Saturday, June 6, 2009

"The Curse of the Winter Mist" - 20th Story for the Inspirational Book

By: BURAOT

Looking from the inside of my comfortable hotel room, I could sense the North American winter cold. I gazed at a few snowflakes stacked in the window pane and tried to imagine a million different kinds.

I couldn’t quite place where the west meets the east. Except perhaps that I do know that it is daytime, I couldn’t see where the sun was.

I decidedly went out the balcony to enjoy the skyline and lit a cigar. On the roof of the next building I saw a lone bird sitting on top of what looked like a mechanized chimney. I thought it was a bit funny because most birds do hang out together. I guess this one’s a loner.

Being a night owl myself, I hate the desert heat but I do welcome the winter cold. But not the winter freeze. So my coming here in Vancouver on perhaps the coldest time of the year was both a relief and a curse.

Before I even came here, I asked some friends what the city was like. One said it was indeed a highly urbanized city but cold. Adding that the city itself has more than just the “weather kind” of cold, but that it also had that coldness that is devoid of the warmth that you expect from breathing humans.

Of course, I decided to venture on my own. A little hesitant at first, I provided myself with my typical “we’ll see” defensive attitude. What I had found would weaken my entire array of defense mechanisms. I found something odd and surreal; I had rediscovered the winter mist.

On top of that building contemplating the last of my cigar, I saw her. Slowly at first… then a sudden flash. Without me knowing it, she had wrapped herself into my whole being…. into my consciousness… all the way into places within me that I never realized existed. I was totally powerless.

Making love on the balcony where I first gazed upon her enigmatic soul, I was the Romeo and she my Juliet. The whole of Vancouver stopped dead in its tracks. Time stood still like an old scratched photograph. There was just that moment, captured forever, carefully etched in the canvass of my soul. There was nothing else. It was just me and my winter mist.

I walked around the city and embraced whatever the mist had to offer. The big city was like in suspended animation. The streets were filled of people rushing to the converging point where the Chinese New Year parade was about to commence. What was odd was the fact that despite the hundreds of people and cars up and about, I could hear no sound. Not a single one.

I was like a spectator watching an old reel of silent movie. I was warped into a different dimension, my own twilight zone, sucked into a personal black hole and transported to an entirely different new world. It was eerie and strange and yet for some reason, it felt more than just good. There is not a word yet invented that could really fully explain it. If Einstein could come out of his grave he would describe it as metaphysical. I would call it as it is, magical. I became the tin man who fell in love with Dorothy.

I never thought that at my age, I will still discover something magnificently wonderful. But I did. I thought I felt all the things I man could ever feel, but this… as surprising as it was, is something new. And it made me ecstatically dizzy.

Just like my love affair with the moon, the winter mist is quite extra-ordinary. I guess I can honestly say… she was unparalleled. Her distinct smell fills my entire senses. In my vision, her shadows seem so refined. Her echoes whisper ever so softly in my ears. The cold and haze of her essence gives me warmth that could last a lifetime of winter.

And for that I was cursed…. with the longing of her presence. Now I yearn for her to come back… fill me again with her gaze… and quite hopefully… stay.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BURAOT
has two blogs that I'm familiar with I Am Buraot and Anak ni Kulapo.

Upon browsing; however, I found also the following blogs. Let me copy an excerpt from his blog.

Start of excerpt:

Literary Ekek is now mostly Buraot’s raves and reviews. From blogger friends along the way, to must-read books and movies and dvd’s to gizmos.

The Antisocial is where Buraot tries to combine politics, critical thought, and common sense.

Anak ni Kulapo is his wacky crazy blog. This site is totally in Tagalog, so if you don’t understand the language, I would not recommend it. Really.

Ibangon Ang Bayan is also using his mother tongue, but here Buraot lashes out at the traditional politicians and the rampant corruption that had been going on for decades in his native land, the Philippines.

End of excerpt.

These are unique blogs that speak of the author's passion for writing.

His description of himself is also so captivating and fascinating, I would not want to mar it with my own; so let me present another excerpt from his "About me" page:


"The author is the quintessential skeptic but a not-yet-so-hopeless pessimist. Impatient most of the time, hence the name, he yearns to discover the magnanimity of the universe and the infinite folly of human stupidity.

