At my father's house in his hometown, there are countless sineguelas trees. Or so I thought as a kid. Coming home to the city, I used to think the memories of being in my father's hometown were a dream. The place was so different from the city. It was calm, peaceful. It was magical.
All grown-up and armed with a new smartphone, I captured as much as I can of the place during a particular visit. The sineguelas trees weren't as many but they still offered cool shade. I'm not as crazy for their fruit as I was when I was a kid. Now, I'd rather just sit on the bench my father made under a big sineguelas tree beside the house.
My family said my grandfather planted the trees around the house. I was named after him (Glecerio) but my memories of him are blurry and unclear. But the trees he planted lives on and they are as clear as the sunrays they filter.
The house did not have electricity for many years. It was so dark at night and our natural alarm clocks were roosters crowing outside. Waking up and going outside the house was painful for the eyes because the early morning light became blinding after sleeping so long inside the dark. I would squint my eyes until they adjusted to the light and I would see my grandmother feeding the chickens with what I thought was corn.
Early mornings also meant the dew and fog. During this particular visit, my mother woke me early in the morning to bring our laundry to our neighbor who had access to the water supply lines. We already have lights in the house and going outside was not painful for my eyes anymore. The walk to our neighbor's house gave me astonishing views of the rising sun, the plains below, and the rising fog. Painful eyes or not, I always look forward to waking up early when I'm at my father's place.
Flower fields are scattered around the place and during the trip to our neighbor, I saw a field of Ruellia--violet flowers looking up from the ground. Squatting to the ground, I took pictures of the flowers. I still did not know how to use the macro lens of my phone and I just pointed and shoot.
These violet flowers remind me of times when happiness could be achieved by doing simple and silly things. These plants have popping pods. As kids, we would take out the brown pods, put them in the water, and wait in delight for them to start popping and exploding. It's a way for the plant to spread its seeds. It's also a source of a kid's excitement.
My father spent some time away from us and stayed in his hometown because it was good for his mental health. He made himself busy by raising animals. I saw the goats in their pens. They all looked at me with their lazy and unfocused eyes when I was taking their pictures. One particular goat looked at me and seemed to smile.
My father also had cows but I didn't get to take pictures of them. Instead, I took pictures of a Carabao and its calf grazing under the shade while we were wandering around. My father and my aunt had dogs and cats. I found them to be quite thin because they did not have enough food to eat. They were only given leftover scraps. It's a bit sad that only the livestock was given a lot of food and the dogs weren't. But there wasn't much food to begin with at my father's house. Too bad dogs can't digest leaves.
The views from the house are not spectacular but just a few dozen steps, you are offered with the best vistas, the best views you could hope for. As a kid, I didn't really pay attention to the views. They were just vibrant green backgrounds to a place where I could run around nonstop and not worry about vehicles on the road.
The house is located on a tall mountain and we used to go there on foot from the main highway where the bus would drop us off. There were no cars or motorcycles back then that could bring us closer to the house. I used to think my father's place was extremely far and I would dread the trek going there. But it was an exaggeration. I've trekked farther and more difficult trails through the years.
I could look anywhere, point-and-shoot, and capture amazing landscapes one after the other. During this visit, my younger brother wanted to visit a particular spot. We wandered around trying to find it but didn't find it. Instead, we (re)discovered the views we so innocently disregarded when we were young. Now, looking at them brings so much awe, wonder, and magic.
The other half of this Amazing Nature blog will show more magical moments such as The Vistas (continued), The Cornfields, The Path to the River, and The Waterfall. My father's hometown is located in Busogon, San Remigio, Cebu, Philippines. It's a town with rolling mountains and long shorelines. It's full of magic.
And that's it! I appreciate your interest in reading my blog. This is my first blog published in the Amazing Nature Community. I really enjoyed writing this. We were supposed to visit San Remigio last weekend but we ended up overstaying at my aunt's place in the next town (Bogo City). But I know I'll get to visit again soon.
See you in the next post. Cheers!
@glecerioberto wow very nice green nature. Many beautiful and large plants have found a place in your photography. It was good to see many purple flowers. But after many days I could see the buffalo. It was also nice to see a lot of wild goats in numbers. There is a beautiful view and a lot of fresh surroundings. The amount of white clouds in the sky is very beautiful.
Hello, @sumaiya777! It's nice to hear from you again. There are so many things to marvel at every time we visit my father's hometown. The view is always amazing. Thank you for your comment. 😁
@glecerioberto really nice, your father's hometown.
Wow, Kanindot man d i sa inyo sir.
ang piti² jud nga tanom ko na amazed mo duwa xd d i ka ana saona? mao xd ako .
