silenttomato

Lessons on a wrong road turn

                My “map quest” read that my travel of 1.33 miles would only take 4 short minutes but I had been driving for about 30 minutes already without a sign of the street I was supposed to go to. Panic. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, otherwise I would have ended in the right place 30 or so minutes ago. There were more cops on the road today than the days before, they couldn’t have chosen a better time (oh well…..). I picked up the phone and decided to make a call but before I could speak my on-call navigator laughed. After 30 more minutes of circling around, I arrived unscratched, shaken and breathless. 

                 I really don’t know what my lesson’s supposed to be. I refuse to believe that this experience happened in order to teach me not to drive around without an “experienced” companion.  However, this is what I learned when I made that wrong turn: Mistakes are inevitable, but with each wrong turn that we make…we learn, we should not punish ourselves for every wrong turn we make, we should not stop looking for THE (pronounced as “thee”) right turn. This will definitely not stop me from traveling....I think I’ll buy myself a good car compass and be on the road  again.

Bluff lake and the sesame street song

The place was breathtaking. The sun was just about to set when we arrived at bluff lake in a refuge known as Noxubee. Summer solstice (Latin for the sun stands still), the longest day of the year and the official start of summer happened on the day we decided to hit the road again…how perfect. The sun, beckoning us to come and join him dance with the sky was absolutely irresistible. In the distance, a flock of white birds (possibly pelicans) were nesting on untouched greens.. if I wasn’t with company I would have cried. A couple of people got their fishing rods out, some just wanted to enjoy the calmness of the lake, others…like us…just enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation. I had a great time…not just because of Mother Nature’s awesome display but also because of the fact that in the midst of all the natural problems the world is facing…we still have places we can go to for refuge, we still have unspoiled places we can just appreciate.

    A guy fishing in the distance called us and said to look yonder…a crocodile/alligator was lazily swimming nearby…This was the closest encounter I had with a crock in its natural habitat. I suddenly remembered, the song from sesame street about the king alligator who had 7 children lined up to replace him as king. It was really not good to recall that song at that particular moment… :)   (7 alligator children? Scary, scary thought)

    The sun had already set when we decided to leave…as we left the place, I had thoughts of returning. The next time though, I’ll be armed with my fishing pole, a fishing license, some bait…and the lyrics of the alligator king song from sesame street….

The Alligator King

Music and Lyrics by Donald Hadley/William Luckey
(c)1971 Sesame Street, Inc. (ASCAP)

One two three four five six seven!
Said the Alligator King to his seven sons,
"I'm feelin' mighty down.
Whichever of you can cheer me up
Will get to wear my crown."

His first son brought seven oyster pearls
From the bottom of the China Sea.

The second gave him seven statues of girls
With clocks where their stomachs should be.

The third son gave him seven rubies
From the sheikdom Down There Beneath.
The King thought the rubies were cherries,
And he broke off seven of his teeth.

The fourth son tried to cheer him up
With seven lemon drops.
The King said, "I'm sorry son,
Since that ruby episode, I just haven't got the chops."

The fifth son brought the King perfume
In seven fancy silver jars;
The King took a whiff, and he broke out in spots
'Cause it smelled like cheap cigars.

The sixth son gave him seven diamond rings
To wear upon his toes.
The King snagged his foot on the royal red rug
And crumpled up his nose.

The seventh son of the Alligator King
Was a thoughtful little whelp.
He said, "Daddy, appears to me
That you could use a little help."

Said the Alligator King to his seventh son,
"My son, you win the crown.
You didn't bring me diamonds or rubies, but
You helped me up when I was down.
Take the crown; it's yours, my son.
I hope you don't mind the dents.
I got it on sale at a discount store-
Cost me all of seven cents!"
Seven!

Transcribed by Luis A. Matias

free international entertainment

brand new day… smell of freshly mowed lawn on a sunny saturday morning really lifts my spirit up. I looked at the clock and realized that indeed the lawn has been mow-ED (that is….with an E-D!)…I woke up late… (probably that’s why there was too much sunshine streaming down my window). The aftermath of last night’s “thank God it’s friday” gathering was starring at me..calling me to please place them inside the laundry basket. I had fun last night… two of my friends ( a Japanese and a Korean) were quarrelling over the price of how much the Japanese guy spent for preparing a dish of fried rice with crab meat! It was the most hilarious dialogue I’ve heard in years, english being the medium of the debate made it even more entertaining. In the  background, you could hear the snicker of a Cambodian who was secretly pigging out on a kimchi pork dish and the giggle of a Surinamese guy who got groggy over a few glasses of grape juice. I being a spectator, was enjoying the free international movie showing…. Free pass, free laugh, free entertainment.:)

wassabe for my mussels

what is it with mussels?? You eat them raw your stomach yelps, you eat them cooked your stomach crunches even more. Eating a dozen or so last night, plus shrimp cooked in every style you can think of, crab salad and a couple of other seafood hors d'oeuvres  might have been the cause of why I don’t feel well today. I could justify however, why I went on a looney seafood binge last night…..I terribly miss home. Though I feel like my insides are revolting once every 10 minutes, my soul though is happily satisfied. Pass me more of that wassabe for my mussels please….

Roker on the road

 “I like traveling and I hate staying….”

    When summer season started I promised to bury myself in research, with all coursework out of the way I was determined to just slave away in the laboratory. I started the very first day after finals, with high spirits and an ounce full of passion to learn something different, I arrived to discover that almost everybody took the week off to rejuvenate and relax! I was stunned…. more than that however, I felt sad. Have I become the person I abhor? Have I become a workaholic?? the answer is “yes”...but I being the stubborn person that I am denied it for sometime. Then came the turning point of my summer…I had to do something… like many people who realized it way before me… I decided to be like roker… a person always on the road. My initial motto of “ work your ass off” suddenly became “ explore every nook and cranny of this so so world”. Now, my passion comes from traveling to different places..and learning different things… there should be no avenue left unexplored or an experience left “unexperienced” afterall, life is too short to just keep yourself in close company with flasks, beakers, and instruments as your buddies. With this, I hope I’ll be able to take the word “workaholic” out of my vocabulary.. It’s just so not me..:). “work- with-a-lot-of-fun-in-between-aholic” sounds better.