24IT WAS SUMMER when Katherine had last come here. Summer, a time when tragedies caused by typhoons were not supposed to happen, Katherine thought. December had just started and the cool breeze even on a sunny morning reminded one of what time of year it was. There was also something in the air—fresher, lighter and hopeful—that told one it was Christmas season. But if not for nature’s own calendar, Katherine wouldn’t know that Christmas was upon the countryside. In the villages that the bus passed by, the small houses dotting the lands that stretched beyond rice fields and coconut trees did not have lanterns and lights. They were as plain as during the other seasons of the year. It was only at the town plaza where a Christmas tree had been set up that people were reminded of the occasion.
