Peaceful Town There is no argument about it. Typhoon Mario brought havoc in almost every corner of Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces, but in one little town in the upland Cavite God was lenient. He kept the almost piece of Paradise almost undisturbed. There were no flooded areas, no landslides, no brownouts. No fears, no hurries… The strongest Typhoon happened in this town in 1926 when the roofing of the Church was blown out. Alfonso is almost in level with Tagaytay where the climate is very seldom uncomfortable. This must be the reason why resorts are fast sprouting left and right almost as fast as building of comfortable and beautiful rest houses in this area turning the whole paradise-like place into a haven for retirees. Considering the troubles happening left and right almost everywhere, Alfonso remains relatively the most Peaceful Town since it was awarded as Cavite’s Most Peaceful Town in 1952.

NEW SENIOR TRICK This happened three days ago. I just finished my last gulp of brewed coffee and was about to read the newspaper when I found the page blurring but I wasn’t at all dizzy. The whole surrounding was twirling as If I had too much wine the night before though I was a totally good boy last night. I wasn’t feeling anorexic or unstable but this was the first time I felt this way. It could have been easier and wiser to go back to bed and just rest but it could also bring about fatal consequences. I realized I was just being acquainted to a new symptom probably associated to aging. I tried my forever helpful acupressure by pressing strongly to a point three inches behind the wrist of both arms, alternately, while looking straight to the farthest point, to no avail. Having memorized every part of our house ever since, I inched myself towards my bedroom in the midst of a foggy ‘quirling’ path with the intention of lying flat on bed but on second thought and for fear of early lying flat forever, I slowly took my bamboo walking stick and proceeded to my favorite Netcafe, ever careful not to fall accidentally and be hit by a rushing vehicle. I was able to finish my routine uneventfully. Nature must be rehearsing me for just another senior trick. This must be a prelude to Alzheimer’s coming. Of course he is welcome to pay a visit for as long as he do not stay

"BAGYITO"

BAGYITO “Bagyito”Luis came like a naughty little boy that cheerfully played around. At home it introduced endless rhythmic raindrops that gave me an interesting experience of little eternity. The good feeling was challenged by another strong force that dared to make a mess on the bed if unattended. The calling of a full bladder is not a joke. I was forced to jump out of bed in surrender to relieve myself quickly. I went back to bed to continue listening to the cadence of the raindrops. This time my mind shifted to places where the “Bagyito” was not only playing naughtily but already destructively. Nature has been unkind many times. Luis turned erratic and is no longer a “bagyito” but an angry typhoon cutting classes in many areas of the country. I don’t find it interesting anymore to listen to its rhythmic raindrops, the sample of little eternity.

OF ROOTS AND GROWTH Things in this world are interrelated. Like Life and Love as well as death. Like Root and Growth which could easily be interpreted with the help of the three Ss, the SEED, the SOWER and the SOIL. In truth we are all SOWERS of sort (planters of lessons, ideas, inspirations, etc.) We choose the best SEED to plant while at the same time we hope for a good harvest. That is, after first finding the best SOIL (the environment, the school, the company, the neighbors). There is interrelation too between roots and growth. It is very important first to be a good SOWER to plant the SEED to a well cultivated SOIL for the ROOTS to anchor strongly to be able to hold a good GROWTH, after all a good and beneficial growth is all we aim to achieve while we all try our best to pass all the trials and errors that we encounter on our journey through life.

RUBY-LEATHER ANNIVERSARY It is our 43rd year of Marital bliss. We have travelled a long rocky road together. A Marital Inventory is in order. It all started as a Whirlwind Wedding quickly followed by one child after another until we successfully contributed five healthy and intelligent offspring to the world. Our business minded eldest son is now happily married and gainfully employed in Sydney, Australia with his Architect wife and four very heal thy and active children. The second, a daughter, is married to a good politician. They now have two healthy, scholarly smart and pretty daughters whose growth are closely monitored by their mother while doing business of her on the side. The middle daughter, a Psychologist based in Toronto, Canada with her hunk, no non-sense Banker husband together with their three daughters and a son who are all in good health and are very active at home and in the school The Third daughter, married to an international school Director is happily staying in the Philippines. She gave up her job to be with her disciplined daughter and son, plus an expected another one soon. Our youngest son is still a bachelor gratefully enjoying his wild freedom and very interesting present status. My wife and I are both very proud of all our children. They are all college graduates, thoughtful and law-abiding. We are grateful that they are our children, our best contribution to the world. What started as a Whirlwind Wedding popularly predicted to last only for a few months is kindly gifted by God with a whirlwind of blessings. That is why every day we thank, praise adore and glorify God for the countless blessings He is continuously showering us . Last night, our youngest daughter’s family treated us to an impromptu dinner. jett e. avinante, m.d. (1-13-13)

