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| Apparently, pebbles become more interesting when you’re at the beach. It is because the wetness? If so, would a rock recently peed on by a dog be of much more interest than a rock peed on by another dog the day before? |
Summer is upon us and with it, comes the scorching heat made more tolerable by—yep, you guessed it—sunscreen! Okay. We’re not here to talk about sunscreens. We’re here to talk about water. When I went back to Dipolog after a few months of staying in Cebu, the whole family decided to spend some quality time at the beach. I stayed there for only two days since I had to go back to work the next Monday.
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| The green green grass of home. |
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| From the beach, we could see the very boat I was going to board that same evening back to Cebu. *sobs* |
So at six o’clock on a Sunday morning, the whole family headed for Galas. We gathered our supplies and loaded up the car with the essentials—water, grill, rice, eating utensils, and towels. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring matches, but more on that later.
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| The water, towels, etc. (essentials), examined by my sister (nonessential). |
The ride to the beach was not so pleasant. We had left an hour later than we planned. We were supposed to be out of the house by five, but Tatay (my father) decided to wait for the sun to show up. Unfortunately, the sun showed up late, which irritated my mother. Tatay had to explain that the days are starting later this time of the year because of the position of the earth, its angle of tilt, or whatever the heck his argument was. I was hearing science-ystuff early in the morning, which was not good for my system. Then we had to pick my still-sleeping sister from her boarding house. My father hates to wait, so another argument ensued when she got in the car. What a way to start the day! It reminded me of Jeff Kinney’s The Long Haul. Fortunately for us, there were no murderous birds in the car or a crazy family behind us. It’s a good thing, ’cause we already had enough level of crazy.
But although we had a rough start, the day went on smoothly. We got there, got a How to Cook Meat the Traditional Way lesson, and enjoyed the water. Well, 66.7 percent of us did. I wasn’t able to wade in because—as the Bible puts it—the manner of women was upon me. And my sister Faye was just not feeling it.
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| Faye attempting to do a hair flip for the camera. It didn’t turn out well. |
We chose Galas beach because it was relatively close, and it was also one of our go-to beaches when we feel the need for an early morning dip. The others prepared the cottage while my Tatay, my brother, and I went to look for a store to buy matches from. We found one, but it was still closed. Tatay was quick to comment about the fact that it was nearing seven o’clock, and the people were not awake yet. (Waking up that late in our house was a thing that would earn you contempt.) Fortunately, the owner woke up and didn’t seem pissed at all that her alarm clock was the not-so-angelic voice of my brother asking to buy some matches.
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| My father and my brother on the way back to the beach after buying a lighter. Yep, we ended up buying a lighter instead of matches. They were more expensive, which may have made the store owner’s being awakened earlier more worth it. |
Because the rest of the family was happily bathing, Faye and I were given the task to cook the meat for breakfast. We were constantly being scolded because of our incompetence. You know how it goes: “When I was your age, I could already . . . blah, blah, blah” Typical parent speech. It was hard for us to cook the meat because we kept on screaming and jumping when the fire goes crazy. “It’s because of the fat!” my father would say. Again, more science-y stuff.
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| The discovery of fire was a huge human feat, but here we are, still struggling to make one even with a lighter. |
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| Our teacher and chief chef taking a break to smile for the camera. Meanwhile, I’m doing the best I can not to ruin the only food we brought. |
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| Almost done! |
We did not fail to comment that it was harder than doing it the modern way (whatever that is), but my father made a good point: “Yes, but it’s more enjoyable this way.” We didn’t protest. Anyway, the meat turned out well, and we enjoyed the process. We ate it with the rice that came from our farm, which was really good. I think my mom enjoyed it more than the meat. Exhibit A:
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| My mother is reaching out for the next bite before she could swallow the one still inside her mouth. That’s planning and preparing at its best, people! We have to be wary of the future. |
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| You couldn’t blame my sister for taking such a huge bite in the previous picture. The meat turned out to be really tasty. |
After eating, of course we had to wash the plates. And there’s no better place to do it than the very water we had to bathe in. That’s just how we roll. I’d like to think of it as an act of conserving the resources.
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| We can’t be selfish. The dishes need to experience the water too. |
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| In the days when Instagram reigns supreme, even the dishes need to have their moments of vanity. We hope there’s no one buried in the sand. That knife is quite sharp. |
The water was not particularly good. There was nothing special about the sand. It wasn’t white, but hey, we don’t want to be racists here. It was just a normal beach, but it was fun to bathe in because you could find lots of things there.
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| We were amazed at this orange-colored sea grass that we found. We were afraid to touch it at first because it might turn out to be a sea creature or something, but upon closer observation, we found out it was a clump of noodles. We’re not the only ones who wash their plates on the beach. |
We went home tired but satisfied. Although the beach had nothing particularly special about it, it was a place I would always remember because we spent so many times there as a family. The moments weren’t all pleasant, but those imperfect moments are dear to me. I hope we can come back many more times after, and I hope that the next time, the “manner” won’t we upon me anymore ’cause having the manner upon you in any activity involving water is a bummer.
And before I forget, to give my sister justice and her dignity back, here’s a not-so-bad version of the earlier picture.
Have you been to the Galas beach before? If not, do you want to go there after reading this article? Are you sure? Write your answers on a one-fourth sheet of paper, and pass it clockwise.
It's a Ping Thing 