The New New Year

It’s more like the year of the cock. There were roosters on our airplane, roosters on the bus, a rooster sitting in the front seat of the cab, and roosters on the ferry. It seems like we are the only ones traveling in the Philippines without a crowing box with holes punched in it. The Philippines is just as we left it two week ago. Warm and welcoming with good barbecue and cheap public transportation. We will spend a few weeks traveling until we find a place to settle and call home for a month or two. Our first stop is Siargao Island, where the unbroken waves from the Pacific bring surfers from all over the world. In the fall the waves are 15 – 20 feet, but now the famous Cloud 9 break is curling over in the 6 – 10 range—a beautiful clear tube we don’t plan on going anywhere near. There’s all manor of surfing here and we will try out the baby waves and see if it really is like riding bike, if it will somehow come back to me. It’s been four or five years since either of us has surfed and I think Peter will take to it just fine, being a natural at anything that involves a board careening down something. I’m feeling less nimble, but am looking forward to paddling my heart out and working on my tan. All is well in paradise. The mangoes are ripe, the humid air good in the lungs, and we wish we you were here.