Re-energized

Going home to my family in Pangasinan has always provided me my very sought-after refuge and relaxation. I took advantage of my free days before the start of this semester and before the submission of the many documents that my new national organization has required of me as its secretary.

In Pangasinan, food is better. I cooked what I wanted to eat; no fuzz about the freshness and availability of the ingredients that I needed. In exchange for my family’s expected hospitality, I cooked for them spaghetti which tasted like KFC’s, thanks to an added ingredient that made me discover a recipe secret of one large fast food chain in the country.

I also had enough time to observe how house lizards feasted on insects. I even took a video of the predator-prey relationship. It was 1 a.m. in the morning and I couldn’t get to sleep. Wanting of something to do, I just looked up only to find out an interesting chase between creatures I never even bothered to notice before.

I finished reading one Reader’s Digest from cover to cover. It was a back issue but I chanced upon an article that is very relevant before going back to work. “The 7 Secrets of Good Fortune” by Marc Myers is a perspective anchored on virtues. Let me share them:

Assume fate is on your side.
Get an emotional grip.
Open your mind to opportunity.
Think of the world as yours.
Keep envy in check.
Think like a “connector”.
Find an upside to everything.

Equally interesting in this booklet (is it? Or a book?) is the story on anacondas. How one man wanted to spend the rest of his life studying anaconda particularly in swamps of Venezuela and other South American countries where these snakes abound. Now I learned that female anacondas are bigger than males; the largest male is actually the female’s smallest size. That a female anaconda do sex orgy with many males. That a female anaconda can sometimes be a cannibal by swallowing the last male sex mate to get added kilos for her fasting during her pregnancy.

While my sleeps were usually interrupted by the loud cries of my barely over one-year-old nephews Vaughn and Kurt, their “learning” stage was prettily fascinating. I wonder if I was like them when I was their age. They started to utter words they have imbibed through constant repetition and mimicry. “Watch” was the shortcut for “watching TV”. And they pronounced it well. “Ading” for younger brother. “Dede”, “mama”, “papa”, “bakbak” (whipping), among others.

They love opening drawers to grab any object. They like climbing like monkeys. The nannies were always in the run-up to save them from accidents, which have surely developed in them faster reflexes. The toddlers love biting each other like dogs but they also hug each other after the hurt like kittens. I guess this is a version of “childhood sadomasochism”. Sometimes, I could not help but stop the toddlers from moving. But when they start kissing and hugging me, they suddenly assume a persuasive power to release them and be themselves. Peace in its literal sense was only achieved when both were soundly asleep. But when up, the rowdiest occurences need not be predicted.

Finally, I spent most of my time borrowing my 10-year-old niece’s SP just to play Super Mario and the game with funky and hyper gorilla! (I can’t remember the title.) She was definitely better. I was her sudden student rather her teacher based on age. This must be a classic case of digital divide.My niece even teased me that she is more of an expert, which is not debatable.

Sigh…I hope I can have a repeat of the aforesaid during my next vacation.