Saturday, May 27, 2017

Where's the moon?

1. PAG–ASA PAGASA hasn’t declared that it’s the rainy season yet, but the afternoon downpours we’ve had for the past days have been welcome treats from the summer heat. But “summer” is a Western construct and should technically not apply to us, a country with only two seasons: tag-ulan (rainy) and tag-init (sunny). Nevertheless we’ve called our month-long breaks from school “summer breaks.” TV commercials have done the same.

[Before the rainy season is officially declared, there should be at least 25 millimeters of accumulated rain in three consecutive days, and there should be at least one millimeter of rain in a day.  (Dr. Jun Galang of PAG–ASA  PAGASA).]

2. I’ve spent much time taking naps. It’s almost surreal—napping in the afternoon, while it’s raining. I find that most pleasurable. I’ve been dreaming but couldn’t remember what I’ve been dreaming about, except that it had felt like being chased and stressed. I dream of so many things, but I end up forgetting about them. Sleep experts say that’s natural.

3. I decided to spend the rest of the day at home and catch up on reading. I’m on the second chapter of Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, which I took up because Bill Gates and President Obama recommended it, and Jason Kottke highly recommended it, too. It starts with the moon disappearing, with everyone wondering why that happened, even the astronomers on board the International Space Station fondly called “Izzy.” (My friends Wegs Pedroso and Dianne Deauna called me just that in college, while we were making sure our PCRs were going well.)

4. My daily Bible reading (thanks to the ESV Read the Bible in a Year plan) takes me today to Psalm 94.

“If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.”—Psalm 94: 17–19 

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

It feels like the start of the rainy season to me when I wake up and it's pouring. And then it rains at any time during the day instead of just in the afternoon.
Is PAGASA still hyphenated?

Sun May 28, 12:28:00 PM GMT+8  
Blogger Unknown said...

BTW, please post a review of Seveneves when you're done reading it. I stopped reading Stephenson when his books became door stoppers.

Sun May 28, 12:32:00 PM GMT+8  
Blogger Lance said...

As a matter of fact, PAGASA doesn't bear a hyphen! Thanks so much, Doc Z. I love my readers. Seveneves is a doorstopper; I'm reading with an iPad so it's much more convenient to bring along.

Sun May 28, 05:08:00 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous obat perangsang wanita said...

Hey i follow your blog, i like n read every you post

Tue May 30, 04:42:00 PM GMT+8  

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