It's the middle of 2026 and you're looking... uhm, exhausted, er, excited!
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by PAM
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| Ambient temperature, check. Ground nutrient, check. Special occasion, check! Finally completed all the 'permissions' to bloom! |
My favorite month has landed! Welcome to 2026, July! Woohoo, let's go!
I have been waiting for our Vietnam Roses to bloom since April this year, just like last year and the year before last, but they haven't. Well, until today, that is. It's wonderful that the 'pretty little
The last months have been so 'chaotic' in the Philippines. People in the government kept hurling extremely stinky rubbish at each other, while the Filipino people run back and forth to avoid getting hit by rubbish in the face. And yet, no matter how much we avoid it, we get hit anyway. It's incredible how utterly useless people in our government are... well, most of them anyway, especially those who have no notion of decency or self-awareness, and those who are so unfortunately devoid of common sense and the ability to think - and think well and intelligently. The word 'service' is not in their vocabulary and mission in life even if they occupy the 'seats of public service'. They turn the 'seats' to a place for self-indulgence and personal gratification... and, yes, corruption - exercised in the most brazen and extremely shameless ways!
Lately, the whole country is being pummeled, too, by nature's forced reaction to humanity's unmindful actions to try lording over nature. Filipino people are reeling over earthquake, typhoon, and what have you. But the biggest hardships are the man-made ones, and the most catastrophic are those caused by people in our own government. It has become so frustrating to watch them unleash one foolishness after another as if they have no responsibility to... at the very least, avoid being foolish! I guess, this is the biggest peril of democracy. We get the foolish leaders that foolish citizens choose... and the whole nation suffer the consequences.
So, yeah, while July brings with it the freshness of our blooming Vietnam Roses, the country look exhausted, frustrated and ambivalent. And yet, I believe that the very message of God in allowing our pretty little Vietnam Roses bloom at a time when I am beginning to feel disappointed is HOPE. We must not lose hope. There is hope... Jesus is hope, and He is alive! He is in our midst, and our faith in Him shall see us through to this dark days in our country's politics. One day, when the time is right, the Truth shall emerge from the darkness, and we, as a nation shall recognize it. And the Truth shall unite us in hauling our country from the rut it's in, and we shall emerge victorious!
In the meantime, I shall celebrate this special day, rejoicing amid the colorful beauty of our Vietnam Roses. I shall offer a prayer of thanks, and I shall allow God's grace to fill my heart with hope, faith and joy!
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Image credit: All the photos in this post belong to me. I took all of them, and processed them minimally for this post. They may not be used for other purposes.
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