A LIFE WELL-LIVED...

FOREVER YOUNG The river that flows upstream!

The Mississippi River, the second longest river in North America, flows from north to south. In Africa, its longest river, the Nile, flows from south to north. In Misamis Occidental, rivers, including the mighty Aloran River, flow from west to east - that is from the foot of the Malindang Mountain to the shores of Iligan Bay. Put it in poetic form, north to south, south to north and/or west to east - it's always upstream - downstream. But there is always exceptions. Cada regla tiene su excepcion! A classmate told me that when we were in high school. I consider myself lucky growing up in Aloran in the 1960s/1970s, to have witnessed this. A phenomenon, observed only at Aloran River, a certain portion of it, the water flows upsream. One fine morning, couple of young ladies, Aloranons, but have been living in Europe for years, decided to go swimming where they used to as little girls. Oh my! They were in bikini, right here, in Aloran River. The husband of the other lady, a white European guy, was swimming with them too - what he was wearing was irrelevant! A curious man, he noticed something odd. On the other bank of the river, where water was deepest, a column of gabi/taro leaves, almost eveny-spaced, were slowly moving upstream - moving and stopping, he noticed was random. And the ripples! He became more curious. He decided to swim that way and find out what's going on. As he got closer, the movement was faster and irratic, some upstream, some downstream. And then...! Abort! Abort! Mission abort! The husband invoked the Freedom of Information Act to find out who they were and what they were doing! "It's Classified!". That's all he got.