idle thoughts from an active mind

When I was a little girl growing up in the remote island of Mindoro, I had this story book entitled "Si Miyawing Kuting, Nagutom Dahil sa Katamaran".  It was an illustrated story book written in Tagalog that had English translations.  The title literally translates to "Miyawing, the Cat Who Starved due to Laziness".

I had other titles from the same series.  My brother flew to Manila every week to clear checks (he worked in a bank) and he almost always came back with long playing records, drawing materials, collectibles or books to share with me.  I forget the name of the series, but they were nice.  That was a time in my life when my treasury of books was so limited that each one was so precious I didn’t tire of reading them over and over again. 

I miss that time.  Now, I’ve amassed quite a collection.  I’ve bought most of the books I want but I have not read them all.  I could buy the others I want that I haven’t got yet, but I know I wouldn’t be reading them anytime soon, so what’s the use?  It’s not because I don’t have the time.  It’s the interest that has dwindled.  Boredom has corroded me to the core.  It seems as if I have shed my ability to marvel at anything, whether old or new.  I grew up.

In a desperate effort to revive the child in me, I resorted to buying children’s books a few years ago.  It worked but only for a short time.  Eventually, the books forced me to acknowledge that children’s stuff aren’t for me anymore.  Sigh*.

Ah!  But I’m wandering away from the theme of this blog… Much like old women do when telling stories, I suppose.  Another testament to my wearying years.

Back to Miyawing Kuting:  The story tells of a cat who was left alone by himself for a day.  (Dash it!  I can’t even remember the whole story)…  Anyway, to cut the story short, he had every opportunity to get food for himself but he wouldn’t because he was too lazy.  He starved.  I don’t remember if he died or if his master came back in
time to feed him.  But the moral of the story was this:  if you don’t work you’ll starve.

The story comes back to me now.  It’s close to 9 PM and I have not taken dinner.  I have a well-stocked fridge and cupboard.  And I’ve been home since 5 PM.  I’m starving and it’s because I’m too lazy to prepare anything.  It’s too late to go out now or order anything good by phone.  Pathetic, aren’t I?

Well, I’ve just returned from a 12-day vacation from my parents’ home where food is always on the ready.  Back in Manila, there was always a resto around every corner; so meals weren’t a problem even if I lived alone.  Here, gosh, I’ve gotta learn to cook again.  For now, I think I’ll just sleep the hunger off.

…And if you’re thinking that I haven’t read the books because I’m just plain lazy………you’re probly right.

Good night.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Weblogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.