darker days good for walking

longer nights, shorter days plus rain increased my sleeping time.

but a shady november day is perfect for walking (have i told you i have vitiligo. i like sun but some days i have to avoid it).




i feel good walking today at maginoo and matalino streets...

just like this man who goes on duty and enjoy (am i not dreaming? a security guard reading a pocket book)...

the month's end

october 31. i remember something 24 years ago today. so long ago but still vivid in my mind.

but there is one detail i dont remember now: if it rained that day or not.

today, it rained. lunch at an elevated restaurant in e rodriguez was good. the scenery below too. i am glad i sat by the window.

but first before the rain, some people waiting for jeepney:














during the rain:

people go to different directions. of varying speeds. most with umbrella.





















some umbrella are too large, others appear small for the user:





















some share completely, others a little















those without umbrella have other strategies.



















some illustration of life as a whole?




i use a black umbrella today (i have purple too)

but i can walk in the rain without one, except when i am going to work.

still NegOriental: "sunset glow" in others


for the nth time i have photographed the setting sun, but have never rotated my head to see its effect on others.

it was good to be aware of such.

sunsets have shades:



















they color the peripheral sky and light up rock crevices:


















they make people move closer and touch:


















even bath the leaves and sands gently in glow:


























lights up a village:




















sunsets

so faithfully consistent everyday, so very much taken for granted.

negros oriental: Siaton spider taught me that Charlotte's web could be literally true

We stayed in Siaton for 2 days. The first morning Embee was startled as he passed by the door. He was not aware of a spider web with the hardworking spider on it literally covering the upper part of the door and Embee destroyed part of it accidentally.

oh sorry, he said.

i thought there was another person he was talking to. but he was saying sorry for destroying a large part of the web.

there, i saw a charlotte web.

it is amazing. having grown up in COMVAL, previously part of Davao del Norte, I have experienced rural life but this was my first time to witness that a web that big can be created overnight. Wonderful.

As Embee continued to examine our dear Charlotte and her work, I looked out and decided it was also a wonderful day.

I knew I was going to see more of Jehovah's wonders in that place that day.

negros oriental: THE ROAD TO SIATON

after the waiting, we just meet somewhere, Embee's text.
Somewhere where?, I asked.
He answered, somewhere to where you planned.

Times like that, one has to grab the chance to decide. he might change his mind. Truth to tell, even couples have different preferences. Anyway, for detours, he would like some pampering: A/C room, dvd/ cd or cable, oh.... while I would like a Ceres ride somewhere more than a town or two away. Therefore when he says we go my way, we should go right away because in situations like this there is no midway. It's either a four walled chill room with us watching HBO... or yes, Siaton.

So can we meet at the Ceres terminal?
Do you know where it is?
No? But the tricycle drivers do.

Silence.

Okay... where is the where that we are going, I mean the town?
Siaton.



Me to tricycle driver: Nong, sa Ceres terminal para Siaton. Pwede pass by ta boulevard?


















Driver: Okay.


















Girl in Ceres terminal. I can imagine what the mother said: "Wait for me here and watch our things".

Good for this girl, her mother does not let her wait inside a bus on deck to go, and rush somewhere to buy things not in their town. My mother used to do that and it was torture. Later in life though, I just realized it is not really bad to do that. Multitasking, make one's daughter guard your favorite spot in the bus while you make last minute purchases before boarding the bus. The only torture trigger was this :long time ago, there was no clear schedule for the bus to go, it was like "alas- puno" (time to go when all seats are taken) and the bus, in order to lure prospective clients, motions itself forward and backward as if telling everyone not yet on board that it is already going at any second.























lateral scenery during ceres ride:













are we there...(pause)...not yet?, Embee asked.


This time we were in separate habal habals.
Nodding helps when you want to assure someone of arrival soon though deep inside you feel like saying his guess is good as yours since both of you have never been there before.

I realize though that when the sea approaches you...you are probably near.


















finally a view from the cottage: