Fire trees on the road

Fire trees along Maribojoc Highway

The best plants to grow along the highway are fire trees. Yes you heard me right, fire trees. They not only provide the needed shade, they also bloom during summer. Oh boy, they look magnificent on the road during the summer season. They serve as a canopy on the road. What could be prettier than that!

           

I found the fire trees alluring during my trip to my new work station early this week. It’s an hour’s drive from the city. I drove so I could assess how long the trip is, the road condition, among others.

I have planned to photograph the trees in another trip. Yesterday, I was finally able to do it. It felt good. I will probably write a blog about it.

I have been driving around since I returned to my home province in June last year. Going to my father’s hometown, I take the coastal road. The view is breath taking. In a strange kind of way, it’s like the sea view in Maasim, Sarangani province.

Meanwhile, driving to my mother’s hometown is trickier since it is an interior town complete with blind curves. But it’s a short drive so it’s not that taxing. On the other hand, the drive to my new work station is farther. In fact, the drive provides you with a variety of views. One can have a breath-taking view of the sea, fire trees and mangroves by the roadside, old churches, old houses, grand modern houses, and many more. Well, Bohol has been famous for its century-old churches and houses so Boholanos are no longer amazed. But I have lived outside Bohol for over twenty years, so seeing all these once again is novelty to me. I am relishing it.

I guess it’s the magic of revisiting your place with a new pair of eyes. 

The cloudy part appearing on the photo is a rain drop falling on my lens.

Orchids of summer

Summer maybe extremely hot in the Philippines but it's also the  season when many flower varieties are abloom. The flowers that thrive in summer are really a sight to behold. Kalachuchi or Plumeria rubra, bougainvillea, birds of paradise, orchids, and what have you.

I have this thing for orchids for the longest time, thanks in many ways to my departed mother who grew orchids in our garden while I was growing up. When she passed away, my father took on the full responsibility of tending and nurturing the orchids that mother left behind.

I must say the orchids in our garden loved our parents, inasmuch as my parents adored them. It’s a mutual affection and admiration.

Now whenever I see orchids abloom, I cannot help but smile. They so remind me of my parents and their devotion to the orchids of my youth.