Discovery

Dreams. Curiosity. Exploration. Friendship.

Discovering life’s simple pleasures through the eyes of a child. This is one of my favorite shots which  I  took during our trip to Tanay one  December barely a month after my last chemotherapy.  It was one  of those times that one feels so relaxed just enjoying the cold breeze and exchanging pleasantries with a friend. Nissa brought a book to read while Jane and I were just contented inside the tent looking after the two kids – my six-year-old niece Bobic and her three-year old daughter Jaden. They were looking for spiders and ants. I told my niece that spiders don’t normally stay on the ground and that ants are seldom found on the grass. They were so disappointed. They just watched some crawling insects outside the tent. And before I knew it, I was laden with gifts of dried leaves and wild flowers.

How simple life could be if we let it.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape

This post came a  bit late but I can’t surely ignore it, can I?  Mine says Dreams and Escapes (with an S at the end).  There are several pictures  I took that would exactly describe what the word escape means to me but the following three shots stand out.

CALERUEGA. This is one of my favorite places. I could stay here and just listen to the silence or write a journal while admiring the view and feeling the cold breeze touch my cheeks.  That’s my daughter busy with something. I remember, we brought that tripod and three digital cameras,  mounting  one permanently to the former while we were exploring the place.

PUNDAKIT BEACH, SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES.  I remember those days when we used to go on road trips discovering new places . If only for the serenity of the place, I would come back here and see the sunrise or admire a wonderful sunset.  Beyond those mountains is Anawangin and overlooking this one is Capones Island.

TANAY. December 27, 2009, my first trip out-of-town after six rigorous sessions of chemotherapy.  Can I endure the exhilaration of going down these trails and climbing up the mountains of Tanay? I did it with flying colors, a brief escape from the fact that I was so depressed while undergoing treatments.

The beauty of nature gives us that feeling of oneness with the universe, a form of escape from pain and heartaches.  I always love this phrase posted  in  every corner at Caleruega which I have adopted in most of my blogs, Close To Nature, Closer To God.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

Here are my own interpretations of what the word Beyond means to me in pictures. Come to think of it, I always look forward  to this weekly photo challenge because somehow you get to look  once more at some pictures which at the time you took were just pleasing to your eyes and senses. Sometimes though, they acquire a meaning and you wish you could capture the essence of each view and place you see.

Beyond this mountain is my provincial home which I haven’t visited  in quite a while. My old memories of this places is tied up to the river running below this mountain where we used to catch fresh-water fish during the early parts of rainy months. And yes, the impromptu picnics  beside  the river and taking a long soak after.  Fresh, unpolluted running water and lovely river stones that sometimes my cousins and I used to bring home  for our Piko games.

The cool mountains of Tanay. I remember taking this shot three weeks after my six-sessions of chemotherapy ended.  It was a kind of litmus test how far I can go without tiring myself after such a life-changing treatment.  I miss this place, I hope someday I would be able to come back here.

What lies behind closed doors, do you know? Dreams! Pockets of happy days!  Actually, I was fascinated by the stained-glass door. I seldom see this kind of window and door treatments except in places where they value old-age decor.

There is always something that fascinates me in discovering places and looking beyond.  I took this in Caleruega, the hanging bridge was simply irresistible. And beyond this is a vast garden and an upward climb to a hill that gives a wonderful view of the Batulao mountains in Batangas. It’s one of my favorite places to visit.

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