Summer is Here, Why is it Raining with Memories?

I love summer. Sometimes I wish we had four seasons here in the Philippin es, because my real favorite season is spring for its Cherry and other blossoms. But then again I also love autumn with the wild burst of orange and red leaves contrasting against the vast blue sky. But alas, in the
Philippinesthere is the rainy season and the hot summer season. March signals in summer, and along with it, the dry humid air, the intense gaze of the sun which gives me a sudden longing to head for the beach.
Summer reminds me of happy days of youth, when school is over, and we would play in the afternoon, make ice candies from mango, cook polvoron, pretend to be asleep so we can eat our merienda. I remember turon in the afternoon, or kamoteng kahoy. I remember playing with cousins in the province, we would walk the narrow lane of rice fields and play in the grass. Our uncles would get us our fresh buco straight from the coconut tree, and I remember we would all sit down and listen to stories told over and over again.
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When I was in elementary I remember cotton trees in Lola's land, and in mischief, my cousin Dondon and his brother Tonette and I would go to a house where they keep the hens-a-laying. It used to be a house that just became a shack so they kept it to house the "chicken". We would go inside in the middle of the day and watch the hens lay their egg. We saw the egg turn from being luminous to its hard white shell. We would volunteer to get the eggs, and giddy with excitement we did this with glee.
I remember Lola's old kitchen where she didn't have gas range or ref, but had an old banga where the water was cold and sweet. Then there was the restroom made from bamboo. The house was elevated from the ground and to get to the restroom, we would have to cross a walkway connecting the kitchen to the restroom. It is nature at its best. The Andrade's shit falling from 4 meters to the ground, while the rustle of the bamboo leaves keep you company and the smell kind of mixes in with the whole nature theme. It doesn't sound so bad, now that I remember it. Natural, that is the term,thank you very much.
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There was one summer I was asked to go visit my mother's relatives in the boondocks. Quite literally. Lola's land is high up in the mountains, and the tricycle could only climb to a point. So we had to hike our way up to San Isidro. What I remember from this visit is that teenagers and young adults anticipate summer and fiesta because of the bayle, or the dance. The dance means getting dressed for it. But it also means going down the mountain to get to the other side of the mountain. I kid you not. My cousin dragged my Manilena feet one night, with my teased hair and acid dry jeans and high cut rubber shoes, we went to another baranggay. There is a boy there (there's a point to my story,you see), of course. After the dance, it was already early morning and we had to sleep in this friend's house. Then upon sunrise, we rose , ate breakfast,then climbed up the mountain again to go back to Lola. I vomited my breakfast. Again, I kid you not.
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There was also one summer when we went to another cousin's place and they had a plantation of watermelons. They ran in the ground. But we were running and stepping on them I think, and I remember just running faster as the farmers were scolding at us.
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I have etched in my memory my BAHAY KUBO story. There was a little thatched house we visited one summer, and this little house was surrounded from every corner with plants. There were pineapples, lots of it (after all it was in Amadeus,
Cavite),vegetables, spices, chickens-hens I should say, pigs, dogs, cats, and lots of little children. Our Lola Fely brought us there, and my cousins and I ran around and around the bahay kubo, and played with our relatives' kids. We were just amazed to see such a space, and such a life, so different from cramped Sampaloc to this wonderful heaven. I was at age 10, I think, and what I remember are our faces filled with smiles, and sweat pouring down our our tiny faces, but with twinkles in our eyes.
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Summer doesn't have to involve Disneyland, it doesn't really matter if we had expensive meals or stayed at hotels. It doesn't take a lot to make a child happy. And these memories last a lifetime. I've reused these memories again and again, and I can't help but smile. Last week, my cousins and I got together once again. Sheryl has a cute little boy now, Dondon has 5 and his wife is pregnant for the 6th (they are all boys). Charry has Kayla, and Theo, this mischievous Bosconian, will have another child, a boy to carry the Iman family name. How time flies. No matter what, we must keep the children happy with the memories of summer.