Despite being born from Catholic parents and was raised and educated by Franciscan and Dominican friars, he now considers himself Agnostic.

And while he took up Psychology, Philosophy and Law, he is now trying to dwell into Astronomy and Astrophysics.

He is a jack of all trades master of none, a little bit of an OCD with matching eclectically-charged mood swings. So after his usually high energy OCD boost, his body would always end up half-dead and his brain half-empty."

He was born in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro and grew up in the streets of Manila. This reminds me of one superb blogger from Oriental Mindoro too - Jan Geronimo.

It is an honor to have him here with us, and the chance to feature one of his many unusual, poignant articles; we can call the book an anthology of sorts.

Need I say more? Let's give a warm welcome to one of our prestigious contributors to the book - Buraot!

Photo 2 by Hans Vink
Photo 1 by :mrMark:

37 comments:

  1. it's an honor to be included in your upcoming book Jena. thank you for this chance.

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  2. Likewise Buraot, thanks too. Feel free to interact with the commentators in your post.

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  3. What a wonderful love story, and one I can easily relate to. There are many things of winter, that surround and comfort me as a lover would.

    Excellent writing.

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  4. Hi Eric,

    It is a love story, yes; and as a lover of nature, I know why you find it wonderful.

    Cheers.

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  5. Beautifully told. The beauty of nature can truly make us feel like it's love at first sight.

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  6. Hi Dee,

    Yes, the beauty of nature is appreciated in any part of the world.

    All the best.

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  7. thanks for the compliments guys.. actually the article was about the the climate.. lols.

    i love the cool weather. esp when i see those cloud-like atmosphere during the winter.

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  8. Hi Buraot,

    Thanks for responding to your commenters. They seem to fall in love with the the mist based on your vivid description.

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  9. I'm not a fan of the cold; but your story is very well told. Now I wonder what it's like to be, when there's only the mist and me.

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  10. Hi Luke,

    That would be a worthwhile adventure Luke. Cheers.

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  11. hi Luke, making love with the natural world is a very worthwhile experience.

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  12. Buraot has a gift in writing. Wow! At first I thought there was someone else in the picture. I would have wanted to read more about the lovemaking on the balcony, it was only a figure of speech. I guess I fell for it. hehehe.

    Great writing you got here @Buraot. I felt a chill while reading this.

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  13. Not that I have any experience with snow and winter. But this story I can have deep empathy with. Wala lang. This story is different kasi. Who would have thought such stark coldness can evoke warmth and even sensuous stirrings appropriate for a nascent love affair.

    This calls to mind Lara of Dr. Zhivago and the Russian steppes desolated by snow. Brrr.

    Ang daya nyo. Kababayan ko pala si Buraot, wala man lang nag tip sa akin. Hi, Buraot? I'm Jan. ",)

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  14. You asked what happened to make it seem so desolate. Several things, but mostly the boom of those people moving to an area to "get rich" on the gold. When the small veins dried out people moved on. It wasn't really land suitable for farming. It is in it's way quite beautiful.

    The lush green though you speak of from home...might be more in keeping with out mountain areas in Colorado. Been a few years since I've been there, will look around and see about some pics and post when I do.

    And where is home for you?

    Thanks so much for visiting, look forward to your return visit.

    Sandy

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  15. Very descriptive and interesting story. I too like to see winter, the bright white, the clean look a fresh snow gives, the sound of silence that engulfs because no one ventures out; but then reality hits...the snow shovel, the slow moving in traffic and I long for the hot stickiness of summer.

    Sandy

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  16. Hi Buraot,

    I guess you'll have to respond to Zorlone, Jan and Sandy. I can only speak from what I see in pics and filsm, but you can reply on what you had really experiened.

    Winter is so pristine when depicted on the boob tube. With the presence of mist; however, it appears eerie.

    Personally, I don't like misty mornings especially if the sun is nowhere to be found.

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  17. whew, what a great article buraot. grabe, if it from buraot, nosebleeding talaga. ^_^ haahaha...

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  18. Wala pa ang mist lover natin, but Z, it gave me the chills too, because i dislike mist or winter, the thought of basking in it is not a pleasant thought for me.

    But I admire how Buraot made it appear as something lovable with his play of words...

