Surprise Visit

Sigurado ako naranasan niyo ng maligo sa ulan. E ang mag-swimming sa baha? Ako oo! Dalawang beses pa.

Una, noong nasa elementarya pa ako. Ang saya-saya naming mapi-pinsan habang feel na feel naming inaanod kami ng tubig baha. Walang pakialam kesyo may mga lumulutang na mga ipis o kung anu-ano pang mga bagay na produkto ng tiyan ng tao at hayop. Pangalawa, heto at sariwa pa sa alaala ko. At siguradong habang buhay nang tatatak sa aking gunita.

Araw ng Sabado, nagising ako sa tunog ng ulan na walang tigil sa pag-patak sa bubong namin. May bagyo nga pala, sabi ko sa sarili ko. Sumilip ako sa bintana. Lampas talampakan na ang baha! Napangiti ako. Sa buong Marikina kasi, isa ang lugar namin sa mga bihirang bahain.

Pagkatapos mag-ayos at dumiretso ako sa kusina at tinulungan sa pagluluto ang Mama ko. Habang nagpi-prito ng tosino ay aliw na aliw naman akong pinagma-masdan unti-unting pag-akyat ng tubig sa labas.

Mga nasa limang pulagada na siguro ang lalim. Ilang minuto ang lumipas. Nasa binti na ng Tito ko. Ilang minuto pa ang nagdaan. Halos maabot na ang tuhod niya. Ilang sandali lang ay papasok na ang tubig. Hindi rin nagtagal at nangyari na ang kinatatakutan mg Mama ko. Dali-dali naming inangat ang mga gamit sa baba ng bahay, kasama ang washing machine na nakaligtaan naming meron pala kami.

Pero walang mababakas na pag-aalala sa aking mukha. Totoo nyan, naka-ngiti pa ako. Sabi ko nga, bihira lang kasing mangyari ang ganito.

Walang tigil ang pag-ulan. Wala ring tigil ang pagtaas ng tubig. Mabilis. Ilang minuto uli ang lumipas. Hanggang tuhod na ang tubig sa loob ng bahay. Hindi na namin alam kung ano pang pag-angat ng gamit ang gagawin namin. Pinabayaan na lang naming lumutang ang sopa.

Dahil basa na rin, lumabas kami ng bahay. Hanggang hita na ang tubig. Sa galak ay nakuha ko pang kumuha ng mga litrato.

Umakyat na sa bewang ko ang tubig.

Nawalan na ng kuryente.

Nag-patuloy kami sa pag-salba ng mga gamit.

Hanggang tyan ko na ang baha.

Nawala na ang tuwa.

Nanginginig na ang buo kong katawan. Pakiramdam ko lulan ako ng barkong Titanic at pinagma-masdan ang unti-unting paglubog nito.

Nagpasya na akong umakyat. Wala na rin kaming magagawa nung mga panahong iyon. Nakuntento na lang ako sa pagma-masid ng mga kaganapan mula sa terrace. Naaawa kong pinag-masdan ang mga pusang nilalamig sa bubong nga mga kapit-bahay, ang mga batang inililikas ng mga magulang. Isang kapitbahay ang dumaan sa tapat at nag-dala ng masamang balita – meron na raw namatay. Nalunod.

Muli kong binaling ang atensyon sa ulan. Hihinto rin yan maya-maya, sabi ko.

Lumakas ang hangin. Tumaas pa ang baha.

Hanggang sa dumilim. Naalala ko, wala nga pala ang Papa ko. Nandun sa kaibigan niyang nag-iisa at may sakit. Sabi ng Tito ko, hanggang balikat na raw ang tubig sa labas. Wala namang second floor dun sa bahay ng kaibigan ng Papa ko, naisip ko bigla…

Lumalim ang gabi. Hindi ko na alam kung gaano na kalalim ang tubig sa labas. Pumikit ako at nag-dasal. Di nagtagal, naramdaman ko na lang na uminit ang hangin. Tumigil na rin ang ulan. Tahimik akong nag-pasalamat at nahimbing.

Kinabukasan nagising ako sa sinag ng araw na direktang tumatama sa aking mukha. Tapos na. Sumilip ako sa bintana at nasambit ang, “PUTIK!”. Andyan na rin si Papa. Balik na uli ang lahat sa dati – o siya nga ba?

Buong araw kaming nag-ayos at nag-linis ng mga bakas na iniwan ni Ondoy, ang di inaasahang bisita. Bakas ang pagod sa mukha ng bawat isa. Bawat pag-buhos ng tubig at pag-kuskos ng namuong putik may kakambal na buntong-hininga.

