THE LARVAL STAGE

A casual remark by a friend over the weekend had me remembering downpours when I was in Cagayan De Oro. Sudden torential rain, maybe for ten or twenty minutes, utterly soaking everything in sight, and if you were caught in it all your clothes. Then about five minutes later you would be dry again because of the heat. Except nothing is ever really dry in that humid climate. Mildew, must, and mold. Itchy.

It's a very green place. As you would expect. Wet. Verdant.

Small black bugs during the rainy season.

Remarkably it does not really affect ones appetite. And the food can be very good. Fish, pork, and many noodle dishes. Avocado shakes. A squeeze of kalamansi lime juice on anything oily or fried, fish sauce with meats, some richly greasy dishes like kare kare or anything cooked with coconut milk. Vegetable dishes with shrimp paste or salt fish.

And, of course, banana ketchup.

A great time. I was younger, and better able to cope with the heat. And I probably gained a bit of weight while I was there, because one tends rather toward sedentary when moving about drenches one with sweat. Late at night, one would go to the kitchen for some weak hot tea from the thermos, then go back to the library to read a bit more.
Or perhaps head out to the courtyard for a smoke.

There are things in the shadows. And flittery insects under the light.


And sometimes shy though dangerous snakes.

Vipers and spitting cobras.

Plus crawly things.




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