Book feast at the Book Fair! Bulusan's Pamughaton included!

Venue of the Aklat Ani Book Fair, Feburary 22-23, 2013.

The Battle of Legazpi  mural greets the guest.

Photographs by Alma P. Gamil
Legazpi City, Philippines

Images of Ash Wednesday in Bulusan, Mierkoles de Sinisa, February 13, 2013

The sound of school children talking at the same time some at play had the sound of the collective singing of the cicada, only several times louder. This prompted the priest to stop several times in the middle of the on-going mass of the Ash Wednesday event  to remind the children to moderate their noise. The mass went smoothly though. In a town where all the children know each other, the noise is understandable. Children can convert any event into a playtime mode even as solemn as this occasion.

I was able to take both the before and after photos of the Lenten commencement ritual known in Bulusan  simply as Pakrurosan. The official name though is Mierkoles de Sinisa (Miercoles de Ceniza) as mentioned  briefly in the mass. I t is Ash Wednesday to many. This year, the date falls a day before Valentine's day.  I promised a friend that every major occasion in Bulusan will have a corresponding photo and a short anecdote of what transpired. Hence, these images.

The good thing with religious occasions in this community with an almost 400 year history of Catholicism (Parish of Saint James the Greater) is that the parishioners go with the rhythm of the religious rituals with out much ado. In Bulusan, the children were as eager to be the first in line for the sign of the cross be marked on their respective foreheads. It helps also that the present Parish priest is well liked. Father Edu Fulay's familiarity of the place and its people stems from the fact that he hails from a neighboring town. His patience for the children's uncontrollable noises during the mass was admirable.

The photos were taken by me as fast as I could so as not to call attention to myself since I was taking these photographs at a closer range--near the altar.

Placing the sign of the cross with ashes on the foreheads was done by the Parish Priest assisted by lay ministers and a nun.

My own sign of the cross was a little lighter than last year's. But that is another story.



Photos by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Postscript to Valentine's Day: Remembering the Valentines of my youth

Chocolates were most welcome. 

My most memorable gifts received during the Valentine's Days of my youth were not chocolates similar to this (photo), (though these were most welcome) but these three gifts, enumerated below. Memories of these gifts and the giver always bring a blast from the past feeling  to my middle aged heart and a youthful glow to my chinky eyes.

1. Stolen native roses of the faintest pink from a neighbor's garden with a typewritten note in a pink stationery of the verse/poem Song of Songs. Rating : Passed with flying colors.

2. A wilted rosal flower. When I asked why it was so? The Hare krishna member/admirer told me that the wilted flower was of the very special kind and so precious because the flower was picked from flowers already offered to the Lord Krishna. (Wherever you are now. Thank you!). I still remember the unusual braided hair from his bald head. Almost bald except for this braid.  The smell of incense clinging on his saffron robe is still as fresh today as yesterday. The sense of scent has a powerful memory. Rating : Impressed with plus points for interestingness.

3. A potted rose with flowers of the native kind. In a clay pot the nerdy suitor surprised me with the bulky potted rose almost panting from carrying the poor plant at my doorstep. That was really unexpected. Did not know how to react upon seeing the potted rose with flowers but had no way to decline the offering. Thus, the poor potted rose remained in our porch. The next day was a different story. He came back telling me that his mother was looking for the potted rose, he had to return it at once or he'd be the recipient of the fury from her irate mom! Rating: Amused with earned points for originality :)

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Love of another kind

Caught feasting on my potted hibiscus bud is this caterpillar. I understand that nourishment is badly needed for the transition of its life cycle. Into a moth? a butterfly? So, I transferred this voracious eater to another location to spare this flower.

Smiling Kalunggay in my garden

With a pair of eyes in the form of dew drops, it seems that this malunggay (kalunggay in Bulusan dialect) is smiling  and looking at me in a friendly way, recognizing the gardener in me. Touched.


Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines