By Telly Gonzaga Ocampo
SO Close and Yet So Far
“Better safe than be sorry.” This was the statement of Mayor Geesnell “Baba” Yap II of Tagbilaran City during his interview over the DYTR “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa” radio program hosted by no other than the team of: Ardy Araneta – Batoy, son Chandymar and sister Gloria Leodivica Araneta.
It’s true, we’ve got to be careful and still be extra careful even under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status. However, we cannot help but feel lonely, especially, that we cannot expect our children to visit us any time when the visit is already overdue. For me, it’s overdue – long overdue – in the sense that my children have their plans of alternately visiting us for 2020. But Covid intervened.
The only consolation now is communication technology.
At my age, I used to shrug my shoulders when my children before would initiate teaching me the “in” thing: gadgets and technology. Yet, my little knowledge of it has proven very useful today. Otherwise, without this little knowledge I am talking about, I would have been out of circulation, already. Now, we are connected to the rest of the world through the “facebook” (fb) and the “messenger”.
Now, my husband and I are connected to my children through the “messenger”. We have our own family account to chat with one another each day. Through this account, we get to know their activities even during this lockdown status of the world.
Estela is my eldest daughter. She is the “kinamagwangan” in the true sense of the word. She keeps track of what her siblings are doing. She is making use of the internet to contact us and her siblings, every now and then. She even sent Irene, her younger sister, to a fashion design school for the latter to develop to the utmost.
Estela works for a furniture company who is into export but not into mass production. Before the lockdown, their company gave seeds to the workers for them to plant. They did not fully close the operations of the company as there are those who still report to work. These are the employees who belong to the skeletal force. And now, with the GCQ implemented in their area, their work has almost gone back to normal.
Estela stays home in the White Hills. She is really at home in the White Hills. She and her family have decided to send home their caregiver so the latter could be with her family until everything has gone back to normal. With this, everybody in Estela’s family is pitching in for: the household chores, the garden at the backyard, the blue ternate for their tea, the kangkong, pechay and tomatoes. And they also have the leaves of green for their turtoise named Twa. Twa is an old turtoise and its sex could not be determined yet. Yet, a little child can already ride on Twa’s back. They also have a pumpkin, a big cat who had her precious kittens. And most of all, they have a stray dog that they adopted during the crisis. They named the dog, Covid. Covid has not been a threat to their precious itom and abo. They also have two hens to give them eggs. These hens are not of the native variety but are called “free range”.
All these fill up their lives while they are on GCQ. And everybody in the family has realized that there is so much to enjoy with the simple things in life – shared together as one happy family.
Ian is my second child. He is in Tacloban with his family. He is a good cook and would venture into fusion. His crispy pata is to die for. He knows the rudiments of waray cooking. Ian’s children are all in school and the eldest will be in college this school year. All of them are athletic just like their father. Ian is into gardening, too. At one time, he had his bonsai which was very good.
Irene, my youngest, is the late bloomer in the family. She found her talent in the days of Covid. It was a talent that was with her but she refused to admit it. Covid found it for her. With four children, she had to make a strategy as to how to make both ends meet. She sews for her two girls – two lovely girls. And she dresses her cute girls in coordinated clothes. Other mothers, who saw the beauty of her “creation” for her girls, asked and continue to ask her to do the same for their girls. She made their own masks which also resulted to “made-to-order masks” for her friends. I’m expecting ours in the days to come. Since delivery service is not yet normal, we have to wait. As they say, “masks are here to stay”.
And what’s more, friends are ordering goodies from Irene. She and Estela are trying to cook dishes that I used to prepare like: callos, pavada, masag ha tuno hin ujap. They are wondering why I have not cooked masag ha tuno hin ujap here. And this is the answer: “Na time warp ko”. When we were in Tacloban, madala ang presyo ug P30.00 kada kilo. But here in Bohol??? P280??? Makuyapan jud ko.
There is one dish that they have yet to prepare. It’s my pastel de lengua – kana gitawag ug ox tongue ba. Kuti man gud kay limpiohan man ug maayo ang dila. Bisan kanang tripe for callos, I order these through them from Rustan’s and the other mall. Liempyo man gud daan. You only have cut to your desired slice.
Irene too, helps out her classmate in selling ripe mangoes from the latter’s own trees. Gihandusan siya ug 270 kilos. Na dispatchar pud tanan.
Covid has made the best in people. And Im happy that my children are able to cope with this pandemic as they bring out the best in them.
Let’s plant vegetables in our backyard for food on the table!
Let’s plant flowers in our frontyard for the spirit in our heart!
Let’s plant kindness in our heart for the salvation of the soul!
The billboard in front of the museum gate is a landmark for visitors.
