LA CHOZA, the treehouse, was built last year.
It was ready for occupancy in November, but the weather wasn’t up for it.
It was a treehouse!
Who spends the holidays in a treehouse when one has a big ancestral house right in the middle of the poblacion?
In November, in December, the idea was to start living in the farm starting January 2023.
But I ended up spending New Year’s somewhere.
And I was spending more time in the city ever since.
***
Casa Dom Pedro, the apartelle, was built in 2019.
Except for water and electric power supply, it is about ready for occupancy.
Then, the pandemic struck us hard.
I decided to postpone the operation of the apartelle.
I mean, why operate under uncertain times?
***
So, three years of non-use will now cost me some renovation.
There’s a longer story.
But let’s just say that I already spent P300,000 to get things started again.
And I might need another P250,000 to start operating as an apartelle.
***
Because I own these buildings, and they are all fully paid like my iPhone 13 Pro Max, I kind of just relax.
My investments are not earning money for me right now.
They’re not even being used.
But from my point of view, they’re not yet stressing me.
***
Easy for other people to say that I’m wasteful, that I spend money as if I do not care about money or returns of investment.
That I build things, and leave them to just rot.
That hurts me, because it looks true.
But I also know that everything is not that easy.
I just wish people would trust my judgment more.
I mean, I am not asking for their pity or opinion, or even best wishes.
***
La Choza is great as a dream project.
It is an ideal place.
But does one really want to live there day in and day out?
I like being there.
I like the peace and comfort, and stress-relief.
I love the greenery, the bird calls.
***
I love the idea that I will be gardening there.
That I will be working with the earth and living things in the morning.
That the sun will be at my back, giving me a healthy dose of radiation.
But it doesn’t happen in January and February!
It had been raining!
And the rain can make a 54-year old lazy!
***
In the afternoons, when it finally gets to be hot and bright enough, one would think that the writer in me would exploit the hours, and write.
Write something creative, noble, grand.
Like a novel.
A short story collection.
A volume of poetry.
But it doesn’t happen.
***
Up there, the breeze is satisfying.
It puts me to sleep.
Why write when elusive happiness and contentment like this seldom comes?
Why labor with words when others have died of stress?
Died angry with the world.
Died resentful of the world that doesn’t value poets and creatives?
***
I’m still hopeful about La Choza.
I wouldn’t have built it if I weren’t.
Perhaps, I will start living there in March or April.
I feel that when I finally stay on the farm, I will be so bored that I will be driven to write 4-5 hours a day.
You know, live the ideal life of a “writer in a paradise farm.”
***
But until then, I’m okay with writing my columns in my favorite coffee shops.
Being surrounded by students, who are probably here skipping classes.
Or doing homework before reporting for school.
Who knows these days—what with online classes and blended/hybrid modes of instruction.
Ah, to have two houses, and not be a student!/PN