Nindot jud didto sa bukid sakong Papa. Usahay lang jud mi maka bisita.
Lingaw kaayo mi pagkabata anang piti2! Daghan kaayog kuhaon nya i-kom2 sa kamot. Mangbuto nalang ang uban tungod sa singot. 😅
Haha bitaw, mao xd akong bata karon mao xd buhat basta ting bunga ana bisan init hala pamupo 😆 mag ugtas nlang tag buyag
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Wow very beatiful
Thank you! Beautiful indeed. 😍
You welcome
Beatiful place and comfortable
These places are so peaceful
I know! It's quiet and so peaceful.
Absolutely phenomenal content and work!
Here is definitely a follow from me. I really appreciate your content and I actually happen to do Filipino martial arts for now more than half my life.
I keep getting offers to go visit this amazing land and unfortunately I'm not financially able to get there yet however it is a dream of mine to actually get to go visit there.
Really having a fabulous time looking through your content! Absolutely phenomenal job!
Hi, @ganjafarmer! Thank you so much for the wonderful words of appreciation.
Filipino martial arts, is that Arnis or Escrima? I think we were taught Arnis during our PE classes back in high school or college. My friends really trained for it and became part of the Philippine team.
You should definitely visit when you can! The country has some of the best places in the world and I'm sure it'll be worth it. There are a lot of Hive authors in the country and I know you can easily reach out to them for some travel recommendations.
You are totally correct and it's both. Arnis and Escrima. And yes is would be alot of fun to get to visit over there and see some of the amazing people and nature there.
I mean… What to say? your pictures blew me away. Gorgeous landscapes, but also really wonderful for your photography eyes and good taste. Very nice post. I loved it. Greetings!
César.
I've been meaning to share these photos for some time already. I knew I had to share the beauty of the place that I captured through my photography.
I'm happy you loved this post. Greetings to you as well, César!
nice place with a wide horizon, beautiful landscapes, and nature at its best
Wow! I love this post! It's amazing!. Your father created a safe space/haven. For me, I see those trees as a safe place because anytime I see such places, there is this inner calmness that comes washing down inside me. Let's not talk about the benefits of the trees.
The fluffy clouds did it for me. I guess winter is coming in late a little bit. The goats heheh, were thinking did you bring snack for us hahah. The farm house is lovely, it's nicely done by your father.
Thank you for sharing this post with us. It was a wonderful read for me, it felt like I was there🙂
I always sit under that big tree when I'm visiting. Sometimes, we also bring a table and eat our lunch outside. We spend a lot of time under that tree, as long as it's not raining.
The fluffy clouds! They're as part of the landscapes as the mountains. I used to just stare at them and watch as they slowly move with the wind. We actually don't have winter here. This particular visit was on a December which is known to be rainy and cold. But the weather during our visit was lovely and sunny.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. 😁
Reading your post at first I had to google which was THE TREE OF SINEGUELAS because I really had never heard of it, of course, I'm on the other side of the world hahaha. Your photos left me impressed, so much color!
What impressed me is that in my country there are also Ruellia, in my childhood we were more "wild" hahaha because we put the pods in our mouths and waited for them to explode in there, I think we were not afraid of anything hahaha.
I really enjoyed reading your post!
Stay tuned for the second part!
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I think the sineguelas are originally from Latin America.
I'm glad my photos delighted you! I am amazed by the shots as well. These were the first pictures I took when I had my new phone.
The other kids also put the Ruellia pods in their mouths although I've never tried it! I wasn't afraid of it but I was more afraid of my mother scolding me for putting things in my mouth. 😂 When we didn't have access to water, we would just spit on the pods.
Thank you for your comment and stay tuned for the second part.
You took us to another interesting and beauitulf place @glecerioberto . I really like the photo of the goats looking at the camera. They look like "what is the guy doing?" 😁
I think they were expecting food. Too bad for them. 😅
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Beautiful landscapes!
Thank you!
Greetings @glecerioberto, your post loaded with family biography; thanks for sharing.
Hello, @lopez0611! The photos don't show it but I was with family the whole time. Thanks for stopping by!
somehow the animals, the hills reminded me of our visit in sogod
I've never been to Sogod. Maybe one day makasuroy ko didto. 😁
its very similar jd sa imong mga pictures pero adto mi jd sa bukid bukid na part.. makita ang ocean sad sa other side
Muy Buenas fotos, los recuerdos de la infancia muchas veces están un poco borrosos o exagerados por nuestra imaginación, pero es muy grato reencontrarse con ellos.
Some childhood memories ARE exaggerated. Everything seems bigger and wider when you're a kid. There are things we take for granted as a kid but we appreciate more when we're adults.