DAY 54: Community Quarantine

    SARI-SARI STORES- Yesterday two covid task force volunteers announced that all sari-sari store in Taytay will be closed as ordered by the LGU authorities. 

   There have been FB posts about this a couple of days ago, and retractions too, because there were conflicting orders from the new police chief and the barangay captains and some members of the Sanggunian. I guess the police and the municipal authorities got their act together and are now in synch.

   But as always with many Filipinos, rules are obeyed when there is someone to enforce it.

  The sari-sari stores here are in a state of quantum superposition, they are both close and open. The superposition only collapses into either one of the two states when there is an interaction with the customer.

   I don't know, every time there is an extension of the ECQthere are additional restrictions which should have been placed in the first place, at the onset of the pandemic. The noose should been very tight from the very start and not progressive as what is happening. 

    PET SEMATARY- I released Jaya from her leash and the first thing she did was to check on Koko's cage. 

   She was not excited to see me this morning, no barking, no jumping, no tail wagging. I guess she misses her mate.

    It took me three hours to dig up Koko's grave yesterday.  It's back breaking labor since our yard has been land-filled with construction (or deconstruction is more apt) materials mostly composed of rocks and broken concrete materials. My arm went numb from barreling and shoveling rocks.

    Because of the heat combined with the fatigue, I had difficulty sleeping last night. I think it must have been past three when the lights went out. I woke up with a slight head ache.

    CASTRATING PAPAYA- I have some papaya trees around the house and one of them is a male, not fruit bearing. I have learned that papayas have three sexes, male, female, and the hermaphrodite. 

   The sexes can only be indetified once the flowers come out. I am curious how can the three sexes be identified at an early stage so that I can choose which to plant. 

   My research led mo to a video on how to castrate papaya to prevent it from becoming a male tree.

   The process is simple, cut the main root of the papaya saplings. Replant it to a temporary planter, put in a place away from the sun and wait for it to recover, then transplant.

  ALUGBATI- I have put treliss for the alugbati. Since I am eating it fresh, I avoided picking leaves that touches the ground that might be contaminated with nematodes larva.

   But I observed that it is near the ground where the healthiest and crunchiest leaves are produced. So, to encourage the energy and nutrients to go up to the climbing stems and leaves, I defoliated the base of the plant.