By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
KIDS AND BIRDS
My brother-in-law Mike Pekas just called to remind me of my chore to go bring lunch to those shooing away the birds from the ripening rice. I took the chance to banter with him.
Mike: Inka balonan dagidiay ubbing nga agab-abog ti billit idiay talonyo. (Go bring lunch to the children driving away the birds from your rice.)
Me. Basbassit a ngarud kanenda ta ubbingda met. (So I will bring less food since they are children.)
Him: Adda ubbing nga adu ti kanenda. (There are children who eat a lot.)
Me: Mano da? (How many are they?)
Him: Inka kitaen ta diak ammo. Pangkitaam met laeng amangan no immalis diay talonyo. (You go see since I do not know. So you will see also if the farm is still there.) (The last sentence is his way of mildly rebuking me whenever I neglect attending to the farm and am not going when I should.)
Me: Ket no naiyalis diay talon, simmurot pay laeng ngata dagidiay billit? Baka metten saan kasapulan nga adda agabog. (If the farm is relocated, have the birds followed? There may be no longer any need to shoo away the birds.)
Him: Sumurotda ta awan pay laeng sabali pangananda. (The birds will surely follow because they have no other crop to eat from.)
EVER THE PROTECTIVE FATHER
Called Pia Ursula at 11 PM just now –
Me: You get a Grab taxi for Aglaia when she arrives at around 3 to 4 AM. (Aglaia is on way to Manila.)
She: If she texts me.
Me: She will contact you. I told her to. Where are you?
She: I am going home now.
Me: From where?
She: From meeting a friend.
Me: Male or female?
She: Ay apo ni Papa. (You are too much, Papa.)
She is a 30-year old lawyer.
REWARDS FOR REACHING 100 YEARS
Seeing the article on them in the latest Tabuk Life magazine, Aglaia Marie asked about the benefits of centenarians. I quipped: “Adda P100,000.00 maalada iti national government, P50,000.00 munipud iti city government ken P30,000.00 manipud iti provincial government. P180,000.00 amin. Madoble kano dayta no agbiagda iti 200 years.” (They get P100,000.00 from the national government, P50,000.00 from the city government and P30,000.00 from the provincial government. P180,000.00 in all. That will be doubled if they live 200 years.)
COUNTRY AND FAMILY
On the way home from Tuguegarao City yesterday, I was telling Tallo Amoyen and Aglaia Marie that now that I am out of government, I can begin to serve the country.
Aglaia: No ngata irugim pay iti familyam santo country? (What if you start attending to your family before the country?)
That’s an echo of old, old refrains from Florence: Serbiyam ti pagilyan kunam ngem dimto pay maserbiyan ti familyam. (You serve the country you say and you cannot even serve your family.) Agserbiyak iti pagilyan kunam ngem bay-bay-am met ti familyam. Kaplastikan dayta. (You say you serve society but you neglect your family. That’s hypocrisy.) Etc.
NO SOCKS
As we were leaving for Tuguegarao City this morning, Aglaia Marie noted that I wore my shoes without socks.
She: Apay saanka agus-usar ti medyas? (You do not use socks?)
Me: Awan ti time mangisuot. (No time to put them on.)
She: Ania — saanka nga agus-usar ti socks gapu ta awan time nga mangisuot? (You mean you are not wearing socks because there is no time to put them on?)
Me: Wen. Kanayonak nga agkamkamakam. Pirmi nga busiyak. Uray to pay adda matennag nga kuarta manipud bulsak ket saankon a piduten ta isu pay tumaktak. (Yes. I am always rushing. I am so busy that when money falls from my pocket I no longer pick it up because that eats time.)
She: Sobra metten dayta. Agmedyas ka ketdi. (That’s too much. Wear socks.)
Me: Wen. Agusarak ton no makaretirerak ta addanton time ko mangisuot. (Yes I will do that when I am retired so that I will have enough time to put it on.)
VALUE OF SENIOR CITIZEN’S ID
Aglaia and I went to the Imelia’s Kitchenette for two pansit orders we will bring to her lola, my mother. She used my Senior Citizen’s ID to get the discount. Later at the market:
Aglaia: Insublik diay Senior Citizen’s IDm? (Did I return you Senior Citizen’s ID?)
Me: Saan pay. Kitaem ta saanmo mapukaw. (Not yet. See to it it will not get lost.)
Without meaning to, I said it in a way that it sounded that my life depended on the ID.
Aglaia: Aye kasla ma laengen dakkedakkel a probleman ket ID laeng met. (As though it’s such a big problem and it’s just an ID.)
Me: Nagrigat to pay agala ti Senior Citizen’s ID kunam sa. Masapul nga ag60 years old ka pay nga umuna. (You should know it’s hard to get a Senior Citizen’s ID. You have to be 60 years old first.)**
