Of My Childhood Summer Memories

An unfortunate circumstance brought me to the place of my childhood summers: my grandfather’s home in a little town in the municipality called Asingan, in the province of Pangasinan, in the country called the Philippines.

Going back after so many years, it feels very nostalgic. Every turn brings back wave after wave of memories.

The drive used to take a good five hours from the country’s capital. The new highway reduced the drive to four hours.

The vista never runs out of these endless fields.

Broken glass protect the walls from any thief who attempts to climb over.

We used to play contests to see who can climb the highest on this pole in the garage.

Baths in the backyard. We would fight over who gets to pump the water out.

That may be the same basin in which we used to bathe.

I never used to pay attention to the design of the window grills until recently.

To hell with go-fish and pairs. Even at preschool age, we learned to play the games played at local gambling houses.

I remember my grandfather used to have three dogs named after local celebrities: Ruffa, Sharon, and Gretchen.