I've always hated the rain.
When I was young, rain meant brownout, no television and definitely no cartoons and yes, in my case, no decent food. For the past 15 years of my life, I lived with my late grandmother whom I call "mommy." She has this house, 1950's style and a huge backyard filled with lush, ferns and humongous trees. By humongous, I meant forty percent of the height of the trees at Calaveras, California. Mommy's trees were really tall, with an army of gnarly "wont-spare-your-life" trunks which are highly capable of destroying the Meralco supply in our street.
Mommy's trees were the talk of the neighborhood during every typhoon aftermath. The kaimito tree infront of the house was approaching its golden year when it met it's tragic ending. Lying across the street, cars couldn't pass through and have to swerved around, rather with great difficulty. For about a week, Bangkal Street was electricity-deprived. It is as if the world stopped for a moment. And it's all because of our trees.
The Meralco team, together with some neighbors really poured their efforts to an extreme to get our tree off the street. Chainsaw here and chainsaw everywhere. And alas, after four days, our street was cleared except for the remnants of the kaimito tree. I even scooped some of its sawdust and put it on a bottle.
We always cooked with our electric stove. So if there's no electricity, then we have to suit ourselves with canned goods and cereals which ruins one's appetite. I remember a time when there's no electricity and lunch time was fast approaching and we really are starving (mommy and my brother). The three of us decided to use coal to cook food and the results weren't satisfying. My brother and I consumed about an hour just to keep the coal from going and the rice emerged like rice pops.
When it rains, it is as if time has drifted into a slow and deep slumber. It's too dark outside and you can't help but get scared especially when there's thunder and lightning involved. Rain stirs you into a state of melancholia. Upto now, I had this habit of sitting next to a window and just staring into space, hoping that the pouring will stop and that the dark skies would soon dissapear.
But then I realized that rain is essential. Why? Because it allows us to meditate over things. It gives us time to bond with family over hot sopas or hot champorado. It gives you time to notice that neglected book that you brought eons ago. It makes us appreciate the humidity of the Philippines.
Trials can be the light drizzle or the typhoon in our lives. Like the rain, trials are made to stop us in our tracks. Because sometimes, we tend to overlook the things that really matter. Frequent sunny days would often result to people complaining how hot the weather is. Life is too fast-paced nowadays that we forget to be grateful with things that are more important than superficial aspects. People turn to their ipads to listen to music when in fact the singing of the birds produce better melody than Rihanna's or Miley Cyrus for that matter.
The rain makes us thoughtful (must be the reason why I'm here today) of the things which are beyond positive but continue to regard as negatives. The rain makes us grateful of what we have and makes us hopeful for the sun, of the rainbow.
The rain in our lives is a test of endurance. It may be appear frequently or seasonal in our lives. I can say, I pretty much survived most of my rainy seasons.Though in the end I may not appear waterproof, I began to believe in the essence of believing that life can't survive without rain. Rain makes the crops grow and so I grow. It always pushed me to continue my search for my rainbow moments.
Rain is the season wherein I can wear my jackets and my scarves. I can play the part of a New Yorker. And I wouldn't say no to my Tita Baby's sopas either.
Into each life some rain must fall.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Keep it real,
Joanne
No comments:
Post a Comment