Morning In Manila...

With my first cup of coffee in hand, I peered  from the 10th floor window of my hotel, out across Manila Bay. This was the coolest time of day and the city was still relatively quiet; not so during the day, but mornings were beautiful.
Down on the street. along the Bay Walk, a group of people have gathered to do their morning exercises...Tai Chi...I think! Others are taking morning strolls along the calming waters of the bay; Maybe, some left from the long night of dancing and partying that went on till early hours of the morning...

Looking out over the rooftops, it is a maze of laundry hanging on the line, and signs of people just beginning their day.It's going to be another hot one.

 Economically speaking, as elsewhere, some have  little left over but the people here are very hard working and inventive. If they don't have something, they seem to invent something else to do the job. Most of the people I have met are loving and, for the most part kind, and they share whatever they might have. Very generous and an absolute pleasure to be around.

Later in the day, we will go to the fish market, about a mile to the south. Always an endless selection of fish(all kinds), still in individual tanks, just waiting for someone to come along and make their choice. There is never a lack of fresh fish in Manila; And I love fish...

About three blocks in the other  direction is the huge ROBINSON Mall. This place is several stories high and has about anything you can want, and prices here(compared to the U.S) are quite cheap. There is even a KFC and Dunkin Donuts, for anyone who might be homesick.
Everywhere, there is armed security; Our hotel had armed Guards. In such a large city and so many people coming and going, businesses take no chances. Before entering, even the Mall, everyone is checked by the police, but they are nice about it, and much more polite than what I have experienced back home in the U.S..
Before I went to the Philippines I was told that people there might not like Americans  anymore.  I found out that was not the case. Like most working class peoples, we find out the problem(and dislikes) are usually the governments and politics. Politicians create problems. The rest of us just try to make a living and get by.

Later in the day, the traffic is unbelievable. Almost nobody drives in Manila(It seemed), except the Taxi and Jeepney drivers. How  they keep from constantly being in a wreck is beyond me. They drive fast; They stop fast; and seldom did I see a vehicle with a dent in it. It seems they are constantly working on their vehicles,  shining and polishing them, to make them look more appealing. They are good drivers, and cheap...
Manila is a beautiful city, but there, like so many cities, the economy is suffering and there is never enough money to fix things. Once beautiful parks run down; No money to maintain them. Many on hard times...It is heart breaking.

Although I was only in Manila three weeks, I saw so much and learned a few things, too. Things I would never had imagined or realized before; Absolutely eye opening. I learned a lot, met so many people AND experienced my first EARTHQUAKE...
 One evening, after a rather warm day I decided I would have a SAN MIGUEL Beer. I had been introduced to  this beer years before in Spain. Clear around the world(In Spain) I found myself drinking a beer, brewed in the Philippines. Never did I think that many years later I would actually be in the Philippines  drinking the same  beer...AGAIN!
 I guess I had gotten use to TWIST off tops in the U.S. and I found myself trying to twist the top, with NO good results. Suddenly, I  found myself shaking...Why was I shaking? I felt fine , but I was shaking...
Good Grief! I suddenly realized it was not me shaking, but the entire building...Oh Boy! They were having an earthquake; I was having an earthquake. In exiting the room I remembered the signs on the elevators; In case of earthquake DON'T use the elevator. The guy next door had only one leg and I ask him how he was going to get down. He told me he didn't think he could make it down 10 flights of stairs and was taking the elevator and hope to heck it made it...It did, and we all spent most of the rest of the night downstairs in the lobby. Now I know I don't care for earthquakes...AND that San Miguel requires a bottle opener...It was a trip I will never  forget...A lot of good memories...

Now in this moment, I just want to  drink my coffee and remember Manila and it's beautiful mornings

Hidden Primal...

As humans, most of us have come a long ways from what our ancestors were forced to be. We no longer live in caves, OR do we not? Our basic feelings and urges have been well clothed in more modernistic attire and a lot of names have been changed to protect our vanities, but somewhere in the back of our minds a part of us is still connected with our past...like it or not...
How many like to go camping, now and then? With all our modern conveniences  WHY do we still choose to venture back into the wild and momentarily live as our forefathers and Mothers did? Nope! We may have dressed up a bit and changed some things to make ourselves believe that we have changed, but basically, we are still the same primal creations that we were long ago.
I know, I love getting away from(so-called) civilization sometimes and hovering over a campfire for a while...Take a break and get back to the nature that I am a part of...

Don't get me wrong, because there is nothing wrong or degrading about going back to our roots, to a much simpler time when all we had to worry about was hunting or picking our next meal and , of course, NOT becoming the next  next meal for something BIGGER...

Just to go somewhere...

I guess most of us just need to get out of the house sometimes, and without any particular place to go...just drive and see what comes around the bend.
I have spent most of my life traveling, in one fashion or another. I drove a truck  for more than 40 years and have traveled the world, with the US military...and without their help. I have seen so much and met so many new and different people but it never seems to be enough. No doubt, some of us are by nature, wanderers, and like water, we need to keep moving or become stagnant and die.

When I  leave the house and venture out I try to leave everyday worries behind. I'll deal with them when(and IF) I come back. Believe me, there have been times when I , seriously, did not want to go back to the same old routine. Just keep driving and see new things. Anything different from a stationary existence that is definitely not me. I have been told that this might be considered irresponsible but do we really own anyone an explanation as to why we are, the way we are? I think to really be free we have to go  with our gut feeling sometimes and be true to ourselves.
Besides...it's only a drive in the country...Or is it???

Scattered Gold...

As often as I have been out in Gold Basin, in northern Arizona, it never ceases to amaze me how TOTALLY uneven the gold is scattered all over the place.
Normally, if gold is being carried by a running steam, the heavier water during flood stages, will carry and deposit the larger pieces of gold higher up on the banks and the bigger stuff will drop before the smaller gold will settle farther downstream, but gold basin doesn't seem the fit the pattern at all.

I have found some rather good size pieces, a bunch of smaller pieces(in the same spot) then absolutely nothing...Yes! I was stumped...until I talked to a former geologist, who told me it all makes sense IF we think back about 10,000 years ago(which he says is a short time in geological terms). He tells me that back then the entire area was under water...not a running stream as we might think but an ocean bottom. Makes more sense knowing this... I think?
Often, I have come clear up out of the washes and found more, and bigger gold than down in the wash...