Eagerly Waiting for September!
The months of July and August are known in the dialect as mga buwan nga tingbitay ug iring diin ang mga paninda kulang sa mga halin. These two months are believed to be bleak months. But usually, the bleakness of the season used to be intervened by the merriment of the Sandugo celebration – a celebration that was always looked forward to. Ang Sandugo mao gyud ang maghatag ug tumang kasadya subuwan sa Hulyo dagan ngadto sa Agosto. Apan karong panahona, dili na susama ang kasaulogan sa Sandugo tungod sa pandemya.
On a personal note, July is a meaningful month as this is the birth month of my father, my mother and Dodong Jolito Gonzaga, my brother. But on the other side, my mother died 25 days after celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. It has never been the same for the family since she left us.
As July comes to an end, I’m thinking of the plantitos and plantitas in our midst. They are lovely people who are seriously doing the planting job to forget covid more than to see the plants grow as they wish, aside from the goal of contributing whatever little there is to counteract climate change.
When I see the plantitos ug plantitas, I could not help but think of my mother Gunding – Segunda Calizar Gonzaga, who cannot live without her plants. We had lemonsito, chicos, tambis, lanzones, avocado surrounding our house and two grown pine trees on each side of our pergula, which identified our house with a full grown kalachuchi in front our main gate. At one time, she had her collection of roses. In another time, she had crotons (San Francisco). In her senior years, she had orchids coming from my collection in Tacloban. All of these are gone except for the aging lanzones, tambis, and nangka. I also have this picture of a guava tree which is my mother’s tree that my children (Estela, Ian and Irene) used to climb. They always had fun climbing the guava tree. I’m hoping my daughter Estela, as the keeper of the house now, will revive the house the way it was during my mother’s time. I have joy reliving the fond memories of my mother and father.
Edna Pernia, a plantita, has a small flowershop in downtown Tagbilaran. Look at her collection in her abode in Dampas. The house looks barren without her plants. She has plants that are the fad today and most of the varieties are the ones other
plantitas are crazy about. It’s her way of cooling mother earth. Plants are a joy to behold.
Sir Nestor Pestelos used to write a column for The Bohol Tribune. He is developing a model farm at his place dubbed as Balay Kahayag. He has gone into integrative farming and business with his chickens for eggs and for their social enterprise with his wife Jojie and their staff. At the same time, he uses the farm produce for their restaurant, Crescencia. While in their resto, you can browse on Nes’ collection of books or borrow them. It’s his way of encouraging people to develop the good habit of reading.
For the month of August and for my eager anticipation of September to come, I will be featuring plantitas ug plantitos in and outside of The Bohol Tribune. I know there are many of us who love plants, even if nowadays we hardly see each other.
