Last summer, our family was blessed with the chance to spend days seeing beautiful places in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. Swimming on the lovely beach in Pagudpud and strolling and collecting colorful stones on the shores of Badoc, I couldn't help but marvel once more at the genius of God, the great artist, for His masterpiece called the Earth. I came to the point of wanting to relocate in Ilocos! After all the excitement died down, however, I found myself still longing for my hometown of San Francisco in Quezon Province. Indeed, home is where the heart is! We were there, too, just before leaving for the North - and savored the beach and my mom's cooking. How wonderful it was to be like a kid once more, asking, "What's for lunch, mom?" instead of me being asked the same question by my rambunctious eight-year-old boy. Ahh, the goodness of being home with my folks, relishing mom-cooked food and feeling the breeze by the beach and warm sand beneath my feet..how much better could life get? I thank God for those moments of bliss.
Clockwise from top left: Dusk by the beach; breakfast of longganisa, fried egg and fried rice; a bowl of salted calumpit; my son drawing on the sand at sunset; me, my son and niece at the seashore.
