What kind of a title is that?!!?!!!
Today for me was like a symphony -- it would reach a crescendo, have its low moments which allowed one to recover, pause a while, and take in a breath or two, then rise up again to new heights.
My reading this morning was a part of the 2nd verse of Psalm 23:
"He lead me beside quiet waters."
He really did. As I can feel truly and deeply now as I pound the keyboard.
Last night, I set the alarm for 5:01 a.m. as I estimated this will give me enough time for my morning rituals before I set off in the rented van for the 7:30 a.m. meet-up with Chiqui and Juliet near Kamuning. From there, we pick up Andy along EDSA somewhere between the MRT Ortigas station and the waiting shed near Star Mall. Our third stop will be at the Jollibee branch near the Alabang toll gate of the South Luzon Expressway. Then we will be off to San Antonio, in Quezon province.
I heard the alarm all right, woke up but fell asleep again. I woke up with a start and saw that it was 6:30 a.m.! Fortunately, I managed everything with a few minutes to spare before leaving at 7:30 a.m.
Upon boarding the rented van, I learned that the gas tank was not full as I had agreed with the owner. A bit pissed off, I told the driver about the arrangement. Without any choice, I told him to gas up but not full tank as I know we will not use up as much for the day trip.
In 15 minutes, we were at the first stop. Chiqui was her usual happy self and Juliet was her usual funny character. Seeing them washed away my earlier irritation. Crazy talk catching up on one another made us oblivious to the infamous traffic on EDSA. Soon, Andy came on board and we engaged in crazier and laughter-punctuated talk. The longer stretch and more traffic to our next stop didn't seem to matter much when Bem, Elsie, and Yolly joined the group.
At this point, the higher decibel level was really noticeable. Everyone accounted for and we were on our way!
But that was not the highest level yet. We reached a crescendo first when we arrived at Nydia's in San Antonio, Quezon, then while partaking of Nydia's sumptuous humba, talong, tilapia, spicy shrimp, green mango-tomato-onion salad, and macaroni salad. Everyone rated the humba very good. Andy berated Nydia for not enough steamed rice -- which situation was immediately rectified when Nydia brought out a bowl of brown rice.
Thinking back on how the day went, I wish I had kept a log of the very few quiet moments and the almost continuous raucous exchanges and picture-taking in the van and around Nydia's "hacienda".
Strange but in spite of the almost three-hour drive from our breakfast stop along SLEX to San Antonio, Quezon and the longer drive back to Metro Manila through the rush hour traffic on EDSA, January 28, 2015 didn't actually seem that long.
Of course, there will be singing and dance moves...
and picture-picture!Indeed, God enriches us
with precious, zany memories
by way of friends
who are one of His greatest blessings.
(Thanks for the photos, Chiqui and Andy.)
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