine which was done this morning. The wait was even longer than the first dose but it was very organized. You go through another interview (consent by the patient), taking of blood pressure and pulse ( they’ll write on you papers if you could be vaccinated) then the vaccination area. You have to wait for another 20 to 30 minutes for them to take your blood pressure reading before you could leave. The nurse confirmed that it was Pfizer by showing the vial. Nice 🙂

Taking photos at the vaccination area is not allowed but I took a shot of the auditorium. Good thing even if it was a three-hour wait, the place is so convenient because it is so wide. There were ushers who took charge of the movement of the people.

The other day, March 13, I celebrated my 12th year in remission. Thank God for second chances at life.

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