Most people love warm climates, of course - true to form- I am not like most people. I love the cold, and when it snows I am in heaven. In Mindanao I always feel a pang when I watch CNN International and see a blizzard striking the US. It is strange because in much of the world, Scandanavia, the Baltic, and parts of Russia, snow is no big thing. New York City averages 21 inches (in American speak) of snow a year. Thus far it had already gotten 36 inches and as I write this a blizzard is raging outside. They say it will end by daybreak, another 3 or 4 hours, but should give 16 inches for just 30 hours of snowfall.
Back home we are flooding, which always happens in monsoon. The tropics are strange. Just in different parts of 1 island like Mindanao you can have a 50 percent difference in annual rainfall. I love rain as well, a summer thunderstorm almost trumps a blizzard. I remember in 2007 after I had 1st moved to the island full time we had a bit heavier than usual downpour. On the side of our compound, dividing our compound from another compound belonging to Rizza's cousins' family is a creek (we have 14 compounds on our road, all the same family with each branch having their own). The creek is maybe a meter (3 feet) deep at its deepest part, moderately flowing into our rice paddies. Those who saw my photos in Gallery will have seen it, as well as the paddies.
That day the rain came heavily, breaking the incessant heat (tropic "heat" is claustrophobic at times, stepping out of the airport in Manila I have seen it actually make Westerners stumble). I walked out of my house, past the main house, and walked over to our dryer. We have our oldest rice mill, the 1st one Rizza's parents bought, in our compound and mills need rice driers. It is simply a concrete platform with concaved alleys running through it to leek the grain's moisture content before we put it through mechanical driers which we power with rice husks from previously milled rice. Anyway, the dryer is next to the outer wall of our compound, running along the road and I wanted to see if our paddies across the road were flooding.
Rice can grow wet or dry, but most in SE Asia farm wet, using dikes and sluices to keep the paddy in up to half a meter of water (1.5 ft) through most of the grow cycle. Of course its grueling work, we use water buffalo, noone farms rice mechanically there. Our labourers work with the buffalo, wading through the paddy, cobras, scorpions, even young crocs, pretty dangerous.
Anyway, I stood on the dryer, looking out at the road through our gun blinds (compounds are like forts), and to my suprise the paddies on the other side were gone, it was a lake as far as I could see. I walked across to the wall along the creek, the creek runs through a gulley about 2 meters deep (6 ft), yet the water was just inches from the top!!! It had only been raining for less than 2 hours.
We were all there at that point, watching in disbelief. Within 20 minutes the creek was gone, as was the road and the water was all around us but the compound, which is a concrete fort held, maybe half a meter (1.5 ft) of water inside but outside much deeper. Our compounds are like castles, labourers, tenant farmers and their families live in nipas (pronounced
"nee-pahz,"bamboo framed huts covered in palm leaf thatch) or at times, when they save enough, we let them build cinderblock homes , leasing the land to them (if they have been with us for more than 1 generation). It is just like serfdom, unfortunately. They build them on our land, outside our walls so that small villages form. We have almost 700 people just around our mills and if you include the family as a whole, I am guessing but probably 20,000 people).
On the other side of what had been the creek was a cinderblock structure housing 2 extended families of labourers but belonging to the next compound. A kid, 7 or 8 maybe (could have been 14 since undernourishment and the Asian physique plays with appearances), sat in a window. The buildings have openings for windows but no glass. He sat there, evidently home alone, sitting in the window, just looking at me. As I stood there in a staring contest his home began filling up with water rapidly, and as I tried to decide whether to play the hero and go over the wall and swim for him the water stopped rising. Within an hour only inches remained on the ground though the creek was at road level. It was the most amazing thing.
Mindanao is the most heavily forested island in the country. Our region, Caraga (Agusan del Sur our province is 1 of 5 that comprise Caraga) is the most heavily forested on the island, so we have the most rainforest in the country. Yet even in Caraga the land is being raped. I was never an environmentalist but now? I cheer everytime the NPA (New Peoples Army, Maoist insurgents) slaughter employees of multi-national mining and lumber companies. They only target those of companies not paying "Revolutionary Taxes" but still, that is another hectare of bush that won't be shat upon, at least for the time being.
We used to broker loads of lumber , shipping half loads to S.Korea, Japan and Singapore but I got us out of it. We still farm. Trees but we manage it responsibly with seedlings, etc. but each year the island loses more and more. Each year the floods get worse.
So...here in NY they are whining about the snow but I love it. Early Wednesday (yesterday) a BMW was driving when it began skidding in the snow. The driver rear-ended a gypsy cab (ghetto taxi) and BOOM. The BMW tried to back up and run but couldn't get around the snow piled up by the plows. The driver got out and ran like hell.
The cops come, take the story and finally search the BMW. They see the passenger side seat is all pushed forward and looking in back of it see a foot. In the trunk (rear seat removed) is a man who looked dead but was only unconscious, though 1 ear had been removed. Talk about lucky, that motherfucker better count his blessings.
Reminds me of another story. Back when I was in the game, this kid I knew fucked up his package. Time to collect and they snatched him. They took him to a flat in Brooklyn, stripped him, put his feet in ice water, taped his eyes and mouth shut, and began Tasering him. About 20 minutes into it when they began slicing him with razors the Feds kicked in the door. They had the crew under investigation and had listened to a phone call where they discussed how to continue torturing him. Again, a lucky motherfucker. Imagine you are in that chair, it is enough to make you become a true believer. The man today though? He is in stable condition but won't even say his name so they are waiting for the prints to come back.
