30 November 2007

Taste the dirt

Welcome.

The Bikolness, if I may call it that, is a big presence in this admixture perspectives.

Somebody asked,Why include Bikol? Why not Filipino alone?

Answers overlap -- with genes, the separate-self (self-identity/person), decisions, of spirit. How do you describe to a vegan foreigner our Pinoy fondness to eat balut (hardboiled half-hatched duck egg). Let me put it this way: a pizza pie is a pizza pie not only of the dough which is a mixture of refined flour, fat, salt, and yeast. It also consists of the topping ingredients like tomato sauce, vegetable or herb to prepared animal meat, fish or sea foods, and cheese. So Bikol, Visaya, Metro-Manila, Ilokandia, and other Philippine regions -- are like pizza toppings and inclusive in Filipino. (I'm not into nationalism here. Nationalism has become chauvinistic and is limiting.)

My Bikol survivalist gradient makes things more interesting, a sensible starting point to continue a conversation or widen to deepen aspiration(s). You would know my bioregion, culture specifically. This would offer both specific snapshots and quiet similarities with the big picture (not just Hubble). Yah -- one more interpretation of reality, fact, truth, Microsoft, imagination, or choices.

It can't be avoided really. Like producing wine or teas, the best ones are those that have "the taste of the dirt." You can taste the interactions of the chemicals in the earth, deep from the roots of the plant where it is planted. There is wholeness of the taste without toxic chemicals and pesticides, the freshness of unpolluted air and water, even smell the flowers that grow near it. You can almost see in your mind the plum vineyards or green shrubs on rolling hills, the sun rising behind a valley with serene mountains and sweet humming winds.

Yes, I am aware of my survivalist bent and mindful of it - that would be beneficial to me and to others. Of course, that took awhile in practice. And along rising thoughts to posting is filtration. (This reflective process is an enjoyable trip as well as one reason why I like writing.) Knowing what I carry is trash or harmful (Bikolnon or whatever), why not throw it in the bin? Knowing what I carry is unnecessary baggage, why not put it down? Past and present are parts of me and the heart will always remember. All these, for me, jibe with "think global, act local" and the Dalai Lama's "the universe in a single atom"

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