Buhay Probinsiya

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.

Climbing a guava tree

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❤

A jolly carabao ride

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.

Our side garden in the province. The other areas are also full of ornamental plants and the back of the house has fruit trees.

It may lack the amenities of a perfect garden, but when I am here, I could hear the silence that speaks of home.

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A Nice Surprise

I was just checking the stock market two weeks ago then I saw that Union Bank declared stock dividend last month. I wrote to their Stock Transfer why I didn’t receive my certificate and they replied that it was still with them. The address was incomplete so the courier brought it back to their office. Got it the other day and I received almost 400 shares. Wow! All the stocks that I invested to before I left the bank are long-term. By March cash dividends will be declared. Blessings🙏🙏🙏.

I went to Bank of PI yesterday to deposit the fractional share of UB then I dropped by our “suki” vendors at the market after more than two years of not seeing each other. One of them told me I am leaner now. “Palakpak naman tenga ko”. I lost a little weight during this pandemic.

Have I mentioned before that we now have nine new puppies from the three doggies that Jovy and Josef adopted from the pound? They were sired by Noki. We are only retaining two and the rest were promised to Jovy’s officemates. All of them eat more than we do. The garden is their playground but I am getting tired of cleaning their poop every morning. Some puppies destroyed some of my small plants planted on the ground.

I had a nice surprise this morning. My Star Jasmine had just bloomed bearing tiny flowers. The scent is like a Gardenia bloom. And my guava tree have so many fruits. Blessed!

Good morning🎍🌏🦩🌺

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Metamorphosis

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. – Gerard de Nerval

Don’t look now, but there was a time when I used to document every bloom and every seed that grows in my garden.  I even dreamed of writing about it, describing every bloom, how long it took for one particular plant to grow and  surprise you with that lovely bloom after nurturing it with your heart and soul. And always, the pleasure of seeing it transform before your eyes and the joy you feel after long days of wait is worth a thousand smile on your face. I remember taking these shots with my old Pentax Optio camera while recuperating from a life-changing ailment almost three years ago. It’s my Amazon Lily, from bud to bloom.

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A Day In The Life Of A Gardener

I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation.  It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from an Old Manse

Getting dirty, no problem since the smell of growing things is enough reward and the tranquility and silence the garden brings is a prayer that soothes  the soul, enlightens the mind and frees one from worry. And there is nothing like the sound of water in the small pond, the chirps of Maya birds hopping from branch to branch, the play of light among the tender shoots of green leaves. And this is how my typical day begins.

 

What were left of my Cacti plants after typhoon Ondoy.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, it’s our other cat’s turn to shine. She’s still sleepy but she gladly obliged.

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Saying Goodbye To Another Month

Today, we are celebrating one of the loveliest feast in the Catholic calendar, the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Elizabeth, who was Mary’s cousin was six months pregnant with St. John the Baptist. This feast commemorates the second joyful mysteries of the holy rosary. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greetings, the infant leaped in her womb. In the gospel of Luke 1: 46-55, we find Mary’s Magnificat, the great worship hymn of Mary.

And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”

I spent the early part of the morning weeding. There are overgrown unwanted weeds interspersed with our carabao grass.  Sometimes, it is really hard to maintain a garden no matter how small it is but the you can’t quantify the joys and fulfillment you find in digging the earth, letting the rich smell reach your senses. And it is even better when you find blooms all around.  The quiet time you spend in a garden just feels like you are meditating, learning about the wonder that nature brings. You may find a stray plant that you haven’t seen for quite a while. Annuals just sprout in a corner, more like, now you see them, now you don’t.

I now have several blooms of my lovely Gardenia plant. Almost every tip has a bud waiting to open. How enchanting and lovely to see the white flowers hiding behind the silky green leaves.  I was able to buy another type of Begonia last week.  I have two Semperflorens in white and red but I couldn’t place the name of the one I bought recently. Its flowers are elongated and are deep red and the leaves are somewhat thicker.

The month of May is ending.  I wish to see more blooms this coming month of June. And as always, I greet the new month with enthusiasm and joy.

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