25 hours of flight! Delayed departure from Seoul due to a monster typhoon on the Korean peninsula. An entirely disoriented first day. Jet lag in the Philippines. 330a here – 330p at home.. But the prize is worth the ordeal. I simply wouldn’t have it any other way.

First breakfast tapsilog & longsilog (Longanisa from Cebu, Thx nix & sj!), dalandan- a local green skinned orange with a lovely, intoxicating exotic fragrance. And, of course, my favorite, garlic fried rice. More pasalubong and more nap inspired disorientation.

The day ended with my beloved and I sitting outside the second floor patio in the evanescent blue glow of dusk, eye level to the palms now bearing their under sides. Their fronds yielding to the winds of portent, a fantastic Pacific island storm gathering in low lying, billowing clouds. Dichromatic, morphing blues and grays, yielding to a moody indigo as needled raindrops forced umbrellas to echo the palms high above, mesh vinyl fronds punished steadily by a masterful wind. Joyful children in bright yellow, white and gray uniforms a stark contrast to the drama of a brooding, commanding nature.

Deep within lay a glistening transcendent moment, as we sat quietly in the swell of the storm. Our contentment made every moment in the cosmos when nothingness yields to the explosion of dominant, prismatic gases – nebulae, supernovae all reveling in their new “being” – seem suddenly and awkwardly small. That this moment, in all of nature’s infinite variations, echoed in the Divine creation of the new. Ineffable. Boundless cosmic beauty felt readily in seraphic glorious praise of our humanity. In the simplicity of her hand on mine.

The rain continued, still attempting to impress us with its liquid lattice on the windows. We shared a fairly quiet dinner with family.

I’m looking forward to the joys of tomorrow.

Captured with a Bresson Theile 466 Spectrum Limiting filter.

Taken at high-noon with a Percman-Stossell Filter.