the first photograph of snow

"sito, it's here!" my wife excitedly typed at the other end of our internet chat. "snow! it's starting to fall now. oh, it's getting very cold here."

"how is it? is it soft, powdery?" i asked her. this is my chance to get a blow-by-blow account. straight from my wife's lips. the  way she experiences it.

"oh, i dare not go outside, it's so cold," she repeated. and she monitored the temperature for me. -5 degrees, -6, -7. she stopped at -12 degrees. wow! that cold? "i'm wearing layers of clothes. i'm glad somebody lent me some thermal underwear and boots." 

"well, please be careful. take care of yourself," i reminded her, "i heard this thing about frostbite when the body's cartilaginous bones become brittle due to extreme cold and simply break off." i smiled to myself imagining how my wife will look without her ears and her nose. ears and noses have cartilaginous bones.

"could you take a picture?" i asked her.

"i told you, i don't want to go outside! it's so cold out there." she shot back. "if you want i'll open my laptop's camera and i'll point it at the driveway. it's starting to be covered by snow." she volunteered.

"okay, go," i agreed.  she went to where i can have a good view of Mother Nature's cold blanket. and voila! i did it! my very own photograph of snow. the tree in the foreground is bare. i don't want to be in her position right now. in my mind, i thought, this should be the time when this tree should cover herself with leaves, layers of them, like my wife's clothing, so she can fight off the cold. but, Mother Nature has her own rules. and the  ground, it is all white now. where are the grasses? the shrubbery? it looks lonely out there, what with the slowly creeping blanket of white.

"it seems the sun has hidden herself since the snow had started falling," my wife commented, "there's barely a hint of sunshine. i'm sad for the children. they cannot go outdoors to play. yet, they say christmas time is not exciting without the snow. this is really the time of the year when she comes."

well, there is no perfect place. here in our country we complain of dust and heat and rain. in other countries, people might complain of not getting enough sunshine and of being cold. this is the nature of this world. we are challenged to be able to exist under different circumstances: heat, cold, rain, snow, sunshine, moonshine, wind, bare trees, tall grasses, dust, dirt, grime, opulence, need,  rich, poor, greed, benevolence, even blind justice. our mission is to master the circumstances that we find ourselves in. to rise above them. these circumstances are opportunities given us to express our full potentials as man, and as divine beings.

and so, we must always bear this in mind. the outer man might be suffering because of the cold blanket of snow, but, if one thinks deep and goes inside one's self, one might find that the inner man, the divine spark in him, is benefiting from this cold, from this loneliness, from this lack of sunshine, and is being helped to grow, to learn, to express its divinity.

" to effect the quality of day is the highest of all arts". this was by henry david thoreau. i could not agree more. for me, this means elevating every day of one's life towards an expression of the divine spark within him. to find a hint of perfection in an imperfect place.

"sito," she typed, "i think snow is somewhat powdery, or fluffy, or feathery."

there. i'm glad my wife summoned an ounce of bravery to touch snow for me. and i smiled contentedly.

i always thought it to be so.

azkals revisited

the philippine azkals, they took to the field again. this surprising band of men. they are now in the semifinals of the suzuki cup. a feat never before achieved by any philippine national team for football. they are nursing a 1-0 loss to the indonesian team which is as talented as they are. the azkals are playing the indonesian team for the second game of their semifinal match. they are in the indonesian turf and the indonesian people are very supportive of their national team. i could not believe the number of people who watched the first game and the deafening roar when that lone goal was scored. given the unpopularity of this sport here in the philippines, i doubt if we can muster the same number of people if the games were held here.  incidentally, i read a news report that our country does not even have a single football field that meets the requirements of a standard  playing field. so there, that's another reason why the azkals feat is considered a magical run.

they played their hearts out again during the second game. but, it was repeated. the indonesians scored the lone goal again. much as they tried, the azkals were never able to score. so it had ended. the magical run. they will never reach the finals. the indonesians will. and their  people's collective roar inside the stadium was even more deafening than during the first game.

life is actually like this, what had happened to the azkals. i have personally experienced this as i am sure a lot of people did. one finds one's self in generally a good run, bucking life's tests and trials,  evading pitfalls and traps, having a "magical run", and anticipating a good finish, confidence level at the utmost peak. and then, from out of the blue, comes this great kick, and one finds one's self crashing in defeat. ego bruised. confidence deflated. the question is if one has the ability to bounce back. if he has, then good for him. he will have another shot at life's success cup. if he cannot bounce back from defeat and lets the bruised ego trap him in self pity then bad for him. this is the reason why old Sages say one's greatest foe is one's self.

the azkals will go home now. will the news organizations still cover them? will their impressive feat in this tournament  awaken the sleeping gods of philippine sports and turn their benevolent eyes to help the sad plight of philippine football?

i just hope that even if they were not able to advance to the finals, the azkals will still be given the honor and accolade they so richly deserved.

as i write this, there is this nagging fear in my heart, because in the philippines, asong kalye or street dogs are caught, and sold, and more sadly, butchered and cooked into adobo, the popular national dish, to be consumed during drinking jousts where intoxicated, opinionated men take turns recalling their delight in watching the azkals win their games and confidently predict who manny "pacman" pacquiao's fists will hammer into submission next.

old Sages say one's greatest foe is one's self ...

azkals

this is just a short something for this band of gallant, talented Filipinos.  they are our national football team. honestly, this is the first time i became aware of them. for the past weeks, they were able to get themselves covered by a lot of news organizations. they performed well in their scheduled games for the suzuki cup and actually had managed to earn a spot in the semifinals.  i think this is the highest place ever achieved by a Philippine football team up to this time. well, this is a basketball-crazy country and football is at the bottom of an average Filipino's list of his favorite sports. i'll bet if you ask someone you meet on the street what his favorite sport is, you will hear basketball, then boxing, billiards, chess, bowling. but, never football.

the team name is so appropriate -- azkals. short for asong kalye in the vernacular or street dogs in english.  like these runaway dogs of the streets, i know they feel abandoned, unrecognized, uncared for. unlike most of the rest of the world, filipinos are generally never too excited over football. even the most recent world cup never raised much of a frenzy among filipinos. so a lot of us really were surprised to hear news of this unknown band of men scoring wins against teams that have more solid national support. now, they have been noticed. they are now being recognized. soon, they will be cared for and supported. soon they will no longer be asong kalye or street dogs.

well, it is always like this. great odds always elicit great efforts at heroism and gallantry and achievement. the drive for excellence compels one to extend one's self over and beyond one's capabilities. as that popular song goes -- " to reach the unreachable star." the problem is not that the star is unreachable, the question is how one will be endeavoring to stretch one's self to try to reach it.

the problem is not that the True Self is not unknowable, the question is how man will be willing to know It. how one will devote effort and time to do it. the odds are tremendous. the outer world has lots to offer to sidetrack man in this heroic,  gallant, and brave quest. the old Sages say the world is a grand carnival and we are captives of its impermanent delights. it is difficult to escape.

knowing our true selves will not give us glittering suzuki cups or world cups or adulation of millions of  fans. knowing our true selves will give us freedom.

to date, the indonesian team has stopped the azkals unbeaten run in the tournament, 1-0. but i am confident the azkals are tough.  street dogs are like that. they never give up easily. they will use their street wisdom to survive. and it is not the need  for recognition or adoration that drives them.  it is the desire to prove they are far more than what they are thought to be -- just a so-so Philippine team for an unpopular sport.

this in itself is also freedom.