Gabi na ng muling bumalik ang kuryente. Agad kong binuksan ang TV at naabutan ang mga balita tungkol sa nakalipas na bagyo. Libu-libo ang na-apektuhan. Hindi iilan ang nasawi. Marami pa ang kailangang tulungan. Muli akong napa-pikit. Sinabi ko sa sarili, maswerte ka pa talaga.

After the Day of the Earth

Just a few quick thoughts on yesterday's special day.

I sincerely applaud the various organizations and government units that are continuously spreading awareness all over the globe regarding the changing climate and the desolating natural environment. Go check Greenpeace and EarthDay.Org and you will be overwhelmed by the myriad of activities, programs, news features and tips on how to save the ailing Mother Earth. The efforts are real and evident, but the results, I think, are barely tangible.

It’s given. People are aware, but the awareness seems to stick only on the mind, never reaching the affect. In simpler terms, people know what to do but they never do it by heart.

But I can’t blame them, though. There are a hell lot of issues that has to be thought of aside from being Captain Planet. Even I sometimes tend to have slips of mind and do things careless people do.

So how do we resolve the problem? I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. Still, we can have Earth Hour everyday or Earth Day every week (or we can also have an Earth Month and an Earth Quarter and an Earth Year. :)) just as long as we put into our consciousness the things that must be done. Conscious effort, I think, is the key.

Sorry for posting this article yet not providing substantial solutions. Anyway, as what I learned from school, people (adults) learn better if they themselves think for themselves.

So what do you guys think?

Earth Hour 2009

I don't really have to reiterate what Earth Hour is, but for the sake of reminding everyone, I will. On March 28, 2009, starting 8:30 PM, wherever you are in the planet, you are encouraged to switch off your lights for an entire whole hour. No sweat, right? This, of course, is a part of the world's fight against the threatening global warming.

I have to admit, I wasn't able to participate last year due to one folly reason: I can't miss my favorite TV show. Fudge me. So now I'm making up for it 'coz I realized, I can't miss my chance of saving Mother Earth.

March 28. 2009, 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM.

Baby Talks

So it was a boring Thursday night and I was scanning thru the channels of my newly fixed TV (Yey!) when I came across probably one of the most interesting episodes of Oprah. It was one of those replayed episodes shown on local TV here in the Philippines (I think it was originally aired November of last year). It features four incredible stories about life and science but what fascinated me most was their cover about this 'special baby language'.

The invited guest was Priscilla Dunstan, a woman who claims to have been blessed with a 'photographic memory' for sounds which she eventually used to develop her theory on baby language; that these angelic little creatures actually produce different sounds to relay various messages to people. Interesting.

My interest even went maximum when she discussed about the five general sounds that babies produce: the 'neh' sound which refers to hunger; the 'owh' sound which they make when they're tired and sleepy; the 'heh' sound which signals discomfort; the 'eair' sound for lower gas, &; the the 'eh' sound when they want to say, 'I wanna burp, Mom!'. They even showed super adorable babies making those actual sounds! I was soooo..amazed (it's an understatement)! My jaws were left hanging till the end of the entire segment. It was so unbelievable...but true.

I seriously want a baby now! LOL.

Ang Plastik Mo!

Well, this is something that popped out of my silly mind just recently. I realized, even if everybody, as in everybody stops using plastic bags in their evryday lives, but if the plastic manufacturing industries doesn't ceases, nothing will happen at all! For crying out loud, just imagine what will these manufacturers do to their wasted products. Surely they will not use them as fetilizers, right? What should be done is not to stop using plastics but to extinguish all of those plastic manufacturing companies! But I guess that would be a tall order. Hey, I made a point, right?

Things You Don't Have To Know But You Have to

Here are some interesting facts I got from Brain of Brian.

» The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it. [Hershey’s, anyone?]
» More than 2,500 left handed people are killed. [Thank God I’m right handed.]
» It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world's population are drunk. [Mga kapit bahay ata namin yun.]
» One thing that humans do more than anything in their entire life is sleep. Most Americans sleep more than 6-8 hours a day, which is on average around 24 years of ones life! [Paano pa kaya si Sleeping Beauty?]
» The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night. [Go Web! FLYYY!]
» Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. [Anong sinabi ni Belo at Calayan dito?]
» Odds of being killed by falling out of bed - 1 in 2 million. [Sa kutson na lang kaya ako matulog?]
» Termites eat through wood 2 times faster when listening to rock music. [Rakenrol!]
» The average talker sprays about 300 microscopic saliva droplets per minute, about 2.5 droplets per word. [Yung teacher ko sa History nung High School 10 droplets per syllable!]
» Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left handed people. [Really thank God I’m right handed!]
» It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world. [:(]

Earth Day

It’s Earth Day today!
Be aware. Be active. Be potent.

Change the world. Make it a better place.