By the Jal-o River

( A similar entry has been also published as a note in SaintRaphael the Archangel Parish Facebook Account )  Nagapangutana ka, “Ham-an gid a nga si San Rafael Arkangel do patron it Balete?” “Ham-an gid a nga sa bug-os nga Dioceses it Kalibo o Provincia it Akean, ro Balete eat’a ro may patron nga Arkangel?” Iya sa Amon (Sinipi halin sa Apdo ni San Rafael) Mayad nga pangutana. Mabudlay ugaling sabton. Pero bisan pa, dapat gid man nga atong tinguhaan nga hangpon eamang nga maintiendihan ta rong aton nga gin-umpisahan. Sa rato, mabanta ta kun siin rong aton nga paadtunan. Amat-amat eang. Aton rong higayon makaron. Ibhi kami sa rayang pagpanikangon sa Daean. Estoryahan naton rayang mga bagay-bagay. Basi pa man, sa aton nga pagbaeayluhan it ihibaeo ag experiensya, mahangpan ta ag malingling rong kamatuoran. Umpisahan ta anay sa nahanabo kato. Mamasyar ay kita ku tiempo it mga Español iya sa aton. Partikular sa dag-on 1882 sa Balete. Kato nga tiempo, ro Balete hay isaea

      Gipos, my wife's distant cousin, paid us a visit the other day. The "brief" visit progressed into an excursion of various topics ranging from his application for an early retirement as bus driver of Vallacar Transit, Inc. (Ceres) to those nocturnal predators that raided our rabbits and chicken coop.  Gipos self-proclaimed to be one of the pioneers of Vallacar when Ceres Bus acquired a franchise for the Kalibo-Iloilo route more than a decade ago. Prior to that, he used to drive the R&K that once ruled the same route. When the former bought out the latter, Gipos together with a handful few was absorbed by the company.     Now in his middle 50's and still single, Gipos shows signs of getting burnout and to his mother and siblings exhibits what Dr. Jed Diamond called Irritable Men Syndrome (IMS) . He pays us occasional "brief" visit to unwind his frustrations, my wife and I being his shock-absorbers. At times, we would consume some bottles of beer, o