November Scenery

(Posted Dec. 3) 

I got a chance to take an extended Sunday afternoon ride to Kalibo, about 65 miles  away from our place, on the north coast of Panay Island.  I've been there just once before in the 6 years we've been here, so I was quick to take the opportunity. 

(Sometime during this month, I was fooling around with camera and I THINK I figured out how to turn OFF the darned "date + time" tag   :-))  )

Aklan Province, which boundary is just beyond Pandan, is noticeably more forested than
our province of Antique (an-tee-kay).  Several people have mentioned their being much
more proactive in keeping their trees in-place.

I just enjoy riding along, admiring the scenery,

especially as the National Highway passes over several small ranges of hills.  This
part of the road is quite like some secondary highways in California.

The primary destination at Kalibo turned out to be this "Eco
Park,"  where local citizens and organizations had converted
a mud-flat area of "wasteland" into a Mangrove Forest (which 
sounds misogynistic to me, but I'm not really "UP" on all the
latest Social Justice issues).  This link goes to a very brief
video which describes the ecological importance of mangrove
(?¿ SHOULD it be "person"grove¿?) forests.  Our conversations
were not too badly affected by the continuous "eco."

Above plaque near the entrance describes the cooperative
efforts of creating the preserve area, a little bit of carved-
in-stone "Hooray for us."  I had to aim below the medallions of
organizations in order to fit all the text into the photo.  Nearly
all such markers in the Philippines are in English language,
usually with some grammar creativity.

Also near the entrance this not-too-happy-looking primate
kept vigil, free only to scamper back and forth along a
12-foot length of bamboo pole.


250 yards beyond the entrance, the raised walkway had
wound its way through young- looking but densely planted
forest to a river, spanned by this 250-foot-long pedestrian
bridge.  Our niece Gian, visiting from Manila, strikes a pose
for my camera. I was told that beyond the bridge, the pathway
continued approx. one kilometer to the ocean;  I thought
I could probably walk ONE kilometer, despite the steamy
heat and my late afternoon fatigue, but the returning
kilometer might be a little too much.  


20 yards before the bridge was a nicely placed bench, shady in the late afternoon.
and I relaxed and enjoyed this view through the young trees until the rest of
the group returned.

I made quite a few more photos of the bridge structure and the walkway, all of which was

bamboo pole- and- slat- construction. The combination of trestles and trusses used was interesting.  I think you can get a fair idea of it from the one photo above.  This construction is ubiquitous here, and is sturdy enough for its purpose; however, the bamboo will last only for a few years, so it must constantly be maintained.  As it is not an "engineered" product, it would not be permitted in any public-use and not in most private-use situations in the USA.

A week later, I was headed towards Batonan for a weekly English literacy program.  This
combination of light breaking-through-clouds and dark sky above created a vivid
contrasting display of colors, and I stopped long enough to make a photo through
the car's windshield.

I've been noticing this quite large and intricate piece of
drift-wood at our meeting place for several weeks now, and
finally I got a chance to get some photos.  The variety
of shapes in the old tree-roots defeated any attempt to
capture all of them in any ONE photo.  Lots of "fuel for
imagination" there.  I included the chair for size-reference.

A couple hours later I had traveled south again, beyond Tibiao to Barbaza,
when I again encountered the interplay of high-dark-overcast sky and
light areas where the clouds had parted.  This time I had some extra
minutes, and when the double-rainbow began to form I got out of the
car to try to capture the image.  The "double" is quite faint and is to
the left of the more vivid rainbow.

This photo is nearly continuous to the previous one.  The "double" is barely visible at
the tip of the farthest leaf on the tree, and you might see it more easily when your eyes
are scanning horizontally - - just a faint difference in color from the rest of the sky.

The camera can only hint at the striking and vivid colors of this scene. The rainbow seems
to spill light over the hillside at its "end;"  ALAS!  no Leprechaun , and certainly no gold!

A few more snapshot views of the panorama I saw give a little suggestion of its impact.
(YEP! this is the newly-widened-to-4-lane highway section, complete with slalom- poles!)

The sky being quite light to the west was probably the cause of the chiaroscuro effect.

