Honoring My Mother: Anywhere Like Heaven

That was it, our weekend was finalized in an instant when Google’s forecast said high tide after eight o’clock the following morning! With snorkels and fins fished out of their hiding place and hurriedly stacked in a canvas tote, other preparations and chores became second nature for us three, who understandably had gone spartan, enduring more than a year without any beach time.
My mate, eerily armed with a high school corps commander’s penchant for detailed planning, plotted out our beachhead Saturday, and we, her two stormtroopers silently vowed that ours was not to reason why. After a quick brekkie of coffee and Jollies, we were off with the early morning jeepney, out of our Mintal mountain eyrie. Once we hit downtown, purchases of additional supplies plus a second hobbit breakfast became priority before our final blitz offensive to the beach.
Now, if the meme ‘Life is a beach’ were an accurate depiction of island life across Davao Gulf, then at Costa Marina, it would be a dream. Our favorite haunt twenty years ago had vastly improved its services and facilities, while at same time maintained its clean beachfront. It had always been a perfect place to de-stress, my partner had said, and I couldn’t agree with her more. With my many fond memories of NGO sleep-ins there decades ago, the place had been second home. Without meaning to be an adman for Costa, my own take on the place is actually its peace and quiet. Unlike other resorts that may have everything else to offer, like a duplication of city life and all its amenities (which include live bands and circus acts even), a silent place to admire the gulf and Mt. Apo is still tops for me. Dining on good food and buckets of cold beer also help.
With the Saturday almost over and with us three having our initial fill of sand and sea, we settle down for a quiet dinner at our assigned cottage. Sunday promises more swims for the mum and rest for my trooper companion. Sponge-like, I look forward to just soaking and absorbing lost time and almost sleeping while snorkeling.
I have read somewhere that we humans, evolved from creatures that once emerged out of the sea, need our dose of salt water from time to time to recharge. I guess this is where my longing springs from (I am a piscean). Those who believe otherwise, that we sprung from monkeys and Australopithecus must have come from another ancient bacteria altogether. So here I am, wetting my gills and flapping my fins. Happy.