my other space

This is my 4th office.  This is where I work as a reseacher and writer.  Right outside are children talking about projects, girls whispering about the boys in their class and birds chirping the latest in air and landing spaces just further beyond the corridor.  I am surrounded with books and children making noise while their teacher tries to keep them on their task.

The best place for distraction and focus is within this four walls of the Discovery and Learning Resource Center where I hole up to concoct and write ideas. At the moment,  I have French Musique playing in the background and it can be very inspiring. 

I see a quaint cafe someday, serving iced coffee and chocolate, biscuits and scones just right outside where some girls are sitting on the floor.  That is a very yummy idea.

a very decent space in one corner of a very busy library

photo take by Brianna Abellera G3

a regular day inside the library

the grill work outside my window

Oh Jose

There is not enough space to breathe with awe each time this little person does something absolutely different from his brilliant brother, Jacob.  It is our fault that we sometimes take him lightly because he can make things look groovy and rock n'roll when we are serious over things that are actually funny. He makes us realize things differently.

A year ago, before his Kuya's 5th birthday, he surprised me with his uncanny way of "reading".
I gave Jacob the first letter clue to the gift I was going to give him while we all lay on the bed ready to sleep. Jose was seeminglyl unmindful of our conversation.

Me:  My gift for you starts with the letter "h" (and I sounded the letter).
Jacob urged me to say the next letter and I said "a" then the third which was "m".  As I gave the sounds of the three letters for Jacob to figure out, Jose turned to his other side to face us and nonchalantly, said "ham-ster".

This dude is not a conventional reader.  He never paid any attention to the first attempts of his teachers and parents to teach him how to read, the way he was not paying attention to colors before he started on his own to identify the spectrum of colors.

He baffled us many times whenever he'd come up with puns.  Ordinary words were given a new twist and a funny meaning.

"Wear your brief now Jose"!
"Corned brief?" he'd retort.

Anyways,  laterly, he baffles me with his different approach in drawing.  While he gingerly plays with a pencil and tentatively makes marks on a paper, his imagination would start to work as he sees the figure that emerges.  You can imagine how a snake would evolve into a robot with more angles that he would accidentally draw.  Really.  Not much ado!

Today, his left hand and fingers are more coordinated with his eyes and his brain.  He is very happy to draw a lot!  he can now summon his hand to create what is on his mind.

http://instagram.com/p/cC2MuOuw_Z/

He can go on and on tranced and impassioned.

http://instagram.com/p/cC0LrNOw7m/

A priceless find

We often ask ourselves at the end of the day, what for is all these? 

 I thought that I had been hogging this beautiful letter for such a long time now.  here is to share with comrades of the trade.

 As I have witnessed my students grow,  their parents grew before my eyes too.  Some came with nothing but dreams and hopes for their children.  Others came with plans and a handful of expectations.  The wiser of the lot know that their children will benefit more from discovering themselves through the challenges that they meet growing up in a school.  In the end, everyone would agree that we can destroy our child's life plan if we meddle too much.

We live our lives in full view of our students or children. Without words, we teach through example. Perfection is not a prerequisite.  the desire to be and to reach the ultimate good would be more than enough. 

And if we still believe as parents that our child's path should be lined with roses, and the air they breathe must be infused with perfume, then maybe we are not being realistic.  We can perhaps close our eyes without a heaving sigh but rather with a contented smile if we know that our child can wipe the sweat upon his brows and be alright to face himself once again when the morning comes.

thank you.  it was a pleasure having your child join our trip to a better world.

Summer's Eye View

 May 20-June 5, 2013

 While we missed Antipolo, we also had a good time on the other side of the earth.

a shot at the famous golden gate

family reunion at Concord

meeting Lily Pad for the first time

my brother's garden in Stockton

we went for a walk to a beautiful Japanese garden after a hearty lunch

believe it or not!  this is a 20 year-old pair of Indian moccasin walking the streets of San Francisco

 Ta-ta!  to Oaksville Grocery next time.