I’m no eco buff. I have trekked simple heights in the past, but nothing really spectacular – or serious- compared to those scaled by pros.
But what I do know, is that nature has always been a close friend, a confidante, a playground, a canvas that sings a melody of its own and fumbles along its innate groove which it shares with only a few.
That’s why I trod its byways and treks with gadgets kept to a minimum, perhaps a cellular phone solely for emergency purposes and for taking pictures. I don’t plug portable music players as I don’t want nature’s own song adulterated. I’d say turn the thing off and let the wind talk. It clears the mind, it soothes the soul.
And the audio experience is just one of the many experiences you get as your senses collect information all around. The cold water, the muddy earth, the smell of grass (the living one of course, not burnt and dried as some would prefer), all visceral, all cerebral, all soulful, and downright spiritual. A peak in all its majesty bows to the expanse that is, which is encompassed by indescribable glorious blanket, made suspend on nothing by the sheer will of an all powerful Creator.
The frustrating scene, though, are the attempts of the ignorant to bring their idea of fun in this area of breathless beauty. They think this mountainous bliss is perfect for an undisturbed videoke marathon. And the irresponsible, young and old alike, think that any field of green is the same as their subdivision's vacant lot dumping site.
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| Look Mommy! A stump, mushrooms and a ... styropack? |
Ely Buendia’s declaration “C.R. mo buong mundo”, (The whole world turns into one’s restroom - Alcohol) doesn’t fit drunks exclusively anymore. Sobers meet with the intoxicated on the same planes now - the plane of ignorance and apathy.
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| The Amazing Chippy Plant |
Amidst the frustration, you still can't get over Mambukal (the Big Mambo), in all its stupendous glory. These hilly ranges that, for years, kept Negros safe from storms and typhoons are so beautifully and mysteriously intertwined - are among the things that we always forget thanking the Creator for.
Somehow, a part of me wishes that the puny humans would keep on messing up with God's
fingerprints - so that they'd be in the perfect position for a gigantimous cosmic thumb squashing. But then again, that's just the vengeful me, of course.
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| 7th Falls, Mambukal Mountain Resort, Murcia Neg. Occ. |
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| overlooking Murcia |
