Bird of spring

Brother Junic sent these pictures of a bird of spring feeding itself in his garden in always cold Calgary, Canada. Brother briefly visited us for close to a month to be with our mother in her time of need. Now that he's back with his family, we are grateful for both his brief presence and now the void he left behind because the latter will remind us there'll be homecomings to look forward to. Like the bird who always finds his way home.

Nice photos, bro. I post it at the time of day, before 6 a.m., when the birds of the Philippines are also wakening to the hint of sun.

Junic's pics

The eldest of my parents' boys is still in town. He has been a few weeks away from cold Calgary, Canada, and coping with Manila summer. He gets a good workout with his camera when he finds the time in between working from our home, keeping fit by taking walks or biking and doing his turn in looking after and cheering up our Mom.

This Easter he took some pictures of us, and I admire the results. Can't help but post them on this space. He captured not only the physical looks of his subject but their inner essence (do I dare write the word "beauty"?).

Thanks, Junic. Keep those snapshots clear and sharp.

Panfilo Cabiz is our big clan's all-round gardener, repairman, carpenter. When we were small, he and wife Teenie looked after us while our parents worked. Mang Cabiz, as we called him, is the type of man who'll get seriously sick if he's not doing hard, manual labor. Although his legs have formed open and close quote marks from years of carrying the weight of tree branches, twigs, etc., he, like Old Man River, just keeps rolling along. Keep him away from firewater, and he's fine and super efficient.

Bianca entered her teens last year. With it comes the adolescent phase's awkwardness. But we love her dearly because she laughs at our jokes. That makes me feel good. I feel I'm the soul of wit when she guffaws hard at an "eeewww" joke and exclaims, "Tita Babeth naman!" She can also be counted upon to play the piano for weddings and other occasions of celebration. Please book her through me.

They are the M & M's of our lives: Marga the mom and Machiko Skye, a.k.a. Max, the un-shy. Marga and I like to do collaborative work on my books, while Max and I are pen pals.

When the human children Jared Franco Susi, Max Susi and Kai Fernandez aren't visiting in Pasig, guess who's our baby? Not my youngest sister Gigi but her own baby, the mini but overweight pug Bruno Lolarga. He's got the papers to show he's a Lolarga, too.

I never look good in pictures which is one reason I prefer to be behind the camera shooting away. But this time, I asked Junic if I could pose by the mural of Corazon restaurant at Shangri-la Plaza Mall's East Wing. This is what I call my summer look--a dress that's cool on my body and sandals, courtesy of my daughter Kimi, on my feet. I'm even proud of my cane, symbol that I'm growing into crone-hood.

Photos by Junic Lolarga

A painting to spare

Now framed, installed and proudly displayed in my brother Junic's family room in Calgary, Alberta, is this painting I began and finished in the Year of the Snake. The mouthful of a title is "In the Year of the Snake, a Pinay Abroad Dreams of the Green Grass of Home." It's from a series of acrylic works (I remember doing three variations, the main one I continue to use as the cover art for this blog) that pay tribute to the kerchief-wearing, working women of painter Anita Magsaysay Ho.

Junic said he'd try shooting photos of the work at night so there would be no reflections. That was Aug. 2. I guess he got too busy. But I am thankful for this documentation. Sometimes I wonder about these children of the mind and of the brush of mine that have found other homes.


I recently stumbled upon a poem, author unkown, that Magsaysay Ho supposedly lived by. It's called "The Art of Living." I quote it in full.

The Art of Living

To touch the cup with eager lips and taste, don't drain it
To woo and tempt and court a bliss and not attain it
To fondle and caress a joy, yet hold it lightly
Lest it become necessity and cling too tightly
To see the sunset in the West and not regretting
To hail its advent in the East, the night forgetting
To have enough to spare
To know the joy of giving
To heed response to every good in life is living.