MAYBE I don’t need it.
Maybe I just felt that I should continue to employ my carpenters who worked on my now-famous treehouse, La Choza de Dom Pedro.
But in the end, I decided to order the construction of Las Charcas, The Twin Pools of Love and Desire at the foot of my treehouse in Hacienda Dom Pedro.
***
The Twins Pools are not swimming pools.
I continue to resist building swimming pools in my inland farm property.
Especially in deference to the two nearby resorts with pools.
We don’t need three public swimming pool establishments in just one barangay of Dumangas.
We are not the Laguna hot springs bed.
***
My Las Charcas are dipping pools.
Something to rest and cool our tired feet at the end of the day.
If I can source those fish that feed on dead cells that are used in fish feet spa, I’ll use those.
But if I can’t find them (and find them cheap!), I’m okay with just sipping sweet evening alcohol while seated in a pool of water that reaches up to my armpits.
***
I’m a bit sorry that I had to paint the pool a little bit.
Nature has her way.
But gray cement color just doesn’t cut it for me.
In the end, I decided on some tinting with raw sienna.
Its yellowish tinge perfectly blends with the color of the surrounding limestone.
My hill is built on limestone rocks that can be quarried for construction purposes.
***
I still have to actually live at the treehouse.
It has been pimped out a little bit, and I have spent several afternoons sleeping in the various floor levels including the attic.
“Trying it for size” is the idiom.
La Choza is really very restful.
I take a 30-minute nap, and I always feel refreshed like I’ve slept for 8 hours.
And it’s always so nice to wake up at 75 ft above the ground.
***
From my perspective, and for my need, La Choza is ready for occupation.
But last week was not a good time to move in because the postponed activities of our town’s festivities were resumed.
Which means, the poblacion area is the place where you’d want to be, unless you already have a perfect boy date with whom to be locked away.
***
This week is perhaps a good week, but I’m also preparing for my Palanca Awards appearance in Manila.
Which means, I need to be in the poblacion area for costume fittings, photo shoots, interviews, phone calls, and all that stuff.
Do I really want to live alone in the farm for three days, and then fly to the big city?
Isn’t it more practical to just postpone the move, and start living in the treehouse when I have at least 15 straight days to stay there?
***
Getting used to farm life requires a ritual.
A regularity, and a daily pattern.
A habit is only successfully formed if you do it regularly for at least 28 days.
At least, that’s what I believe.
***
I can pay people to clean up the hill.
But I want to do it, and clean it myself.
I want to decide what goes, and what stays.
I think there’s so much power in that.
I can segregate waste better.
I can identify what is healthy and healthful, and what is pesky vegetation.
***
And I need things to do to occupy my mornings after prayers and coffee.
I’ve always seen La Choza as a return to monastic or hermetical lifestyle.
I should let it be.
***
There is a fabled cave under my hill.
“Fabled” in quotation marks because for now, all I see is a cave’s mouth.
Everyone who knows says there is one there.
What they can’t confirm is how big it is.
How much do I need to spend to excavate or expose a cave?
And if it isn’t big enough to match my expectation, do I really want to spend money to create it?
***
Why?, you ask.
And I’ll say, Because I want a cave.
I want an underground chapel.
I’ve seen it in my dreams./PN