Back home we are flooding, which always happens in monsoon. The tropics are strange. Just in different parts of 1 island like Mindanao you can have a 50 percent difference in annual rainfall. I love rain as well, a summer thunderstorm almost trumps a blizzard. I remember in 2007 after I had 1st moved to the island full time we had a bit heavier than usual downpour. On the side of our compound, dividing our compound from another compound belonging to Rizza's cousins' family is a creek (we have 14 compounds on our road, all the same family with each branch having their own). The creek is maybe a meter (3 feet) deep at its deepest part, moderately flowing into our rice paddies. Those who saw my photos in Gallery will have seen it, as well as the paddies.
That day the rain came heavily, breaking the incessant heat (tropic "heat" is claustrophobic at times, stepping out of the airport in Manila I have seen it actually make Westerners stumble). I walked out of my house, past the main house, and walked over to our dryer. We have our oldest rice mill, the 1st one Rizza's parents bought, in our compound and mills need rice driers. It is simply a concrete platform with concaved alleys running through it to leek the grain's moisture content before we put it through mechanical driers which we power with rice husks from previously milled rice. Anyway, the dryer is next to the outer wall of our compound, running along the road and I wanted to see if our paddies across the road were flooding.
Rice can grow wet or dry, but most in SE Asia farm wet, using dikes and sluices to keep the paddy in up to half a meter of water (1.5 ft) through most of the grow cycle. Of course its grueling work, we use water buffalo, noone farms rice mechanically there. Our labourers work with the buffalo, wading through the paddy, cobras, scorpions, even young crocs, pretty dangerous.
Anyway, I stood on the dryer, looking out at the road through our gun blinds (compounds are like forts), and to my suprise the paddies on the other side were gone, it was a lake as far as I could see. I walked across to the wall along the creek, the creek runs through a gulley about 2 meters deep (6 ft), yet the water was just inches from the top!!! It had only been raining for less than 2 hours.
We were all there at that point, watching in disbelief. Within 20 minutes the creek was gone, as was the road and the water was all around us but the compound, which is a concrete fort held, maybe half a meter (1.5 ft) of water inside but outside much deeper. Our compounds are like castles, labourers, tenant farmers and their families live in nipas (pronounced
"nee-pahz,"bamboo framed huts covered in palm leaf thatch) or at times, when they save enough, we let them build cinderblock homes , leasing the land to them (if they have been with us for more than 1 generation). It is just like serfdom, unfortunately. They build them on our land, outside our walls so that small villages form. We have almost 700 people just around our mills and if you include the family as a whole, I am guessing but probably 20,000 people).
On the other side of what had been the creek was a cinderblock structure housing 2 extended families of labourers but belonging to the next compound. A kid, 7 or 8 maybe (could have been 14 since undernourishment and the Asian physique plays with appearances), sat in a window. The buildings have openings for windows but no glass. He sat there, evidently home alone, sitting in the window, just looking at me. As I stood there in a staring contest his home began filling up with water rapidly, and as I tried to decide whether to play the hero and go over the wall and swim for him the water stopped rising. Within an hour only inches remained on the ground though the creek was at road level. It was the most amazing thing.
Mindanao is the most heavily forested island in the country. Our region, Caraga (Agusan del Sur our province is 1 of 5 that comprise Caraga) is the most heavily forested on the island, so we have the most rainforest in the country. Yet even in Caraga the land is being raped. I was never an environmentalist but now? I cheer everytime the NPA (New Peoples Army, Maoist insurgents) slaughter employees of multi-national mining and lumber companies. They only target those of companies not paying "Revolutionary Taxes" but still, that is another hectare of bush that won't be shat upon, at least for the time being.
We used to broker loads of lumber , shipping half loads to S.Korea, Japan and Singapore but I got us out of it. We still farm. Trees but we manage it responsibly with seedlings, etc. but each year the island loses more and more. Each year the floods get worse.
So...here in NY they are whining about the snow but I love it. Early Wednesday (yesterday) a BMW was driving when it began skidding in the snow. The driver rear-ended a gypsy cab (ghetto taxi) and BOOM. The BMW tried to back up and run but couldn't get around the snow piled up by the plows. The driver got out and ran like hell.
The cops come, take the story and finally search the BMW. They see the passenger side seat is all pushed forward and looking in back of it see a foot. In the trunk (rear seat removed) is a man who looked dead but was only unconscious, though 1 ear had been removed. Talk about lucky, that motherfucker better count his blessings.
Reminds me of another story. Back when I was in the game, this kid I knew fucked up his package. Time to collect and they snatched him. They took him to a flat in Brooklyn, stripped him, put his feet in ice water, taped his eyes and mouth shut, and began Tasering him. About 20 minutes into it when they began slicing him with razors the Feds kicked in the door. They had the crew under investigation and had listened to a phone call where they discussed how to continue torturing him. Again, a lucky motherfucker. Imagine you are in that chair, it is enough to make you become a true believer. The man today though? He is in stable condition but won't even say his name so they are waiting for the prints to come back.