Pining for cold.

RIGHT - Last March in Toronto.

We planned to go to Baguio this Friday, and I started to look at various accommodation using Google. There were some good prospects. I meant to take along Plary to be my co-driver/aide in case of any vehicular mishap (flat tire, etc). A niece wanted to tag along, even the help.

The sudden urge to go to Baguio was precipitated by news that weather up there has hovered between 9 - 12 these last few days. Aah, spring/winter weather. I love that!

But yesterday, my co-navigator suddenly had a change of heart. "It's too damned cold, my legs might freeze." Plan cancelled.

Then I thought, Tagaytay.

But yesterday while watching television in the living room, I felt cool air blowing into my face. I live behind a creek, trees in the village abound, and the house's screened doors allow breeze into the house, especially in the helper's quarter which is located at the rear. In the backyard, you could even sleep in a hammock (which had been taken down) in the middle of the afternoon during summer and wind will caress your face and limbs.

The Philippines is having a nice January weather. Back in Canada and the U.S., relatives and friends are experiencing a bad winter. My sister called and said they drove to Irvine, California from Seattle, Washington for the Holidays and encountered areas which had been snowed. My other sister in Ohio has been so used to snow that she rarely complains anymore. I could almost feel the frosted mornings of Toronto.

I wish this cool Manila weather will persist longer...into March and beyond. I dread Philippine summer.

It used to be that I took weather for granted. I grew up thinking flood was an annual event. I loved bathing in the rain in the rainy months, playing in the grass during summer vacations, and wearing corduroy jackets on Misa de Gallo nights, and freezing inside the car in the early morning drive to our hometown in Nueva Ecija.

Only when I started to live in the U.S. that weather became a bid deal. "What's the weather like outside," people in the elevator would quiz each other. "Are you warm enough," my sister would repeatedly ask her kids who were about to go to school. " Bundle up folks," the newscaster would holler in the early morning show.

The good thing about this little cold spell is we are saving huge on air condition bills.