almost but not quite~: it must be christmas

Christmas came a bit too early this year. What started out as a half hearted joke materialized into one of the items in my wishlister list. Actually not just one item. But the item. Nieve blanco pura. White snow. Pure, white snow.

I have learned at the age of 12 that Santa Claus was a myth. Demystified, I struggled between telling my parents just how disillusioned I was about their deception and trying to manage a look of surprise and glee whenever I opened the presents Santa Claus supposedly sent me for being a darling angel all year round.

Ten years after learning that, I learned something else. Oh yes, Santa Claus was and still remains a myth. And I don't know if I should spoil some child's notion of christmas every year by whispering that there is no Santa Claus or just leave it to time. Surely, they'll find out like I did that the big fat guy with rosy cheeks dressed in red is nothing but a figment of someone's drugged imagination. The guy who popularized santa claus was probably himself delusional bordering on the psychopathic who thought of this stupid idea of creating a overly cheerful person that took a fancy wearing red in ink. And the world of literature, fickle, fickle world, gobbled the whole idea hook line and sinker. *Burp*

But there's this thing with fiction and the characters that proliferate in it. Whether or not they are true or not in real life is beside the point. Because it is in the nature of literature, of whatever form it takes, to embed the characters of real people in heroes and heroines, villains and supporting characters and the strangers that litter the figurative world. Our traits become their own. And we learn to relate to them like real people. Because there are real people behind the characters of ink.

So what's my point? My point is, there is still no Santa Claus. He is but a popularized fat geezer that wears red and is forgotten the days before we even take down our christmas trees and it's stupid to believe that he exists. But there are real people. And there are real people blessed with kind hearts and generosity that share what they have with others no matter the season. There is cy's family that welcome me with smiles and warm meals every time I come and visit. There is my family who never grow tired of sharing a laugh with me or two no matter how silly. There is Cousteau who despite of making a mess of the apartment ( I swear I don't know where he gets all the news and tissue papers from), is glad to see me every time I come home and is not afraid to show it. There too are strangers who show me the beauty and divinity of being human with an unexpected kindness. And of course there is cy who perhaps is the epitome of a stupid man that never tires of giving ^^.

Today, my santa claus is without a doubt, my Tita Aida and Tito Mario. Why? They, with no questions asked, bought me item number 1 in my wishlister, a MacBook. In fact, I'm writing this entry now using the MacBook and I'm telling you, I still don't know whether I'm to laugh or cry or both or alternate through paroxysms.

What started out as an all too verbal self-talk overheard by my dad became this. This entry because of a MacBook that my aunt and uncle bought for me.

Summer has gone and it's raining cats and dogs because of the tropical depression and the hurricane that it brought here in the Philippines. But it might as well be Christmas all over again.

I never knew that it snows here in the Philippines. Did you? Anyway, now I let the pictures do the talking.