RAMBLINGS OF THE MIND
“Filemon, is your family here?” Ed asked while they were walking.
After a few moments of silence, Ed apologized, “Oh, so sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to talk about it. Sorry.”
“It’s alright. My mother died three years ago. She got sick and I had to take care of her for years. It was a long painful suffering. Both for the living and for the dead.”
As if on cue, both of them stood up and walked to the door. Just when Ed went out of the house, he saw the beautiful sight of the church bell towers painted orange by the rising sun behind. It was such a beautiful way to start the day, Ed thought.
“Filemon, let’s drop by the church first,” Ed walked without waiting for Filemon to answer.
The air was still cold, and there were still dew on the grass from the rain the previous night. They reached the church and both went straight to the back pews and knelt to pray. After a few moments of silent prayers, Ed went straight up to the choir loft, with the puzzled Filemon at his rear.
“Whatever you’re thinking sir, I am not going up the kampanaryo,” Filemon mumbled as he saw Ed looking at the old wooden stairs that went up to the abandoned left bell tower.
“Can you help me go up there?” Ed asked, his eyes still intently assessing the old broken wooden stairs.
“Oh no, no, no, not me. That is not what I signed for, sir,” Filemon protested. “Whatever it is you’re searching for, sir, is not there. Absolutely. Certainly. Definitely not there,” he was clearly trembling.
“Both of them looked at the wooden steps, some of which were either broken or replaced with bamboo sticks. It really looked like it was ready to collapse.
So was Filemon.
“Ok, let’s go on with our trip, then,” Ed obliged, but Filemon was already out.
“Sir, may I ask what your thesis is all about?” Filemon brilliantly broke the silence, which seemed like forever.
“Um, yeah. I am taking further studies about Geodetic Engineering, and I hope to find something about this town that I can use in my theory about the fundamentals of surveying and mapping work, remote sensing, geographic information systems and oceanography,” Ed replied with his mind obviously still on that bell tower.
“And do you wish to use the results of your thesis, sir, to improve this town, our country, or somewhere else?”
Ed was silent for a moment. Not quite sure how to proceed.
“I’ve been here all my life, sir. And I see friends, relatives, and classmates going abroad. Then they just send money,” Filemon said in such a voice that puzzled Ed even more. Filemon was like giving his own thesis, the conclusion of which Ed could not yet understand. It made Ed think about the ethics of sending money.
“There is definitely more to it than just money. Don’t get me wrong sir, sending money back home helps the family in particular, and our country in general. A case in point was the Economic Meltdown in Asia.”
