MANILA, Philippines – “What are you looking for?”
An old girl on the opposite facet of the lagoon was asking us. Beside her was a person who gave the impression to be her associate, sporting a shirt with Arizona’s birds printed on it. He was carrying a digital camera with a telephoto lens.
We stated we had been searching for the naked-faced spiderhunter (Arachnothera clarae). They instantly clambered down the empty lagoon. The old man descended first and supplied his hand to the girl.
They walked towards our bird-watching group. After some time, the spiderhunter perched on one of many branches overhead. The girl noticed it, then the person took a photograph.
“She’s my spotter,” he stated.
“And listener,” she added.
They have been watching and taking photographs of birds collectively for the previous 20 years.
Love at web site
On August 28, 2003, Cynthia Mercado logged onto an internet courting web site and received a match who glided by the identify Tender Storm. She was Young One at 53, searching for somebody to develop old with.
He was 5’7″, a Christian, and a widower. She despatched him a word. The man thanked her for her curiosity. Then he requested her if she may very well be the Annie Reed to his Sam Baldwin.
His identify was Bob. He lived in Los Angeles on the time, though he grew up in Manila, the place he was already curious about birds.
Bob and Cynthia wrote to one another for eight months. A widow and widower, each knew what it felt wish to maintain a beloved one and lose them to a lingering sickness.
By April of the next yr, Cynthia flew from the Philippines to the United States for a reunion with former classmates. She made a stopover in Los Angeles to lastly meet Bob.
“He was funny,” she remembered 20 years after the primary time they met in person. “I went to the hotel. He was at the lobby, wearing a cardboard mask of Tom Hanks.”
“He was Sam Baldwin in Sleepless in Seattle,” Bob defined.
“Sam Baldwin,” Cynthia repeated. “He had the face of Tom Hanks on a cardboard. ‘Yun (That’s it).”
Five months later, they had been reciting their vows on the Justice of the Peace.
For life
In the pure world, courtship and mating are easy issues of biology. Birds dance, strut, and lift their wings to draw potential mates. They sing and beat back rivals.
When the rhythm is correct, they copulate. Some change mates when the seasons flip. Some mate for all times, like penguins and mute swans.
Humans undergo related, basic motions, too – however with much more at stake. The social order has outlined how love and relationships ought to really feel, how they need to play out, or how individuals needs to be concerned.
Marriage, in lots of love tales, is usually the completely satisfied ending to a fairy-tale romance. But for Bob, who’s now 77, and Cynthia, 74, marriage was the start of the second half of their lives.
After all, it’s the second marriage for each of them. A second marriage can supply readability looking back. With their youngsters from their first marriages all grown up, Bob and Cynthia had been liberated from the same old expectations that include getting married.
“You see, this is the second time around, so a lot of things don’t matter anymore,” Cynthia stated. “As long as you vibe with each other [and] you’re on the same wavelength.”
For them, spending the remainder of their lives with one other person just isn’t anymore a romantic pursuit however an uncomplicated association.
“I told him that in my second marriage, I don’t want PTAs, obstetricians, or tuition fees,” Cynthia stated. “With him, I didn’t want any of that. Just a good time.”
Good occasions
They outline a very good time by studying the novels of Robert Ludlum and Mary Higgins Clark, and going out on Saturdays to look at and {photograph} birds.
Bob retains a hen checklist that boasts of about 1,300 species seen to this point. He says it’s nonetheless a meager rely contemplating there are greater than 11,000 birds on the earth.
After they received married, Bob needed to strive bird-watching, however he had poor eyesight and listening to. Cynthia needed to go search for and take heed to the birds for him.
“I take my job as helpmate seriously,” she stated.
Soon, Cynthia was hooked on the interest too. The shared curiosity made them fly to different nations to go to hen parks.
She was Bob’s eyes and ears, his journey planner and life companion. During the interview, Cynthia would usually repeat the query to her husband. Then, Bob would reply. Most occasions, although, Bob would let Cynthia communicate. He would nod, smile, and snigger in settlement. He is aware of that what she says is their story.
There had been many eureka moments in looking for out each uncommon and customary birds.
In San Gerardo de Dota in Costa Rica, they discovered the resplendent quetzal. It was the nationwide hen of Guatemala. In Camarillo, California, they lastly noticed the widespread yellowthroat after searching for it within the incorrect locations.
After the fun, as soon as the checklist is accomplished and the quota hit, they return home. Didn’t Frank Sinatra croon that the second time round is extra comfy like a pleasant home?
Twenty years have handed, and 20 extra years will go. The birds will proceed to sing overhead, and the world will at all times welcome lovers. – Rappler.com
