(Warm weather spell here, overnight stays above 80 F., daytime above 90 F.)
Note after publication, several external links appear in the final published form as light-gray text with NO UNDERLINING. I think I have managed to go back and add the note "Link" in all those places. Pass your cursor over any light gray text you see and it may
"light up" as a link.
As usual, things seem to move too fast for a while, then they settle down to more-or-less "boring" for a while. It only seemed like a couple weeks since the last blog posting, but my on-line "list" shows that it's been a month.
These eerie looking visitors showed up in front of our gate one
morning recently. They seemed fairly peaceful, even though their
appearance might cause concern at any populated public place -
(I wonder how they would fare with the security officers at a
shopping mall?).
shopping mall?).
In my younger years I might have expected them to arrive
in a vehicle something like this one, with Scotty or Mr.
Spock piloting.
Their actual vehicle (when the hood is closed) is pretty similar
in shape to the Enterprise-shuttle Galileo, but with quite different
function. I don't imagine that the Galileo ground very much rice -
but it certainly got off the ground! This one doesn't.
but it certainly got off the ground! This one doesn't.
The tallest of the three aliens climbed atop the vehicle, and
after some minutes of loud machinery noise and intolerable
dust, several weeks' worth of our rice-reserve was polished
and ready for cooking. Very few people nearby here have
EVER bought rice in a factory- plastic bag from a grocery store!
Link:
EVER bought rice in a factory- plastic bag from a grocery store!
Link:
I guess those guys are pretty used to being all swaddled up,
to avoid as much dust as possible; but in the heat here, it
surely can't be much fun.
Kids anywhere, can pretty much make a game with anything they have handy. The "beach neighborhood" 50 yards from us doesn't have much open space other than the rocky beach itself. And there's not too much "official" sports equipment here, either.But almost everyone has a pair of rubber "flip flop" sandals - - -
A "pitch" from 4 feet away is pretty hard to miss. THIS GAME
seems to combine elements of kickball, and baseball; the "official"
equipment being the above-mentioned sandals, which are the
base-markers as well as the "ball."
I watched a different game on a previous evening - with 3 times as
many participants and proportionately more action. I DID NOT
have the camera with me that time.
Larger pitcher, longer pitch. The rules seem pretty flexible.
Looks like this guy is about to be tagged- "out" at base.
Base lines are usually 12 feet long, more-or-less.
The game is frequently delayed as rules are "discussed" with
great animation at times. Personalities of the players become
apparent as some are more competitive and others are more
laid- back.
En pointe! Nice form but I think he missed the kick.
Players and spectators often mingle as the boundaries
and dimensions of the diamond and the field shape-shift.
My great-niece Francine will be up for draft about 2022.
The house which occupied this little bit of land was removed
by the Yolanda typhoon in November 2013, and the vacant
space is a little unusual in this neighborhood.
My walks around our neighborhood are usually late-afternoon, around sunset. It's just too hot to walk at any other time except sunrise, and all the action is late in the afternoons. Kids play various games or create sculpture and architecture in the tide-zone where there's sand; many adults gather under "pavilion" bamboo shelters for card games, gossip, and beverages. But a lot of the activity just before sundown is centered around getting boats and equipment ready for fishing.
are about 10- feet wide and often more than 300 feet long. A
heavy rope with floats is on one side of the net, with weights on the
other side - - when deployed, it hangs in the water like a curtain.
It is carefully folded and stacked on one designated boat, but
several boats and crews will be cooperating to deploy it and
surround the schools of fish, once they are found.
attract the fish for night- time fishing. For a long time camping-
lantern ("Coleman") lights were in use, but for several years heavy
truck-batteries and 12-volt florescent bulbs have been more common.
Just recently quite a few fishermen are getting small generators and
using the local- standard 220 v. LED lights. The generator provides
longer usage than a battery (limited to a few hours) but several
boats have been capsized by generator- weight carried too high.
A generator won't fit down inside the boat like a battery will.
My understanding of the usual method is that several boats will
cooperate with their lights to attract fish into an area between
them, then surround the fish with a net, then carefully pull the
net inward and under the fish with ropes, and drag the net to
shore and haul it up onto the beach for capture. I have not been
out in a fishing boat here - - my "time limit" to be in a restricted-
posture situation is pretty short, and it would be a nuisance for
my host to have to return me to shore.
out at sunset as several "meter people" frolic. ("Meter" = size)
a few kilometers of ocean makes quite a glittering spectacle
just around sunset. One small camera frame can't come
anywhere near capturing it. I have counted upwards of
80 sets of lights within sight; the farthest visible at
the horizon above seem to be within 2 miles of shore.
is within a couple minutes of the others and is a fine "sunset"
shot - - only lacking any close- to- shore boats, it didn't make
my first "edit." Looking again the next day, I couldn't resist
"pasting" it in.
