$1.00 Elephant Behind The Back

While rummaging through my wallet, I found all sort of stuffs which are so important to me that throwing them away would mean slicing off a part of me, a very important part of my past which defines me as I am now, and who knows, will define the future me as well. There was the small plastic pouch with the tissue papers neatly folded, with my friends' signatures. We scribbled our signatures on those tissue papers when we were together in our favorite place in Legazpi City. It is a small and cozy Chinese restaurant where the foods are great and as well as cheap. Such memory.

But the thing that brings back a lot of happy memories is the $1 USD neatly folded so it looked like an elephant. It was so perfectly folded so that the "Illuminati" symbol accidentally became the eyes of the elephant. Nice right? And the other interesting thing about that is that, it was folded by a very good friend behind his back, without looking at it, just feeling it while he folded it to that perfect elephant dollar.


In Summer of 2007, students from Garfield High School in Seattle, WA went to our University as part of their mission to impart technology. The organization's name is Global Technology Academy. Well, it was a very memorable experience. I volunteered to be an exchange student, to body up with one of their students as well. My brother's name is Conor McBride, a tall guy with curly golden hair and deep eyes. He's so techy and kind, and really have a lot of stories to tell. The 1$ bill was his. While the one who did the folding is his colleague, Sam Levine. Ah, the most intelligent and full of humor guy. We communicate with each other through Facebook and Email as well.

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Rain

It's already Summer here in the Philippines. But one lazy and usual afternoon, while waiting for our service in the park, an everyday routine, the rain suddenly pour down. Even when were on our way to the site in the company bus, the rain was till pouring down. I don't know how many times I said this, but I love the rain.

That rain the other day in particular made me think of something memorable. It has a distinct smell. I opened the window on my side, and I did smell the rain. It's like the odor of a freshly cut tree. I can vividly see in my mind our small property in one of the forest in my hometown, where we would usually spend time with our father, bonding with him, as he's the one taking care of it from time to time. I could see the trees with their sap flowing freely whenever the Bolo hits their trunk, flowing to the ground. As we let them down to dry under the sun.


I can see as well in my mind the dry rivers snaking through our parcel of land, all the way from the perfect coned Mayon Volcano. The stones, small and big alike looked ancient. They're still on the state of unbecoming. Mosses all over some of them. Ferns protruding from the banks. Their hairy young shoots looks very much attractive and inviting. The dry sands are so good to lie on, warmed by the day's sunshine. But one thing I do not dare do is wander and look under stones, fearing that snakes might be lurking from somewhere.



Looking around you will see the sun's rays piercing through the overgrowth, through the trees, golden sunset rays. Owls and other birds are singing in chorus, as if challenging the other. (Sigh..)


Ah, childhood memories.. How I wish they're within grasp all the time...