Ang Aga ni Ton!

Netnet Camomot

WE thought our flight would be cancelled. We woke up at 3 am on Tuesday morning, expecting to be greeted by torrential rain. But it was quiet in the neighborhood. I checked my e-mail in case there’s an update from the airline, but there was none. I also checked the flight’s status which revealed the usual. We left for Laguindingan Airport at 4 am and was only convinced the plane would indeed, well, fly when boarding was announced.

So, Agaton skipped Misamis Oriental. Whew! But we should stop saying we are blessed or feeling blessed each time this happens because a typhoon always manages to affect other places. What can you say about Agaton’s victims then, that they’re not blessed? Gosh. Talk of rubbing it in!

But I guess some people have to be assured that God is on their side, thus, even politicians would claim that God somehow convinced them to run. And when politicians say they’re running, they’re not referring to a fun run.

Life is difficult, that’s why we need all the help we can get, including divine intervention.

2018 began with Cagayanons who live in flood-prone areas evacuating again to higher ground, that’s after evacuating and going back home to clean up their houses before and after Vinta which arrived three days before Christmas. Imagine spending two of the most important and happiest dates of the year anxiously waiting for and then dealing with typhoons. If only we could remind these floods that they’re supposed to happen every 50 or 100 years as promised by some people after Sendong. Obviously, the optimism didn’t work, with Vinta flooding Cagayan de Oro again six years after Sendong, and Agaton threatening to do the same nine days after Vinta. Oh, my. There’s no rest for the weary.

It’s now possible for flood-prone areas to be flooded again despite the prayers. God has somehow spoken — that we should plant more trees, and the government should think twice in approving more mining and logging permits, and that same government has to provide financial assistance for those living in flood-prone areas to help them start rebuilding anywhere but there.

Relying too much on God while seated on a rooftop and with swirling waters around you is not faith. Faith is when you listen to the government’s advice to evacuate and treat that as God’s voice — He’s saving you from harm.

For me, things that are meant to be are easier to deal with no matter how difficult it seems. Atheists don’t believe in any god, yet they survive through faith in themselves. I’m not a scientist and I slept through all my Science subjects, I wonder how I passed and graduated, but at least I know each of us has the power to make things happen — negative thinking will give us negative results, and positive thinking will help us climb the ladder to success.

Success is not always money and power and the right connections. Hey, the right connections may not even help you when you need it most especially when those right connections don’t want to be connected with your case and won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.

Success can be contentment with what you have. Life is all about choices. If you choose to be rich and work hard to reach that point, to the extent that you don’t have time anymore for your family, then don’t ram that fact down anyone’s throat — that you’re too busy, that you wake up early for work, and arrive home late because of work. Unless a gun was pointed at your head to force you to have that kind of life, it was your choice to live that way.

And don’t flaunt that wealth once you have it. Most people won’t be affected by your flaunting, they have their own life to live. Only gossipmongers will care, they will always be looking at the grass on your side of the fence which they believe is greener than theirs, but they won’t praise that grass, instead they’ll look down on your grass to make their grass look greener.

Grass, by the way, has been legal in California, US since Jan. 1. And there’s your thought bubble asking, You mean, grass wasn’t allowed to grow on their side of the fence before Jan. 1? Hmmm.

That’s grass a.k.a. marijuana. Recreational marijuana. But it’s not an absolute legal — there are rules to be followed, such as this: Just because marijuana is legal doesn’t mean shabu is now also legal in California.

In case you’re suspecting that’s fake news, Mike Tyson will soon have a marijuana ranch. Must be some kind of a theme park, but with marijuana, and not the rides and cartoon characters, as the main attraction.

I’ve never tried marijuana and have no plans to try it now with my senior moments galore. A dormmate had a bad experience with it during our college days, warned us to never ever try, and we heeded her advice. I don’t know if we missed a lot by being too obedient. Haha!

For now, we’re not in California but in Dad’s hometown where we’re again having humba — and hamonada — for lunch and dinner. No lechon, though. It’s not fiesta time yet. But the senior moment and at least one friend are warning us about the cholesterol. So, we’re having protein shakes for breakfast. New Year’s resolution? Nah. No more resolutions for me.