A sense of evanescence

We are truly blessed here in tropical climes, as we don’t feel the trudging of the months towards another year. Raindrops may presage a storm or even a dreaded tropical depression, yet the sun shines through a few days thereafter. Then, it’s a familiar day once again – sunny or cloudy. Not so in temperate zones, where one can’t snob the entrance of autumn when leaves turn vividly vermilion, then molten gold. Nor can one obliterate the nifty air that niggles at one’s bones, a reminder that snowdrifts are not far behind. Finally, the misleading manacles of winter, when everything is blanketed with pristine white, in some areas, or treacherous sleet, in others. People then dream of summer – a summer we perennially take for granted over here.

And because we hardly have a drastic change of seasons, we glide through time in a seemingly unmindful pace, perceived by our colonizers as the “mañana” habit. As a people, we do take life as it comes with never a sense of evanescence.

Indulge me this column article, as I have just spent time at the mausoleum of my dear departed parents. A yearly tradition, I have been doing this since my mother became the faithful widow of a lovable husband and father. We would have a whole lechon for lunch on November 1. Relatives and friends would partake of the preparations my mother painstakingly put together. Papa Celing’s mausoleum then was a festive place, full of bonhomie, beautiful flowers, lighted candles, smoking incense, food, stories, even my frolicking little boys who have now their own little ones.

It became my turn to continue the tradition, when our dear Anya became older and slower. I made sure the food and drinks were there, while my mother continued to spend two days at my father’s grave. Until that final year in 2002, when she was too ill to observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Anya passed away on November 8. She will have been a decade gone next year! Life and death can be so evanescent!

I am leaving for Chicago on Monday, just four days away. It will be quite nifty there at this time of the year. Even Hong Kong, my good friend Linda Ong told me, is now getting cold. Autumn weather is my kind of cold – not the freezing confinement of winter. Chances are, we will experience quite a bit of wind chill, as Chicago is not called the Windy City for nothing. Nonetheless, I always look forward to autumn, if I ever find myself in the west during the season. Two Octobers ago, I enjoyed the pre-Halloween ambiance in the neighborhoods of my Angbetic cousins in Orange County. That time, it was pleasantly cool in California. Another Halloween just passed…how time can be so evanescent!

For fellow travelers, we know that each memory of a rare sight in a certain place, each savored taste of an exquisite dish, each evocative smell of a flower or the sea, all these combine to mould every journey into a singular piece that make up the tapestry of our lives. The first glance, the first morsel, the surprising olfactory assault, or the riveting first notes of a song will not be wholly captured in a picture nor contained in a scented box nor even remain in the synapses of our brains for long. Evanescent!

Everything can be overwhelming at first encounter, but each in turn will vanish. Like beauty. Like material wealth. Like whims and caprices. Like power and glory. Only the true realities abide in the generations – love, hope and faith.

So, travel safely and travel well. Enjoy! - THE FREEMAN