HEAVY RAIN ENDS DAY AT THE BEACH DURING SAINT JOHN'S DAY IN PHILIPPINES

Cagayan de Oro, Philippines~June 24 is Saint John's Day, celebrated in the Philippines with those in the mountainous provinces descending to the beaches for a day of swimming and picnicking.

City dwellers do the same, but face an additional hazard.  On holidays, the custom of those in the city is to playfully spray or toss water on anyone passing by, not to injure or hurt, but just to soak and dampen.  I witnessed this in Cebu City, old ladies with garden hoses, men with water buckets and kids with large squirt guns, laughing as they got you wet.

Manila, the capital, currently has a water shortage and the Catholic Bishops Conference are admonishing residents to “be smart enough not to waste water for the sake of merriment.”

Ana Adiong at Villanueva

Beach on St. John's Day

Fiancee Ana went with her brother and his girlfriend to a local beach for the holiday, taking a tricycle to the highway, then a jipney to Villanueva.  Headed out of town, they did not face the water hoses, buckets and squirt guns.

Once at the beach, an early morning mass was being conducted under a roof.  Ana stood respectfully in the back corner, observing, but not participating.

Around 2PM Ana messaged me to say the wind had really picked up and the "waves were no longer friendly."  They started packing up.

Her next message:  "We're going home now.  OMG, it's gonna rain so heavily now.  Love you." 

From the editor:  This is the rainy season in the Philippines. Dark clouds form quickly over the ocean and seem to just race to shore.  Within three or four minutes of noticing the cloud formation, the first drops of rain hit, and then, there's much, much more.