Finding Peace in the Countryside: A Day in the Province

When you live in a province, there's simply no room for laziness. You need to start your job early and get things done so that when the sun is high, you've already finished your tasks and won't get affected by the scorching heat later in the day. Particularly in the current climate, where the morning sun can be blistering as early as 7 AM.

The reason why it's essential to complete tasks early is to allow you to rest once the sun is up.

That morning, upon waking up, I accompanied my father to the farm to gather saba bananas that he would send back with me to the city. He suggested that instead of buying bananas from the market, I should just bring the ones grown on his own farm, which would be more cost-effective for me in the long run.

It's heartening that even with my own family, my parents still look out for me. Without hesitation,I brought the bananas my father got for me to prepare for my departure the next day.

This is indeed the reason why residing in the province is more convenient and satisfying. If you just work hard and know how to plant, you're assured you won't go hungry because, wherever you look, there's free food available. It's not like here in the city, where you have to spend money almost every day just to have something to eat for daily sustenance.

After returning home, my father and I had breakfast and took a brief rest due to the sun's scorching heat, which was beginning to affect our skin.

A few minutes passed before I heard my mother's voice telling me to go to the market and buy the items she needed for her small grocery store. Upon hearing it, I just grabbed the money and her shopping lists and left immediately. I didn't spend much time shopping and went straight home afterward.

During lunchtime, our parents advised us to take a break for a while. They mentioned that later, when the sun's heat isn't too intense, we'll go to our farm to harvest the peanuts they planted.

Following my parents' advice, I rested under the tree for a few hours before I heard the signal from them to get ready because we were about to visit our small peanut farm.

Due to the relatively small size of the peanut farm, my parents decided that our family would handle the harvesting ourselves.

Alongside my parents, siblings, and my two nieces, we managed to finish the harvesting before nightfall.

Before that day ended, I once again accompanied my father to visit his small coconut plantation, where he takes care of coconut trees that produce coconut juice, which he turns into vinegar.

When my father decided to retire from his work, which gave him the main source of income, he chose to focus on farming, and making vinegar became one of his pastimes. It's amusing because even though my father is getting older, it didn't stop him from climbing trees and working hard.

And due to his homemade vinegar, we save money from buying it since he sends us his homemade vinegar, which is convenient for us because aside from saving money, coconut vinegar tastes better than the ones we buy at the grocery store.

I observed my father as he extracted some juice from the coconut. After my father finished collecting the juice, he offered me a taste, and out of curiosity about its freshness, I tried it, and I was pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.

My father explained that to turn it into vinegar, it needs to be stored for a few days until it naturally ferments in its own container. Once the coconut juice reaches a certain level of acidity, it can then be processed into vinegar. When we returned home, he gave me some of his homemade vinegar that he would send with me back to the city.

Life in the province is truly amazing; you almost get to enjoy free food all the time.That's why occasionally, when I have the opportunity, I return to the province because city life can become repetitive, unlike here in the province, where each day brings a variety of activities.

And that concludes my blog. Thank you for taking the time to read it.