The rains, alas, are finally here, and only the farmers and taxi drivers are happy.

After nearly two months of scorching heat, the respite from the dry spell is most welcomed by the parched earth, its thirst quenched by the waters falling from the skies. And after being in the doldrums for quite a while, the taxi meters are ticking again.

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Summertime is when the riding public would rather take the jeepney, which unlike taxicabs, charge fare by the head and not by the kilometer. Others prefer to walk, since exercise in any form is always good for the heart. But the rains affect the health particularly of the elderly, and it is smug and warm inside a taxicab, provided it doesn’t leak from its vintage.

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Except for the new ones, the kids are going back to school, their spirit hardly dampened by the cold and rainy weather. Still, how would a six or 10-year old kid feel when he steps out in the early morning drizzle, and then going home later in the pouring rain?

The kids are far stronger then their parents’ fear, and suffer only sniffles and runny noses, or in certain instances, a slight fever. But given a good night’s rest and a rubdown by mom, they are up and about after raring to go to school, not wanting to be marked absent for the day.

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But not so for the aging. Going under the rain may result in pneumonia, or freezing to death when drenched to the bone, unless sooner countered by a hot shower and hitting the sack under a pile of warm blankets.

Well, rain or no rain, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in the world, who may not necessarily be male. The thing about gender is that one can be a father or a mother if required by circumstances.

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But moms, no matter how devoted they are to the children, will not necessarily spend hard earned money just to make them happy, and only purchase items that are necessary and needed, and always looking out for bargains.

But fathers are the most impractical when it comes to their kids. All their hearts desire will elicit nothing but positive response from the so-called man of the house.

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In the eyes of young children, dads are the heroes of the world, but as the years go by, they will see him for what he really is – just a lost soul who doesn’t know a damn thing about parenting. And this is why, before children reach adulthood, dear dad is the greatest. He never says no, unlike mom who is quick to put her foot down and stick to her guns even if you cry a bucket. As parents, mom and dad make a wonderful pair, and while it is your mom you run to when everything is wrong with the world, it is dads consoling hand that drives away the tears.

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The talk last June 12 was not about freedom and heroism, but the general conversation was how the Spurs gave the Heat a dose of their own medicine by clobbering them with a 33 point margin, in almost the same way – but more murderous – the Heat beat the Spurs black and blue in the second game of a best of seven series.

Hell, if that is the way the games will go all series long, the fans will get bored and just turn off the television even before the start of the final two minutes, the outcome already decided beforehand as early as the third quarter.

Shucks, and the PBA doesn’t open until August. I write this while game 4 between the Spurs and Heat is on. The score is 109-93. Typical.

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Ching Aspillaga, a dear friend and relative based in the US, texted to say that Tony Kilayko is alive and well and is in Fresno, California, but Ching hastened to add that he last saw Tony four or five years ago.

We are happy to know that Tony, whose family was for a while our neighbors in New Lucban, is okay, there being no news of his demise, but we are just as happy that Ching is just as fine, and providing us with news about Baguio boys, who, like him, are also based in the US.

By the way, likewise US-based Joseph Lansang, looking fit and healthy, is back home visiting the city of his childhood. The Lansangs used to operate the old Manila Café catering Pampango cuisine. All the Lansangs, except of course for their folks, are still walking the face of the Earth, a brainy family, if I ever know one!

All, I think, are Saint Louis U alumni, except for the eldest, who is a PMA graduate, but still a Boy’s High product.

Again, happy Father’s Day!