Rainy Days

February 11th, 2012.


The day after the earthquake, the rains began. It rained heavily most of the night. In the morning the river was raging and had turned an earthen brown. Heavy rain on the high mountain washes the land to the sea. It also raises the water level at Calibago. We could not see the rocks in the river at all. Much of the riverside path was underwater. The lower garden was threatened once more.

We wondered how the road out of Calibago would be. It is not well maintained and it can get pretty rough and muddy. We decided to stay put until the rains past. After our mini-vacation and the excitement of the earthquake it was just fine to have some quiet days.

Thursday we had to go to town. Leroy needed to go through the complex procedures to renew his driver’s licence. Dan had a dentist appointment. Dr. Soulis had found two teeth that needed filling and it seemed we might as well do it while we were here. We also wanted to change our tickets back to Manila so we would have some time there before flying home.

We were up early as usual and we could hear rifle fire that seemed very nearby. I wondered if there was a feud in the village! No, apparently there is a shooting range some distance south of us.

Leroy decided to check the road out on his motorbike first. He is gradually rebuilding the bike and he has only ridden it in the grounds of Calibago. This is his first ride on the road. Dan cheerfully opened the gate whilre Riza stood nervously in the background. He was off! The road was wet, rutted mud but passable for the car.

We got to town and separated to do our chores then met back at Imay’s for lunch. We always enjoy eating there. Leroy still had more appointments to keep before being granted his license so we split up again to meet at Robinson’s Shopping Center later. It is not often Dan and I get to find our own way around. We filled in the time with no problem.

After a day in the noise of the city it is always good to get back to the quiet of Calibago but today the gunfire was still going on.

Friday morning the gunfire started up again. We ignored it and kept puttering about. Today we were moving some orchids. They have been in shallow bowls and it looked nice but they are not doing well. I investigated and found the bowls are not full of drain holes – the orchid’s roots are wet and dead. They are meant to be in the air. Their natural habitat is the trunks of trees. Riza has a beautiful tree stump she has hung flower pots from. We moved them and poked the orchids into any crevice that would hold them temporarily until their roots formed again. Once they put out roots they will bind themselves tightly to the stump and remain secure.

In the afternoon we all cleaned up to go visiting. We wanted to go and check out Richard and Joy’s home. Joy is building a successful business as a rice trader and Richard always has expansion plans underway. The house they were building when we were here last is finished now. A new addition is already underway! That was stopped to start a storage building for Joy’s rice. She is doing so well sacks of finished rice are taking up more and more space inside the house. And a new fence is being built around the property. Finally the workers had to drop everything else to plant rice once more.

We had a nice visit. Richard showed us around the property. The warehouse is impressive. Not a crack marred the surface after the earthquake. The skeleton of the new addition has been constructed. Their son, Justin, proudly showed us where his new room will be. For now where the floors will be are waving carpets of young, bright green, rice seedlings!

We checked out the piggery where momma pig and a large litter of piglets were the excitement of the day. A lone male has come in for fattening and he was as curious about us as I was about him!

There were the usual farm dogs about – my favourite was a small puppy with ears that made him look like Yoda! Their home seems to be happy, orderly chaos.

We headed home with a brief stop to buy charcoal at a small store along the way. The staff use it for their cooking fire. When they are ironing our clothes they use a charcoal burning iron. I use their electric iron but they do not. Theirs is cordless!

When we got home the gunfire finally stopped. Not long after army vehicles came out of the village and up the road past the Calibago gate. I don’t know where they have been, but the firing was probably closer than we thought! They were practising somewhere in the neighbourhood!

Saturday Leroy and Dan took Anna and Riza into town early. Anna and Riza were going to catch a bus to Visit Riza’s father and make sure all was well there. It was quiet at home without them and I was sitting trying to decide what we would do on our next mini-vacation when the house shook again. This time I was the only one to feel it. I wondered if I had imagined it. No, a 4.9 aftershock was recorded at that time.

Sunday, Leroy and I went into town to get Riza and Anna. Sunday is Market Day in Mercia and the side streets were clogged with vendors.

Bacolod is quieter than usual on a Sunday. We met Anna and Riza, had lunch and stopped to buy a few groceries. We were in the middle of the food floor when the lights went out. Is that ever black! We stood still. Soon the generator had minimal lighting going again. The cash registers never stopped!

With the rain and the earthquakes making roads across the island questionable, we decided not to go over the mountain to catch the ferry to Cebu and head on to Bohol. We will spend our last two weeks here and relax.