Victim

we’re one of those who were victims of Ondoy’s wrath.

that fateful day was like any other rainy saturdays in our lives: woke up late as usual on a saturday… cooked pork sinigang and had ‘brunch’ instead of the usual breakfast and lunch serving… watched tv and bonded with the kids… it was the perfect picture of a blissful ‘bed weather.’

all things were under control until we felt the water rising at a little past 12. it started rising steadfastly up to hip level inside the house, which was even worse outside and at the main street. good thing, hubb and father-in-law was home that fateful saturday to do the lifting and saving and prevent ominous things to happen by turning off the circuit breaker right away (our area was spared by Meralco brownout that day so we might be electricuted if the CB was not turned off). and gladly, our house had second floor (our sanctuary), and we had only a few important (electrical) stuff that needs to be transported up the second floor.

alas, the car, which was nestling at the parking space, was not spared from Ondoy’s wrath. water filled up to steering wheel level, hence, the seats were flooded as well. the fill-up happened only within a few minutes, and subsided right away. but the damage it caused for that few precious minutes was enough to cause havoc in our financial state. of course, fixing the car entails a few thousand cash, and we cannot help but feel nauseous and sad about our fate (especially hubb who loves the car for the world). yes, our car insurance did not have the AOG (’acts of god’) provision, which could have been the best security if we had known how important it is from the beginning. 

though there were obvious mishaps, there were things to be grateful for.

first, the typhoon happened at noontime on a saturday and everyone was home.  

second, we already had brunch when the water filled up the house. a lot of our neighbors were surprised and had lunch only when the water subsided at around 3-4PM.

third, hubb and father-in-law was at the house which had the prompt sense of what’s going on and what else could happen during that time. (if i’d been the only adult at home, i would’ve freaked out heavily.)

fourth,  though water was high, it stayed for only a few minutes and subsided right away. this means less health-risk, pressure and eww-ness on our part.

fifth, we spared almost every electrical items in the house, except for my 2 precious washing machines and dryers (one i owned, and one was a hand-me-down from Nanay).

sixth, the car is of manual type and not running when the flood came, hence, the mechanical parts were spared. the electricals had few mishaps which was fixed right away by the car electrical guru in our place. the next day, hubb was able to drive and send it off to Nissan Mantrade for nspection and scrutiny. it’s working perfectly now, except for the car stereo, which will be fixed once the car guru finds time again.

all things considered, we were far better off than the nameless souls we have seen in national tv. their losses involved not just material things but far worse, the lives of their loved ones, including a broken spirit.

life goes on…

every individual has had a certain tragedy in their lives, depending on the nature and causes. like love, tragedy cannot be helped; it is a given and imposed… much as we’d like to understand why, the more we cannot because life is a great big puzzle. some are spared not necessarily because of faith, but because each of us carry a unique cross which we must bear. for some even, not bearing a particular cross is in itself a tragedy.

what’s absolute is that tragedies reveal a person’s moral fiber. in the light, it may not be as evident but in darkness and gloom, some great characters are borne to perfection, while others simply just fade away. good or bad, tragedies expose an individual’s absolute temperament in the worst kinds of situation.

moral lessons…

worse, i hear mother nature’s wail with every single beating we give her: quarrying, tree-cutting, reclaiming bodies of water, dumping of garbage, and a lot more. mother nature is starting to give us rough spanking year in and year out as natural calamities become worse each and every year. mother nature is getting tired of our selfishness, abuse and utter disregard for her gifts. unless we stop and purposefully do something about mother nature’s health, she will continuously scourge us to the pits. 

the cliche is: THERE IS NO BETTER TIME TO ACT THAN NOW.

sadly, i still have no idea where to start…