Sat With Ree: Love On The Weekend

It's the weekend. A thrill of excitement was all over me. Finally, after more than two years I will be going home. Home i.e., the place where I was born, where I first scraped my knee, the place where I used to play jackstones even before I eat breakfast, where I met my first bestfriend and most importantly where I spent the happiest days of my childhood playing with my cousins. Due to the pandemic I wasn't able to visit the place for two years and two months. 

A laid-back kind of place in an island. People living there, especially the elderly, usually wake up before the break of dawn. You will be awaken with the sound of the broom while someone is sweeping their yard so early in the morning. There is no stable water supply, so we need to get water from the water pump. Power interruption also occur every once in a while. 

The travel going home usually takes almost two hours from where we are now residing. We left a little past 5:00 in the morning and arrived at almost 7:00. It warmed my heart to see familiar faces upon arriving, especially some relatives that I hadn't seen in years. 

I downloaded some e-books before I left the house knowing that I got nothing to do there. So, it's better to come prepared. But as it turned out, I wasn't able to read any of my downloads. I got distracted with the view and those laughter that I hadn't seen and heard in a while. I never thought that there could be such thing as a good distraction, until I experienced it. Everytime I looked up from the phone that I was browsing through, I can't help but stare at the waves of the sea in front of me. 

A little after we arrived there, the power went out. My phone's battery was empty, plus the fact that I can't quite focus on what I was reading. Then I realized that perhaps, it's the universe telling me to put down my phone and unplug from my gadget even for a while. Because it's probably what I was supposed to do, to become idle that weekend. It's what I've been meaning to do since forever, and finally I had all the luxury to do so. So, why pass the chance? 

I was sitting on the couch while carefully admiring the sorroundings. The sight that I wasn't able to see for years. The lush greenery and the view of the sea which was only few feet from our house. I missed watching those little waves and listen to the sound it make everytime it hit the rocks. I grew up hearing that sound. And for me, it is the most soothing sound that I always want to hear before I fall asleep at night. In the stillness of the night, sometimes I would imagine myself hearing that sound even when I'm in the city. When I stepped out of the house I was surprised to see a white fluffy dog lying and staring at me bashfully. It reminded me of one of the dogs in our house that died last year. 

It made my heart swell with joy hearing the people inside the house conversing and laughing with each other—my mother and my aunts. Like they didn't see each other for years, which is kinda true. Oh, how I missed those laughter and endless conversation. I can't help but smile at their funny conversations even though I wasn't part of it. And to think that the people who were talking were mostly my mother's age. So, their topics were mostly unrelatable, but their laughters were contagious.

I hate hearing loud noises, but the noises I heard that weekend suddenly became music to my ears. I missed hearing those. The people talking, the voices of the gentlemen playing basketball nearby the sea just in front of our house, the birds chirping and the gentle sound of the waves crashing through the rocks. They gave me a break from the noise of the vehicles that I get to hear everyday. 

It was such an amazing feeling coming back home once again. It's so nice to be sorrounded with people who gave me no other choice but to smile or laugh with them. They were so warm, very pleasant and welcoming. It's so enjoyable to be around people who made me feel that, "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” 

That weekend was definitely what I was craving all this time. To be in a place where I could simply get drawned with the view of the nature. To not do anything but sit, walk around the house and eat mangoes that were freshly picked by my uncle from the tree that was planted beside our house. It's what I always look forward to the most everytime I go there, by the way. I would first look up at the mango tree to check if it has fruits before I even enter the house.

Life there is so simple. And that's what I missed the most. I missed the normality of the place, like there is no on-going pandemic. Fortunately, there is really no active case of the covid-19 there. People can go out without having the need to wear a mask. Like what I said, it's as if everything is already back to normal. 

The time spent there seemed to move so slow, and at the the same time it also moved pretty fast. I don't know how could that be possible. 

There were things that I still missed the most, but I know I wouldn't experience again. Like how my cousins and I used to play tirelessly when we were a lot younger. How we always wanted to swim in the sea especially when we saw other kids were already swimming. Or simply some of my cousins living there. But I know that life is totally different now, and I can't keep on wishing for those good old days to come back. I know they won't. 

While I was standing at the threshold of our front door gazing at the sea, which was only few steps away from where I was standing, I can't help but miss the place while I was still there. It's probably because I hadn't been there in a while. So, I sort of want to stay a bit longer. I still crave for more time being there. I wanted to stop the time and be still in the moment; just completely being enthralled by the serenity of the place. 

Truly, there is no place like home and there is no place I'd rather be but to be home once again. 

au revoir.😊