by Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
A conversation with my Tribune neighbor
We are a virtual community at The Bohol Tribune. We are neighbors in a sense, according to the placement of the pages of our articles. I am page 2 of the section called Trending and one of my immediate neighbors is Page 1 handled by my bff Ardy Araneta-Batoy, his sons Chandymar and Gerrymar, and her sister Gloria. Next to Trending is the Bisaya Section and another Tribune neighbor that I have here is the columnist of this section. I’m referring to Jes Tirol.
Jes Tirol and I met face to face last Sunday, in the party of my husband’s cousin, Lalita Pamaran Klainatorn. As ever during parties, I was seated on Jess’ table. At the start of the party our table was occupied by Pinky McMichael, Ray Pascual and Minda Araneta. Pinky is one person who really does wonders in transforming her place to a little paradise. From Anda, she is now in Corella and her paradise is surrounded with trees and flowers which are native to the place. Birds, both singing and chirping, welcome you to her place. She has orioles, woodpeckers, tikarow, eagle and the little tamsi. She has her patches of veggies and herbs, too.
Conversations with Jes are never boring. He knows the Tagbilaran landmarks and the tominongnong of the city. The political families and his analysis of the present political situation are both informative. Of course, all these were garnished with spices of “Marites”.
I came in with my kaftan, because Lel, the celebrator told me that the theme was Indian thanksgiving. I thought she meant Indian as in Bombay, only to find out that the term means American Thanksgiving celebration. I never knew that thanksgiving in America started with the American Indians. I’m not a global person.
Our group is composed of senior citizens. Mga Septuagenarians gyud mi except for Ms. Gloria Leodivica Araneta (another Tribune neighbor) and Ms. Pinangga Cainglet. We missed her during last Sunday’s affair.
Lalita has her beautiful collection of unique philodendrons and aglaonemas against the backdrop of our conversation with Pinky. This conversation centered on: “If only we had planted camote, gabi, alugbati tambalijong, sikwa, sibuyas, cassava, saging in our yard, we could have food on our table and have shared these with our neighbors”.
But it’s never late. Hapit na pud ko mag havest sa akong atsal ug kamates, saging ug kamunggay. Ubay-ubay gyud ni ug magdungan sila. My daughter Irene would then have the fun of sharing some with our friends and of selling a portion of the products on line. What a wonderful life we have!