After spending long hours of work in front of my computer, I went out of the home/office for some fresh air. I found my car parked under our pomelo tree covered with dust, leaves, and bird droppings. Clearly, it was a good time for a carwash. The car needed it. And I needed it for my physical and mental health.
It’s been a habit of mine to recite Psalms verses while washing the car. Mid-through the wash, the winds carried a very strong scent of sampaguita, a favorite since I was a small kid. The scent reminds me of the time my dear Inang hangs a garland around my neck after pinning a medal of honor during my elementary days. Year after year. Naks naman!
I paused as the feeling of a mystical or out-of-this-world experience excited my senses. I lifted my gaze towards the sky and murmured,
“Inang, is that you?” and,
“Lord, have You come for me already?”
But lowering my head a bit, there I saw the pomelo tree blossoming with flowers. The smoke cleared and the heavenly orchestra featuring a dozen harps stopped playing in my mind as I reached for one bunch of flowers in one of the lower branches. Dang, they do smell like sampaguitas.
How could I have forgotten their smell? In Bataan, we had at least four pomelo trees in our yard. Maybe because they were as tall as our house that the flowers’ scents were too high to reach my olfactory elevation. Or the other fruit trees that populated our yard must have drowned their scent out.
I harvested some from this low-lying tree in our small front yard and brought them into the house. The perfume-sweet smell filled the living room.
Although deprived of a supernatural experience, the short-lived drama was enough to reset my mind from mental fatigue while the car was back to its shiny state, ready for its next spin.
Cheers!
If you’ve been touched, amused, or entertained by this post, or it put a smile on your face, please favor me with a cup of coffee. I will continue writing.
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