 |
| The site and presence of the coconut trees gives an atmosphere so near to nature and family |
When
Jose Rizal was young, he was much pleased
with the thought of travels. His journey started with his rides on a casco as
he traversed Laguna de Bay and Pasig River. Like the young Pepe, we too have
started a relationship with taking
trips. If the young Pepe started it out with a casco, how would that be
for you? Would a trike ride stir up your awareness of wandering from one place
to another? Did the trike ride strike
you? Or was it just a simple stride along the beach that started you to crave
for more beach walks. Beaches would run miles
and stretches of shoreline. A shoreline that has white sand with lots of
shells and starfishes to collect and play with.
At what age did you start traveling? Age 1? 2? 3? 13? 18? 21? 30? What
would it be then? We may have varied
experiences, and these catapulted us to long for more journeys to take. Let us
then take a look at my own travels. While I was yet a grader, I enjoyed trips
to the farm in Catumbal, Panabo. During
the town fiesta, my mom would tag me along with cousins and her siblings. We
usually stay overnight where all my cousins sleep on the second floor of the
farmhouse. All lined up and cuddled on top of a “banig” or local mat made out of dried colored plant fibers and
inside a mosquito net. The farmhouse was mostly surrounded with coconuts. Indeed, the industry that thrives with our farm
tenants is “copra” or dried meat of the coconut. We also have lots of “buko” or coconut juice to partake along with other
coconut by-products. Since it was a fiesta,
palo sebo
was the main attraction alongside hitting the pot. Oh, the grandeur of farm life seems to be unending. At breakfast, we partake of the so-called kapeng Barako
which almost burned my tongue. The burning sensation lasted for almost a week, though. Of course, a fiesta won’t be
named as one if we didn’t pay homage to the patron saint San Isidro
Labrador. Thus, the entire clan along with the other farm dwellers troop to
the chapel for the town fiesta mass. Then the feast begins with games and much
fiesta meal on the tables.
Travels during those times seem to
be unstoppable. We have to trek our way to the shore and with only our slippers
on our feet we have to go through the sand and fight to save our slippers which
seemingly sink in on the swampy area near the fishpond by the shore. The trip was not via a casco, though; we traveled by car from Davao City Proper to
Panabo City.
