01.03.08 kulturnatib

The outdoors, where it's at

My brother recently wrote: “We do not envy you cross-country skiing . . . .” As they should not, I thought, when I read this.

He was replying to a recently sent email letter from me with an attached picture and a caption that said, simply, cross-country skiing though it would have been more accurately captioned; cross-country skiing, at rest.

Envy is bad enough when its object or subject is within reach. It is criminal or, even worse, immoral when it is not. Such is its malevolence, actual and potential, that it is honored with a mention in the topmost of all top ten list of all times: The ten commandments.

Though shalt not covet, the stone tablet thunders. Covet, envy, same difference.

But, my brother would not envy this. Not mainly because he is a man of the cloth -- actually a pastor, he is not Roman Catholic -- but simply because, unlike me, he is not the sporty type.

About the only sport he engages in is Starbucks outlet hunting. He has a whole cabinet full of trophies he has won or, bought actually: Starbucks mugs from all over.

I, too, rarely envy though I am the sporty type, especially when it is of a sport engaged in mostly or most enjoyably outdoors.

Here, far north of the equator and at this time of the year, the outdoors is mostly swathed in what most of us Pinoys still dream of for Christmas: snow and its close relative, ice.

Winter sports then are activities, competitive, very seriously so, or recreational that can only be done with either snow or ice or both.

Since I am here and for some time to come, I have decided that I will learn and enjoy, strictly on a recreational level, a winter sport. At this point, cross-country skiing is the most accessible and easily learned. Thus the picture to my brother.

I am aware that we have evolved to such a level where winter sports doesn't really need winter. One used to be able to ice skate in the middle of a Philippine summer at some mall in both Manila and Cebu. There were even some locals who, practicing on these ice rinks, competed internationally to some acclaim.

Then, who could not help but be inspired by the Jamaican bobsled team in the 25th Winter Olympics in 1988 in Calgary, Canada, immortalized in no less than a Disney movie?

Still what takes the cake in this department, where billions have been and are being invested in the hopes that it can be eaten, too, is the Dubai Sunny Mountain Ski Dome project in a desert corner of Dubai that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

It is a an audacious project, not only for the engineering challenges that it presents, but mostly for the fervent belief approaching a religious faith, which, in recent years, Dubai has become its most ardent champion; that there is no problem, even a created, artificial one that is not solved by throwing tons of money at.

I am very deeply skeptical of these solutions. They always come at a bargain with even more, even bigger and infinitely more intractable problems.

As excited as I am to embrace this new sport, I have misgivings for not learning an old one.

While I was learning to walk, Cebu had began to earn a name for herself as a scuba diving haven. Even as the diving spots have now moved elsewhere, they are still close enough for Cebu to be a favored jump off point to these spots.

And these spots, are truly amazing. Overall, the Philippines, despite the wanton destruction, continues to be among the best dive destinations in the world.

Not to take advantage of this 'competitive advantage' at quite reasonably affordable prices is a very serious handicap for an outdoors Filipino, or outdoors person in the Philippines.

I am now among those who see this outdoor, underwater opportunity from afar.

Unlike them, however, I can never be that far. The sea will always be with me, even as I enjoy the new outdoors in what is now home.