THE DAY AFTER I woke up blankly wondering what hit me the other day. Well, it was my birthday, so what? It happens every year. But this birthday was entirely different. I was alone since my wife was in Manila to attend a Rubi Wedding Anniversary. I quickly dressed up to attend the early Mass just to discover that there was no early Mass as it was a Wednesday and the Mass was in the afternoon after Mother of Perpetual Help Novena. The next best thing I thought was to open the TV until a found a channel were Mass was being said. It fulfilled my first Birthday wish. I took my breakfast all by myself then proceeded to my favorite Netcafe to do my routine. I discovered many greeters as well as in my cell phone. Back to the house I instructed my gardener to buy one chicken and cook ‘arroz caldo’ just in case anybody comes around for whatever reason. It was somewhat ironic that for the first time our former housemate failed to gift me with live chicken to be killed in exchange for my life. Since my wife was far away she wasn’t able to cook ‘pancit’ for ‘my long life’. Smilingly I wondered if this would be my last birthday as no chicken was killed to exchange for my life and no pancit was cooked to stimulate the extension of my life. But of course I don’t believe in superstition. Surprisingly, not even one greeted me verbally, a sign that machine can someday substitute for human actions. No one but no one even accidentally happened to pass by our house, so, come lunchtime my helper and me celebrated my birthday with a bowl each of ‘arroz caldo’. After going to my daily siesta, my gardener and I took another bowl of our afternoon snack at around 3:00p.m. I had the chance of my life to read the whole newspaper but the stories were as boring as my birthday. It was 10:00p.m. when my wife arrived from Manila quite tired to take a taste of my especial ‘arroz caldo’ until breakfast time the following morning. Now do you understand why I woke up feeling blank? And don’t argue that what I experienced was just another senior moment. Here in the Philippines it is fun to grow old.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES It has been agreed upon. Our two daughters who were with their families here in the Philippines would spend Christmas Eve with us in the province, together with our Bachelor son who, again surprised us direct from Australia. Came New Years Eve my wife and I were ready to meet the New Year alone together. Our Bachelor son was expected to be with his friends then to my daughters family at BF Homes. After having been loaded with heavy foods during the Christmas gathering and not expecting any coming visitors, we decided to hide inside the refrigerator all the untouched left-over foods and fruits after agreeing with each other that nothing but plain rice and fried dried ‘danggit’ fish which that time was a gustatory treasure after the Christmas extravagance, would be on the table. On display were only two melons and one ripe pineapple. We started our lunch without any special expectation when suddenly our Bachelor son again surprised us from nowhere. (He has been surprising us every now and then, possibly preparing us for bigger and more pleasant surprise). The setting he saw with my wife and I sharing plain rice and fried ‘danggit’ fish must have touched my son so much that for a moment he was speechless. We told him we reserved our roasted chicken to go with red wine for the Midnight dinner. All our helpers were on vacation too with their own families so my wife and I divided the work between us. I realized how tired our helpers got while doing their daily chores. I also got a firsthand picture of the clear panorama filling our inner vision as we continue aging away from our offspring. I attended the anticipated New Year’s Eve Mass while my wife stayed at home to to have good rest as she also ‘guarded’ the house. After the Mass I lighted a big candle plus seven colorful little ones for prosperity. When the Church bells signaled the coming of the New Year I opened the gate to welcome it as I lighted several ‘luces’ alone, one after another while my wife also lighted the others at the open terrace where she stayed alone to guard the foods against the hungry cats. Then, with red wine, roasted chicken and some other goodies we ate together both contemplating silently the tragedy and fun of senior moments. I told my wife the so many things we must Thank God. Five healthy grown-up children, four children-in-law, one bachelor son who were all college graduates and were gainfully employed plus twelve normal and healthy grandchildren growing happily like little angels, we couldn’t ask for more, although an additional daughter-in-law and endless number of grandchildren coming our way were all welcome. We can leave this world with smile. (January 4, 2013)