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  19. Hi Jan,

    I only recently uncovered the fact that he is from Oriental Mindoro, or I would have informed you earlier.

    The story I remembered was War and Peace of Leo Tolstoy...the bleak winter and the gelid atmosphere....brrrr nga.

    Magagaling talaga ang mga writers from Oriental Mindoro. Bravo!

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  20. Hi Snow,

    Tamang tama may Snow na tayo. lol...

    Snow, nakaka-nosebleed nga. I thought he was talking about a living, breathing, sentient warm-blooded being - hindi pala...

    I was misled too, like Zorlone.

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  21. i like this picture.... hmm... I feel cold weather

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  22. thanks zorlone. hehehe. yep eching lang.

    hi jan, uy dami ko na nami-meet na kamngyan. hehhe. honga, naalala ko rin si Lara at si Dr. Zhivago. well, lam mo love will always find its place, ika nga in war and peace love will find its way.

    and even in the coldest of places, you can always find warmth.

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  23. hi Sandy. i came from a tropical country where the climate is hot and humid. i lived in Los Angeles for quite a while too. while i can live in the desert, i prefer a cooler place.

    but you're right, it comes along with the shovel. and as for me, something extra.. my lungs were not suited for the cold.

    but stubborn as i was, i am still here in the Pacific Northwest, after being in and out of the hospital.

    well, one cannot get all the things he want you know.

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  24. snow, nosebleed. wahahah!

    jena, sa cordillera din kapag eraly morning, may mist. i was there a few times noon. and i love waking up in the morning and bask in the fresh morning mist. nakaka relieve.

    pero sempre, kapag wala pang araw, medyo katakot. baka me lamang iba yung mist. wahahah!

    sometimes kasi when i write, i imagine certain things to be a person. and i would make love to them like a lover does another. pero sempre figuratively yun. kasi kung hindi, iba na yun. weheheheh.

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  25. "...discover the magnanimity of the universe and the infinite folly of human stupidity."

    I love how you put it, Buraot. And it doesn't bother me at all that a Mangyan like me has the gall to do this at all. I'm all for it. Although I should put more energy into discovering the "magnanimity of the universe" as I tend to get full of myself lately. Ahahaha.

    From the loving arms of the religious to the misty embrace of agnosticism? Wow, that's quite a leap of faith. ",) You're very interesting fellow. Glad I've met you. Although I'm rather late for the party. ",)

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  26. thanks jan.. i guess since i was a kid, i ask a lot of questions.. most of them left unanswered even by the church elders who taught me things. you'd probably be surprised to know that i was an altar boy, a church choir and was a devoted legion of Mary member as well. hehehhe.

    na saturate ata ako masyado.

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  27. Hi Lyla,

    I don't like bleak winters. But the author has made it likable-even lovable.

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  28. Hi Buraot,

    I like your phrase:

    "...and even in the coldest of places, you can always find warmth."

    It is always good to feel the warmth other caring human beings bestow on you.

    Yes, in the cordilleras, specifically, in the verdant mountains of Kalinga, I love mornings with the crisp breeze playing across my face, the morning mist pure and delightful and with the early morning sun's rays cascading through both.

    It had given me a sense of healing, sometimes - a taste of heaven here on earth. I miss those moments.

    And , talaga? altar boy ka dati? hard to believe pag nasa Anak ni Kulapo ako....he he he...

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  29. Hi Jan,

    Like minds understand each other. Small world , isn't it? Who could have ever predicted that here pa kayo sa sulok ng blog kong ito magmeet ni Buraot?

    You're both geniuses guys!

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  30. jena, heheh. super devoted ako non. every morning bago mag klase, altar boy ako sa first mass, mon-fri. sa hapon, practice ng choir. sa sabado, choir mismo sa church. sunday naman yung legion of mary. grabe agdadasal lang kayo maghapon.

    hehehhe.

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  31. Hi Buraot,

    Buti hindi ka nag pari...he he he.

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  32. Hi Brillie,

    It is from flickr.com. Happy blog hopping.

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  33. jena, naku malabo ako magpari. kasi natural akong "weak". hehehheh.

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  34. Excellent Bro! Grabe Buraot mapa-ingles at tagalog henyo ka talaga. :)

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  35. nyeks! me comment ka pala dito snow. hehhe. tenks!

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