lazy Summer Days

The recent release of Iron Man 3 made me go back to some things I did as a kid. During summer breaks, my siblings, my younger cousins and I were sent off to the house of our aunts for a few weeks. Every year we would review collections of comic books.

We had two aunts. One collected the American comic books sent by her husband for her four boys. They included DC, Marvel and comic adaptations of classic novels. We devoured them. Then there was the second aunt who collected Tagalog comics for her teenage girls. At her house, six youngsters (including I) each claimed a corner and spent an afternoon pouring through those stories and trying to piece together a novel given in several installments.

Sometimes, we would do things as a group. We would climb the fruit trees in our family's yard and collect the treasures high up in the branches for a sumptuous late afternoon snack or an early evening story telling session. We started our climb behind the guest house or behind the big house. Then we would use the roofs to move from one tree to another and stuff the fruits in our pockets or in our mouths if we dared.

It was in the morning that laziness got tested. We had a routine. We start the day by putting away our pillows and sleeping mats. Then we got a breakfast of hot chocolate and pan de sal. Then the work began.

After putting away the dishes, we had to clean up a section or portion of the house. Somebody wiped off the dust of the glass jalousies on the windows. Somebody dusted the furniture. Another would sweep the floor. Yet another would take care of the ornate frames and door decors and vases.

When the house was done, we turned our attention to the yard. Having lots of trees around,there would definitely be  a lot of fallen leaves and over ripe fruits. We gathered them all up and made a pile. Then the bigger boys would scoop this up to be thrown to the refuse pit.

Then we had to look after the pigs. My aunt took care of a whole piggery with at least two bulls and lots of mommies and of course the growing piglets. We bathe them. We cleaned their cages. All the garbage went into the refuse pit again. that made for wonderful fertilizer eventually.

After all the hard work, it was time to rrelax. A river ran through the property. When we got rid of our tools, we would race to the river for a cool splash. We would stay there until we were called back to the house for lunch about two hours later.

The Heat is ON

Someone once told me that Good Friday is always the hottest day of the year.  He said it was a natural phenomenon and proves that God is in charge.

Not this year.  TODAY was the hottest day SO FAR.  I was working on the computer and it was as if I was crying buckets.  Perspiration was running down my face so fast, the face towel beside me could be wrung and water would come out.

Oh well, we'll live through this I guess but we really should be careful to keep cool.  I brought out a scarf that a cousin sent me and my sister was surprised I was going to wear one in this weather.  It was a scarf that was supposed to keep you cool during hot weather.  I dumped it into a bath of cold water for a few minutes then put it on.

What do you know?  It worked.  Necessity is really the mother of inventon.

Teams in the Forest

The PSHS Main Campus faculty went on a two and a half day team building trip a few days ago.  We stayed at the Forest Club in Bay, Laguna.  The place was designed for team building.  They had group activities that will really make you work as a team.  They have this Eco Adventure challenge where we got to cross a body of water in three ways, and battle obstacle courses (yes that's plural).  There was also a canopy walk where you traverse a path on bamboo poles se high above the ground while admiring the view of the surrounding countryside.  Then there were the water games in the swimming pool (which I refused to join on the grounds of endangering myself as it was held in the part where I can not touch the  floor).  Best of all our team won (Go BLUE)!!

The games got me (and my companions too because we talked about it).  Many of the kids we teach were city kids.  They probably never had to do anything on a fart.  Oh, they have been there, visiting the old folks maybe or staying at a resort farm.  But most likely they had not had a chance or were never given the chance to get dirty.  As such, they have been deprived the experience of working with the earth or with animals and plants that they study in the biology lab.

I remember when we were kids, we used to spend summer vacations in the province.  In the mornings we would clean the house, gather fallen leaves and fruits, and feed and clean the pigs and chicken coop.  Sometimes, we would be brought along to the market to get fish and vegetables.   In the evenings, we were called to serve food if the adults had a padasal or some such affair.  We had to serve plates of rice cakes and rice pies with coffee. If there was nothing going on, we would be counting calamansi or other produce to be sold in the market in the morning.

Occasionally, specially during lent, we watched the men catch fish in baskets (my cousin in the US wanted to import this but we could no longer find the men who could make them so well).  We ourselves had tried to gather snails and fresh water eels.

Those summers weren't all work though.  After the morning chores, we would all hie down to the river that flowed through our property to swim (the same place where we got fish and snails).  After luch, we clambered up trees to ge the fruits and eat them there.  Or we would relax on the swings, or in our little playhouse made of nipa.

I think many parents now want to protect their kids from hardship, which is all very well.  However, sheltered children may actually be deprived of certain coping abilities.  If they had never experienced anything hard, they might not know how to act when the going gets rough.  They may also not respect hard work and the rewards it could bring will be lost upon them.

Just a thought:  Maybe we should put those politicians through team building, eh?