what are you gonna remember?

as i've mentioned before, the primary guiding philosophy i use in life (prior to my new one of writing is the new praying) is what are you gonna remember? in pretty much any decision-making situation, i ask myself that question. i'll also ask you that question if you're ever trying to make a decision in my presence.

well, this evening, when i was totally in the zone, sewing on a new quick fleece-backed quilt for sabin's new and improved big girl bedroom, a particular memory kept popping unbidden into my head. and so i thought i'd share it with all of you. because it's a good one.

i've written before about being in a typhoon in the philippines, but several stories happened during that storm. we were in batangas (south of manila) for a workshop and were a group of about 30 people, working very hard during the day and relaxing very hard when we weren't working. one evening, despite the rain, we ventured out for dinner. it had been raining all day, an unbelievable amount of rain. i understood, seeing that rain, at long last what they meant by it raining in sheets. i tried to capture it in the picture above, but it didn't really do it justice.

we got ready for dinner and ran for the bus. my sister used a very environmentally conscious rain hat which she had made from a lush bag - lush being pretty environmentally conscious themselves. we had a nice dinner, some karaoke and a few beers. san miguel light and san miguel extra dry were our beers of choice in the philippines. very refreshing, as my red-eyed sister illustrates (these were taken before i got the "big" camera).

it was very dark and still pouring down rain when we piled back into the bus to go back to our hotel. my sister decided to stick her head out the open window to holler something at someone, as she is prone to doing at times (she has the occasional issue remembering to use her indoor voice), especially after a refreshing malt beverage or two. when she pulled her head back in, off into the rain-soaked darkness on the OUTSIDE of the bus flew one of her giant diamond earrings, which she'd received as a pushing present (thank you, spud, for that phrase) for her second son. very strangely, at exactly that moment, i was reading a text message on my mobile phone from her ex-husband, asking me to have her call as soon as she could about that second child's visit to the EAR doctor!

naturally, losing an item so precious and laden with meaning in such an impossible setting at the same moment she learned her child needed ear surgery was very traumatic and she became understandably hysterical very upset. we screamed to the bus driver not to move the bus and acquired a flashlight and went out to look for the lost earring. bearing in mind that it was midnight, pitch black and a typhoon was raging, it seemed pretty much a long shot that it would ever be found. then, one of the guys said, "i'll find it, i've got snake eyes." and he proceeded to leave the bus, walk straight out into the darkness and nonchalantly pick up the earring.

he said afterwards that he got a clear picture of it in his head and knew exactly where it was. pretty cool, don't you think?

don't mess with a typhoon

once upon an august in the south china sea, there was a typhoon. there was also a group of 30 people who were working very hard in the delightful surroundings of the club punta fuego in batangas, philippines. the sheets of rain outside made it easier for them to stay inside and work diligently. but three days into the workshop, they were ready to let off a bit of steam.

so they went for a late-night dip in the infinity pool. it may have been raining, but it was 30 degrees C outside, so a little rain didn't matter.

accompanying them on this swim was a lovely bottle of limoncello. the delightful lemony goodness made them laugh a lot and left them feeling a bit daring and invincible. there was a small group who had been in phuket together at another workshop and they had fond memories of an afternoon spent playing in the waves of the andaman sea. but this was the south china sea and they were on the edge of a typhoon. and it was very, very dark.

however, the now smaller group of three (of the fond memories) decided to brave the steps down to the beach, where the waves were pounding in. the water was warm and wild and they laughed and laughed and shouted into the wind. it made them feel very alive, being there in that place, experiencing that storm up close. the waves were so wild that they were soon covered in sand and their towels, which had been left on the stairs were swept away. one of the three, uncomfortable with all of the sand that had filled his swimming trunks, took them off. and it was only discovered some time later that they too were swept away. along with his glasses. eventually, they began to feel they had sand in places it shouldn't be (ears, for example) and it began to seem dangerous and foolhardy, so the trio made their way back to the bungalows. one of them now stark naked and without his keycard.

however, he was unbothered by this, as he was sure that the door to his bungalow was open on the inside and he had only to knock on his neighbor's door (who was also at our workshop and not a complete stranger) and he would be let into his own room and saved the embarrassment of going down to the front desk for a new keycard without a stitch of clothing on. so, the other two went on towards their bungalows and left him standing at his neighbor's door.

the next morning, the neighbor told his side of the story...how he answered his door in the middle of the night, only to find his fifty-something neighbor standing there buck naked and wanting to come in. as he said, "he didn't even have the decency to pick a leaf." as it turned out the door between the rooms wasn't open, so the two gentlemen spent the night together (there were two beds, so it isn't as racy as it sounds). and much, much, much laughter was had by all.

and luckily, the naked (now clothed) gentleman headed for his flight and even managed to get on it, rather than falling asleep in a chair and having to wait to the next day (like that other time in phuket), but that's another story for another day.

to this day, the occasional stray piece of sand still comes out of my ears.