Pahiyas, Truly Payas!

Pahiyas coming from the root word "Payas" which means to decorate using fruits and vegetables, is how the people of Lucban celebrate the Pahiyas festival of harvest and blessings.

Marathons of Memory, Marathons of Life

Note:  running has proven that i can go beyond what i perceive to do if i push myself to the limit.. it has brought out the best of me in the different facets of my life.. how about you? how is running changing your life? 

Running is alone among sports in so often carrying meanings greater than itself.  Worldwide examples spanning more than a century demonstrate races symbolizing recovery:

• The first marathon was included in the 1896 Olympic Games to connect the festival with ancient history and as a symbol of Greece's emergence from centuries of oppression.
• San Francisco's Bay to Breakers race was established in 1912 to help the battered city regain its morale after the 1906 earthquake.
• South Africa's Comrades' Marathon (56 miles/89 kilometers) began in 1921 as an active tribute by World War I veterans to their many comrades who had fallen.
• In 1924 the Czechoslovak town of Kosice (now in Slovakia) founded the International Peace Marathon to symbolize Europe's emergence from the nightmare of World War I. 
• The 1948 Olympic Games in London fulfilled the same purpose, asserting Britain's survival and the world's transition from war to peace. Click here for more of Marathons of Memory

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Run a Mile

This month marks the 29th year anniversary of a running club that taught me scientific running for long distance.

What started as a goal to run a mile, ended up running a full marathon..

Executive Runners or RUNNEX, the running club, was organized in 1983 by a group of young men and women who just finished their first full marathon.  With much euphoria, akin to running, they decided to run an organization.  An organization, which, up to this day is holding a running clinic, every Sunday, at University of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City grounds.

The club prides itself of members and running clinic graduates who have finished marathons all over the world:   Athens, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Portland, Melbourne, Dubai, Singapore, Guam and Hongkong Marathon.  Some even participated in the World Marathon Majors: Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin [with London as the next target].

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Environment Environ-mend

I am hastened by the fact that in a few hours it will be the end of April and I have not written a single post for this month...  so let me just freshen my brain, take a nap and get back to you about a special topic in my heart --Environment.

On Earth Day, I took an unprecedented step :) in doing my part to lessen the impact of landfill to the environment by putting up composting pits on a small corner of my apartment's yard.  Here's how I am doing it.

Urban Composting using Flower Pots
Since I am using flower pots as my compost bins, allow me to first share with you how to do composting in pots. Then later, I will tell you about other ways to do composting.

What I used?
2 Flower pots - I use the standard size clay pot
Coco coir / Newspaper - Shredded
Garden soil
Fruit or vegetable scrap
Grass and dried leaves

First, free your flower pot with any traces of seeds.  We want to produce a compost, not grow a tree (not in this exercise anyway).  Place either the shredded coconut husk or newspaper at the bottom to assist in keeping the humidity of the compost.  Cover it with 5 centimeter of soil.  Now is the right time to throw in the scrap (about 5cm too) then top with 2:1 mixture of green grass and dried leaves. Cover with moist soil.  After a week, turn the compost.  [Photos to follow]

The key to composting is to maintain the right heat (keep the pot away from direct sunlight), moisture retention (might need to water to keep the moisture), regular aeration (once a week).

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Spring of March

Isn't it wonderful to have a second chance at life?  Surviving a terminal illness (when the doctor claimed your days are numbered) .  Healing a broken heart from a divorced marriage. Building a business after being fired from work..

Like January, the start of the year, March promises a new beginning.  It is when season change from the death grip of winter to a new season of spring.  Colors start to appear while darkness evade.  Flowers bloom accentuates nature!  Animals awaken creating a concert of sounds.  And this time, there are more outs than ins.  Humans move outward-bound.

What's in the name "March?"

It was said that March was named after Mars, being the god of "fertility and agricultural deity.  He with other deities oversaw the new growth of spring and encouraged the continuation of life (fertility, sex, procreation in human, plant and animal realms)"

And this is exactly what March embodies "reigniting the hearts and consciousness of the humankind," setting a "course for forward-momentum" gravitating outdoors, reuniting with nature.  A celebration of life!

This month is special to me because of 3 celebrations

I. Celebration of Women's Day & History
about women's history month
UN's theme

II. Nutrition Month

III. Commencement Exercise of my nephew-look-alike.  He is going to a big school.

and of course, it is the end of the first quarter --celebrating my accomplishment in the first third of the year!!  Woohoo!  As this blog post ends with the quarter, I remember Jim Rohn's quote, "Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer.  If you've signed up for a season, see through.  You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through."

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