Well, I don't think Ansel Adams' legacy is in any danger from the likes of ME!

I actually finished things to this point several days before Thanksgiving.  I hope some sense of the vividness of the scenery photos will come through the "sending process."  I held off  posting this two weeks ago  because I knew there would be various other photos coming along soon.

I was present at three (or four?) various Thanksgiving programs, at several churches,  and later in the month made trips to San Jose and Iloilo (for a wedding) (plus errands), so I'll pitch in here with some random and misc. pictures of the end of the month.  (I forgot to even pick up the camera during our Thanksgiving Day celebration at home, so no photos of that, but I suppose it looked pretty-much-same as others I've sent earlier.)

The decorations were fairly elaborate for our place, at Camp Moriah.  And you may have some sense of how the open- pavilion "feels" to be part of.  On the right, a forested hill overlooks the ocean, with about a 50 yard pathway down to beach-level.

Last minute study-focus - - 

- -  just before the "presentation."

Some readers will remember the songs propped open-and-ready at my "station."

Suzuki multi-cab pickup also = playground monkey-bars, when parked.

One elder lady at Pandan has been hand-crafting these hats
and purses for at least several months, and they "sell like hot-
cakes" at meetings, with the proceeds going to special
ministry projects of various sorts.

"GOOFY PROJECTS" Division Entries

Last week, the headlight-control switch on the Suzi-car began

to stay-in-place at the "flash high-beams" position; seems like

the internal return-spring is broken.  A replacement "MULTI-

Switch Unit" having the turn-signal, lights, and (opposite) the

windshield wiping controls, would be pretty difficult to find

I think (experience!) but I will begin to look.       After having

the high-beams be ON but UN-noticed when I parked a

couple times (yes, dead battery =  jump-starts, etc.) I

imagined this "Jethro- looking" (ref. Beverly Hillbillies)

rig with an external spring, and it seems to work fine.

 "Pull back" on the arm to flash high-beams, and it will
return to "off," without't affecting any other function.

(Right-steering-wheel vehicles are forbidden in this country, 
 so this car is like many thousands here -  - converted to
left-steer after it was imported. So it has a "backwards"
multi-switch with turn signal control + lights on the right
side. After four years, I STILL turn on the wipers-
left side! - instead of signalling, sometimes.)


In preparation for the wedding-trip to Iloilo, I found the need
for a shoe-horn.  Hadn't used one since coming here - - no
need, given the usual foot wear. I pretty much think I would
look long, far, and unsuccessfully for such a thing here;  but
15 minutes with a piece of already-concave bamboo, and a
couple tools, produced this funk- tional substitute. 

 At Guimbal, west of Iloilo, the main Highway has been widened all the way through
town already (unusual for this area, towns tend to be too congested) EXCEPT this
place where a quite-large Acacia tree has been preserved.  A couple signs here
also allude to a "Vanishing Mansion" which seems to be a local legend or joke,
which some day I'll stop long enough to investigate.

And as you've seen I REALLY like sunset vistas.  The ocean views are usually relaxing
and peaceful.

 

Oktober Draft

(Began Oct. 26) (Finished Oct. 29)

I'm trying a different method of putting these postings together.  I've been putting up a lot of photos on a "blank sheet" for 2 or 3 weeks, and then organizing and captioning them.  Before this, I would look at photos in my files (usually ones from the last couple months) and THEN put them up and caption them topic-by-topic.  I think this may end up being faster.    

The last two postings seemed to me to be a little "heavy" on the construction project, so I'm going to try to get some more "miscellaneous" topics into this one.  We'll see how that works out.

This photo could be contemporary - - it sure looked familiar
to me, with the utility post remaining in the middle of completed
roadway!   It arrived in an e-mail with 20 or 30 photos, titled
"Gotta love Africa - -" or similar,  and is from central Africa
dated 2001.

For reference, the small photo shows the recently widened
National Hwy.  about 4 miles away from our place.  Above 
is the highway intersection of one of  TWO roads that go
into "downtown Tibiao."  Viewed from the highway, its
"ONE WAY" is not specific which way but it seems to be
there to discourage highway traffic from entering.  BUT
the other side of the same sign seems to prohibit local
traffic from exiting.  In reality, everyone just uses that
road whenever they want to, it seems.

