Christmas

[levity]

Well. My Christmas went well. I was reluctant to have it in Manila, but here I am, enjoying the break, as much as one can enjoy the break after the school decided to fill it in with requirements I have been complaining about for all eternity and procrastinating for almost as long....

Belated Merry Christmas to all I have not yet managed to greet, and to everyone else as well. Paulit-ulit ata mga Christmas greetings ko. Merry Christmas in particular to Migo Echiverri and Gian Dapul, who are both abroad and therefore cannot be texted.

Well. Christmas was weird without the Mass at the gym and the after-Mass gathering at my home in Pangasinan, but it went well anyways. True, it was weird to hear Mass inside a church and not in the DWAD gym (where midnight Christmas Masses are held since the church can't accomodate the people), and to be celebrating the holiday with my mother's side of the family and not my father's, but it went very magnificently all the same. We even held a party the day after, but not at our house.

The city sky was calm and gray due to pollution. Occasional gentle winds swirled around the house, carrying the particular smell of the cockatiels and budgerigars whose home was also this humble bungalow where a family was gathered for a Christmas celebration. Chatter, laughter, and the cheery chirping of the birds rang in the air, once in a while mixing with the voice of whoever dared to sing on the karaoke. The members of the family talked and laughed and teased each other as if there was no end to the day. Happiness hung in the air with the smoke and laughter and budgie feathers. Happiness- something so great and simultaneously so unnoticed. It is only when one lacks it that one learns that no blessing compares.

 
Hm... I still seem to think that I can write... Or that I can learn how to....

And, an aside:

Did you know that in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, there is a school named Wonderland School...

.... and one named Edna's School....

.... and one named Cherished Moments Integrated School....

.... and one named Mother Goose Special Schools Systems Incorporated?

Bet you didn't. And I bet you're a lot worse off for learning.

Advanced Happy New Year to you all!