The Road to Happiness

The candles of my cousin’s birthday cake had been lit. After the birthday song was sang, the celebrant blew out the candles.  Good wishes were expressed and slices of cake passed around the table.

At the main table sat my mother, her two sisters, her cousins and a couple of nieces—me included. Over cups of coffee, the past was revisited. Of people long gone, of places close to the heart and road trips experienced. 

A Time Just For Planting

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens… Ecclesiastes 3

When rain falls almost everyday, what time do you suppose it is?

Time for planting!!

It was time to plant the seeds I got from my mother’s “Peacock Flower” shrubs  in Cebu last summer.  

Pretty Peacock Flowers in a vase

Flower Power

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. Luther Burbank


Whenever I find myself thinking about a problem, I can’t help but sometimes get deeper and deeper into a bottomless abyss of despair and anxiety. It’s like an addiction of never ending what ifs and whys.

I remember the many times I would knock myself out with worry. Before long my fertile imagination would paint a guesome picture of the worse kind of accident. Then time passes and I marvel at how quickly these worries go “puff”.

Of course, there have been close calls and it would have been unnatural if I did not worry. But it’s dwelling on them far too long that causes havoc to tranquility. And so before I realize that dwelling on a situation is not going to help, I have already died a thousand imaginary deaths.

It’s a good thing that every now and then I get a wake-up call that puts everything into perspective. Sometimes it takes the form of a song, a passage in a novel,  and, sometimes it’s a shared story.

Just yesterday, a friend pulled me aside to share his wake-up call. Let’s call him R.

R is an early riser. At 4AM, he is up and busy sweeping the dry leaves that had fallen in his yard. As he sweeps the leaves into a pile, his mind is preoccupied with a financial problem. What should he do? Who can he ask for help? How will he continue to support family members who depend on him? These questions go round and round in his head as he moved on to water his plants. He is very passionate about his plants but lately, his focus had been on his problem. He was about to enter his house, when his attention was caught by a Trumpet shrub that was in full bloom. The morning sun was shining on it just like a spotlight on a stage actress.

He had been so anxious over his problem that he was losing all hope. He had buried himself in his own misery and had lost sight of the beauty that was around him. With new resolve, he got ready to attend the early morning mass. Then and there R accepted that he had done all he could and was leaving the rest to God. A God who never fails to send us reminders of hope in the form of flowers-- if we care to to take notice.

xoxoxoxoxox

I remember being served deep fried stuffed squash flowers in one of those provincial heritage tours. As I recall, the flowers were stuffed with a mixture of ground pork and shrimps; dunked in a batter; and deep fried. Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe. But I will not dwell on my limitations.   Instead, I share with you some eye-catching beauties from my garden.

Periwinkle (suppose to cure cancer)



Lantana: a butterfly's delight



My Summer Blooming Lilies

Hibiscus aka Gumamela= a herbal tea

  These are my everyday reminders of hope.

My Nurturing Garden

"Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?"

Lines taken from a nursery rhyme remind me that my little garden needs some tending so that I may reap what I sow (so to speak). Now more than ever, with the rains becoming less frequent, the plants call to me. I could have a gardener come in but that would defeat the whole purpose. I feel that getting a gardener would cheat me of experiencing the feel of the earth on my fingertips; and, the satisfaction of seeing a living thing take root and grow. As I tend my garden, it nurtures me in return by giving me the feeling of peace and contentment that all is well with the world.

When I am up to it, I can get lost in a world of weed pulling and re-potting. I stop only when I notice that the sun is adamant in burning me to a crisp or when the mosquitos make a feast of me-- ouch!

And what do I plant, you ask? Well, nothing fancy. But I do have two garden rules:
1)my plants must be happy to grow in clay-ish soil and not require constant attention.

2) my plants must give back in terms of pleasing my senses: be it the scent they lend to the breeze; their colors that delight; their willingness to grace my dinner table.

So indulge me as I take you on a quick tour of my garden. My pride and joy are a line of white lilies. They are special to me as I bought 2 pots of the lilies on a whim 11 years ago during an out of town trip. And over time I have transfered them to line up my front wall and some I have given away as gifts.



I have a sprinkling of orchids but they're the hardy ones and I don't pay much attention to them unless they are in bloom.



Then there is my jasmine bush. This one I got from my mom's garden. So many childhood memories are triggered from whiffs of their delicate flowers.



Let's not forget, plants I gathered from neighbors' gardens-- with their permission of course. A cut here, a cut there-- San Franciscos with their different leave patterns; Santan minitures; fake Bird-of-Paradise; Periwinkles & a bush with lavender flowers whose name escapes me now.



I shouldn't forget to mention my lovely trees. You would think that I have hectares and hectares of land. But no, I just cram the little space I have with a "Kamuning" ( this is the one that have fragrant tiny white flowers every so often and whose dark colored leaves also give a pleasant smell).



Beside the Kamuning is my Narra (now that it's a giant, it pains me when I have to trim it's top); how I love to sit under it's shade with a cool drink and just day dream.



At the back of the house is my grafted pico mango tree (gifted to me by my sister) which last year blessed me with tons of yummy green mangoes.



Speaking of fruits, I have a lemoncito shrub (calamansi in Tagalog) not yet heavy with fruit. Maybe my constant checking is stressing it out.

And not to forget, my kamias or iba (in visayan)that is swollen with fruit. As quickly as the fruits are ready for picking, I too am ready with all sorts of recipes needing some of it's fruits to give that sourness so delicious to the palate: sinigang (fish soup), paksiw (a fish stew), ginisang kamias sa bagoong (sauteed kamias with shrimp paste).



Now the mother of all vegetable plant in the Philippines would have to be the Malunggay. I just have to stick a cut stalk in the ground and in a couple of weeks, I can see little leaves coming thru. Coming in second would be the aromatic tanglad or lemon grass-- more of a herb than a vegetable.



Several sili labuyo bushes (I believe they are called bird chili) can be found in my garden's nooks. THeir fruit gives the zing needed in my caldereta (beef stew). Or their leaves take center stage in my tinolang manok( chicken soup).



And finally, I also have some alugbate creepers. These are the vegetable that have violet stems and sticky sap and used in many simple Philippine veggie stews. I just stick into the soil stems of this plant and it will quickly take root. I help it along by putting some twigs near it to facilitate its climb.



Yes with a little investment in time, you too can enjoy the nurturing a garden can give. You don't need a large plot of land. You can even start with used cans that have been cleaned and have holed punched at the bottom. If you don't have soil, you can buy a pre-mix bag of fertile dirt at a local garden shop.(Now a days you have to pay even for dirt.) You could also dig up someone's vacant lot too-- the thrill of being caught can give you a great high.

I hope I have interested you enough to start out your garden. You must remember that all good things come to those who wait. Be relaxed in your approach and you will be richly rewarded with your own plant experience-- be it on your dinner table or sitting under your tree's cool shade.