I spent this long holiday at home and in the bukid. We, siblings - cousins - aunts ... dread long holidays at home for it means major general house cleaning. And it also means Labor Day on holidays. hehehe. From attic, to all drawers and cabinets, to every nook and corners of the house - the walls, light fixtures, will be cleaned (must be cleaned) and inspected. It is not fun, devoid of earthly pleasures, because we will be slaves cleaning everything like mad--- like there's no tomorrow.
But as we get older, my mother have at least spared us from the MAJOR cleaning, our vacationing non-bisita cousins would be thralling their days away... pa-konswelo na lang yung paglalaro ng playstation during breaks.. Hahaha... But these developments do nothing to elevate the level of fun because everything is connected to everything else in the house. We cannot wander aimlessly around the house, nor be caught sitting idly or else be captured and turned into house-elves. And another downside of my mother's OC manifestations is STARVATION, because when she's in 'the ZONE' she forgets the world around her like she's immune to human's need to replenish their earthly bodies of nutrients; and even the need to rest and have nocturnal system shutdowns seems non-existent. Therefore, we have no choice but to help in the ongoing house reboot,defrag, and cleanup to speed things up and be able to eat ON-time.
While this is not a picture of a perfect vacation, there's a bright side in to all these menial tasks aside from the obvious superfical unblemished and purified state of the house.
Doing the house chores together provides a bonding moment for our family. It gives everyone ample time to brief everyone on everything and going-ons in their life. The teasings, reminiscings, and musings, and future plans. Old stuff evokes memory and emotions, old pictures assumes Lola Basyang's role to paint the past, tells what the captured moment was and the story behind the smiles, the frowns, the smirks, and the un emotional stolid look of everyone. And of how things have changed, the extinct establishments and what were born from their ashes. And not to mention finding lost things buried under accumulated dirt, trash, and dead insects.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just when we thought the Labor Day is over, my mother announced that we will be going to where our bukid is. What the @#(*$*@#&$@ kala ko, tuloy tuloy na playstion challenge namin?! Hehehe... Hmm.. wawa naman yung bukid, konti na lang kakainin na ng maduming ilog. Siguro dalawang malakas na bagyo pa bago yun tuluyan makain ng ilog. So, the force majeure has spared us this time... but for how long. I'm praying that that time would never arrive. The place is perfect for relaxation, more than a dozen of fruit trees, sampaguita scent, 3 varieties of bamboo, and the cool breeze from Laguna Lake. I plan to built my home there... wish wish wish ... kelan kaya yun heheheh... Haha, sira yung poso, uwian naaaa.... nyak, makiigib daw sa kapitbahay... Nanay ko talaga! .. LOL. After we finish watering the needy plants and my mother inspecting each plant sporadically, she noticed the MAGIC FRUIT bearing its first summer bounty. We've already feast on Langka and there are still 6 unripened fruit hanging on its branches... The makopas are in full bloom and already exposing tiny fruits. But this magic fruit, it's the first time i've heard of such, and the first time i've been told that our father have planted one on our bukid.
So how come they called it MAGIC FRUIT? Hmm... get a kalamansi, or kalamias or any unripe fruit and taste it.. Maasim di ba? Then try to eat just one of the red, oval, almond-shaped magic fruit. Just nibble it, it has a large seed and leathery skin. Then try tasting kalamansi/kalamias again... The magic fruit magically turns sour taste of sour and unripe fruit magically sweet.. And the taste lingers... mildy sweet. I really was amazed. hehe..
It turns out my brother's already aware of the existence of this magic fruit and its magical quality. He claimed that eating two of this fruit would reverse the sweetening effect. That I cannot confirm nor deny, I'm still amazed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hehe... Nagpagupit ako at sobrang ikli ng buhok ko. Last na maiiksi ang buhok ko nung high school pa ata ako.. Hehehe....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excited ako!!!! Andito kasi si lablayp....... :D
