November 17, 2010
I don’t remember anything about yesterday. Could be forgetfulness. Could be wisdom. I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t remember. It wasn’t the drinking. At the most, I had one beer or one shot of Tanduay rum in a full glass of water. That’s my usual, if you can call it that, since I have one or the other only a couple of times a week.
Nope, wasn’t the drinking. Most likely, it was a day without incident. I’m sure I slept well the previous night – almost always do – then kissed my wife and made a b-line for the bathroom, first thing upon waking. That’s my morning habit: kiss, pee, then open the front door, still half-somnambulistic, and look toward the sea.
Nope, wasn’t the drinking. Most likely, it was a day without incident. I’m sure I slept well the previous night – almost always do – then kissed my wife and made a b-line for the bathroom, first thing upon waking. That’s my morning habit: kiss, pee, then open the front door, still half-somnambulistic, and look toward the sea.
I’m not sure why I do that. The sea is always in its place, just there, across the road. (I appreciate its constancy.) The surface is pretty benign, hiding the goings-on beneath. If the sound of water bathing the shoreline reaches my ears, it massages my nerves, soothing, quieting, in a way that reaches out to my conscious mind and exacts a small price, in the form of gratefulness. No better way to set the attitude for a course of contentment.
Okay, so, I do know why I gaze across the road in the morning. There's also this: the smell of brine, rich and fetid with the constant dying and renewal of life that takes place in the world’s largest flora and fauna habitat. Smells damn good in the morning, especially just before a breakfast of fish soup or grilled squid at Besa’s Carenderia, which sits right at the edge of the clear blue water, in Suba.
Now I remember something about yesterday: going to the Mercado in the morning. It was Tuesday, market day, when vendors from all over the province come and set up bamboo tables to display their wares under makeshift canopies.
I was looking for the lady who sells herbal oils and concoctions, age-old native Filipino remedies used by traditional healers and sold to the public. I wanted to ask her how Hemag oil is made. I know the main ingredient is something from the Hemag tree. I think it is the wood itself. And I know that coconut oil is used, also, to make an elixir that heals. (It works! Hemag helped heal a sore I had on my leg, that had been hanging around for a month or so. And it healed a surgical wound that Emelie’s sister, Diores, had on her arm. It refused to heal for months after her operation. But the Hemag did the job in short order.)
I was looking for the lady who sells herbal oils and concoctions, age-old native Filipino remedies used by traditional healers and sold to the public. I wanted to ask her how Hemag oil is made. I know the main ingredient is something from the Hemag tree. I think it is the wood itself. And I know that coconut oil is used, also, to make an elixir that heals. (It works! Hemag helped heal a sore I had on my leg, that had been hanging around for a month or so. And it healed a surgical wound that Emelie’s sister, Diores, had on her arm. It refused to heal for months after her operation. But the Hemag did the job in short order.)
The lady who sells the remedies wasn’t there. Emelie said that maybe the woman is from Negros Island Siquijor Island Cebu because the sea was too rough. Siquijor is the country’s seat of witchcraft, curses and their cures, native medicines and healers. I have been wanting to go there - curiosity mostly – for some time now. Emelie says I will go alone, if I do. She won’t set foot on that island.
Okay! Whew! The memory's workin' like a well-oiled rust-bucket of dismembered parts spitting out cob-webbed notions of yesterday. Thank the Lord for near-perfection!
Yesterday worked itself out best it could and gathered enough strength to carry on over to...
Yesterday worked itself out best it could and gathered enough strength to carry on over to...
Today. I just stayed home. Woke up feeling kind of crappy from a cold that’s been hitching a ride in my sinuses for a couple of days. It felt great to do the better part of nothing: lazing around; getting some extra sleep. I did help Emelie with the wash just prior to a 2-hour nap. I used the bucket - filled it up in the bathroom with soap and water then took it out to the porch so I could watch the morning traffic and gaze at the sea while tussling with the clothes.
T’was a good day, overall!
T’was a good day, overall!
No comments:
Post a Comment