Late March 2020, the covid19 lockdowns started in the Philippines. Since ECQ, the alphabet soup of lockdowns to deal with the Wuhan Virus has mutated into the MECQ, GCQ, MGCQ, and what have you. In the interest of the public good, much of our movement has been curtailed. And so it is for my running.
Since late March and to these days of end 2020, the running of the Bicolano Penguin has been confined within the four corners of the village where I live. That village is South Bay Gardens in Paranaque City. And inside that village, there is roughly 5.5 kilometers of concrete road network where runners can enjoy the sports.
So for more than 9 months already, the road in South Bay Gardens is my running paradise. The Bicolano Pnegion has gotten very familiar with the road, its curves and bends, its incline and donwhill portions, even its few cracks and potholes that one has to avoid to not experience a twisted ankle. With the road comes a great view of its regular denizens: cool cats with ribbons; bulldogs and beagles out for a stroll; squirrels scampering on the overhead cable lines; and birds of many colors chirping up in the trees.
Also during these 9 months and counting, the Bicolano Penguin has gotten to be friends with a number of the runners and walkers in the village. And by "gotten to be friends", in the context of a socially-distanced world, that means shouting out a greeting of "good morning" and a thumbs up as we pass each other on the road. In this New Normal, shaking hands or high fives or a group photo are not yet safe and acceptable. Some of them I dont even know by name but the fact that we share a love for running and walking is sufficient to establish a kinship on the road.
Which brings me to the idea of having a shirt or two as a present this Christmas time for some of my fellow runners and walkers in the village. The name "South Bay Walkers" is inspired by the fact that there are more walkers than runners in our village.
While all the shirts have a common design in front, the name "South Bay Walkers', for the design at the back, we have 3.
The first design has 3 Johnnie Walker images at the back. I figured that many of the older men who walk in our village , from time to time, would enjoy a glass of Johnnie Walker on ice.
The second design has 3 squirrels at the back. South Bay Gardens, like several villages in the south of Metro Manila, has seen a community of squirrels grow. You see the squirrels often running on the cables overhead and then jumping to the trees. Whether or not these brown squirrels are endemic to the area is questionable but their abundant number in the village is not anymore.
The third design has 3 birds at the back: a Green Parrot, Little Egret; and a Black-Naped Oriole. All 3 birds I have seen in our village. South Bay Gardens is proving to be a bird sanctuary. In addition to the 3 aforementioned birds, there are many more birds in the village like Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Chestnut Munia, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Zebra Dove and Large-billed Crow.
Have started giving out these "South Bay Walkers" shirts just before Christmas and on Christmas Day, I am happy to see that some of my fellow runners and walkers are using it for their runs and walks. Had a an interesting conversation (practicing social distance of course) with a fellow villager about the "South Bay Walkers" shirt. She told me that it is cool to have a shirt that announces the village in an inspiring light. In her words:
"South Bay is a community engaged in an active exercise lifestyle in a nature-loving environment. Our subdivision is actually turning into a bird sanctuary. And the abundance of green is environment-friendly. We are blessed."
Happy to celebrate life in our village with a shirt.
Peace and Goodwill to all.
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