.We have a 300-square meter vacant lot beside our house. My dad bought the land along with the house he gave to my mother more than three decades ago. My mom, who grew up in the province, made use of that by planting all kinds of fruit-bearing trees. My siblings and I grew up climbing those trees. We had lots back then; Santol (cotton fruit), Guava, Atis (sweet sop), Balimbing (star fruit), Langka (jackfruit), and we even had Tambis (wax apple). But most of our playtime were spent high up the branches of our Mango trees because they grew the tallest. They were also the most accessible since they had a lot of huge branches that bent towards the ground.
Looking back, I'd say we were a very daring group of youngsters hanging out at the highest branches of our favorite Mango tree (We had 4 Mango trees at that time but this one had a lot of branches that accomodated all of us). I cringe at the thought of how careless we were when one summer, we even attached a DIY hammock to the branches and used that to swing away at 4 meters above the ground. It was that time when Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey was the biggest hit in the radio. I imagine this is how we thought it looked like.
It wasn't like that though. The DIY hammock was made of plastic sack which was "secured" by a nylon rope and we didn't have a body of water to catch us either. Pure solid earth was waiting 4 meters below us and I now shudder to think of the horrific ways we could have injured ourselves. But back then, we were oblivious and free from any cares in the world. Thankfully, those childhood memories are not tainted by uncanny accidents. A few scratches and bruises here and there but no broken bones or head injuries. Those summer days are the epitome of my youth and those gigantic trees were very much part of my wonderful childhood.
We still have some of those trees around. But most of them have been cut down to make room for our dogs and for other farm animals that my mom is raising. We have still have 3 mango trees standing and just last week, our household in Davao was buzzing with activity because of the Mango harvest. Below are some of the pictures my brother sent.
Some of our neighbors bought the harvested mangoes, some were given to our relatives, and some were kept by my mom. Once they were ripe, she made Mango Float, a Filipino dessert that's made up of Graham crackers, milk, and ripe mangoes.
Aside from Mangoes, we still have the Rambutan tree too. The fruit, also called Rambutan is one of my favorite fruits. It is native to regions in Southeast Asia so some of you might not be too familiar with it but this is how they look like.
We also still have the Atis (Sweet Sop) and the Star Fruit but the Santol (Cotton Fruit) tree has been taken down because the tree has become unstable. Since then, my mom used the freed space to house some chickens. She has a number of them that provide fresh eggs daily.
The freeed space also gave way to the dog houses of our four-legged family members. They used to stay in our garage or inside our house but when they got bigger, my mom decided it was time to give them their own place.
My mom grows vegetables in her garden too and turns them into delicious healthy meals. Vegetable plants have limited lifespan but she always, ALWAYS has siling labuyo or hot chilli in her garden.
These are some of the things that I look forward to whenever I visit Davao, aside from seeing my family. Some of my siblings have left our home in Davao too to pursue careers abroad but we all try to go home once a year. It is always an exciting time. We still have our differences but we are all very close. Now that we're older, my siblings and I prefer a more relaxed activity as opposed to tree climbing and we opt to just chill by Mama's garden.
Image Source
Mariah Carey
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