Freshly-picked bits of bliss

It's freshly-picked. The vendor boasted as she sliced one of the pineapples for us to try. It was sweet, crunchy and juicy, as though summer made gold edible. Perhaps it was sweeter because we had another fantastic trip to the beach. Driving in the familiar routes, singing in the car, swimming on the same cove, harping on the same happiness that we can afford.

Maybe we even outdid ourselves. We brought sandwiches, apples, cherry tomatoes when we stopped by a nice deli. Chilled wine for us and fizzy orange juice for our children. I'm having fun, the little one says in a full sentence.

The sea and mountain air was hot, crisp, and fresh. It hugs you from everywhere. I breath it in. The sun and the moon were in one sky. Playing with the children, holding my wife's hand, it smells like deep, deep, bliss.

The world will one day run out of lies.

Our world may have its Trumps and Dutertes, but we also have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jacinda Ardern. And Neri Colmenares. And that eggboy.

 May we never run out of better stories to tell our children.

Scientific Sense of Humor

It's dress-up as a scientist day at his school. You were Newton! While you talked about gravity and physics, you asked for help in holding the microphone. The dressed-up as Stephen Hawking student stands up to help you. Scientists, like the gods, must have a sense of humor.

Our favorite was Fe del Mundo, because she was a Filipina scientist.

Over lunch, we talked about cool Marie Curie costumes. Radioactive and all.

Before dinner, you eagerly told me a joke you heard from Einstein. E = F flat.

All Joy is Meaningless, Unless

You've been too happy, haven't you? And so dangerously quiet, too. You haven't told me anything in a while. You've taken those bits of joy for granted, the ones you used to say you snatched. You have the love of your life, blessed with two beautiful children, family, friends who don't need you and you don't need. You even landed the job you figured out what you wanted, working from home, ridding yourself of that corporate toxicity (the residues of which continue to haunt you until now). You have time to squander on books, signed-up for Spotify Premium and Netflix.You have a folder that goes "Eiga Sai," as you haven't the opportunity to watch film festivals, you managed to bundle up everything in a folder and have your own festival. You've even travelled a little. You bike and run (never often enough) and that old treadmill still works.  Technically, you can have a drink any time of day.

It isn't much, you say, until your guts spoke up. You defecated and threw up so much the past couple of days that it felt like a catharsis. You were pained, but you were proud to have endured. After the physical and emotional clarity, you say, I'm happy now, and I should only be able to share this joy.

You've always thought this story will end soon. Endure, dear you, in case there's a long way to go.

Yes, Very Little Else

Ten years of this. Fifteen years with you. You turned a selfish man to someone who strives to be selfless. Happily, meaningfully so. Even if I still slightly, sometimes hesitate to wash the dishes.

I've forgotten where. But I've read, or maybe heard a lovely-dovey line (one of the many) that scattered our home like our children's books or toys. "Love is a river. Swim to the end."

To deserve your love. To leave this world a kinder place. I desire for very little else.

Ice Cream, Ice Cream

You get behind your little shop and go "ice cream, ice cream."You make my heart melt.You jump on my lap when we are about to read. You pat my back when I'm coughing. And you really mean it when you cry. The world ends when you throw a tantrum. Once you quiet down, it's as though we've recovered from a heart attack. These joys are pure. 

Out in the world, as you turn almost three, the #metoo movement continued to gain momentum and yes, we're only beginning to see the magnitude of the problem. Men are bastards. The current president is probably the biggest one. President Duterte has set the bar so low for decency and respect for women, he may have single-handedly advanced rape culture in the Philippines. How the tides turn. On the other hand,  Indian women just did a remarkable thing – they formed a wall of protest to assert women's rights. 

When I was browsing for the next read, I came upon Susan Sontag. I'm no longer embarassed to say I haven't read this and that. I suppose it's never too late in life to catch up on reading. I can't wait to tell you all about it. Parenting is such a blessing.