a loose galaxy of half remembered narratives...

katong lunar eclipse

2010-08-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

a gift..an article

2010-07-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

a gift for my special day... 30th of April, 2009
from one unexpected afternoon trekking from datal safang... 29th of April
an article..

untitled..
(sherwin a. villano)

in the middle of the afternoon we started to walk with the rest of the group still packing-up.. with someone way ahead of us...and then... there was nobody...suddenly... we were alone...with the snaking trail in front of us. it looked like a path to nowhere, an endless path to nowhere. We thought there's only one trail, there's no way were going to get lost and we if we do get lost, so what? we're together..

on we walked...

above the mountains... mound of dark clouds took hold of the sky..dimming the light of the sun. And in awe i started feeling as if i'm in a twilight zone..it's past high noon but i have this feeling that we were walking in a state of morning... frozen in time...that time in morning, moments before the sun peeks at the world...

time working in erratic order...we're together...

we were walking for almost an hour when the rain started to fall through the leaves of murmuring trees. the rain soaked us wet...covering our tired bodies refreshed...quenching our thirsty spirits high...

i never walked in the rain for years and i've done it again - this time... with my significant other...the rain made me feeling nostalgic and romantic, we kissed for the first time, tasting the rain in our lips, with the pouring rain and cool wind whispering, the thin air gasping and veils of thin fogs around us, i was feeling nostalgic and hopelessly romantic. i wanted to devour you at that moment.

we kissed again and again just to taste the rain together...

the sun was clearing up and the rain was just a drizzle when we reached the bend with the small waterfalls. under the canopy of leaves with the drizzling rain dripping on us, we kissed again.

on with our walked...the water was perpetually falling, rolling on the rocky slope of the mountain. it was good.

when we reached the huge rock solidly sitting at the side of the trail, a rock as big as our small house, up we climbed but have settled for the smaller rock. we never saw the city, instead, we were graced with the sea of thin clouds covering the foot of the mountains and the plains below. we took pictures for posterity and communed with the spirits of the earth for a moment. we stood over the sitting rock taking it all in... the long walk, the kisses, the rain, the trail through the side of the mountains, the forest of thin air... we gasped it all in one big breath.

we were still craving but so contented and i am happy that we were together.

the sun was up finally and we were still walking taking pictures when the rest of the group reached us and into the truck we rode and join with the group hearing them of the plight they've been to riding the vehicle in one of the difficult bend where we just passed, posed and took some pictures but we will never know for sure what sort of dread the others have felt at that sharp bend.we were just a happy couple going home with our own little long walk in our contented hearts..

Moonlight

2010-07-22T04:23:00.000-07:00

(Guy de Maupassant)

Abbe Marignan

• a tall priest
• full of zeal, his soul always exalted but just
• all his beliefs were fixed; they never wavered
• he sincerely believed that he understood his God
• he entered into His plans, wishes and intentions
• always asks the question “Now, why has God done that?”
• everything in nature seemed to him created with absolute and admirable logic
• the “why & “because” always balanced-out

But he
• is indifferent with women
• woman for him is precisely that child 12x unclean of whom poets most speaks
• woman was the tempest who had ensnared the first man and still continues her work
• a weak creature, dangerous and curiously disturbing
• and even more than her devilish body, he hated her loving soul

He had a niece. She was pretty light-headed and impish. He found out she has a boyfriend and they see each other during the night.

So one evening, he wanted to see for himself if it was true.

When he opened the door to go out, he was greeted by the splendor moonlight. And endowed as he was by an exalted spirit, he was immediately distracted, moved by the glorious and serene beauty of the pale night.

In his little garden, all bathed in soft light, he began to breath deeply. He stopped to contemplate the fields all flooded with tender light immersed in the delicate and languid charm that calm nights have. He wanted to stay there to contemplate and admire God in His handiwork.

He asked again the questions he sometimes posed. “Why had God done this?”

Since the night is intended for sleep, for unconsciousness, for repose, for oblivion -- why make it more poetic than the sun and seems intended by its very delicacy to illumine things too fragile and mysterious for daylight, “Why this thrill in the heart, this stirring of the soul, this languor of the flesh?”

