Skip to main content

Growing up gratefully


BAKA matagpuan pa ni Inay sa mga salansan niya ng samut-sari sa eskaparate, aparador, tokador o baul ang nawaglit na larawan…

(1)sambungkos halos ng saging, sa unang piling ay katabi ang tagapayong Bb. Elizabeth Lim, guro sa physics… nakangisi dahil nag-iisang tinik at halal na pangulo ng klase, high school algebra champion, kahanay ng pumpon na pawang buko ng rosas.

(2)nakatindig na buong katawang kuha kay Shelley Magnaye, naging kasuyo sa kolehiyo… may halimuyak ng hininga ng mga bulaklak ng kape, suha, at mangga ang bibig… nakabahid ang makopa’t takipsilim sa mga pisngi… kambal na milon ang dibdib, batis na mapaglulunuyan ang balakang… diklap ng buntala at talim-balisong sa ningning ng mga mata.

Naganyak na ipahalungkat ang ilang nakalarawang gunita matapos marinig ang Manila Hotel lobby string quartet teasing out some months back a 1969 Dennis Yost and the Classics IV standard… “Faded photographs covered now with lines and creases, tickets torn in half, memories of bits and pieces, traces of love long ago that didn’t work out right.”

Mangingilo pati ngipin: tigmak sa pulot-kabayo, may tamis-pait ang titik niyong awit… na kaya pang kapain ang himig sa gitara tulad ng maalab na kapa sa sari-saring kuwerdas ng hugis-gitarang katawan ng naging kaliyag… na hindi nakatuluyan.

Walang nakatuluyan ang aming naging tagapayo… walang nagkatuluyan sa ‘min… pulos lelang at lelong na ang mga dating kaklase, may kani-kaniyang ilalahad na professions and confessions. Hagalpakan ng halakhak kapag ikinumpisal na pinagnasaan noon sina… kasikatan ni Merle Fernandez-- who now runs an antique shop in Kamuning, Quezon City—sa pelikulang bomba.

Nagkakatalastasan pa rin kaming magkakaklase sa Facebook, e-mails… nagkakayayaang magtipon tuwing may magbabalikbayan mula sa kung saan-saang ibayong lupalop… salu-salo, konting toma, saganang kuwentuhan, kumustahan, kantahan.

‘Tanda na kami… "It's coming to the realization that you are who you are, you like who you are, and you are happy with who you are. The rest is a walk in the park."

Alas-siete ng umaga ang pinakauna naming aralin, Good Manners and Right Conduct… “Growing Up Gracefully” ang gabay na aklat… 1968 is way too far to look back in fondness… we’re grown-ups… hopefully, we have grace as well.

Naipanguna sa naunang sinulat dito: “Grace is not prayer before a meal. It is a way of life.”

May mas matinding kataga kaysa biyaya o lamyos— shibumi, effortless perfection, uplifting the ordinary from the commonplace into the realm of the extra-ordinary.

Sabi nga ni Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do.”

Flicking out a blade in iaido fashion is an endless refrain sung day to day… writing this way is an incessant stream off a wellspring… tending to a clutch of plants or harnessing vital energies in meditative flurry of punches is a continuing flow…

‘Tanda ko na pala.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ALAMAT NG TAHONG

SAKBIBI ng agam-agam sa kalagayan ng butihing kabiyak-- at kabiyakan, opo-- na nakaratay sa karamdaman, ang pumalaot na mangingisda ay napagawi sa paanan ng dambuhalang Waczim-- isang bathala na nagkakaloob sa sinuman anumang ibulwak ng bibig mula sa bukal ng dibdib. Pangangailangan sa salapi na pambili ng gamot ng kapilas-pusong maysakit ang nakasaklot sa puso ng matandang mangingisda. 'Di kaginsa-ginsa'y bumundol ang kanyang bangka sa paanan ng Waczim. Kagy at umigkas ang katagang kimkim noon sa kanyang dibdib: "Salapi!" Bumuhos ng salapi-- mga butil at gilit ng ginto-- mula papawirin. At halos umapaw sa ginto ang bangka ng nagulantang na mangingisda, walang pagsidlan ang galak, at walang humpay ang pasasalamat sa mga bathala. Nanumbalik ang kalusugan ng kabiyak ng mangingisda. At lumago ang kabuhayan, naging mariwasa ang magkapilas-puso na dating maralita. Nilasing ng kanyang mga dating kalapit-bahay ang mangingisda-- na hindi ikina...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cal y canto con camote

FENG shui (literally, wind water flow) lore has it root crops embody a hidden store of treasures. Say, a local food conglomerate needs yearly 35,000 metric tons of cassava for livestock feed-- the available local supply falls short of 13,000 tons. Cassava granules sell for around P9 a kilo. Demand for the same root crop to be used in liquor manufacturing is hitting above the roof. Why, raising cassava is a no-brainer task— this is one tough crop that can grow in the most hostile patches of earth, providing sustenance for ages to dwellers in sub-Saharan parts of Africa. While the hardy cassava is nearly pure starch, the lowly sweet potato or kamote is considered by nutritionists as a super food, the most nutritious of all vegetables— kamote levels of Vitamin A are “off the charts, rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.” A fist-sized kamote can supply a day’s dose of glucose to fuel the brain, muscles, and organs, so they claim. Count the country lucky...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wealth garden

‘TWAS CRUEL as smashing a budding green thumb: some years back, an abuela warned me about letting any clump of katigbi (Job’s tears or Coix lachrymal jobi for you botanists) from growing in our homeyard. That grass with rapier-like leaves that smelled of freshly pounded pinipig supposedly invited bad luck and sorrows—why, that biblical character Job wailed and howled a lot, didn’t he? (But was later rewarded with oodles of goodies, wasn’t he?) Then, I came across some arcane text that practically goaded folks to grow katigbi in their gardens—why, there’s a starchy kernel wrapped shut in the seed’s shiny coat. A handful or more of kernels could be cooked as porridge. Too, one could whisper a wish upon seven seed pods, throw ‘em pods in running water—a river or stream—and the wish would be granted! I was warned, too, about planting kapok or talisay trees right in the homeyard—these trees form a cross-like branching pattern. Pasang-krus daw ang bahay na kalapit sa puno ng kapok, tal...
Post a Comment
Read more