Clearing the air

The “seven sisters” who sailed down the Yangtze River together over two years ago gathered at my apartment yesterday, a dinner planned several months ago to watch the fireworks from my 19th floor digs. Unfortunately the World Pyrotechnic Olympics – held last year between Christmas and New Year’s – will be held in February instead, so we contented ourselves with pockets of fireworks from people celebrating early, nothing really spectacular – but the company and conversation were, assuredly, spectacular.

We finally managed to track down the man abehind the pyro olympics, as well as many other light-in-the-sky spectacles that Manila has been witness to in the past few years, and pinned Ricardo Crisostomo down for an interview – on his birthday, no less – in between trips in and out of the country as he prepared for yet another fireworks display on New Year’s Eve, this one in Makati. I hope to be able to enjoy this one from my balcony; hopefully the smoke will not be so thick as to obscure everything, as it did last year, when visibility was greatly limited by the incredible amount of fireworks and firecrackers exploded in the hours before and after midnight.

It took a couple of days for the air to clear – it is part of my morning ritual to check air quality, one of the joys of living way up there – but clear it did. How I wish we could similarly clear the air of our society and our body politic – dissipate all the dirt and grime and shame and scandal that has blotted and blighted our nation this past year.

This is the time of year when everyone talks about renewal and beginnings, of starting over and doing better, of leaving the past behind and looking forward to a new and better chapter. Unfortunately the past lingers on to haunt us, and only by acknowledging and confronting what has been and dealing with it will we truly be able to start over, and begin anew on a better path toward a brighter year ahead. A blessed and peaceful new year to all our dear and faithful readers, from all of us here at STARweek.