Morning Walk

I'm making it a habit to walk around the neighbourhood in our last remaining weeks here at PV. Today, I said a jolly 'good morning' to everyone I encountered.

There was the well-tanned athletic gentleman manning and directing the Gardenia delivery trucks - his family distributes Gardenia in the area and we'd see big vehicles parked in front of their garage every morning, delivery guys loading crates of bread into the waiting trucks.

I also saw Raquel, a graphic designer over at World Fish, catlady, and occasional IRRI shuttlemate back when I was still working there. She just brought some cat food to one of the houses with a big yard, whose owner happily accepted the kittens she fostered - collected from the strays at IRRI.

I waved hello to Mr. L, who was busily tending to the piles of biodegradable waste that he and his staff are composting for their composted soil business.

My 'good morning' was met with a semi-hostile gaze from the elderly lady sweeping her yard, wife of the equally elderly grumpy gentleman who owns and tends the vacant lot beside our rented house.

The sun was shining but there was a gentle breeze that constantly wafts around the big old trees, rustling the overgrown bushes with late-year blooms, knocking Kamias off the vine, and disturbing the procession of big red ants with leaves and assorted plant debris.