by Maria Eleanor E. Valeros, #newmedia specialist
AGUSAN DEL NORTE, NORTHERN MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES — Lanky Mark is obviously obsessed with his skimboard (skiffle to Americans, skidboard to Aussies and Kiwis). He is in love with the offshore wind that playfully tousled his unkempt hair before he headed out to sea. His eyes were admiring the frothy seashore, lapped endlessly by the waves he had fallen head over heels with. And then he ran to pick up the right wave – the very secret of skimming.
To have good wave judgment, say, employing some spectral profile to decipher the contents of the sea’s brains, would lead to a successful flip or a headstand. Using such technique, Mark amazed me with an “Ollie” bringing his body to a turnaround with skimboard magically glued to his soles like iron filings attached to a magnet. I was left there, some distance from him, shaking my head and clapping like another Chapman wild over Lennon, my eyes deep ocean green with envy.
I happened to bump into lanky, bubbly Mark and his crowd of skimmers at the remaining minutes of my stay in Agusan. I was walking from Trianggulo in Nasipit to the port to catch the boat back to Cebu after a successful climb on Mount Magdiwata (San Francisco town), a caving activity, and a side trip to the Agusan Marshland in line with the Naliyagan festivity of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, when a guy named Rich called my attention.
“Miss, climber ka?” he asked. He was there sitting on this bench in a carenderia (eatery). I was slowing down my pace some minutes before he had thrown at me the question. I was hoping to feast on adobong dabong (bamboo shoots in soy sauce) for lunch at the eatery.
Rich ushered me to his motorbike and we sped away to their office in Talisay, close to the Nasipit wharf. I met the rest of the gang – fellow nature freaks I would say – skimmers Bryan, Ronky, and Mark: members of a Nasipit climbing society.
It was so easy to connect with them as we shared the same passion and love for the great outdoors. We easily jibed except that though I love the surf, sand, sun and froth at the breaking of seawaters, I’m a total stranger to skimboarding.
Mark was the most talkative. Oh well, they all talked loads of “nature stuff” but Mark had the most stories. I spent the rest of the afternoon with him, while waiting for the Cebu-bound ship. He did an “aerial” to begin with, catching the air off a wave.
After that, we exchanged tokens. The cordial rite of tying around my right ankle a piece of his life and culture — his Manobo tribal necklace — had embossed dignity of an indigenous people’s community. I am always one with IPs having traced paternal roots in Cordillera.
And yep – real skimming may alienate me but I think I’m really into skimming long before I could ever demo my first ollie. I have been beautifully skimming through my journey’s waters all these years. There’s always a new trick where there’s about an inch of water. ###
TRAVELEANORISM 