APRIL being the Philippine National Literature Month, I was most busy giving webinars and lectures on Philippine Literature in the 21st Century, on Poetry, on Writing Skills Enhancement, and even on Hiligaynon language.
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I was with UP Visayas for the 1st National Conference on the Hiligaynon Language where I presented “The Hiligaynon Revolution of 2014” which, of course, I masterminded.
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I was with Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF) for Lima ka Gatus nga Sugilanon: the 500 years of telling Philippine Literature, which I had to deliver in Filipino.
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I was with Aklan State University for Poetry Lecture with #ThePSN.
And the most beautiful thing was that when they presented me a certificate of appreciation for my service and generosity, it was for The Peter Solis Nery.
With the “The”!
Which, I think, is a reaction to what was going on with my social media life in April.
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The Aklanons, it seemed to me, are more aware of my social media engagement than most people in the Philippines.
I mean, other than my bashers, who are mostly the baby bra and social media warriors from the South.
Because let’s face it, these bashers and ranters are betrayed by their Bisaya posts.
If they can’t tackle me because I call out their faulty grammar in English, they backbite me in Bisaya.
So funny!
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But that’s only half the story.
For most of April, I was also vacationing at my aunt and cousin’s in New Jersey.
My aunt insists I call it my cousin’s since she’s just “boarding”, and the house is in my cousin’s name.
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This is my first Spring in New Jersey.
I usually visit relatives (from both paternal and maternal sides) in New Jersey in the Summer (with trips to New York City) or in Autumn (for Thanksgiving).
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Despite the ongoing Covid situation, we went around New Jersey appreciating every nook and cranny of the famous Princeton University, and even the Cherry Blossoms Festival in Essex County.
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New Jersey is the Garden State for a reason.
The Cherryblossomland (we accessed it via Branch Brook Park, but I guess it sits on several parks in Essex) was the largest cherry blossom collection in the US in the recent past.
It’s now third behind the one in Washington DC, and the other in Pennsylvania; but with a 20 million dollar renovation going on, it is bent on reclaiming its former glory.
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This is probably of no value to you, but I just want to say here, to remind myself in my older age, that this particular trip to New Jersey (I’ve been going for several years now) impressed me with its full bursts of golden forsythia.
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I have forsythia right on my former street.
But I’ve never seen such bounty of yellow before than this Spring in the Garden State.
Every time we drove around to attend church, or to buy grocery, it’s the forsythias that grab our attention on the road.
It’s so hard to ignore the screaming yellows everywhere.
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My cousin is kind of a foodie.
She drives long distances just to eat what she craves.
I’m okay with whatever Auntie cooks.
And my aunt fed me with a daily dose of rice, all three servings of it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, save for the nights when we ordered pizza and chicken wings.
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I spent almost a month in New Jersey.
Every Friday, at the end of her work week, Cousin treats herself to burgers.
So I also get to eat quarter pounders with cheese.
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I’m not a big hamburger guy.
I mean, I eat gourmet burgers, and would pay $22 for a burger if it’s really famous.
But with cousin, I learned to enjoy McDonald’s and Burger King.
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I’m not a French fries guy either.
But I don’t want relatives to worry about me so I order and eat whatever they order.
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Three times, we indulged ourselves with dining out.
I like taking out my wallet for treats like that.
First was Thai cuisine, second was Korean barbecue, and third was Mediterranean.
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(To be continued as “April is a costliest month”)/PN