The newly-widened National Highway to the south of us, is repeated to the north of us, when the road again passes through relatively open area.  Houses and businesses are too close to the route in our immediate area to allow a 4-lane road - - at least for now!

There were apparently no utility poles to conflict with this
section of the widening project.  But after less than 2 miles
of 4-lane roadway, the road curves through another congested
area as it heads towards the Tibiao River Bridge (small photos).
Midway through this "blind curve" situation, a delivery truck is
blocking the north-bound lane, causing the tricycle ahead of
me to cautiously pass by it in the south-bound lane.  I have
closed the gap with the tricycle, intending to closely follow past
the stopped truck -  his passage effectively blocks any potential
south-bound traffic momentarily.  GOOD MOVE!  as I get clear
of the truck, there is a lineup of stopped south- bounders which
would have delayed me. (AND, with both sides not being able to
CLEARLY SEE any opposition, things would have been nerve-
wracking.)  Meantime the tricycle had managed to turn
left into a small side-road, as another vehicle came out.

The puddles to the right of the road are in the never-completed
approach to the NEW BRIDGE.  Two-plus years after this very
expensive bridge is complete, it sits unusable by traffic for lack
of 50 YARDS OF CEMENT PAVING on each end.  We cross 
the river on the old bridge.  The locals use the new bridge for
sun-drying their harvested rice.

I guess the bridge-approaches just got overlooked in the
excitement of building disconnected 4-lane highway
segments all over the place.

I had the camera held in my right hand at shoulder height,
clicking without being able to aim, for these several shots.

I ride a bus or service van to San Jose (45 miles+-) if I
need to go for 1 or 2 "simple" errands, and not much
running around when I get there. This 2-and-2 seating
bus had plenty of open seats when I got on, but within
a short distance had filled up.  Before we had our vehicle
here, I was a "standee" fairly often, for short periods.
I called it "road surfing" because the motion of the bus +
a narrow aisle to stand in requires some footwork and 
body-shifting to stay in place.  Some of these riders
ended up "surfing" for more than an hour on the 2-hour
trip.  (Most buses have 3-and-2 seating, so more seats
but less space in each seat.)

I didn't ask the seller if the chicken was "formal" or "casual."

"Dressed chicken" means prepared, ready to cook, usually

frozen. As this means the feathers have been removed,

I say it is UNdressed.  Commercially produced chicken

is common here, but in every small town home-grown

chicken runs "neck and neck" with it.

This pumpkin is fairly typical of the local variety, about

dinner-plate size, 9- or 10- inch.  They can be any

color from light tan to dark green. Their skin would be

better than KEVLAR, for making bullet-proof vests.

   It is so tough to peel, that I have been cutting

"cantaloupe-slice wedges" and then steaming

them. After 15 minutes of steam, and you can

remove the flesh from the rind with a soup spoon.

The other item is a "totally gnarly" ginger root.

(Can you see the "elephant?")

I've heard the expression "bathtub GIN," referring to illegally produced "gin" during USA

"prohibition period"  from 1920 to 1933.  Kind of before my time - - -  

As to this posting's TITLE  - - - I have been drafting, lately.

For the last several weeks I have been home- brewing

"shower stall GINger-ALE," which has proven to be an easy

and productive hobby.  Ginger ale is not generally available

here; Coca-Cola and Pepsi both have "short lists" of several

products which don't include it.  Ginger ale CAN be found in 

"import section" areas of big grocery stores, but expensively!

SO, I started with 1/2 cup or so of water + 1 teaspoon of

minced ginger (not peeled ) and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in

the jar.  After a few days this "starter"  began bubbling, and

I brewed a "tea" of 3/4 cup of ginger + 2 cups of sugar, plus

4 tsp. of lemonade concentrate, into the 5 quarts or so of

"final" mix that you see bottled here.  The little- used shower

in the blue house is a convenient place to keep them.  

