Dashing in a sleigh

By Netnet Camomot

BACK to work. There’s no rest for the weary. It was already back to work on Dec. 26, the more it’s back to work now.

So, do you have 20/20 vision now? After all, it’s already the third day of 2020. You’ve run out of excuses of not having that vision. 

For some, 2019 was the worst year. I can also enumerate my worst years but all of them proved to be sources of Realization 101, so, they all became learning experiences. 

For a year to be best or worst depends on one’s perspective. There’s this Garfield poster where he’s fighting off wild dogs, and he says something like, 50 years from now I’ll look back to this and laugh. That’s Garfield, the lasagna-loving cat. He would have been happy as the family’s special guest since we had spinach lasagna for noche buena and meaty lasagna for media noche. Hehe.

Caterers and the suki lechonero became busy once Christmas parties started to occupy everyone’s calendar of Christmas activities, although Cagayan de Oro’s downtown traffic might have discouraged some potential partygoers from going to each party invite. But surely they still had the energy to indulge in Christmas spirits, er, in the Christmas spirit at midnight when there was no more carmageddon to stop them from a morning-the-night partying.

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to diet and recuperate from hangovers. Hic. The only Christmas spirits I had was wine. No thanks to the coughs. I didn’t even have diet soda. For dessert, only the not-so-sweet kakanin would do. 

There’s this tradition of exchanging gifts at exactly 12 midnight. The morning after, we all had eye luggage due to lack of sleep. So, we spent Dec. 25 in bed, only waking up for brunch and dinner which were, of course, the leftovers from the noche buena. 

By Dec. 26, my burps still tasted like lechon paksiw, dinuguan, braised beef and tendons, baked fish fillet, and spinach lasagna. The veggie salad and Chinese lumpia could not survive as leftovers after 24 hours. 

For dinner on Dec. 26, it was back to fish, sautéed veggies, and bananas as we prepared our fats for another round of red meat on New Year’s Eve.

So, kumusta na ang New Year’s resolutions? Or have you already lost your list? Hmmm. This list may help you recall: spring cleaning, stop checking out Facebook, go vegan, stop playing video games, avoid toxic people, simplify, and always ask, Does it spark joy? 

Since I’ve stopped making New Year’s resolutions, you may borrow that list and adopt it as your own. But even without resolutions, your gut instinct will always lead you to where you should be. 

Politicians, however, don’t have the time to listen to their gut instinct amidst the noise from people who are desperately ramming their vested interests down any politician’s throat. Vested interests that may require the use, misuse and abuse of the national treasury to make their dreams come true. 

The current administration has only about two years left to run the country. They’ll be campaigning by the end of 2021, that is, if they haven’t started campaigning yet. If President Rody Duterte will continue to enjoy high approval ratings—87 percent for the last quarter of 2019—then sure-na ang victory for him and his candidates in 2022. Puera buyag?

CDO, er, CdeO will also have its own changes in 2022 as Mayor Oscar Moreno will return to his childhood hometown, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, from where he may run for governor again. His most likely opponent will be Gingoog City Vice Mayor Peter Unabia who used to be the province’s first district representative. As you can see, it’s never too early to prepare for one’s political future. I gotta feeling politicians could not even have an absolute R&R during their Christmas break as they and their minions continued to plan for that future. 

The non-politician was also planning for his own future when he rushed to city hall to pay for his discounted real property taxes for 2020. With only two working days left after Dec. 25, and the neverending and nerve-racking traffic that went along with the season, it was like, “Dashing through the snow / In a one-horse open sleigh” as he rushed from collecting to paying in one day. Phew.