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.
Dreams And Escapes 