AS A young boy, I would remember walking around the city and picking fruits of many kinds. No Juan would mind. A neighbor would not even raise an alarm if Juan were to pick up anything from the backyard. Sayote and Kamote tips were just picked from behind somewhere. Of course, it is not the same today. Nothing is free nowadays.
I would, with my cousins, climb up fences and trees and get some guavas, sometimes apple and passion fruit. Either the fruit or spiders. Sayote was also picked for boiling or with canned sardines or in dinuguan. It just tastes good with it, I don't know why, it's very Baguio to do it with sayote.
Funny, but we would also chew on some flowers from the gardens and along the road. Gumamela had sweet nectar that we sip as our energy booster before we hit the trails towards the hills. No houses there were. We hiked to Mount Santo Tomas and Asin. Busol and Ketchup Mountain was just our backyard. Along these trails were lots of berries of all kinds. We would just pick on anything. Sometimes sour as it wasn't as ripe yet. But thinking that if we left it, another group will get it too. It was abundant though. Too many for even the others to chance upon.
I learned most of these not from scouting but from playing. The hills were our backyards and playgrounds. Anything that could be eaten was eaten by most kids. Our vitamins and anti-sickness pills. We never got sick after eating berries.
Today, most of these berries are considered a treat as they are known to be anti-oxidants anti for something surely. For us, it was just candy; free candy. I also would remember some macopa, kamias and balimbing, of course, there was the "granada," I later learned that it was the super fruit pomegranate. We just threw it at each other to eat when cracked and separated as if it were "nerds" candies.
Lately, I would find many of the berries to still be along the trails. We can get enough of it today. It seems I'm the only one who gets them. I remember though the places or paths where they are. Not easy to spot though. I just know where they are. My dog seems to know the scent if ever. She leads me to it at times. Once, we went off path and I just followed her. Only to find a whole bush of them all bright red and sweet. My Mochi likes them too.
Lately, the trails seem to be off beaten and untreaded by any Juan. It must be the monsoon rains and rainy weather. However, lucky for us, we still continue to force ourselves and bring out the dog and head towards the trails where she loves to just let loose. Off leash that is.
Only recently during our walk did we stumble on a different variety of berry. It was more of the commercial looking or imported and not like the wild berry that we always pick. Again, I was led by my dog Mochi to the new spot. It was hidden near a creek. An area where birding/birders hide and take refuge.
I am once more reminded of my childhood every time I set out to the trails. Today, I feel proud showing my kids what we did as a kid. I hope that when they have their own kids they would also share stories of what I experienced and theirs too. Hopefully too that there would also still be trails for them to go to. This experience is BERRY BERRY BAGUIO.