Ulog #030 : Life and Harvests

The fields beckon

Going for a walk by the fields is now a part of our day since "living in the hospital" for more than a week now. My sister has left for her job in Manila, so it's my niece @idamagbag's turn to be dragged to the fields. With not much choices in hand, going to Vigan isn't that appealing, unless we need cash.

Do you want to know what these kids are up to?

Did you ever play with spiders?

Summer or monsoon bring a lot of insects in the farm or in people's backyards. And Filipino boys love collecting SPIDERS to play against another. This is from memory as one of my brothers was near my age. What they do is like spider boxing where 2 spiders will bite and kill each other till one is fully dead and wrapped with the other's web.

Can you imagine that? The animal advocates might just react to that one. Am not even sure if such spiders are venomous but noone have died ever of spider's venom here as far as I know.

Snails or "bisukol"

In France, it's cultured. In here in the Philippines, they come out during monsoon. These are different from those found in people's backyards where they are considered as PESTS for eating the vegetables.

Farmers don't go hungry in the country. Food can be found most times around the fields.

All in a day's work

This family wasn't here when we started, we saw them on our way back.

Apparently, the field's being irrigated by a river further away. This housewife has been coming here frequently to gather some fresh water shells. We call them "BENNEK". The river produces them, carried by the irrigation water to the fields.

A small glass of these is being sold in the market for PHP10... about $.20 cents. What she does, return the baby shells back in a corner and go back in a couple of days as they would have grown in size.

It can be a back-breaking job for a few hours each day, even if it's temporary for her. Perhaps in some places in the country, they do this full time.

Simple life is possible but in our country, Filipinos make do with what is available. Problem occurs when most parents can't afford to provide for their too many kids...this includes the middle-income class.

Yesterday started as an ordinary day, but things out of ordinary can produce something special. The beauty of it came due from family, friends and supporters' prayers, including our hopes and wishes for a better outcome for my mom. My mom came out from the Intensive Care Unit yesterday, although she's not out of the woods yet.

But for this, the whole family is grateful. We take one day at a time.

Viewing sunset from my mom's room.

All images are mine, taken with my Samsung Galaxy S7.