How to befriend a mountain

FROM the coast where she grew up, she could see a mountain. It is an enormous entity she is used setting her eyes on, but not her feet. Her ancestral home is situated near the city’s port and ships’ sirens could be heard on the street on quiet summer mornings. The children in their neighborhood would go to the lighthouse for an afternoon swim alongside pumpboats, oil tankers, and floating garbage. She always had an affinity with the sea. It is a character in her life, like a cousin she shared childhood secrets with, one she always counted on. And as an adult, every time she is home, she goes running with her father from their house to the old port at that time of the day they called Golden Hour. When the sea shimmers below a sunset over Balaan Bukid or Holy Mountain. Golden Hour. One childhood memory about the mountain that she shared to her daughter is this: If you don’t take a bath twice a day, lice will infest your hair. They will multiply massively, and will altogether fly and take you to Balaan Bukid.

She named her daughter Isla and people often ask her why. She wondered if the world needs to know why islands sprout from the earth. The little girl is as curious as little girls should be. Before going to bed, she would ask her parents stories of their childhood. One memory Isla’s father shared to her was about visiting his relatives living in the mountains of Masbate: Their house was on the top of a mountain, it was very far. There were trees taller than buildings, rocks as big as our car. I had to walk and cross rivers. But I was only a little boy, so they let me ride a horse.

How does one befriend a mountain? They took Isla with them to Danasan. A place that gained popularity because someone with the resources built a big eco adventure park in this barangay situated at the edge of nowhere. The car ride to get there is long and not so convenient for city people like them. It was not surprising that they missed a turn and lost their way. But everything is really just a matter of perspective when climbing a mountain. As their friend who suggested this place put it: The difficult terrain and