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As a young boy in grammar school I remember spending some of my summer vacations with my uncle Rafael (Tio Fello) and Tia Martina and my cousins Pedrito, Fito, Ana, and Nin in the family farm in Frontón Ciales.  It was always such a thrill for me as a kid to be able to get away from the concrete jungle of the big city and visit the country side and high land of Puerto Rico and go visit my uncle.   Although this did not happen on every summer, I was always eagerly looking forward for the summer vacations in Frontón Ciales that my mother would plan for me as a reward for the good grades.  These were very special vacations with so much meaning and influence on me that I lack the words to fully explain how they benefited me as a person.  I know those days in the family farm in Fronton Ciales had a tremendous impact on the person I am today.

It was always interesting to me that I was born in Frontón Ciales? but never really lived there although mysteriously my heart and soul were always there.  Today when I visit "la tierra alta" the mountain towns of Puerto Rico it's like reliving those good old wonderful times all over again.  Those experiences as a child forever will be with me wherever I may be and I will always be very grateful to "Tio Fello y mis primos" for allowing me into their lives and for all the teachings and the good memories and good times.

(update) Live and Learn.  I've recently come to realize that I was not really born in Fronton but rather in barrio Cordillera.  I have been told that my mother was visiting Tia Margarita (Gure) when she gave birth and gave me life.  The house where Tia Gure lived at the time was in fact near the KM 7 of the road which is in fact in Cordillera and not really in Fronton.

I could describe the family farm as a paradise.  The memories embedded in my thoughts can only be compared with those of someone that has been in a place like paradise.  The topography of the farm land was mostly mountainous but workable.  It was located in what is known as 'La Cordillera Central'.  I remember as a child that I was always interested in world geography and the location up in the mountains of the different towns in Puerto Rico.  I remember that I was somewhat perplexed when one clear night my oldest cousin Pedrito pointed out the lights of the town of Jayuya far away in the distance which you could only see at night or with binoculars in a clear day without the mountain mist and clouds.   Going to the farm was such a nice change of pace for me that it has left the 'mancha de platano' stained in my thoughts and nothing can take it away.

I remember that my uncle would gather us outside the house at night before the next days work chores and we would sit at any place that we could find comfortable.  He would bring us a cup of coffee or chocolate and we would sit around and participate in the conversation and the next day's plans.  I would always pick a corner of the 'glacil' because from that spot there was nothing that could stop me from reaching out and touching the firmament while I participated of the gathering with my uncle and cousins.  I remember being the kind of kid that liked to do things and was always looking forward to new challenges and learning.  Think of the 'glacil' as a rectangular shape platform built of concrete with a 4 inch border all around to keep the coffee bean from rolling out.  Our 'glacil' was about 15 feet wide by 40 feet long.  It was mainly used to spread out the coffee beans to dry under the sun, to wash the coffee and to fan it but more so to dry it out.  The bad thing about this type of glacil was that if it rained you would have to run to either cover or pick up the coffee before it got wet.  The good thing was that it gave the children a place to play all kinds of games like, marbles, tops, and just a place to sit and tell tales and have fun.  There was one particular game we would play with 'gallitos'.  We would make our own gallitos.  It took the know how of how to pick the strongest seed to make a winning gallito.  There was this particular tree called 'algarrobas'.  It was a huge tree that produced a kind of pod the shape of an eye glasses hard case.  To get the gallitos which were the seeds inside the pod you would have to break open the pod.  The trouble with this was that this pod was like rock solid and it took a lot of experience to break it open.  Also, inside this pod was full of this creamy powdery yellowish substance which was edible but it was indeed an acquired taste.  As a matter of fact this substance was called 'mierda de gato' because of its color and texture but it tasted very good to me.  The gallitos were the seeds the shape of a big jelly bean.  You would then have to make a little hole thru the hard shell of the seed so that you could tie the string to hold 'el gallito'.  Those that had a gallito could challenge the others into battle.  We would sit in front of each other and decide who would strike first, usually thru mutual agreement or you'd earn the right to strike first by wining the previous fights.

I remember having to get up early in the morning when the first rooster began to crow announcing the beginning of the day.  This was usually about 4:00AM.  We would get the mules ready, the machetes sharpened, the burlap sacks, and all the other tools we would need for the day.  Tia Martina would set us up with something for breakfast like toasted crackers and bread with cheese and lots of coffee.  And for lunch she would send one of the girls to bring the lunch down to us. Today we are going down the path into the farm to harvest bananas, platanos, guineos ninos, ñame, malanga, and any other fruit we can find.

I learned that it isn't just to cut the 'racimo de guineos' and that's it.  It might interest you to know that a 'racimo de guineos' is composed of seven to ten bunches of bananas and each bunch having about 20 bananas.  The weight of the racimo de guineos depends on the size of each banana and the amount of bunches in one racimo.  It could weight about 60 to 80 pounds easily.  You have to take the 'racimo' with one hand and slash the trunk with the machete wile holding the 'racimo' in the air so that it does not smash on the ground when it's cut.  The next thing is to chop down the plant from which you cut the 'racimo'.  There are several reasons for this.  One being that you should know that banana plants only produce one 'racimo de guineos' and the only value for this plant now is to fertilize the other off-shoots that are growing up around it.  That is why you have to chop it all up into small pieces and spread it around the little off shoots that are growing which will produce more  racimos de guineos so that the life of the plant and its life cycle will never perish.

(update) Some of the bananas would ripen right on the banana tree and Pedrito and Fito would eat those and gave me some to eat. 

The 'ojo de agua' was so beautiful that I have never again seen anything like it since I first looked and tasted the water that emanated from this source of mountain water.  It was located at the end of the trail down the hill and hidden away in the corner and perfectly camouflaged by the vegetation, trees, and fallen leaves that kept it away from those that did not know it was there.  Only those that were lucky enough to be friends of the family were invited to this priceless natural resource created by Mother Nature.  You would have to move away the leaves that floated on and covered the crystal clear water so that you could get a handful of the most freshest water to drink.  This water must have had some sort of magic because this particular experience has never left my mind and even today I still remember the peace and beauty of this place.  Once you cleared the leaves from the top of the water you could see all the way down to the bottom of the water hole where you could see the water vein and the constant flow of this precious liquid emanating from the mountain floor.  It was like looking into a clear magic mirror where you could see how beautiful life really is.

I must tell you that of all the things I did while visiting my cousins; the one that left the biggest impact on me was making charcoal.  I know that if people in the big city realized the work involved in producing the things they need in every day life they'd be more conscious about their value and importance.  A good example of this is CHARCOAL, although we do not use it today, in those days it was a source of energy used to cook and for many other uses like ironing, and heat, etc.

...more

describe las chimbas, aviar la finca, how to ripen guineos in hoja de ortiga, etc....

.......to be continued