The "regular" readers of my blog know that I am a reader- of- signs. The ones below don't seem to have any double-meanings or other slip-ups; I just found them informative.
economic index for our area. One U.S. Dollar is worth almost
exactly 50 Philippine pesos currently. So the pay rates are
$3.00, $5.00, and $4.00 per day respectively. Figuring the
six-day standard work week, "TOP PAY" at this business is
$30.00 per week. (Other note: much of the vocabulary here
derives from Spanish, which is handy for me. Kargador, also
same root as our word cargo, would be the loader/ unloader.)
from the highway where the sign is. It appears that there is a
government-sponsored economic development program, here
in use to develop salt- making. I have watched with some
interest as the facility was built; the intention is to use rice-
chaff for fueling boilers to evaporate salt from sea water.
Rice chaff would seem to have a similar fuel- value to
grass clippings. I wonder how it can work - - - -
Link: (Salt and Sulu, an early blog- issue, begins with a few photos
which depict the "traditional" local salt-making method.)
a "Concreting of Provincial Road" project which is the road
passing out to our farm at Allegre. I was happy to see the
sign, as one 70- yard section of that road becomes impass-
able in rainy season. However I will be much happier to
actually see the cement in place! So far only a fairly "tame"
stretch has been paved. Note the funding, upper-right corner:
figured to the exact "sentima" = 1/100 of 2 U.S. cents.
Php 1,964,145.97 is about $39,300 USD.
the main road, when this highly-ornate hearse rolled past at the
head of a processional. Being fairly well screened from view, I
managed to quietly use the camera. (It would be rude/ unseemly
here to openly photograph a funeral procession.) Almost
nothing around here is so over- elaborate; most things are plain.
a large vine with 8- to 9- inch broad- bean pods. So far it
has produced about 20 mature pods. We ate one batch of
the young, tender pods when they were about about 4 inch,
(think regular lima bean pod-size) and they were quite tasty
as "green beans" at that size.
1/2 inch thick, and 3/4 inches wide. With an expected "crop"
of perhaps 75 to 100 beans, we will save all we can get for
seed. Maybe next year's crop we'll have enough "dry beans"
to try cooking some, and find out if they cook and taste well.
We haven't heard any "Fee- Fie- Foe- Fum!" yet.
an opening so that this tree could remain in place.
flesh. However, the flavor is sour/ astringent - - it puckers the
mouth and makes teeth feel "chalky." The kids around here
love it! (In grade-school years, we used to eat a "berry" in
California which tasted similar to this.) The spindly-looking
tree has produced several hundred fruit. Possibly it would
taste like cranberry if processed into juice or jelly.
after I had "gained" a couple hundred yards I stopped to try to
get a side- photo when it passed me. The driver has an infant
on his lap, there is a toddler standing on the seat behind him,
and "Mama" is on the back helping to support the toddler. In
fact, this sort of load on a motorcycle is pretty common here.
I didn't get the photo I wanted - but I was amused later to see
my inadvertent "self portrait" photo in the driver's side mirror.
just on a whim. The bridge- approaches are not paved yet,
but they are worn smooth enough by frequent use so that
it is easy- access. The old bridge is to the right, above; no
traffic at the moment of this photo, but usually fairly busy.
Look 2 or 3 blogs previous, and you will see at least two
references to this uncompleted major bridge project. I
have not actually measured the bridge (!) but the span
seems to be around 300 yards.
is full of unpolished rice grains ("palay") and indeed the major
usage of the bridge for 6 months has been sun- drying rice.
I was travelling slowly enough to notice my surroundings,
so I stopped and tried to record some of the scenery.
the panoramic sense of these two photos, (and the continuing
360-degree "sweep") with the "snapshot" camera. I'm nowhere
near Ansel Adams' league. He'd have had a great time, here.
(Links, Ansel Adams biog. , Ansel Adams famous photos )
Looking through my recent photo files, I see there are still several "topic sets" of 3 or more photos each, that I haven't gotten around to posting yet. They're going to have to wait! I try to keep each blog- post around 25 photos and I'm already a little "over."
I'm having considerable trouble with one laptop computer, for many weeks now. It seems the ultimate solution may be replacing the "main drive" (short of replacing the entire computer) but I still have some options if I can only get together with the right technician locally. (The "best guy" is away on an extended business trip right now.) At this moment I am using my "standby" computer because this is the right time of day for Skype activity, and my "main workhorse" computer is the one which will not operate Skype (and several other key programs) right now. THIS laptop has some quirky problems, too. I sure hope to get them both straightened out before much longer!
Have a fine day, and remember - take time to appreciate and enjoy the positive things which surround you!
TeeJay and Bernadette Larson, Antique Province, Philippines
(Finished Thursday, March 30, 2017)
(Finished Thursday, March 30, 2017)
