Infinity and beyond

Netnet Camomot .

LOST things are found when you’re not looking for them anymore. From keys to luggage locks. And then, there’s a black item still looking so brand new in its plastic wrap and, oh, it’s a “Star Wars” backpack. I bought that? When did that happen? Is it supposed to be a gift for someone?

There must have been a reason once upon a time for buying a particular item but years later you forget how it ended up in your closet. Talk of, It must have been a good idea at that time. Such as collecting piggies which did seem like a good idea at the start.

The ultimate goal for now is minimalism. But with all the piggies, hmmm, I wonder.

Minimalism can make you appreciate things more when they become more visible once the extras are gone. Marie Kondo’s question—“Does it spark joy?”—as the only gauge for keeping an item is indeed sound advice for the hoarder who ends up collecting every piggy she sees.

“Does it spark joy?” is also true for all other choices, from what to have for dinner to what car to buy. But buying a car may not be as easy now, no thanks to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion which has imposed a 50-percent excise tax on cars that cost more than P4 million each. If this is the year you’re buying a Lamborghini, tsk tsk, it’s too late. Should have bought that on Dec. 31, 2017. Affordable cars, except for pickups and electric vehicles, also have their own set of rates from 4 to 20 percent.

Still, if the excise tax has not discouraged smokers from their hard-habit-to-break, it will also not stop potential car owners from buying a car. This is comparable to watching “The Avengers: Infinity War”—its spoilers won’t stop the curious from indulging his curiosity.

For now, though, curiosity can be on the new list of barangay officials involved in drugs, which the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 10 was still validating as of last week. Once the name of a barangay official is there, that’s like having the word “drugs” tattooed on his forehead. And if you’ll still vote for him, aguy, good luck na lang.

Addiction to food is also bad but it’s not the kind that attracts agencies like PDEA. Summer is the best time to lose weight since you don’t need fats to keep you warm. And the weather in Pinas will never need fats to keep the body warm. Only when you’re watching a movie in a cccccold theater, but there’s the shawl to ensure the senior-moment fats remain comfortably cool.

There are times when the senior may ask, Is it the summer heat? Because it can be hot flashes. That’s the same senior who now has three pairs of reading glasses since she forgot she already had one, and later, she forgot she had two, thus, the third one. Although she still has to find out if the second pair is for reading or for long-distance viewing.

This is what happens when you’re spring cleaning and having a senior moment at the same time. While sorting out items in the bedside table drawer, you see the second pair which is a pleasant surprise, but what is it for? At least, you can still see that the empty lot across the street now has a sidewalk which has always been there but hidden under a pile of brown leaves. Maintenance people pushed the leaves to the lot and somehow we know the wind will blow those leaves back to the sidewalk. That’s how it works, you know, the circle of life.

Operative word: Maintenance. They assure things remain the same?

I’m guessing maintenance people are not merely pushing leaves; they’re pushing the leaves so they can check the drainage system in the neighborhood. “Here comes the rain again/Falling on my head like a memory/Falling on my head like a new emotion.” Working on a rainy afternoon after so many weeks of hot, hotter, hottest weather is like pushing… No, not leaves. It’s like pushing a Thanos that won’t budge. I heard someone call him tetanus. Whew. Tetanus indeed.

I don’t know if this revelation will still require a warning—spoiler alert!—since “Infinity War” is now on its third week in theaters. The young Gamora asked Thanos, “What did it cost?” He replied, “Everything.”

That’s the film’s saddest moment, when both Thanos and the audience realize that the price of power is infinity and beyond.

And, yes, I had it in my minute brain: Rice terraces, rice terraces, rice terraces. And when that scene arrived, all I could see was Thanos, and totally missed the terraces. I should have brought my reading glasses—which one, the first, second, third pair?