The Moment

My train of  thought was interrupted.  The old windows were making that sound again.  You know that sound old windows make when the wind wants to take it off for a spin.  Like the windows are trying to refuse the wind’s invitation by holding on by its hinges. Back and forth, the windows rattled.

Well, there was only one thing to do: bring myself and my thought outside to enjoy the late afternoon breeze. 

As I had spent much of the day inside the house to escape the merciless sun,  here was my chance to sit in my weather-beaten favorite garden bench.  

Could such a moment be so perfect? 

The wind rustling through the narra trees…. Whooooosssshhhhh.  Whooooooosssshhhhh.

 Clouds drifting pass a blue, blue sky.

An oriole’s sharp whistle to it’s mate to hurry up as my wind chimes tinkle out random and happy notes.

For once, Nero, my daughter’s dog, is looking on from under the other bench and keeping still.

 The wind brings with it a whiff of the delicate scent of a blooming shrub named: Tomorrow, Today, Yesterday ( the buds start as white, then changes to baby pink when it opens and by the next day the same flower turns fushia.)

Then as suddenly as the wind came, everything is still.  The light starts to fade and the sun takes a bow.  But not without splashing the clouds with a golden hue. It’s last hurrah for the day.  As if to promise its blazing return tomorrow.

 My mind is clear, my heart is happy.

---xoxoxox---

I constantly remind myself to live in the moment.  Never to dwell in the past nor worry about the future—if I can help it.

The same is true with fruits.  We have to make the most of what the season brings.  Like living in the moment, these fruits are at its prime and sweetest. Best of all, quite affordable. 

For the moment, there are a lot of mangoes, watermelons, pineapples, papayas and jackfruit or nangka. 

Besides eating them fresh, the enjoyment of these fruits can be prolonged by pickling or sweetened up into jams and jellies.

But why go through all that trouble when you can just buy such from the grocery.  Because it’s yummier and because it will make your heart happy. That’s all there is to it.

And if you really want to check this claim out, try this simple jam recipe.

Fruit-of-the-Season Jam

3 cups of finely chopped fruit (in this case, nangka)

3 cups sugar (I try to do with half a cup less)

The easy part:

Place these ingredients in a pot and stir over a low fire. 

The hard part:

Keep on stirring until the sugar has completely melted and mixture is translucent.  This is probably an hour and a half of stirring.

The best part:

Enjoying the jam over some sliced pan de sal, crackers or hot cake.  You can’t buy this moment from any grocery store.

(Note:  When I was a newly married, my mother-in-law gave me some nangka jam to go with my breakfast.  It was then made by their long-time cook, 'Nang Ines.  I was lucky enough to be around to watch the cook make another batch soon after.  

From time to time, when nangka is plentiful, I cook a batch of jam.  I used to do it the hard way.  But since I got a bread machine with a jam cycle, everything has become so much easier.  I just put chopped up fruit and sugar in the machine, set the dials and leave the machine to do its magic.. Viola!!  In about two hours, the jam is ready!! )