Another long hot summer

 It’s summer again — long, hot, arduous. The weather is so hot I swear you can fry eggs on the sidewalk. Global warming, everyone likes to mutter, if you dare complain. But, really, this is my 63rd summer and I know it gets hotter and hotter every year. In the middle of the day as I sit working on something or another I suddenly find myself staring into space, thinking of nothing, stopping my work and doing nothing for long periods, even if there are quite a few things to do. It is just so hot.

I have three writing classes going on now; two have opened, one more to open next Friday. I have many students. I also have a few mothers looking for their own activity, their own class, a three-hour safe haven to escape into, away from the children who are on vacation. If you think you want to join, give me a call, I still have a few places open for a class that begins on April 25.

It was such a task opening my classes because of the heat and having to do everything myself. Sometimes I think I ought to hire an assistant. But in this heat, who has the energy to look for anything? Where do I find one? Whom do I call? Can I really afford to hire an assistant? All I earn goes towards the care of my mother, who seems to have taken a turn for the worse. She is entering the last level of Alzheimer’s, I suspect. But transitionally, she is extra difficult.

What is life this summer? Just bad news and extreme heat? Up there on my far horizon I see a little bit of light. The Reposo annual festival is here yet again. I see their schedule of activities — Piging Sining Sa Reposo. I see the cute pink pig I saw recently. She was in a jeep with a lot of other pink pigs headed for the slaughterhouse. First, I just noticed her head buried in the shoulder of a neighboring pink pig. Then she lifted her head and I saw an ecstatic look on her face. I thought she might have even been smiling, like she was thinking, “I love his smell.” Then she buried her face in his shoulder again, the same routine until we had to part ways.

Why am I thinking this? They are speaking in Filipino; piging has nothing to do with pigs. It means “party” —  piging sining, I think, means “art party.” Sorry, my brains must be fried from this heat. I remember the first year they had a street fair. I joined, cleared out my closets and sold everything there. I made a lot of money that time. The second time I joined, I sold my used books. I did not make a lot of money then. Since then, I’ve gotten myself a stall in the Legaspi market. Now I have no more time to join a street fair but it can be fun. And the Reposo Street Fair goes on for two days. They have stalls, dances, films both Filipino and French. Alliance Francaise is there. Good restaurants, good music groups, good artists.

There was a time they had murals painted by famous artists on the walls. Now they’re having the sidewalks tiled with mosaics by famous artists. It should be fun and artistic. If you want to rent a stall for the street fair, call 0917-5217100 and inquire about rates.

What’s another interesting thing you can do for yourself this summer? Be kind to yourself. Enjoy yourself. Do something totally different for you. Enroll in the Jung seminar that will be held at the Ateneo in Rockwell. It will help you find the wild woman in you. Yes, she lives in you and she is creative, intuitive, instinctive, deeply wise, sensual, joyful. You will discover her and enjoy yourself fully. You know how you spend your time and your money looking for things your children can do to fill up their time? Well, I’m suggesting you also put yourself on that list and find your own refuge, your own activity that will stimulate you and make you know yourself better. This is a fantastic seminar. I took it last year. This will go on April 24 to 25. For more information, call Sophie Sim-Bate at 0917-5276279. Don’t call me, okay? I don’t know anything about these activities except that they are fun and something you deserve to do for yourself this long hot summer.

In this heat. I like to stay home, open all my windows and doors, and sit in the crosswinds. That cools me off. I work, wipe off the sweat that trickles down my brow, my neck, my back.  I am melting. I will turn into a puddle of sweat. But what can I do? Just sit, suffer and sweat. Drink ice-cold water and sweat some more. It is, after all, another long hot summer.

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Please send your comments to secondwind.barbara@gmail.com or lilypad@skyinet.net or text 0917-8155570.