Every cloud has a silver lining!
Hearing Christmas songs on the air perks up the spirit. There is something in Christmas that we cannot define; yet stirs our joy all over. I have started taking out the Christmas decors from the boxes to hang them on the wall and on the Christmas tree.
All my decors are recycled except for the Christmas lights. Ug imong hiposon ang mga suga sa pasko, ma ponder ug imong gamiton, ponder gihapon. Apan ibutang gyud gihapon ang mga Christmas lights kay mingaw man kung ngitngit ang Pasko. A moving flicker seems to tickle the heart with glee on Christmas. This is one of my clouds with a silver lining.
I’m happy that Edna, the florist, restored my Pampanga Christmas lantern that was destroyed by typhoon Seniang. I was given 2 Pampanga Christmas lanterns by my friend Trixie Nepomoceno Valdes. Trixie was a guest in our bahandi heritage walking tour. Actually, she was a guest from Astoria who was interested in knowing Baclayon’s ancestral houses and our town’s landscape. She was one of those who called me early when the earthquake struck Bohol in October 2013. She asked me anything I wanted for Christmas. I requested for a Pampanga lantern and when she came, she brought with her two – in time for our celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. She also brought her donation of more than P100,000.00, an amount she gathered from her friends on her birthday. I could see these people as my cloud with a silver lining.
The dolomite white sand poured on the surface of the Manila Bay brings back a new life to the area. In our younger days, two of the wonderful sights in Manila were its sunset and the Luneta Park. The Luneta Park during the time of administrator Teodoro Valencia was a stroller’s paradise where people from different walks of life would go for a change of landscape. Air was clean, trees were all over, ponds had colored fishes swimming and courteous vendors were all over. You could see the sea from there and you could hear the boats arriving and leaving.
Today, the bay stinks and it’s no longer a children’s paradise. But with that small space of white sand called dolomites, it could now be a place to behold. Despite its artificiality, it is still something to perk up the spirit. It could be another cloud with a silver lining.
I pity health undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire. Lately, her eyes seem to droop and feel heavy. Let’s give her enough space for respite. So much burden lies on the shoulder of this fine lady. Let’s allow her to enjoy that silver lining.
Malipay ko sa taho sa hut-ong nga gitawag ug UPTA nga atu-a manukad sa UP Diliman. The report comes from Professors Ranjit Ray and David. I’m sorry I could not get their first names. There is also that Dominican priest based in UST who is a member of the group. Prof. David purely presents statistical data; professor Ranjit Ray presents his analyses on the data at hand – more on the dark side and the danger side. And the priest gives hope for Christmas saying that we will not be missing the Misa de Gallo. Indeed, a cloud with a silver lining.
As of this writing, it is announced that the term sharing in the leadership in Congress will take effect on Oct. 14 with Congressman Lord Allan Velasco taking over. Will it be a silver lining for the nation? Abangan!
I’m still waiting for my friend, an electronic technician named Chito Jamisola to repair my stereo phone. I’m longing to hear the Christmas album of the Reader’s Digest of old. Long playing records are rare now and I seem to envy Nang Meng, Carmen Gatal, who is already listening to classical music from her old stereo phone. Sa mga batan-on karong panahona, susama nga nakalimot na ni sila nga adunay phonograph, stereo phone ug kanang gitawag ug component nga nabantug niadtong unang kapanahonan – during the bygone era.
Once I shall have restored my stereo phone, I would relish the music of the old masters: the London symphony orchestra, Ray Coniff and the Singers, Harry Belafonte, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole and many more.
Oh, the cloud with the silver lining!