My Saturdays can be incredibly exciting - last Saturday was New Year's Eve - and it sounded like WWII here. Incredible! A veritable war zone here as my puppies will attest - the attack lasted hours and the fireworks here are packed with power that I never experienced - even on 4th of Julys 50 years ago! The fireworks stands here are rather stunning with all their firepower, and selling for weeks before the 1st. From what I saw (not too much - I was afraid to go near the window), it is no wonder that scores of children lose their fingers or arms launching these things...or being hit - there didn't seem to be much accuracy in the aim (unless most of the neighborhood was truly aiming for my roof and side yard...which I suppose is a possibility).
Last night I met many of my neighbors by the bonfire. Such a festive atmosphere - when you could breathe through the smoke - no wonder so many folks have severe asthma here! I had been outside for several hours and the sky got darker and darker, but the bonfire brighter and brighter. I have to admit that it wasn't really a party - it was my neighbors helping me burn the enormous stacks of trash that had been piled up by my landlord, when he purportedly "cleaned up" the yard for me before I moved in.
I've seen people burn their yard clippings (more like wind detritus) and trash - the smoke can be seen for miles and felt as well. Some people burn in the morning; some in the evening...although it is "bawal" here to burn trash (yeah, right) according to the city laws in this "city in the forest" whose mayor is famous for environmentalism...at its finest! And, I've always been afraid, and ignorant, of just how to burn it.
My neighbor Don, who is a contractor, and whose wife Donna runs their sari-sari store, is rather phenomenal at starting fires - without being a pyromaniac like me. But, last night, I was focused on the task at hand (my own hands are blistered today!)...although the sparks and embers were entrancing.
A bonfire can be wonderful - on a cool Fall evening in the Bay Area....here on Palawan, where the temperature rarely gets below 70F even at night, it was rather awful - I was already filthy with sweat and dirt from taking apart the 10'x5'x4' pile of trash, and the heat just made me sweat more.
What was in the pile that my landlord so thoughtfully cleared from my back yard - and put out in front, for everyone to enjoy? Well, of the living things, I saw perhaps 5 lizards that were black and which I've not seen before...maybe 20 millipedes, which I like, but am never sure that these red ones are really millipedes, so never touch them...about 30 land snail shells (vacated) and 20 more inhabited - oh, and one tiny centipede. But of the human trash (which, following the lead of my neighbors, I picked up and threw in the fire with my bare hands - hence the blisters)....There were broken bottles, bottle caps, a baby bottle, one child's flip flop, a torn tshirt, a full size blanket (under 6 inches of packed dirt), and a myriad of brightly colored plastic wrapping from Donna's store. And tree limbs - leaves, dirt and heavy wood. I tried to put most of it in a plastic bag for the garbage men to take (although they haven't taken one bag of trash from that growing pile in 8 months)...but my neighbors said, "Better to burn it" Really? Yuck.
I took some ibuprofen before going to bed, but when I woke up, I took a muscle relaxant - it is sooo disappointing that I can do these things at the time, but hours later I really pay for my exertions. So, at 7am, I was back outside, raking through the remaining crap. My other neighbor - the president of the Bountiful Village Homeowner's Association - came over to help me as I started to saw the tree limbs - neither of us could work the saw I bought here - so he went home to find his bolo - yikes - in three hard blows, he had severed the 4" thick trunk! I want one! My Western tools - the saw - the clippers - just don't work here - but I'm slightly afraid of the bolo - these guys are so agile and exacting with theirs. Dave will recall my ability to aim - playing horseshoes, I aimed for the stake and threw the shoe - which went backward over my head and nearly nailed someone. Or, the time I played golf with my dad on a beautiful course in Escondido and not only did I nail a Canada goose, but also my dad standing on the sidelines. So, one can better understand my fear of the bolo - actually a fear of myself.
The puppies were a great help this morning - they are still tiny, but Chika frantically dug in the softer dirt - up came Mentos and ChocoMucho wrappers, as well as a wrapper for preventing STDs. After raking through the dirt with my rake for several hours, I showered and went to NCCC in bayan and purchased an industrial strength pair of gloves - disgusting stuff here.
So, I couldn't make my date tonight with my neighbor's daughter to have Bonfire Round #2 - my back hurts.
But, I foresee another exciting Saturday night at the end of this week!!
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