Friday, April 21, 2006

Lo Ve Su Mm Er!

I don't know how to swim. And I feel stupid. Not because I don't know how but inside this hard head of mine, I know I should be one of those people really skillful when it comes to swimming... for the plain reason that I live a mere kilometer (or less) from the beach.

Yup... and hindi rin ako mahilig magpunta sa beach and I hate summers... NOON. But due to the lack of vacation time (uhuh, work!), I now appreciate the sea, the sand, and the sun. I feel so lucky to have a province I can just go home to when I'm stressed out and in dire need of relaxation and peace of mind.

So last holy week, I went home to La Union (with my family, of course!). I was ready to shout "I LOVE SUMMER!" the moment I stepped out of our car and into my (beloved! haha!) hometown's ground. Everything just spelled V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

But of course, how can we forget that it was, more than ever, a moment to reflect and ask for forgiveness.

Last Maundy Thursday, our house became the second stop to the Way of the Cross. And after the prayers, my sister and I joined the Stations of the Cross procession with our grandma and cousin Samantha. We thought we'll just walk from house to house in our barangay. Little did we know that we're supposed to walk through 4 barangays until we reach our church (which was about 3-4 kilometers away from us!). It was a barrio walkthrough. And though it was tiring, the journey was my sacrifice and it took me back to my roots. Now I know why I'll never give up the rural life. I love the simplicity of it all.

And then on Black Saturday, we went to the beach. At akala ko, walang tao since I couldn't hear them passing by our house. Yun pala, everyone was already there! (Some even went at 12 midnight!) It was a different (and weird) landscape from the last time I saw it (which I can't really remember when). The water was moving away from the 'shore' and the movement left a small 'river'. So before we reached the "real" sea, we crossed this little "pond" of leftover sea water. It was like 'tobacco field - sand - water - sand - sea' thing. And it was lovely.


We went again on the afternoon of Easter Sunday (really relishing every minute of the no-work days!) And it was a whole family affair since my parents and two brothers were there with us. We also took our two labradors - Simba and Nala (blame the names to my Lion King fanatic cousin!) - with us. Halfway through, Simba was already huffing and puffing. Sa sobrang pagod niya, lawit na buong dila! Haha! And I'm actually fearing that this dog might suffer heart attack from the shock of walking a long distance for the first time! Anyway, Simba was already afraid of the water. Nala was more "water-friendly."


Ngayon ko lang na-realize that I'm so lucky to have nature so close to me. Habang ang beach eh nasa panaginip lang ng ibang tao, ako, nasa tabi ko lang.


LOVE SUMMER? I DO NOW.

Posted by JA.nelle at 9:23 PM

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