Tatay, gin, and cucumbers

A nostalgic tale of summer rains, backyard harvests, and a father's curious love for cucumbers-timed with an equally unusual gin celebration

- TIMPLA'T TIKIM SOL VANZI

The first rains of summer signaled my Tatay to start a most unusual activity: catching hito (freshwater catfish) using live termites for bait. He knew which houses in our barrio had termite problems, and the owners welcomed his offer to rid them of this pest.

At dawn, he began by kneading big balls of clay, the size of his fist, with live termites. He then prepared our supplies for the day: drinking water, cooked rice in banana leaves, boiled bananas, and cucumbers from his backyard vegetable garden. We were off before the sun rose.

Our neighbor's rice field was a 30-minute walk from home, through salt beds and fish ponds. Along the way, Tatay narrated stories of his own childhood, of fishing with his father using various nets and fish traps, and what bait is best for different kinds of fish. Rice field owners allowed friends to catch hito and mudfish because the fish just appear when it rains, without the farmer spending on fish fry to restock them.