Childhood Ramblings in Hagonoy, Bulacan

As a young child in Purok Balut, Barrio San Agustin, Hagonoy, Bulacan, I used to frequent my late Nanang Terang's ornamental garden and the adjoining creek where our motley group of sun-baked kids sucked the marrow out of our early childhood years capturing hapless ant lions, ladybugs, dragonflies and damselflies, beetles and crickets, crabs, frogs, and fish. They were our constant companions as we soaked under the sun, exploring and declaring dominion over countless playgrounds. We filched indian mangoes and tasted nature's bounties in the same spirit as Yevtushenko's "Stolen Apples". At night under the pale moonlight my father would regale us with tales of creatures that lived in the vastness of space. Fireflies flickered in the darkness and occasional meteor fragments rained from the sky. We counted the stars and looked for the big dipper, the little dipper and the "tatlong maria", and often asked how far these stars were and how long it would take us to reach them...Can our children boast of the same childhood ramblings or are they so enamored with the stale and lifeless fruits of technology?

©2008 raul e ramos, md