Amihan

So we are now in the amihan season. Amihan refers to the season which is dominated by trade winds, cold northeast winds! A weather pattern which begins usually sometime in November or December until the month of May or June. It’s early now though being just October. The coldest months are January and February. Longer and colder nights, heaven.

I love the amihan more than the habagat or rainy season. I can garden better during the cold months. The former signals that Advent season is near, a prelude to Christmas.

Read Full Post »

Times Are Changing

Last night, I couldn’t sleep because of the heavy rain with matching thunder and lightning to boot. Thunderstorms are frequent  before the actual rainy season sets in. Maybe this is the start.  There is a low pressure area somewhere in the Visayas and it is somehow affecting Luzon too. The sun is afraid to show its face.

What I don’t like about the rainy season are the flash floods. When it rains hard, the streets on low-lying areas get flooded and traffic will be at its worse. When it rains even harder, it is a little frightening. I prefer the lovely months beginning October until March. By then the weather is just okay with little rain while April and May seem to be the hottest months of summer. This year, June is still so hot.

A friend from Cebu City and I started talking about climate change yesterday when she saw my post from CNN.

If we won’t do our share, then who will? Some people don’t care, some are not probably aware that this is a climate emergency that needs our attention. It is a global problem.

I’ve often blogged about those garbage that are haphazardly thrown at the sidewalks, on the streets and even in areas which are privately owned. I often see empty bottles of mineral water and plastic of soft drinks and straw atop my Santan blooms. Most people are undisciplined. Cigarette butts increase every day, some even reach our garage when it is windy.

I hate to say this but it seem we are in a water crisis. Water at Angat Dam where Maynilad and Manila Water  source our water supply (two concessionaires that supply our water needs)  is now below critical level. They shut down water distribution at night. Early this morning at 3am, I woke up only to find there is no flow even in our bypass faucet at the laundry area.  Enough water does not reach our overhead tank. The latter supplies our water needs inside the house.  Right now until probably around 8pm, we  don’t have water interruption but the flow is not as strong as before.

It’s a lovely Monday. The sun is finally shining….at last.

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Glad To See The Sun Again

Tropical storm Maring brought havoc to Central and  Southern Luzon and now on its way out of the country.  It had a  maximum sustained winds of 75 km/hour near the center and gustiness of up to 90 km/hour.  Metro Manila was not spared of flash floods and heavy rains.

I watched  the news the whole day yesterday and was wary of the heavy rains. I am afraid of flash floods but we were luckier than those places which experienced rising flood waters that entered their homes and caused tremendous traffic jams.  One subdivision in our town was submerged in water yesterday.

Our country experiences  an average of 15 to  18 typhoons every year with those coming in December or thereabouts the strongest. Since typhoon Ondoy back in September 2009, I got so afraid of typhoons, tropical storms and monsoon rains. We had the house renovated back then because most of our cabinets were destroyed and some of our furniture and appliances got flooded.  I will always remember that helpless feeling, the rising waters up to my neck when we left the house to seek refuge from  our neighbor’s house.

I see the sun shining again. Good day everyone.

Read Full Post »

Gloomy Sunday

They are playing Only Friends on the radio which I blogged about two weeks ago. I never get tired  listening to it though.

I am digressing again.

It’s a good thing I attended an anticipated mass last night. I spent most of the morning  searching for news online and listening to the radio on  news about typhoon Karen. We were under signal #2 but we were lucky that we were spared of heavy rains and gusty winds. Typhoon Karen (international name: Sarika) slightly accelerated  a few hours ago  over the coastal waters of Pangasinan but hear this, tomorrow there is another one that will enter PAR (Philippine Are of Responsibility) and news reports say it is a super typhoon, stronger than the last one we experienced today.  Haima will be named locally as Lawin. I am praying hard we won’t be affected too much.  It is the middle of October and yet we are still experiencing severe weather disturbances.  Sometimes these late in the year weather disturbances are stronger than those we experience during rainy season.  Sometimes they come as late as December.

I am sharing a prayer with all of you  a prayer for deliverance from calamities.

ORATIO IMPERATA

Almighty Father,

We raise our hearts to You in gratitude, for the wonders of creation of which we are part, for Your providence in sustaining us in our needs, and for Your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.

We acknowledge our sins against You and the rest of Your creation. We have not been good stewards of nature. We have confused Your command to subdue the earth. The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing, and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference.

Global warning is upon us. Typhoons, floods, volcanic eruption, and other natural calamities occur in the increasing number and intensity.

We turn to you, our loving Father, and beg forgiveness for our sins.

We ask that we, our loved ones and our hard earned possessions be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made.

We beseech You to inspire us all to grow into responsible stewards of Your creation, and generous neighbors to those in need. Amen

Read Full Post »

And I Hope This Time The World Will Listen

I am reposting this here  for what it’s worth,  the Philippines’ lead climate negotiator, Nadarev Saño, delivered a tearful plea to diplomats assembled in Doha almost a year ago.

Philippine Climate Negotiator’s Storm Warning | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2013/11/11/watch-this-philippine-climate-negotiator-warned-us-last-year-and-we-ignored-him/#ixzz2kPNcaTqS

And I am sharing this link from CNN so everyone would see the devastation caused by typhoon Yolanda. We are appealing for your help even just through prayers but if you can spare something to help our people, we’ll be forever grateful. No matter how resilient the Filipino spirit is, we still need to extend our helping hands to those who badly need them right now.

Here’s another appeal from our Philippine delegate on the ongoing United Nations Climate Conference in Warsaw. May the  aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) speaks  for itself.

Read Full Post »