SCHOOL is officially out. This is the moment every schoolboy and girl is looking forward to and no argument, the best part of the school year- summer break. Fresh out of school and still overly active kids in the house for about sixty days or so with nothing to do- good or bad news?
To some parents, this is the perfect time to go bonding and head off to the planned family vacation. But not all are lucky enough, especially the working class, to get time off from work when the rest of the fellow blue-collared workforce is elbowing to the front of the line to have their leave forms signed by the big bosses at the second best time of the year to go on a break (the Yuletide season, as we all know, is the top LOA request time. It turns the work place into a killing field and the survivor gets to go on leave). Considering, of course, they have allotted their budget for a family get-away.
If luck was tough, they have the Holy Week to look forward to- a four day break from work. Forgive us Lord but Lent has had a dual purpose in this modern age when the price of gasoline dictates lives should be lived. But you know we love you. Until the week comes, they have to deal with heading home to a messy place (product of hyperactive kids) or a couch potato (product of technology).
But these parents can have a best friend, if they don't mind shelling out a few bucks to get their kids out of the house. The best friend come in the form of the seasonal entrepreneur who can turn the overflowing kinetic energy into positive use- the art class, swimming lesson, martial arts, basketball and football clinic, cooking and whatever other workshop there may be. Isn't it nice to come to a neat home and a bunch of healthy kids?
Admittedly, life was much simple then (I can hear the young moaning..here we go again) when patintero, tigso, tumba lata, piko, shatong and Chinese garter were the street sports. It brought out our competitive nature that at the end of the day, we took home a sense of pride or a black eye. Until technology took over...
Summer just gave its sampler, a biting one, a few days back after giving everyone an extended happy time with the cool La Nina. We are going to get it hot this year, it was predicted to be four degrees hotter than last summer's recorded peak. We will all be singing Peggy Lee's line "you give me fever." It's best to have a cooling plan during this hot spell.
Luckily, Davao is blessed with places to cool off this summer. Places that are easy on the pocket that you can take the entire family plus the extended ones, short traveling distance that you need not file an extra day of LOA and you can hop from one spot to another on the weekends.
I am sure you have picked one out and planned your summer. Whatever it is you have on the list, it's the people you are with that make the moment truly special. The sun may be casting its hot spell, but look again, it is smiling at you.