Tag Archives: morning

The Sound of Daybreak

1 June 2020

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I like to sleep with the windows open, especially during this time of year that it’s not extremely cold nor extremely hot outside. Besides the fresh air that comes in, I also would like to hear the sounds around us, especially in the morning when I wake up. Unlike in Manila, it’s not the sound of the speeding tricycles and jeepneys that I now hear. Though I miss the call of the taho vendor.

Here’s the sound of daybreak in our home here in Iowa (you may need to dial up the volume to hear it):

(video taken from our bedroom window at 5:20 in the morning)

PS: My wife hates it though as those noisy birds disturbs her sleep. Obviously she’s not a morning person. Good thing we don’t have a rooster!

Barn and Silo

1 August 2017

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(*photo taken with an iPhone during my morning run)

Story behind the photo:

Few months after we moved to Iowa in 2004, we were scouting for a permanent place to live in. We found a vacant lot for sale, whose front view is the above photo. We fell in love with the place and the view, a typical Iowa landscape of farm, barn and silo. However at that time, we were not ready to buy, and somebody else bought the property and built a house there. We were crushed.

I could have been waking up to this view every day! But it was not meant to be.

More than a year later, we found a house less than a mile away from this lot, with such an impressive view as well (maybe even better), which now I wake up to. To this I am very grateful.

Moreover, I can still enjoy the view in the above photo, when I go on my morning run.

Deer Run

16 July 2017

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I went out for a run in our neighborhood this morning. It was a beautiful summer day.

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As usual, I spotted many deer along the way. But unlike before, where they were too fast and scurried away before I get close, this time they seem to stand still and let me take their photo.

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There’s even two in one shot.

IMG_5206Also a mother and her fawn.

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Even the rabbits were not bounding away, as I was approaching.

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I even stopped to smell the flowers.

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Or maybe taking photos was just my excuse to stop and take a breather, in completing my 5-mile run.

And here’s one deer that even crossed my path. I was able to capture it in action.

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Just like the slogan of John Deere: nothing runs like a deer. Have a good day!

(*photos taken with an iPhone)

Hamog

25 May 2017

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Parang kumot na sumusuklob sa damong giniginaw,

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O balabal na bumabalot sa paligid kong tanaw,

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At parang kurtinang tumatabing sa araw na sumisilaw,

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Ang mga ulap na humahalik sa lupa at nanliligaw,

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Gaya ng pag-ibig na tila hamog sa pusong nauuhaw.

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(*photos taken with an iPhone during my morning run)

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Post Note: since a reader asked, here’s the English translation for my non-Filipino readers and followers:

Dew
Like a blanket that covers the shivering grass,
Or a heavy cloak that the surrounding it wraps,
Or like a curtain that veils the sun’s glare,
Are the clouds that court and kiss the earth,
Just like love is like the dew to hearts that thirst.

 

Where have all the snow gone?

20 February 2016

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Where have all the snow gone,  long time passing?

Where have all the snow gone, long time ago?

Where have all the snow gone?

Gone to melting everyone.

 

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?

Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?

Where have all the flowers gone?

Hope they’ll spring soon everyone.

IMG_2504(*Post is inspired by the seasonably warm February we are having these couple of days. It reached 60º F yesterday. Average temperature this time of year here is in the 20’s. Photo taken today from the driveway.)

 

September Sunrise

15 September 2015

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It’s been more than a couple of weeks that we have returned from our trip to the Philippines.

I have fully recovered from the jet-lag. My tracks of the mosquito bites were all gone. My sunburn have healed. The stash of the butong pakwan (watermelon seed) that we brought back is almost gone. And all that I have left are the sweet memories of home.

I miss the Philippines.

As September rolls in, heralding the end of summer, we brace for the coming cold season. Yet waking up to this beautiful morning, is not bad at all. Not at all.

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(*photo taken in our neighborhood, with an iPhone)