The "starter" is added to the cooled-down "tea" just before

bottling, but half-a-jar of the mix is reserved for next-batch

starter. I've found that re-used "soda pop" bottles work fine

for bottling.  One week is enough time for the ginger ale to

carbonate, but it seems "better" if left for two weeks. I started

marking my batches to keep track of them: "X15" and "X22"

are the production dates and they are batch 5 and batch 6.

Batch 5 is darker because it has much more molasses,

which I have been using to add flavor and color. 

 This week, I put a little bit of starter into a 12-oz. 

bottle of "raspberry-tea;"  I'll know how that turns

out in a couple weeks.  I have found lots of recipes

for various flavors of "soda pop," and I intend to try

out "cream soda" sometime soon.

We have been hosting "Oktoberfest" the first Saturday
for several years, usually on a small-scale.  Here are a
few of our guests arriving.  I'd say that fewer than 1/20
of families can afford to have a "personal tricycle"  here;
it is the "next step up" from just having a motorcycle.
(Motorcycle is much easier to drive, though - -)

Not-unusual table-spread, and Bernadette's newly-baked sweet-potato pie.

On Oct. 5 I "took a ride for fun" to San Remigio, a municipality about 45 miles from us, about 15 miles inland.  Note that their boundary "welcome sign" features a strawberry- motif.  The farther-inland parts of the area are quite mountainous and elevated, and well-known for being able to produce specialty crops which won't grow elsewhere.  However, these remote areas are "not for foreigners to travel," so I was content to get to their main-plaza area with the public market. Well, it wasn't "market day" + it's too early in the season for strawberries, 

but I learned a little about our extended area here and had a nice ride.

One species of palm tree has branches about 5- feet long, with long tapered leaves.  These are often folded around the "spar" and woven, to be used for awnings and shades.  They last a few months, and there are always plenty more available.  People here have a remarkable capability of making 'something' from little-or-nothing.

Colorful flowering and foliage-plantings are in every available
space, here.  I don't know what most of them are;  this bunch
is in front of a neighbor's house a few yards down the street.


I spent a couple days (parts of 2 days) at a conference
in San Jose, and this is the only photo I took, just before
dismissal.  Lots of folks here are eager to record each
passing moment (Face- Booking?) but things mostly look
the same to me from one meeting to the next.

Well, I didn't say there would be NO construction updates!

Here's what the front looks like, from the front corner of

the "yellow house."  10:46 a.m. and the large shadow  area

on the front wall shows that the 30-inch overhang above

is doing its job.  An "A"-frame roof will complete the

upstairs at some future date, blocking the view of our

water-tank tower. We expect to be able to finish-coat

the downstairs and install doors in the next few weeks;

the estimate for the windows hasn't come in yet.

Inside, the base for the cement floor was watered and
thoroughly tamped down.  We went with less re-bar in
this floor slab than in earlier ones, as it hasn't seemed
to make much difference in surface-cracking.

Interior walls will be smooth finished like the outside, and I
am determined to find and apply Styrofoam insulation panels
to the underside of the cement upper deck (our ceiling)
before finishing it;  this large slab gets about 8 hours of full
sunlight each day.  The "A"-frame upper roof will also be
well insulated, but it may be a while before it's in place.

My walk took me past this "sunset moment" one late afternoon. as a small-boat fisherman
was preparing his lights for nighttime.  The lights shining on dark water attract fish
to be netted.  Nobody uses this method in the week around full moon.  This photo shows the usual disposition of Sulu Sea, a smallish ocean body which is usually "flat as a farm pond," surrounded by land- masses.   (Yeah, I know, Star Trek - - maybe Gene Roddenberry got the name from a map - -   [Link: Sulu Sea].)

It's going to be a challenge to put next month's posting together.  I have scheduled several "distance trips" for meetings and one wedding in the next few weeks, + ,maybe a one-day trip on Thursday or Friday, as daughter Thea, Joseph + friends are asking if I want to go see Kalibo area (All Saints Day and the day after are Holidays for office workers in the Philippines).  I hope to keep the camera clicking if "new" or "different" scenes come into view.

Have a great week, and may the joys of the approaching holiday seasons utterly surpass any of the included hectic activity!  ;-)

TJ and Bernadette Larson

Antique Province, Philippines