The Green Miles

I have been wandering around a lot lately, walking for miles as I trailed the parish team as they distributed food packs to the families living in the outskirts of the city. And since it's the dry season in the Philippines, we enjoyed lots of sunshine and blue skies with the bonus of the inspiring color of the countryside: green!🍏

Yes, everywhere my camera and I turned, we were treated to the hues of lime, seaweed, mint, olive and those that remind you of the richness of the soil and the productive hands that grow, nurture and harvest the fruits of the sun, land and water.🌞

A few times, I stumbled upon plantations of fruit-bearing trees which reminded me of the santol and mango orchard of Lola Tinay at her Hacienda Malogo as well as the rambutan trees of Tita Lud at Hacienda Dapdap, where branches of the fruit tree dangled next to her balcony so she could just pick a few whenever she wanted. No need to climb. 😊

Lola Tinay's santol trees were probably of a different variety as the fruits were reachable by adults and huge! I remember we brought home lots of them in crates and took us days to finish! 🍊

When I was still in grade school, our teacher made us understand that we, in the Philippines, are lucky because our land is very fertile. We could just throw seeds anywhere and plants would grow, he said. Desert countries, compared to us, were not as lucky.

He was right but it seems we take it for granted. We instead abuse, neglect, exploit and ruin our environment like we wouldn't someday suffer the consequence of our poor decisions.

But as I continue to roam and enjoy the breezes and colors of the countryside, I hope generations after me will be able to do the same: to walk and appreciate the green miles. 🍀