Reminiscing….
My three brothers and I grew up in the province till we graduated from grade school except for my youngest brother Noel who was transferred to Quezon City when he was in grade V. That was the time when Alden started high school at the Univ. Of Santo Tomas. All of us spent our high school years there and Noel and I finished college there too. My two brothers both started college there but eventually transferred to other schools.
I remember those early days spent in the province with mom while dad stayed in Manila because of his work. Aside from the usual games that children had (believe me, there were many), my oldest brother and I used to climb our guava tree in the backyard.
Like these kids in the photo, we would enjoy an afternoon climbing like monkees in those branches with the most guava fruits and eat them right there and then. I didn’t like the ripe ones but preferred those crunchy fruits which were about to ripen. Swinging with the wind while eating guavas….heaven❤
I never experienced riding on the back of a carabao because our only two carabaos were under the care of a farmer in our place. I enjoyed riding on a sled though. This was attached to the carabao. I guess back then, that was the only means of transport in our barrio,farmers used it to bring their produce to the town. At the town proper, there were only the calesa, a horse-drawn vehicle to transport passengers and buses going to another town. People walked no matter how far. Manila was different then, there were buses and jeepneys along one’s route. We usually rode on buses going to Manila during summer breaks to visit dad. That was a yearly undertaking until we reached high school.
It may lack the amenities of a perfect garden, but when I am here, I could hear the silence that speaks of home.
Dreams And Escapes 
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