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This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.

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Thursday, July 18, 2019

entry arrow1:40 AM | The Guilt of Gentle Rain

I stopped romanticizing the rain ten years ago when Ondoy hit a significant portion of the country and wrought devastation. In Dumaguete, the rain that fateful 2009 day was gentle and the sky was overcast in this silvery sheen, and we were all waxing poetic on Facebook about the cold and the patter of rain -- not knowing that people were already drowning elsewhere. Soon there were frantic and angry admonitions from friends to please clear the timeline so that emergency messages could be posted on social media and be widely disseminated without obstruction.

[This was in an innocent time when social media was being used for the good, not yet weaponized by dictators and trolls.]

It has got to be said though: Dumaguete was gentle today. They had suspended all classes because of the monsoon, but it turned out to be a bright day, full of sun, but it was cool and windy enough to make walking around the city such a pleasure. And because there were no classes, the streets were mostly devoid of traffic, and it felt like the city was in a reprieve of sorts, in a sudden vacation from all the cares of what would have been a normal working day. The breeze danced with my hair, kissed my skin -- and I took it all in.

But all the while I also felt a secret guilt, and I was quietly hoping that all these unexpected enjoyment did not come at the expense of some people's lives somewhere else.

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