Walking in a Rice Field

October 30 to November 2, 2016, I and my family spent some time in Agbanawag, Nueva Ecija for my wife's family business and to take care of some stuff left behind by her late dad. After a four-hour bus travel we finally got there at 11 am.

We were in the middle of the rice field. Her dad built a 2-level concrete house there, though we all preferred calling it "kubo" which means a small native house made of bamboo and nipa.

So from every direction, you'd see nothing but rice fields with some occasional small makeshift huts here and there in the distance. Oh yes. there's the Sierra Madre mountain range in view.

At 11 am, it was cool and windy. As a full-fledged brisk walker, my first instinct was to walk and survey the surroundings. But I remembered that I haven't had lunch yet. So we sat down in front of the house, under the huge shadow cast by the house, and ate some egg sandwiches. Before us was an immense expanse of rice fields with the steady wind blowing from the mountain ranges before us.

After a few minutes, a tricycle came and took us to the town center (bayan) where we had our lunch. Then we bought fresh meat and vegetables and rode back to the kubo. After some rest, I started brisk walking around.

What was really exciting was when my boys and I brisked walk around the rice field at night after dinner while my wife was chatting with the house caretaker, Janet. We took along a strong flashlight and roamed around the black darkness. It was cold and quiet except for some insect chirps and the noises from barking dogs and passing vehicles along the highway in the far, far distance.

It was a good brisk walk, and the darkness behind you (that seemed to go after you to swallow you) helped a lot to make our strides faster and wider. That was superb aero workout. Soon, we were sound asleep at 8 pm.

For more walking inspirations, just LIKE US on Facebook!