Ready to Welcome a Storm

As I write this, I'm bundled in a nice thick blanket as I lounge about in my usual oversized t-shirt and jammies with aquamarine paint smeared on one leg. I got the paint smear when I was fourteen. I was putting the finishing touches on a handpainted T-shirt which I had to submit for my Art 2 class. I drew a boat with yellow and aquamarine sails much like one of the sailboats which usually participate in the city's annual "Paraw Regatta" and I accidentally smeared some of the paint on my jammies.
It is unusually cold at this time of the year, something people attribute to global warming. It has been like this since New Year's Eve. Around Christmas, the weather was not exactly tropical sunny as the rains came and went but it was not exactly cold. This went on until early morning of New Year's Eve. I remember waking up at 2 a.m. or so and reaching for a blanket. I meant to close the window but I saw that my mom had probably closed it earlier. The wind was howling outside and rain rapped at our windows incessantly. Later when I got up in the morning, clouds had started to gather in the sky and there was an almost nasty nip which the wind brought. By afternoon, it was getting too cold for comfort. The rain had turned our front yard into one muddy mess and the wind was rattling just about everything from the coconut trees to our teeth. For people like us who are pretty much used to perspiration-inducing weather, the temperature drop could almost be described as freezing cold. At this time last year, firecracker and fireworks explosions could already be heard randomly but because of the wind and the rain, who would even entertain the thought of going outside and lighting firecrackers if that were indeed physically possible?

I walked to my grandmother's kitchen and settled myself in front of the dapog (wood-fed stove) which, on usual circumstances, was not exactly my favorite place in the house. The usual festive mood had been dampened (pun intended) by one major meteorological killjoy and now, no one really wanted to leave the house when a storm was whipping its way outside into its own version of a twister party. I looked out the door and I began to consider that a stormy New Year's Eve actually seemed like an appropriate way to welcome 2009. After all, forecasts about what 2009 would bring seemed nothing short of discouraging or dismal - possible mass layoffs, global recession, Charter Change, political and economic turmoil, rise in prices of basic commodities, not to mention natural disasters which are a staple in times like this. In short, the incoming year was going to be just like what I saw outside - one major storm that was going to be stirring up lives, nations and hearts into a never-ending frenzy. The wind seemed to howl in agreement as the thought settled in my mind and started to really scare me.

As I watched my grandparents' cook chop ubod into little bite-sized pieces for stuffing into a lumpia wrapper, I realized that even if my hands were still rather cold, I was not as cold as when I was outside, sloshing through the rain. The heat from the fire had warmed my hands rather subtly and I welcomed the return of some sensation to my fingers. Dinner was served a little while later and while the wind continued to howl and the rain continued its barrage on our windows, none of the people sitting at the dinner table seemed to care. Talk and laughter went on as usual and I almost forgot that a storm was on the rampage outside our house. The storm continued its assault outside. We continued with our daily goings-on inside the house, even if we were confined to a much smaller space now. But still no one cared.
2009 may brings more tornadoes, twisters, hurricanes or squalls. It may be, as forecasters predict, a year which will break a person's spirit more than 2008. It may bring too many baggages to carry, too many problems to fend off, too many hunger pangs to ignore, too many painful nips to forget or too many storms to weather. But I guess, anything can continue to range outside but as long as you have something or someone to retreat to like a sanctuary and give you some rest or warmth, it cannot be as bad as it would seem. It can be anything or anyone - your family, your friends, your faith - anything or anyone at all which can quiet the angriest storm and temper the nastiest spirit which threatens to rip you to shreds. It is anything or anyone which/who can be your sanctuary, your stronghold, your refuge, your little stove which continues to burn brightly and quietly as the roughest of tempests rages right about outside your door.