Monday, September 7, 2009

Daily Report: Jungle Morning and Police Brass

I've been getting up at 5 a.m. for the last 2 days, and starting work at 7. I've been telling myself for years that getting up and working betimes is the biggest key to having a good day. I remember that fact about every 6 to 9 months... and then eventually forget within a week or two. I'll try to remember for a longer period this time around... maybe even to simply not forget.

Besides: Sunrise in the jungle is a glorious thing. There is the mist that hangs in the valley air midway up the face of the nearby foothills, creating ever-darkening silhouettes of green jungle slopes, eventually fading in the distance to a deep gray sage. Roosters crow from all around the Jungle Perch, from different locations, different distances, different volumes; it's the start-the-day Dolby-sound-check aubade of every little tropical village on the planet I've ever visited. Plumes of smoke rise from behind and between the nearby corrugated roofs, signaling the first garbage burning of the day. Cough. A jeepney trundles by on the narrow street below occasionally, with its stereo turned to an almost respectful volume, playing the standard selection of love songs from the 1970's. The Catholic Church across the town square bells out the call to matins with the first light, and then plays some recorded messages about God's love over loudspeakers throughout the dawn. When the sun finally peaks over the hill, it hits the giant old mahogany trees in the schoolyard in front of me from a completely new direction than the usual evening shadows I've been used to.

Then, suddenly, across the street, somebody starts up their chainsaw motorcycle, and within the span of 2 minutes, the street below is filled with the sound of schoolkids yelling, scooters blaring, cars honking, and dogs barking, as the student population files in from all around: The noisiest part of the day. Then, only short minutes later, the school bell rings (a traditional plangent bell of olden days... not the fire-alarm brr-rrring of modern schools) officially signaling an end to the dawn. The skies clear of mist and smoke, and the day begins.

In the evening, it was off to General Membership Meeting #9 and Induction Ceremony of The Cagayan De Oro branch of The Fraternal Order of Philippine Eagles. My, my... such a weighty title, eh? It was a formal night with induction of new members (again) so a barong was the required dress. (I notice that some Filipinos have a more standard, less-sheer, less-decorative, guayabera-style shirt that they wear instead of barongs when they want to "tone it down" a bit. I might get one of those myself.) Tonight, all of the big name Eagle members of regional police and law enforcement were at the meeting: Colonel Yap, director of the NBI, Colonel Armillio, Cagayan De Oro's Chief of Police (whom I tried talking to: a laconic fellow if there ever was one), a commodore from the Coast Guard, the PNP director for Region X, and several other major law-enforcement dignitaries.

General Lomibao, national director of the LTO (The Philippines' Department of Transportation), gave the keynote address. He talked about his new plan to improve road safety in The Philippines by licensing more drivers and vehicles, enforcing better adherence to traffic laws, and collecting more fines. (Upon my meeting him during the social hour, I mentioned my own road safety pet peeve in The Philippines: The fact that people almost never turn down their high-beam headlights for oncoming traffic at night.)

Epril spent the evening sitting with the Lady Eagles. Now that she is getting to know them, she is opening up a little bit and getting more comfortable and sociable. She's a bit younger than her counterparts though, and is still quite diffident with them, as compared to her comportment with her Expatriates Ladies Charity friends. She's getting there though... in her own time.

After that, it was a nice ride home to Jasaan... and there weren't even that many blinding oncoming headlights on the road for a change. I actually enjoy my drives going from the frenetic streets of Cagayan De Oro back to the rustic environs of Jasaan. The route is perfectly staged to move me through gradually more peaceful places as I drive along: From the first few minutes of the drive on CDO's pitted and patched highway filled with speeding taxis, disco jeepneys, and filthy lorries, surrounded on both sides by dingy shop houses and slapdash factories... to the last few minutes, driving alone through the jungle in patch-lit darkness on a smooth and silent stretch of road. Back home.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why would you want to ever miss such a marvelous sight as the sunrise you described? Perhaps you would become less enthralled if you continued, each day, to view it.
YLM

adrianL said...

Hi Jil

I live in Auckland NZ and love your blog. I read it every morning and I really enjoyed your description of watching the morning coming alive. You should write a novel. It would be a best seller.

Best regards,
Adrian

Jil Wrinkle said...

Mom,

It really is a constant effort not to become inured or apathetic to my surroundings. Every home becomes mundane eventually if one stays there too long, and every moment becomes routine if one experiences it too often without a sense of wonderment and expectation. I try my best.

Adrian,

Since I write and enjoy it, of course my thoughts turn to authoring a book occasionally. But I don't know what I would write about. My life is comparitively interesting, but really without a plot or foundation for what could be called a "story." Perhaps at some point my days will experience a denouement for which a novel would be apposite, but not yet.

That, and I have no ideas for any fiction or nonfiction writing around which any kind of book could germinate. Perhaps something will pop into my head someday, at which time I won't hesitate to get started.

adrianL said...

Hi Jil.

Perhaps a novel was the wrong word and I should have said autobiography.
Your writing is compelling and gives the reader an intimate and absorbing view of your life in the Philippines and before. You literally want to turn the page. You also get to the essence of life, society, government and politics in an exotic if slightly chaotic rural environment. I travel a lot for business, once a month to Europe, the States and Asia for business and have often thought of describing the many wonderful and varied experiences I have encountered but I could not match your style and elequance.

Jil Wrinkle said...

Adrian,

Thanks again. Eloquence I may have; perspective and insight I may have; some like yourself might even appreciate this turgid prose that passes for a diary and dialectic that I churn out every day...

But a storyline, a destination, an agon, a purpose, or a meaning with which to dovetail the events of my life into a flowing work is what I lack.

But, I'm 40... at the liminal threshold of middle age. You may have to wait 20 or 30 years, but a story may yet precipitate out of all of these experiences.

Ron said...

He Jil,

I'm missing your story for September 7.

I would have expected a kind of juicy report / explanation about your judging at the Miss Bikini Open 2009, where you let some chubby girl, but with (maybe) invitingly sexy "full" panty in front, win from the really confident, slim, sexy and perfect body, local favorite?

The bayut (gays) were not pleased (but you were not alone).

Jil Wrinkle said...

Ron,

Very true: I was a judge at the San Nicholas Barangay Bikini Open this past Monday.

The fact was that I liked girl #2 best (who came in fourth). She has the cutest smile the world has ever seen, if you ask me. I had #6 running second or third in most of the "events".

Contestant #13 (the "local favorite" as you put it) actually won the first 2 events... narrowly over numbers 6 and 2, respectively. She barely lost out in the third event to #6. (We judges were shown the cumulative scores after event.)

However, in the fourth and final event — the "bikini grind" — where the girls have to go out on stage and get the crowd riled up with a sexy dance, #13 came out, did a half-hearted and rather silly little jig, and then walked off stage after only 10 or 15 seconds (compared to 2 minutes of wiggling and grinding and shaking for all the other contestants). She scored way down at the bottom in that category. At the same time, #6 was up there making the crowd go wild, doing splits and some really sexy stuff.

So, when all 4 of the events were averaged together, it was #6 who came out on top... although she was running second up until the final event. If #13 had gone out and done even a little bit more than she did in the "bikini grind", she might have won. If people aren't happy with the result, #13 had nobody but herself to blame.

And the winner wasn't chubby... she wasn't even particularly voluptuous by my definition... but she was more curvacious compared to the other girls.

Anonymous said...

Jil-
Instead of a novel, I suggest a book of essays, similar to those of David Sedaris or Spalding Gray.

Each chapter is a different story.

I happen to be penning one myself!
-Janet