Cheapskate.

My daughter took the shinkansen and traveled a bit further to pay homage to Ludwig van Beethoven. Upon seeing the hearing aid, she felt sad for the great composer who gave us some of the most loved concertos we love to listen to now. And the pianoforte where he wrote his masterpieces…

Asked her sister, my younger daughter who once enjoyed tinkering the ivory keys if she likes a copy of some pieces with the composer’s notes.

Of course, my younger daughter answered.

And my daughter asked for the price. It’s 7k Philippine denomination.

Then came the….

Oooops, sorry I asked but if I buy the piece, that would mean I go hungry….

Cheapskate!

The Globetrotter.

A few months back, my daughter received an invite to explicate an article she wrote that landed as a chapter in a German publication. The presentation of her work, with a fellow Filipino, a mapper, would take place in Frankfurt.

Thus she packed her red stroller of a luggage again and flew Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi to Germany. The airline was a treat, she said, with personal amenities that did suit her taste, like and individual screen for viewing during the lengthy hours or the trip, and the food that caters to one’s preference.

My daughter has probably commenced her globetrotting adventure. Right away, she explored the local central train station, the local stores, and the cuisine the ultimate goal of which was to find rice to satisfy the stomach. Nada!

But she settled well and good in a modest hotel that offered Asian breakfast of hot rice and miso soup.

At the conference she was given a tankard of beer, as in the picture, albeit she probably sipped just a bit to learn of the taste, Germany being famous for that Octoberfest.

And of course she received a copy of the book with her name on it.

Germany is a beautiful country, she said, she’d been to a stunning cathedral and a museum, walked through some forest grounds, but she still has to tell me what kind of art those padlocks on the bridge rail is called.

A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven.

A lady sat beside me at the valet waiting area, She had an oblivious but serious set of eyes so I asked ‘ Are you all right?’ She nodded. My daughter came and said the car was caught in the queue of vehicles that seemed to have jampacked the hospital driveway. I remarked ‘Considering it’s a Monday, the volume of cars is surprising.” And the lady beside me quipped: It’s for the patients. I responded I am one.

She inquired about my condition and I told her I just came from the nephrologist who diagnosed me with a stage 3 CKD, a complication of my debilitating diabetes that has impeded my otherwise healthy body.

Then the lady said her name was Rose B, and she just emerged from radiation, a treatment for breast cancer. She asked for my name and number and said she and her group would pray for me. I said thanks and likewise, I’d pray for her, too.

My daughter hastened me….. the valet has arrived…

There’s a time for every purpose under heaven, the Bible says, a time to be born, a time to die….

In the past few months schoolmates and friends have succumbed to different illnesses, which only means our generation is already in the departure area. And of course, I have given a great deal of thought as to the length of years I still have, Google has it my life expectancy, depending on my lifestyle is eleven years…Good enough for me.

Now, what shall I do more…..

Growing Older & Happier in a World I Can’t Help Any More….

There’s a reason to smile even during the relentless rains that has continued to make me shiver in cold. Yup. That is how old I am now, the cold penetrates my brittle bones. Yet i refuse to surrender to ‘age’, there’s much to life than feeling antiquated. Am not up for disposal, though of course, am ready any time.

The fault is in man, I contend, for ruining the earth. Someone said the correct terminology is no longer global warming but global boiling. Thus the super typhoons, destructive tornadoes, massive fires, storm surges ala tsunamis, and other natural disasters that claim lives and properties. Add to that the wars that never end.

I still watch the disheartening news even if I really don’t need to. Pretty content with my situation, it behooves me though to know the current state of unrest our world is in. I admit I couldn’t offer any solution than that each one of us do our part.

So that’s how I live my days quiet in own tiny paradise called home. I dispose the garbage properly, clean the premises, tend the garden, and feel the gentle winds blow as the sun warms my face.

Yesterday, my doggies sat around me by the porch, listening to me chant the nursery song ‘Rain, rain, go away, come again another day, little doggies want to play…. The rain stopped! And I was able to get that window going to the grocery for much-needed goods. Even ate a sumptuous lunch at Kuya Jay’s. A reason to smile.