The rooster and the scent of my youth

Sampaguita (Arabian Jasmine)

The excitement of having a tiny front space and a little backyard energized Brack to plant shrubs, vines, and semi-dwarf fruit trees. Amongst the firsts he planted were a couple of “Sampaguita,” (Arabian Jasmine) I got from Lowes. Sampaguita is the Philippines' national flower and one of the three plants/trees dearest to my heart, the other two were Rosal (Ever Blooming Gardenia) and Ylang-ylang. The first two existed at my grandparent's yard while two or three Ylang-ylang huge trees shaded my godmother's backyard which is adjacent to my grandparent's backyard.

These trees and its flowers hold innocent and happy memories of my youth. In grade school, I used to pick Sampaguita, make leis, and together with Rosal flowers sell them to neighbors for some change I used for school money the following day. There were times I'm lucky to pick Ylang-ylang by the fence and sell it too. Rosal was my grandfather's favorite. He worked wonders with its leaves, my grandfather played good music with it. I recalled he became a finalist at this contest but lost to someone who played music using a saw.

How I missed those days living with my grandparents. I would never forget it, in fact I want to relive them, if I can.

Now that I'm living in the Valley, somehow I am re-experiencing those moments. The lush vegetation, the mountains, the breeze of air in early evenings – reminiscent of the scent of air in my hometown. The rooster that crows at dawn, no one can imagine the happiness it brings me to hear them again after missing it for 11 years.

Rosal (Ever Blooming Gardenia)

In our backyard, I wondered why the builder would highlight this small unattractive plant with Malibu light. A few months later, tears fell from my eyes when Brack called me and showed me it has flowers. It is a Rosal. I sat and leaned forward to smell the flowers. Immediately, the memories went back, thoughts of my grandfather and everything else.

I told my teenagers the story of the flowers and my school money. A past I regret they didn't have the chance to experience. Treasures of real happiness no high-tech gadgets today could bring.

The Mini-Plum Tree

Peaches

Weeks back I picked mini plums from our backyard...today peaches.