By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Sharing the culture of childhood memories
On Father’s Day my two daughters, Irene and Estela, went to visit the tomb of their dad whose remains were laid to final rest at the Baclayon Municipal Cemetery. It is my choice that our tomb together must be like a garden. There is no roof overhead but just a flower vine intertwining all over the fence. The name of the vine is Oknea, one which I received from the garden of the Klainatorns, next to ours in Taguihon.
The Oknea has a flowering season and since we planted it in 2021, it hasn’t shown its blooms yet. But I tell you that when it blooms, the flowers are beautiful: white like the stargazers. The scent could compare to the best among perfumes. My daughters said that it was surprising that the Okneas in their father’s new “home” are lush green despite the dry spell.
While going there to visit their father, they chanced upon the bujangjang vine. Do you still remember the bujangjang? My daughters, when they were young, were exposed and allowed to wander in the kasudpan. Their favorite pick was a basket of the colorful bujangjang seeds, in red and black. These are getting rarer and rarer today. We don’t anymore even have the bujangjang in our Taguihon yard. Sa among kabatan-on, daghan kaayong bujangjang sa likod sa among nataran ug kosinahan.
My daughters showed their little girls (akong mga apo) the bujangjang and they gathered a lot. And their litlle girls made paper flowers out of those as they pasted the bujangjang as pistils of the petals. They made also shell flowers by putting the bujangjang in the middle. I really want to distract the young minds of my granddaughters away from the internet. Why research from the internet when we all have these specimens and materials provided by Mother Nature in their natural habitat.
My children experienced panginhas. During their childhood days when we were out of Bohol, my husband and I always made it point that the children visit Bohol every summer. I know that our barangay, Baliaut, is part of those precious memories. They also frequent the Boho ka Roga. It’s a small pool where fresh and sea waters meet. Children in the community would really go to the place very often. Moadto ug motan.aw sa dagkung isda nga mahimo kawhaton lang gikan sa tubig. Pero ginadili ang paghimo niana. Nindot paminawon nga si Lito Javier nagbutang pud ug pawikan sa maong dapit aron malipay ang bisan kinsa nga motan.aw niini. That was our own version of a small ocean park. When the seas are low, the water becomes clear, and you can see the many kinds of fish happily enjoying their abode.
Ahhhhh. . . sweet childhood memories. . . . memories that draw us away from the reality of the issue on CLOUD SEEDING as we listen to dyTR. If only Tio Meling Caballo were here to listen to the issue of cloud seeding, he would be able to give us all the answers to the puzzle. Iyang lang gyud nga tan-awon ang buwan. Then he would say that the month of June is important to us kay ting tanum ug ubi. Magsugod na ang tiuwan ug pagtanum sa ubi kanang paingon sa magkatibook ang buwan. Mao nang motan-aw gyud siya sa buwan. He would even declare that only those women with healthy breasts are supposed to do the planting of the ubi so the fruits will grown to be healthy. Kinahanglan usab kuno nga magtanum ug tingtaob aron mapuno ang imong butok sa ubi.
These are traditions handed down from one generation to another. That’s the reason I don’t agree with Cloud Seeding being done. Rainy season has just started. Why spend so much when rain has been pouring almost every day? Why waste people’s money? The water in 3 dams has not reached its normal level. Yes! But, let nature run its natural course. WE CAN NEVER AMEND THE LAW OF NATURE.
