Weekend Pastime

I love hiking in the countryside. There’s one special place that I know, thirty minutes walk from our house where I go to whenever I get the chance. It’s a place where you can breathe real fresh air and enjoy the view that is refeshing to the eyes. Most of the time my nephew and nieces would tag along because they like to roam around and play. For them its a vast playground and for me it’s paradise.

the road less traveled

It was a Sunday morning when I decided to take a hike.  The weather was balmy, the breeze was cool and clean. The clouds were like cotton candies, white and puffy signaling a warm day ahead. Down the road I saw a few domesticated animals busily grazing the green patches of carabao grass. Hundreds of red dragonflies swarmed the sky above me like tiny helicopters. The rain that fell the last three days worked like magic. Wild flowers began to bloom and the leaves of the shrubs and trees grew thicker and greener.

carabaos resting under the shade

a wasp takes a pause after a long flight

interesting leaf with carbuncles and holes

ikog ayam-ayam lends a cheerful ambiance to passersby

a butterfly flutters around looking for flowers with nectars

My favorite spot is atop a hill overlooking the magnificent mountains of Tubungan, Igbaras, Leon and some parts of Antique. Far below is a winding river that leads to the town of Tubungan and Guimbal. Maybe you now have an idea where it is. It’s a very quiet place. The only noise you could hear are the sounds of cicadas and the tweeting of the birds hopping from one branch to another.

the view under the lumboy tree

the winding river as seen from above zoomed 5x

I wandered around a lumboy (duhat) tree and found an old stump to sit on. My legs were quite numb after climbing the hills but it was gone the moment the wind blew towards my direction. I felt refreshed and revitalized. I wiped the sweat that rolled down from my forehead and ate our baon.  The homemade polvoron which I bought from the tyangge was unexpectedly sweet and tasty. I gulped it down with spring water placed inside the bottle of C2 which I took from a tarog  (a bamboo pipe where spring water comes out continously). I spent an hour just sitting there admiring the view, inhaling the fresh scent of grass, watching the clouds go by, listening to the birds singing and enjoying my solitude while my niece and nephews ran around like it was their private playground.

polvoron and spring water

kids' playground with a nice view