PEOPLE did a lot of wonderful things as the most uncertain situation persists during the threats of the pandemic. Yet the dreamers continue to pursue dreams of creativity and purpose.
When the "stay at home and isolation" became a byword, it was made into a reality by John D. Allan, isolating himself and his wife in the retirement home beside the sea of Santo Tomas, La Union along Lingayen Gulf of the Western Philippine Seas. Most times would be spent in La Union while the wife works at home and every two weeks will go up to Baguio.
He continued to fulfill some dreams of "dig a hole here, cover it up and dig another hole." In the small property enclosed with a fence of hollow blocks and interlink wires sits a bungalow house, a pond, fruit trees and a third of the property as a garden. The garden is actually a small farm field where camote, peanuts and sometimes rice were planted depending on the season.
During the community quarantine period, the property has made some development made at the right time in summer and as the rains come.
But the major improvement was the cementing of the perimeter of the pond which was finished just as soon as the rains come and the fingerlings were bought from BFAR and released in the pond.
Pandemic time was a time to bring to reality the dream of a nicer fish con duck pond. So together with a local worker and contacting a local sand and gravel supplier, they finally got the materials and worked on the pond while the water was still at a low ebbed, as it was still summer.
The pond was manually dredged deeper, water was siphoned by a pump and the perimeter was cemented. The perimeter measures 60 x 80 x 7 feet deep. John would wake up early morning before the sun was up and with a shovel manually dredge the pond and put the sand on the edge of the pond as buffer.
While waiting for the rains to come and fill the pond, John made raised beds and planted some vegetables on one side of the pond. On the other side, he planted bananas, tomatoes and papaya. As soon as these were planted the ducks came and started tearing them apart, thus it was another job to put individual fencing around the plants.
This is also the mating time and hatching of the ducks. In 100 quarantine days from 30 ducks, there were now more than a 100 ducks, with the first hatching at 26 ducklings followed by 42 another 24 ducklings. A dividing temporary fence has to be made surrounding the house so that the ducks are not able to invade the new gardens around the house. The rains came and the peanuts were uprooted from the field to give way to a shallow pond of for the young ducklings.
During the quarantine, there were three hatchings, and when they first batch reached a free reign, the next came and they were caged. In the morning, they were fed in their cage and when they get released, out they go straight to the flooded field. At dawn, the older ducks are found in the pond frolicking and showing off strutting from one edge to the edge of the pond.
Now, more than a hundred days of the community quarantine time, the pond is completely enclosed, at least 2500 fingerlings of Carpa and Tilapia released. Early morning and afternoon sights are fun watching the ducks frolicking. The various plants are alive as the bananas, papayas and tomatoes joining the other plants lined up along the pond. It has become the center of activity during isolation and work at home mode.
Now that the pond is done, John will start digging another hole and covering it after.