With the declaration by the state weather agency that summer began in mid-March, hotter days are here, indeed, especially that climate change is not only cracking and melting solid ice in the North Pole but is also causing more ultraviolet radiation due to our badly-damaged ozone layer.
This time of the year easily relives memories of youthful days when the season was less warmer and we had more open and wide spaces to explore, the fields greener and the sea waters bluer.
Summer then was time for children to enjoy the pristine coasts and frolicked in the sand as fathers rowed nearby to bring their day’s catch to shore.
Living just about 300 meters from the shore, I remember racing full speed to the beach with playmates after breakfast only to slow down midway as we passed by a private graveyard – a source of scary stories – before resuming our run to see who gets to the water first.
Summer was a great time for picking and selling fruits from trees in our yard.
Siniguelas, santol, macopa, tar apple, guava, cashew and even mango fruits were regularly ripe for the picking, assuring savings for school supplies when school opened in June.
It was also an occasion to renew ties with kin as our family took every other year trips to our parents’ hometown in northern Iloilo. There, the sea seemed vaster and the fields more bountiful.
The trip also meant enjoying juicy broiled bangus caught straight from the fishpond, which our grandparents were blessed to own.
That was also the season for our two-week Vacation Bible School as our neighboring playmates attended their Flores de Mayo activities.
There was the church youth camp, too, which allowed us to explore concerns toward our social, physical and spiritual development. The camp was usually held close to the sea or by a hill, thus providing us with occasions for reflection and meditation at sundown time.
Unforgettable were the campfire sessions which included stargazing, guitar strumming and storytelling that lasted past midnight.
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There were those occasional sunset walks by the beach with my father during pre-school days.
Those bonding moments, I later realized, served as the most profound and meaningful episode of my treasured summers.
My father, a preacher, explained in a way a young mind can grasp the theology and metaphysics of Nature and the stewardship of God’s creations.
I would like to recall and write again about these moments in another article for a more fitting occasion – the forthcoming Father’s Day.
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Summer is ideal for get-togethers and reunions which are usually timed during fiestas, which are held practically in all towns, barangays, sitios and even puroks. Natives now living elsewhere come from far and near for this grand annual homecoming.
With the easing of COVID-19 alert levels, fiestas are back after two years of the pandemic.
The activities may be sealed down but there is no stopping the barangays from celebrating.
In Cauayan, like in many LGUs, cultural parades and big events are still not allowed but commemorative programs, including service awards rites, are among the highlights along with some sports events.
I heard musical presentations are back but not the public dances yet.
I hope that as communities slowly return to the old, cherished ways, the people will now take it upon themselves not to forget the tasted-and-proven health practices that have made us endure the past two years of the pandemic.
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Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. (Mark 13:28) – NWI
