holy week

It was Maundy Thursday and I felt like slacking around doing nothing. There were shows on the local and cable networks but they never appealed me. I was standing in front of our gate, under the lit light post early in the evening when Anyi, my seven year old favorite cousin came running and asked me to take a walk.

So we did. We walked two blocks from our house then back and took another turn. She was walking with me at first telling me that the bag she was holding contained the toys she got as presents from her last birthday. She asked me why was I standing under the light post and why am I slowly bulging. Then she asked me to carry her on my shoulders and started reading the streets signs of our subdivision.

Pe-ri-dot

Ru-by

Pe-a-rl

Gar-net

Ame-t….. pano yun basahin? (amethyst)

Then I started teaching her to count in Japanese, which I was not totally sure if I was teaching her the correct ones. Ich ni san shi go ruk hich hach kyu dyu. Ich ni san shi go ruk hich hach kyu dyu. “Ich san ich eh ano na nga ulit? Mauna ka kasi susunod ako.”

For the past two years I have been too busy with my dealings that I have failed to notice that this moment is one of those that I used to love before. Sometimes, one get to be happy by just talking to a child. No law, no economics, no society and societal implications, no phenomenology and deconstructions, just life as a kid see it.