Reminiscene

1

I look at you

What seems so funny is that

I see myself in you.

2

I cannot touch nor feel your face

through my fingertips

Nothing is really wanting of anything

Except perhaps that old glass case

of your photograph

Sending sinews of hope.

3

I’ve thought I’ve learned to bury the past

Again, you came,

Disturbing my complacent breath

Renewing old dreams

At this moment, you live again

in my thoughts.

4

And yet –

What I only see

Is your old photograph!

(Reblogged from March 3, 2011)

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And February Is About To End

Let me see, I wrote a short post three days ago and some things happened since then.

I lost a first cousin three days ago due to a lingering illness. Thank God it was not Covid. Since I could not go home to our province, I just have to write a few words for my grandnieces/grandsons/wife as a way of paying tribute and respect.

Nissa told me earlier today that one of her officemates died of Covid recently. She was just 41 years old. She took a sick leave last week because of fever. This traitor pandemic is like a thief in the night. Although Nissa’s department has no personal contact with her, I told her that they should all take necessary precautions.

The Philippines sad to say has no vaccines yet. This government is inutile when it comes to the welfare of the people. Why are they demonstrating simulations when they still don’t have vaccines? They ordered from china but the people don’t want it. They are relying on the poor population to accept it. Grrrr….😷🤒🤕

Some of duterte’s men in Malacanang have already been vaccinated as early as September last year. On the other side though, I am not so enthusiastic about being vaccinated, this is just on the experimental stage. It would probably take years before it is safe enough and that it could help in preventing Covid 19. A Filipino overseas worker had his vaccination in Saudi Arabia but when he came home for vacation in the Philippines, he was found positive of the virus.

Four more days and February will be gone. Before you know it, summer is here.

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Sunday Musings

Today is the  Feast of Santo Niño. It is celebrated every third Sunday of January all over the Philippines. The Sinulog Festival in Cebu City is the most popular and the biggest one celebrated in  honor  of the Holy Image of Santo Niño.

Tondo where Nissa’s family live and our town in Pangasinan are also celebrating their own fiesta today. Until last year since Nissa got married, we used to celebrate with them braving the traffic of the place while a long parade of floats,  bands  and several images of the Child Jesus lined down the streets.  Imagine going home stuck in traffic for more than two hours in one place.

Early this morning Josef and I heard mass then we saw this lovely image of Santo Niño ready for procession  along the streets near the church.  Beautiful!

We dropped by the supermarket for a few minutes because I bought a small transistor radio which I could use outside when I am gardening. It has a three-way  power supply, AC-DC, battery operated and there is also a rechargeable battery inside which recharges during the AC playing.  It’s locally made but for its price, it’s great. I could now listen to my favorite FM station while trimming the grass and weeding. They play 60’s and 70’s music all day long during Sundays and those waltz tunes I seldom hear nowadays.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone 🙂

 

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A Quiet Life

I wake up around 4:30 am every day same as my son who goes to work at 5:00 am, not too early but not too late either, just good enough time to do the early morning chores before the sun is up.

Our Shih Poo  Oreo even wakes up earlier but spend his time napping through the day as soon as Josef leaves the house for work. Our other dog Noki sleeps near our front door and would bark readily if someone is just passing by but close enough to our gate.

I clean the front and side  of the house everyday for debris left by undisciplined passers-by. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts,  leaves blown by the wind, plastic with straw still intact (I don’t know why vendors still use this style of transferring soft drinks to plastics, not really good for the health). Watering the plants comes next then sweeping the inside yard. I always find it more conducive to water the plants so early in the morning while it is still a little dark. It is nice to see them so fresh before the sun shows its face.

Ah, preparing breakfast! I have to do it every day since mom arrived more than two weeks ago. When I’m alone, a  cup of coffee would suffice in the early morning.

The neighborhood wakes up early too. I hate those motor bikes which are so noisy when they pass. Our street is one of the main roads going out of the subdivision from the town proper so all kinds of vehicles pass by it.  Sometimes, those in cars just throw  their trash as they pass by. What an uncouth way to do it. It’s a case of as long as it is not in their cars, it’s okay. Surely they know that those trash would just clog the drains once it rains. Those motor bike drivers sometimes act as if they own the road and take note, most  of them don’t even wear the required helmets to protect themselves.

6 am is quite busy at the subdivision’s park which is just a street away from our place. This makes me smile, they are senior citizens mostly. They walk their dogs, they run, do some simple exercises while waiting for the sun’s rays to show on their faces.  Not to be left behind  are the pan de sal vendors  busy with baking those bread rolls which are usually staple for breakfast by most Filipinos. Eaten with peanut butter or sausage which we call longganisa, fried eggs and hot cup of coffee, one’s breakfast is solved. Next to that come the itinerant vendors  in bikes selling  everything from fish to fruits and vegetables. If you are lazy to go to the market and you need just a few ingredients on your tinola  or adobo, this would suffice.

Except for the sound of  an ambulance passing by or the beep of  the garbage truck twice a week, the occasional car horn,  everything is quiet during the day until the students in the nearby school pass by and  they are usually so noisy, sometimes talking at the top of their voices and Noki would bark at them non-stop.

Such is the life in our neighborhood, not challenging enough I know but quiet. And unless you go out to talk to your neighbors. you would never see their faces.

 

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