Arayat vibe

When I look to my right, I’ll see the sky and the mountain, to my left is a pink swing that seats two. Beside it is the water pump, old-style.

Right outside the fence sits a family of goats. All white. Mom and kids waiting under the shadow of the neighbor’s fence. And some stray dogs waiting for some leftovers. One of them—a female dog that always looks like she’s just given birth, again, my mom calls as ‘Friend’ when she throws pieces of bread towards her. A new one, a dog with a black slightly sinister looking face looks up to me. Nah, but he didn’t really look all that bad. He had good eyes.

We’ve got a lot of trees around here. Not too much to make the house all dark and gloomy, but enough to cool the air around and give enough shade for when we take the tables outside to eat pretty much all our meals except for dinner, because it usually gets too cold. Hamog.

We’ve got 4 dogs. Bruce guards the forefront. Spike and Labang roam around. Cali’s on the other lot. Old Cali. Going down the same path as Kayla and Simba. I hope not too soon though. But I wish he’d still enjoy the precious time he’s got.

You’ll hear the birds chirping. Not only in the mornings, but even in the afternoon. And Blackjack, I forgot about Blackjack, the cat that roams outside pretty much the whole day finding mates, then comes back home to eat and play for awhile.

When you’re here, time drags its feet. And there’s nothing much to decide except whether to sleep or eat…or maybe watch dvd’s or downloaded videos. Time. Precious time just lying around for the taking. To be used for the things you’ve never had the time for. I forgot to bring books. Maybe because I’ve got a whole slew of videos all lined up.

Mom and dad are out. When they get back (with Tita Agnes, maybe), we’ll probably eat again…then talk about stuff. Different things, anything, but usually going around on a happy tone.

Ate Yolly and I just finished lunch at 3pm. Sat down and ate under the trees. With the birds giving us music and the slight moaning of the dogs asking for more food (they’ve already had lunch and still got a lot of dog food in their pans, but I guess it’s a matter of habit to ask for more). And we sat there talking about how she had been spending her days here while she tended the home while Cristy & Angie--her nieces who usually take care of the house, are on Christmas vacation.

Its icky to admit, but I’ve thought that maybe I’m experiencing a hint of withdrawal syndrome from work…Okay, and now, the thought has passed.

I guess with all this wonderful, precious windchimey chirpy chirpy state of idleness I find myself at a loss as to how I should handle it.

But as I washed my feet to get ready to get back to bed, I told myself to just enjoy it. That’s the art of idleness after all. And now I’m back, deciding on whether to sleep or watch more videos—but I chose to write this down first lest I forget about the ‘specialness’ of this wonderful gift…of idleness, and peach. Peach. Peace I mean. (Peaches, that I love too.)

Thank you God for this gift. This is Christmas. Arayat style.