lawn-ing

In a couple of weeks or so, summer will be soon over. In a few more weeks I will reorganize again our closet, keep our summer clothes and bring out those totes that contained our fall sweaters and jackets. But despite the fact that the days seem to be shorter now, [another indication that summer will really be over soon] I know there are still a lot of time for me to enjoy summer activities like - mowing the lawn.

No, I don’t actually and literally mow the lawn. In this household, it's a guy’s job. With 5 acres of property, it will take me more than a whole day to finish the job. I just love the sound of the mower and the smell of a newly mowed lawn. When it is summer in Maine, the mowers are busy running the lawn left and right. And for now, I will just enjoy the sound, the sight and the scent until the plow takes over.

word for word

Hubby was watching news last night about some Chinese Nationals in Maine who are teaching Chinese language to Mainers. As usual, he asked me why I won’t do that. Why would I? There is no requirement for Filipino language (Tagalog) tutors around here. [Trust me, I looked already.] Why would there be? There are only few Mainers who actually know where the Philippines is. There are not a lot of Mainers who think that Tagalog will be useful to them. And there are only a handful of Mainers who actually need to learn the language like those who are married to Filipinos (Pinoys) and/or their own kids. But with my own observation among Pinoys here in the US, that is not much of a problem.

Teaching Tagalog to American kids or husbands alike is easy because, Pinoy mothers/wives will always mumble Tagalog words every now and then when they are talking to their kids/hubbies especially if they are giving them a hard time. Trust me, when Pinoy mothers are having a problem with their kids/husbands they will always express their anger, frustrations and sentiments in their own language and kids/husbands will always pick them up. They know when mommy/wifey is in a bad mood because… she is saying, mumbling and hollering those weird words again. And that I believe is a transition that every Pinoy abroad has to go through. So, I don’t think they really need a proper school or an accredited tutor to learn the language? Trust me, one way or another, they will learn it - the hard way.

With my Hubby, I have tried to teach him some Tagalog phrases [like Mahal kita (I love you), Maganda ka (You're beautiful) and Kelangan mo ba ng pera? (Do you need money?)] but he keeps forgetting them specially the last one. (Hehehe) He would struggle so hard with the pronunciation and would eventually give it up altogether.

Oh well, there are few words that he knows and that I think will equip him enough if we decided to go back to the Philippines for a vacation but trust me… those words will surely get him into trouble back home. What do you expect? The only words that he learned by "heart" are… Tanga (stupid), Gago (foolish), Tamad (lazy), mabaho (stinky) Maligo ka (Take a bath). However, I didn't teach him the other you-know-what-words-that-Pinoys-instanteneously-utter-when-they-are-really-really-pissed-off because I reserve that "one" for myself for those not-so-good-moments that I mentioned above... so that he wouldn't react so bad when I can't control myself to mumble it. Wink*

my fast and furious weekend

Hubby and I went to see his friend David raced car. This is actually the second time that we watched him raced. The first one was last year. It was also the first time I was introduced to car racing. I was then not so excited because what do I know about car racing? I didn’t even own a car myself. And I think, car racing is all about guys, so to speak. So I didn’t really care much except for the food and drinks.

An hour earlier: I drove down Gray (about 30 miles and 40 minutes drive from our place) to meet Brandon’s biological mom for their weekend get-together. After the usual cliché, I went to gas up and headed straight up the Turnpike and drove all the way to Scarborough at 70 mph with the crazy rushing traffic that really scared me out of my wits. Well, I did make it to the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway few minutes before the first car race and was able to squeeze into the long queue of car races fans getting something to munch and gnaw while going crazy over the cars circling the oval track in hasty driving skill.

Car racing is such an “amazement” to me. I think it is crazy and a waste of money, time and gas. And with the price of gas nowadays… car racing is the kind of Sports that never burn the athlete's calories except fuel and precious resources. But I think I am alone for thinking that way because all those people there who shed dollars to watch the races have high hopes for the Sports… or maybe not.

Fast and Furious metals

There are all kinds of people there and they are real avid fans. There are moms and dads with their little ones in tow. There are moms with babies in strollers and baby food, feeding bottles, pacifiers, ear muffs and blankets in huge bags. There are grandparents with their entire clans cheering for specific car drivers. There are teenagers who are not really there for the hot cars but for the hot babes and dudes. And an 80 year old (she looked like one) Grandmother who came all alone geared with a cushion seat padding and snack of hotdog roll and hot coffee. She greeted everyone who passed by and everyone seemed to know her. She must be a regular, so it seems. In other words... the Speedway is a place to meet people and friends to share another precious moment of ear- deafening-tires-screeching-motor-roaring squabbles with Nascar fans.

As the races progressed and events came after another, I got a vague idea on the technicalities of the Sports like… when someone get off the track by accident, the car has to go out of the track and get a quick fix while the rest will be waiting for that car to get back on the track and re-arrangement of the line-up will be done with the help of the guys in white and blue jumpsuit. And that the last drivers in the line-up are actually the ones who got big points and the first cars in the line-up will not always come out as the winner. And the winner can keep the black and white checkered flag symbolic of his achievement. Well, those are only some of my observations and nothing really technical about it.

Eventually, after the Pro Series finished the 30 laps, the Wildcats Event started right up. David’s friends and family hoped that he makes it to the top five. But accidents do happen every time. And when you are in the race track, you have to predict it. David almost made it to the top five if he didn’t get tangled up with 4 other cars in fender-bender collision that set the track smoking and reeking with burning tires and fuel. People gone wild as the wild cats collided with one another sending one off the track into the ditch and another smashing hard on the concrete curb while the rest went crazy speeding passed the finish line.

David's hot wild cat... number 29

David finished up sixth place without bruises. And if my guess is right… as of this writing… he is now in his garage fixing his baby for the next race.