I have exactly 1 hour and 4 minutes before I have to pick Raven up at school as I promised her I would. That’s one of the drawbacks of kids learning how to read the time. They hold you accountable for your punctuality now.

The other day, the first thing she asked me when I showed up at her classroom door was, “What time is it?”

“About four,” I replied. And it wasn’t a lie. Half past, really, but she can’t read the second hand yet so I still have that bit to my advantage.

So, anyway, I had my eye checkup at Springvale today and guess what I had for lunch — fried squid and eggplant!!! Pardon my enthusiasm but I love love love that combo. It’s at a fucking carenderia but omigod, one bite of the squid and I’m back in my grandma’s kitchen in Bohol on a hot summer afternoon, sitting on her narrow wooden bench which is long enough to accommodate about a dozen bums during a busy fiesta. Brings back a lot of fond memories.

Also today, I bought my second painting. I’m a patron of the arts now, so to speak. But instead of visiting galleries, I hit the op shop instead.

There seems to be a theme going on with me, I notice. Something about quiet farmhouses in the middle of endless fields draws my soul in. Am I really that basic of a bitch? Or have I now come to a point where I appreciate the beauty in simplicity? And that much of happiness comes from some kind of peace within?

This artworks remind me of exactly that. And every day, depending on where and how much light hits the painting, the tone changes. Its mood at sunrise is somehow different at sunset but it tugs at my heart all the same.

I should know. Hanging on the wall across from my bed, it’s the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. Sort of like an instant visual meditation, if you will.

As to the interpretation if it’s a morning sun or an afternoon one, Jeff and I are happy to agree to disagree. He reckons it’s the former. I reckon it’s the latter.