“Why these display of delights whose men never see, since they are asleep in their beds?”

“For whom was this intended, this sublime spectacle, this flood of poetry, poured from the sky over the earth?”

And he found no answer…

Then on the edge of the fields, under the vault of trees, drenched with glowing mist…two shadows appeared walking side by side. They seemed the pair as single being; the being for whom this calm and silent night was intended.

He felt as if he were looking at a biblical scene, like the love of Ruth and Boaz.

And he said to himself, “Perhaps God has made such nights to veil the lovers of men with ideal beauty…Must not God permit love since he lavished upon it such visible splendor?”
And he fled, almost ashamed, as if he entered a temple where he had no right to be…

Before Gensan...it was Dadiangas!

2010-07-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

(A plant used to be named after Gensan)

Some 71 years ago, February 27, 1939 to be exact, before Gen. Paulino Santos led the first 69 settlers in the city of General Santos popularly known today as Gensan, it has once been named as Dadiangas. Back then, it was a barrio in which (dadiangas trees) can be seen all over the place.

As a general, who have been born and raised in Dadiangas, I often asked and wonder why it was called as such. I’ve gotten a few answers of course… “it has been named after a tree which abounds the whole area..” and when I got to the part of asking “have you seen one?” mostly would say, “it has thorns all over and its huge but I have not seen it, they say you can find one in the plaza!”

Eventually, 30 years after I was born… (Thank you very much to Bariles Republic!)

"a dadiangas shrub!"

It wasn’t a tree after all, but it was a shrub! And it’s there just across the City Hall, nearly beside the monument of Rizal. But it has thorns all over, has yellow tiny flowers and fruits the size of a marble. And guess what? it’s known to be a good source of firewood, maybe the sole reason for its extinction.

I have passed along that spot so many times before and I have probably seen it but took no notice of that plant since I was for the longest time been looking for a tree with thorns!

My heart goes to that shrub, many people did not know including me that one particle of GenSan’s history can be found right there at the heart of the city. No marker has been put to recognize its importance. Many would say, it’s just a shrub… I guess so… but before Gensan, it was DADIANGAS.

I was sad for a while, looking at the only dadiangas shrub in Gensan Park now Plaza Heneral Santos. So little I know of important things about my hometown. When I grow old, maybe have some kids… I would love to tell them about that plant which was used to be named after GenSan…”

Now, I’ve had a good deal of first streak history lesson. One down many more to go!

(and i'm glad i was able to share this with my bebe..)

on being authentic..

2009-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

an excerpt from Rick Warren's article..

The world thinks intimacy occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. We tend to use darkness to hide our hurts, faults, fears, failures, and flaws. But in the light, we bring them all out into the open and admit who we really are.

Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt again.

Why would anyone take such a risk?

Because it's the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed" (James 5:16 MSG)

confused...

2009-06-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

so many questions but the answers are so few...

unexpected...

2009-06-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

Unexpected things happen in unexpected moments and you only have to wait...
Sometimes you least expect it...
Sometimes there's an inkling that its bound to happen...

But I was told,
we are not supposed to understand why certain things come to pass,
we don't always have to know the reason
why God allows some things to take place.

All that is asked from us
is to trust HIM completely
and let HIM be in control
because it was written...
GOD WILL NEVER FAIL US...
NOT NOW...NOT EVER...

frozen delights..

2009-01-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

"frozen delights" i've heard it before, but did not take notice of it and never related it to anything unless of course it refers to something cold, sweet and that which melts in your mouth and also in your hands (yada, yada, funny..) but i have heard it again.. just a few hours back.. and to my innocent surprise.. they referred frozen delights to unmarried women..

they think its funny.. but i never thought it that way. listening to them while making fun of this women made me feel a bit edgy. personally i commend those kinds of women regardless of whatever reasons they have for choosing to be in such state. i believe they have a more deeper understanding of pains in relationship and possesses depth of what it is to be in cheerful spirits despite the absence of men in their lives.

actually, thousands of "frozen delights" do more things, are truly conversant with more subjects and pursue their hobbies with greater concentration than married women. they are at their best in getting along on their own. they are self-sufficient individuals who knows what it is to be happy just like the rest of us..