#3

"I want to remember us they way we are now..." Daisy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

We used to live in the province, at the end of Bicol in my dad's parents' house where it occupied an entire lot near the beach. My mom had a tennis court built there once fitting perfectly inside the "L" the rest house and the real house formed. It's beautiful now that I look back at it. 

I once loathed living in the province but as I grew older I learned to appreciate the peace of the countryside. It was beautiful because it had such space and could house a party of friends. The rest house was built of seemingly weak materials like some wood and narra, but stands up to this very day. Its ten room, almost limitless capacity to sit and sleep people faced the two fish ponds we had and, as they loved to call it, the South China Sea. The house, a pentagon at the heart of this major lot was a bungalow that brought in cool winds during summer evenings. The rest was of a sand plus soil kind of ground that had trees and plants housing "spirits" and what have you. 1998 we moved here, in the city in my mom's parents' house and have been here since then. 

After visiting a number of awesome beach houses my friends have, it takes me back to that small portion of my childhood when we lived in Bicol and had so little care of the surroundings. A visit to the beach was fun, but not so much a spiritual experience. Now, I dream of building for my family and friends a beach house somewhere here in the country, in the future. There's a quiet and big amount of humbling nature gives you when you get the chance to touch it or experience it and that's exactly what I've been hungry for lately. 

All I want is a simple house by the sea that could shelter my friends and my family and even though I'm not much of a swimmer, just being by the sea and disengaging myself from this world with the people I love is a rewarding time. 

There's that scene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where Daisy and Benjamin sit by their beachfront property and they watch the sun rise from across the waters...It was so beautiful and so touching that I placed it upon myself to make sure that when I do get the money for it, I'd build that house for me and my loved ones, just so we get to experience time that's worth looking back to.

This figures into my wishlist not just cause of myself, but because I've badly wanted to give friends and family a break from all the troubles of life...It's so saccharine and sappy, but I love them and if I had the power to give them this, soon, I'd give it as a gift for Christmas. We all deserve some peace too and recovery from being, well, sometimes, ourselves too much.

Three more days 'till Christmas and I am sooo excited! I wish you all the happiest times! And don't worry, soon, I'll take you to my beach house and we'll listen to Open Season by High Highs on our way there....So indie, but it's actually a handsome song.

-Gerard