The Fiesta in our Town

Sumo's September 29 Post:
Ang Pista Sa Aming Nayon!


Here is Manong*
(*note: a Pilipino term for an older male person)

He is a member of the akyat-bahay* gang
(note: akyat-bahay which literally means to climb houses
actually refers to robbers who "climb houses")

Nope, that is not the robbers group.
Manong's group are those
that were hired to climb houses
to install buntings for the town fiesta.

Last week was the feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz.
Lui may be a Catholic but she does know the feast!
She goes to the other church that's why.
The Sto. Rosario church whose feast
will be celebrated in October.

I don't know why there are so many churches
in the subdivision where we are staying.
They are building another one nearer to our house.
There are so many schools too (22!)
and that is in our village alone!

There.
Manong finished installing the buntings.
It took his group the whole day just to hang it.
And the following day,
a huge bus passed to transport children
from the nearby school for their field trip
and pulled some of the buntings off the house!

By Sunday
the buntings were incomplete
like broken teeth!

And here comes the band . . .
sent by the Town Mayor
to bring joy to the occasion.
But it is too noisy!
The hounds in heaven went into hiding!
The children are the ones who enjoy these things.

Look at these children
who came from the nearby town
and followed the marching band.
They were really happy.

The children are really the ones
who enjoy the buntings, the band
and the meals prepared for the fiesta.

But Lui and I
we just watch.
We enjoy watching the children.
But not the buntings and the band
for these are not important for us.

And these are not the real essence
of the feast day for us.

Text Your Story!

Sumo's I-Text Mo Kuwento Mo!


I was once asked to sit
in the middle of a room full of people.
And that's where the phrase
Center of Attraction started.

I was so nervous I fainted.
And that's when they invented the term
Drop-Dead-Gorgeous.

Then I was arrested by a police.
On what charges, I asked.
And the police officer said:
Possession of a Killer Smile.

So I went to a mirror
to see if the charges were true.
And I saw my reflection with my own eyes.
And that's how the phrase
"Beauty Is In The Eyes of the Beholder"
started.


from e-mail sent to Sumo
by artist Clairelynn

Dear Akikoy

Sorry for the delay.
My hot spot is now dry and healing.
Keeper said the bald spot will grow new furs.
I hope the new furs will be in a different color.
Thanks for dropping by.

. . . yes, I only have one ball.

and proud of it.


Your friend,
Bogart

I'm Not On Leave!

My Popsy Sumo thinks that I am not going to work because I have "hot spots" which Lui is trying to heal. But I am not disabled and quite capable to do my work. So I am translating Popsy Sumo's September 15 post now:


Nadiskaril ang Translator ko!
My Translator went hay wired!


Oh, I knew it!
That thud is going to get it.
He is too rowdy and eats a lot.
So I lost my translator for now.

No wonder my pup Bogart often watches over me.
He is not feeling well that's why.
Imagine having a "hot spot" near his butt
which makes him itch and quite edgy.

But what can I do about that?
I am not a doctor.
He probably got bitten by a bug.
Or the leech stuck and sucked his blood
and he tried to pull it off!
That's why he looked like it's Good Friday.
And the other rowdy pup chose to stay beside him.

Look at them.
Those two are always together.
Like two peas in a pod
that you can not figure out.
And there I was behind them
watching them from my house.

Those two pups from my litter
may not resemble each other
but they are very close.
Theirs is a real friendship.
In joy and in pain they will always
stand by each other.

Which is the reason I sleep well
knowing that if one of them does not feel well
the other will watch out for the other.
Unlike me, I am always on my own.
Hmmm, I think I better go to sleep now.

To those who can not read in Pilipino
you better wait for Bogart to get well
who, even with his hot spots,
has not lost his huge appetite
and is as rowdy as ever!

They Say I Am A Bully!

That's what some say about me.
That I am a bully.

I always get irritated with my pups
and I always call their attention.
And because of that, I was called a bully.

So there,
we can not always stay together outside.
We have to go on shift when we go out.
'Cause they say I might bully my pups.

But look.
Even if my pups are out
they chose to stay beside me!@
Is that a bully?

And the same goes for me.
Every time I am out
I chose to stay beside them.
Is that a bully?

If you ask Lui, however,
she will tell you
that I am really good.

This sounds like those mothers on TV
every time their kids are caught by the police
stealing or doing some wrong deeds
the mothers would tearfully say:
"But he is really a good kid!"

Geez, and the mothers say this
even if their kids have been sent to prison over and over
that even in their adulthood
they remain troublesome
and King of Mischief
in the eyes of their mother
"that kid is really good".

Hey, Mommy, that notorious kid of yours
is the real bully!

As for me,
I am really good.
A bit grumpy at times
but in the eyes of Lui
I am really good!

And that's the truth . . .



Translating Sumo's Sept. 3 Post
"Bully Daw Ako"