fireflies
June 8, 2008I am in the province and at home with my family. i travelled yesterday and enjoyed passing the green highway sceneries from Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. The day is clear and unlike Manila skies, the heaven showed its azure color with those white cotton clouds. What a fresh sight to behold and not to mention the miles and miles of green rice fields coupled with clear ponds every now and then.
I am writing now while Federer and Nadal are playing in the French Open finals. They are on the second set with Nadal winning the first set at 6-1(!), and now leading again at 5-3. Last night (Eastern Time), Justine awarded the French Open Cup to the woman winner, Ana Ivanovic. I rooted for Dinara Safina but she did not performed like she did when she defeated Sharapova, Dementieva and Kutznetsova on the way to the Final.
I hope Nadal takes his fourth French Open in a row. Hmmm… Nadal takes the second set at 6-3. I better finish watching first. It is 6-0 in the third set. And so Nadal made it to history today and Federer goes home still without a French Open. The King of Clay still reigns while the Queen is retired.
Going back to the purpose of this entry and not to be sidetracked by Tennis, I would like to write about the mixed images that I saw while travelling home yesterday and the pictures that i saw when I arrived. The images from Bulacan to Tarlac are reassuring, peaceful and serene. When I arrived in Pangasinan, I am reminded of the devastation Typhoon Cosme has left my province and to my own town about three weeks ago. I am consoled that our humble abode is intact unlike the others in the neighborhood. It stood the typhoon and the flood. My family can feel lucky we are spared but we feel sad knowing so many took losses. Of course, we also had our share of losses. We lost 2 carabao mango trees, 2 indian mangoes, 1 macapuno tree, 1 jackfruit tree all planted at the back of our house. The mango tree in our front yard also suffered from broken branches. Somewhere in the mountain my brother informed me were numerous paper trees and other fruit trees that are broken down and wounded by the storm.
Anyway, one who is sensitive could feel the seemingly palpable sadness of the immediate environment. The plants are hurting, blistered and are probably still sore from pains the strong winds of the typhoon has caused them to suffer. If they are human, the experience could be likened to waging a war against a mortal enemy. I noted that some of the surviving trees are recovering; new leaves are now appearing, though some are being dried up and beaten by the scorching sun. The ornamentals are not spared also. They look sad and dried up; no glistening leaves and no healthy appearance. They seem to feel also the loss of their neighbor plants loss of life. Butterflies are noticeably absent unlike before. No teeming life and many greens and colors to attract them because the trees lost a lot of leaves, and the flowering plants are still hurting and therefore refuses to give their glory. I don’t know. Probably the butterflies were swept away and may be suffering also somewhere. The place is lonely. I miss the energy and the ‘life’.
Early tonight I saw some small flickering lights in the dark. I told the children at home that there are fireflies and so they scamper and satisfied their curiosity. Its not often that we see them these days. It was the first time little Xi and Bea actually see fireflies. Deep in my mind, i know that fireflies are bioluminiscent but another side of me always thinks of them as something magical like fairies. I believe fairies exist. I haven’t seen one but my childlike belief tells me that they exist in places where a lot of trees, plants and flowers abound. When the fireflies that we see begins to fade away from our sights, i felt sad. Its like they are bidding farewell already and leaving the place because the plants have been diminished. They have nowhere to play and to rest anymore. I don’t know, I hope that if they are leaving, it is just temporary.
The state of the enviroment is a serious topic these days. The Inconvenient Truth of Al Gore is something of an eye opener to a lot of people. I have known ages ago even before I took the elective course Earth Science in my undergraduate, that the earth is rapidly deteriorating because of man’s exploitation. Didn’t I say, I grew up in the mountains where Gold and Copper are mined. Growing up seeing that the earth is being exploited because of these precious metals is the reason why I don’t wear trinkets and other artifice made of them. My other siblings wear them but I refuse to do the same.
I like plants and I put money on trees not because I look forward to their bearing fruits but foremost for their contribution to the environment and to the clean air that we breath. Again, my siblings don’t know that. Its an investment alright; its an investment for the environment and for sustainability. Life is precious; human life and other earth life (animals and plants). We should take care of our environment and the ecosystem if we value life.
Call it profound and weird but to me, its just plain and simple, I don’t want the fireflies to just fade and lose their light in the dark!
Posted by mystic828



