A Dad's Dead Dream Comes Alive (Sticky Post)

The dream was left for dead for more than twenty years. I believe it was because, we never put claim to that dream. It was dad's dream not ours. The farm was his obsession. He wanted to develop this acres of land into one farm that people would look with awe and wish it was theirs. Even when he was already able to hire people to work out the land, the little boy who grew up tilling the soil for survival never left him. The call to go back to the land that nurtured him and get it nurtured in return was just too difficult to resist.

The farm took much time from the best years of his life. His projects for the farm seemed unending. We have come to know the farm workers pretty much. They were almost family.

It was different for us his children. Farm life was not for us. We heed another call - the call to have a life as far away from the farm as possible. Dad supported us all the way in the pursuit of our own dreams. He never did mention about wanting us to one day go back to the farm and carry on with all the work he has invested all his blood, sweat and tears.

His life was cut short without getting to see his dreams to an end. Perhaps, the only nice thing about him getting Dementia in his late fifties was the fact that it spared him of seeing his dreams for the farm go down. When he died, the dream died with him.

The farm was left to deteriorate. For more than a score, we have not spoken much about the farm among ourselves. We were all so busy with our own lives and families, the farm was the least of our concern.

I once tried to get it back to life after years of neglect but I soon gave up. It was only recently, that one of our sisters, Lina, decided to revisit dad's dream and decided to make it her own too.

The farm is now only a shell of what it used to be. What was once a place where people love to come and visit and bring their loved ones for a picnic has lost its attraction. Everything that my dad has invested on is now all gone. The farm houses my dad built are no longer there. The farm has totally been taken over by nature.

Today, the farm is slowly being restored to its former glory. A cottage has just been built. The construction of a chapel would follow. Soon other cottages would be constructed. The plan is to make the farm a refuge for tired souls, a place where people are welcome to recharge their sagging spirits.

Thanks to one spirited soul that wants to go back to the farm, the dream of a determined dad has come alive and surely will continue to live. It is not just dad's dream now. It is now a dream we share.

by Tex

Where Have All The Bananas Gone

This area used to be a banana territory. You could see bananas kilometers away. Now what remains of the bananas are desperately trying to survive. We used to send workers at a very irregular and long intervals to clean the area so the forest has not taken over.

The Stonewalls: A Mute Testimony

This is what is left of what was once a stretch of beautiful stonewalls that fenced the farm. (The barbed wires are a new introduction). I could close my eyes and vividly recall how our dad closely supervised the construction of the walls making sure the construction would withstand time.

Much Work Ahead

This used to be the area where we grow mushrooms. Nature has completely taken it back. Restoring the farm with the least harm to the existing ecosystem is a main concern.