At my father's house in his hometown, there are countless sineguelas trees. Or so I thought as a kid. Coming home to the city, I used to think the memories of being in my father's hometown were a dream. The place was so different from the city. It was calm, peaceful. It was magical.
All grown-up and armed with a new smartphone, I captured as much as I can of the place during a particular visit. The sineguelas trees weren't as many but they still offered cool shade. I'm not as crazy for their fruit as I was when I was a kid. Now, I'd rather just sit on the bench my father made under a big sineguelas tree beside the house.
My family said my grandfather planted the trees around the house. I was named after him (Glecerio) but my memories of him are blurry and unclear. But the trees he planted lives on and they are as clear as the sunrays they filter.
The house did not have electricity for many years. It was so dark at night and our natural alarm clocks were roosters crowing outside. Waking up and going outside the house was painful for the eyes because the early morning light became blinding after sleeping so long inside the dark. I would squint my eyes until they adjusted to the light and I would see my grandmother feeding the chickens with what I thought was corn.
Early mornings also meant the dew and fog. During this particular visit, my mother woke me early in the morning to bring our laundry to our neighbor who had access to the water supply lines. We already have lights in the house and going outside was not painful for my eyes anymore. The walk to our neighbor's house gave me astonishing views of the rising sun, the plains below, and the rising fog. Painful eyes or not, I always look forward to waking up early when I'm at my father's place.
Flower fields are scattered around the place and during the trip to our neighbor, I saw a field of Ruellia--violet flowers looking up from the ground. Squatting to the ground, I took pictures of the flowers. I still did not know how to use the macro lens of my phone and I just pointed and shoot.
These violet flowers remind me of times when happiness could be achieved by doing simple and silly things. These plants have popping pods. As kids, we would take out the brown pods, put them in the water, and wait in delight for them to start popping and exploding. It's a way for the plant to spread its seeds. It's also a source of a kid's excitement.
My father spent some time away from us and stayed in his hometown because it was good for his mental health. He made himself busy by raising animals. I saw the goats in their pens. They all looked at me with their lazy and unfocused eyes when I was taking their pictures. One particular goat looked at me and seemed to smile.
My father also had cows but I didn't get to take pictures of them. Instead, I took pictures of a Carabao and its calf grazing under the shade while we were wandering around. My father and my aunt had dogs and cats. I found them to be quite thin because they did not have enough food to eat. They were only given leftover scraps. It's a bit sad that only the livestock was given a lot of food and the dogs weren't. But there wasn't much food to begin with at my father's house. Too bad dogs can't digest leaves.
The views from the house are not spectacular but just a few dozen steps, you are offered with the best vistas, the best views you could hope for. As a kid, I didn't really pay attention to the views. They were just vibrant green backgrounds to a place where I could run around nonstop and not worry about vehicles on the road.
The house is located on a tall mountain and we used to go there on foot from the main highway where the bus would drop us off. There were no cars or motorcycles back then that could bring us closer to the house. I used to think my father's place was extremely far and I would dread the trek going there. But it was an exaggeration. I've trekked farther and more difficult trails through the years.
I could look anywhere, point-and-shoot, and capture amazing landscapes one after the other. During this visit, my younger brother wanted to visit a particular spot. We wandered around trying to find it but didn't find it. Instead, we (re)discovered the views we so innocently disregarded when we were young. Now, looking at them brings so much awe, wonder, and magic.
The other half of this Amazing Nature blog will show more magical moments such as The Vistas (continued), The Cornfields, The Path to the River, and The Waterfall. My father's hometown is located in Busogon, San Remigio, Cebu, Philippines. It's a town with rolling mountains and long shorelines. It's full of magic.
And that's it! I appreciate your interest in reading my blog. This is my first blog published in the Amazing Nature Community. I really enjoyed writing this. We were supposed to visit San Remigio last weekend but we ended up overstaying at my aunt's place in the next town (Bogo City). But I know I'll get to visit again soon.
See you in the next post. Cheers!
