MANGKOKOLUM!

MAGKASUYO ang tadyak na inihagupit sa load-bearing na haliging pader sa silangang bahagi ng aming tahanan—bahagyang umuga, yanig ang pader, kumalampag ang rainwater downspout na nakasandal sa pader. Hindi ko na inulit ang haginit-lintik ng sikad; baka kung ano pa ang mangyari sa pader—o sa mga paa ko. I’d blame it on dirt-plain mathematics, that whit of tremor inflicted on the load-bearing wall-post, which can absorb both lateral and vertical stresses without a flinch— a foot thick of poured concrete with reinforcing steel bars can. How could a pair of stomping front kicks even rattle that reinforced solid wall? Uh, mathematics tells me that at a wee one percent daily increment, any given amount doubles itself in 70 days. I’ve been hurling out those kicks for ages, in a vain try to splice steel into the inner thighs and the lower leg muscles. That daily regimen wasn’t adding and compounding a daily one percent to the kicking power—give or take a tenth of the percentage it