Hand prints to Heaven

Handprints to Heaven

Dr Abe V Rotor

    Handprint in acrylic by an Art Workshop participant at 

the Living with Nature Center, San Ilocos Sur, 2020

Hand prints to Heaven a mystery;

They’re credentials to gain entry;

Green for being Nature-friendly and jolly,

Red for daring and artistry,

Blue for spirituality

Black for faults quite in anonymity,

Fringes of light for glory.

But a yawning hole - is life that empty?

It’s a good study for you and me.

A broken icon found refuge in a garden

A broken icon found refuge in a garden

Dr Abe V Rotor

One sunset a broken bust glows alive

     Under the trees in my garden;

Smashed on the chin and across the face, 

     This figure is sadly spoken.

If heroes were immortals by their deeds,

     Mount Olympus won’t be forgotten;

Legends live in the hands of the artist,

     Even those who’ve sought in vain.

Concrete bust probably that of General Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First Republic of the Philippines, who fought the Americans after nearly four centuries of Spanish colonization of the islands, but lost. The country became Commonwealth of the Philippines for 50 years under the US. The bust was discovered and acquired by the author in a lumberyard in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur in 2018.  The sculptor  remains unknown to this day. 

Earth Day 2020 Feature 8: 10 Important Concerns of Ecology

The tree is the barometer of the health of the  Earth.

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. The world everywhere, from the tundra down to the rich tropical forests, faces unabated threats to wildlife destruction, as human activities continue to defile nature not only of its flora and fauna but of natural habitats.

2. While the target of conservation is the protection of plants and animals particularly those that are considered to be facing extinction and are being endangered, the greater concern of ecology is the protection of natural habitats and ecological systems. 

3. On another front of human activities often characterized by man’s quests for the “good life” through industrialization he believes to be the prime mover of progress and development, the production of unwanted by-products threatens the earth’s dynamic processes. Already the emission of gases from burning fossil oil has resulted in two serious consequences; thinning of the ozone layer and the building up of heat of the atmosphere resulting to global warming. 

4. As human population continues to escalate which is going to double the present 7.7 billion mark by 2025, more and more people now believe that only by heeding the Malthusian prediction that our world may be spared of an unimagined scenario of mass starvation and death. GRAPH

5. On the other hand, quests for new frontiers of science has led us to the fore – unlocking the code of heredity that may soon replace conventional breeding, resulting thus far in the production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Genetically modified Food (GMF). The long term consequences of tinkering with the gene far outweighs immediate benefits. Genetic engineering permanently disturbs the balance of nature from the food chain and food web leading to irreversible destruction of the ecosystems.   

6. The other frontier is man’s interplanetary travel beyond the distance of the moon, and for such ambitious adventure, man will have to learn to adjust to life in space and in the planets he targets at visiting. Interplanetary travel takes years, many years. Into the unknown man carries the environment of the earth in a capsule or bubble. Space biology studies not only the effect on man but to plants and animals as well – some kind of man-made ecological system in space. We have virtually started a new field, space ecology.

7. If a third world war is to come, what kind of war is it? People are in a quandary, even those who are witness to the last world war and different wars after that. On media, a third world war if really global, respecting no boundaries of politics, culture and faith. It will be a war everyone is concerned of – real and psychological, covering the ultimate warfare involving nuclear, chemical and biological.


8. On the concept of human habitat, how ideal can planning get close to it has been demonstrated in some models, which is far from the answer of what a human community should be. 

Imagined bleak future of our Earth, acrylic painting by the author

The crux of the problem is in drawing up a treaty between nature and man. Could this be an alternative to cities and high rise buildings?

9. Terms like ecotourism, ecomigtration, ecozones, etc. are jargons often disguised economic programs, rather than ecological in purpose. As such, projects of this kind must be reviewed in the light of ecology rather than economics. 


10. Zero waste management is ideal, it is a utopia of a modern world. But looking at the experiences of industrialized countries like Japan, Germany and Norway waste is just another resource waiting to be tapped. Why not? Isn't garbage the excess of our wasteful luxurious living? ~

Earth Day 2020 Feature 10: Let's Go Back to Nature (Self-Administered Test - True or False, 25 Items)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Drynaria, aerial fern on a century old acacia.  Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

1. "Going back to nature” means we have to live the lives of our ancestors and renounce our modern living.

2. We can actually transfer genetic materials from one organism to another irrespective of species or class or sub kingdom by means of genetic engineering, resulting in the formation of what we call as GMO.

3. Genetic engineering actually started with Gregor Mendel, the father of the science of genetics and heredity some two hundred years ago.

4. There is no question about a human clone of not having a soul because, the soul of the parents transcend to offspring which is the clone.

5. We live under different ages all at a given time - atomic age, computer age, age of genetic engineering, and space age – all rolled into what scientists called the age of postmodernism.

6. “Tailor the land to the crop, and not the other way around,” is a cardinal rule of "treaty between man and nature."

7. Man is a recent creature on Earth. If the 5 billion years of the earth’s existence is compared to a calendar (365 days), man came into this world only on the eve of December 30. Man is only one-day old on earth.

8. “Our lives are being run and outrun by science and technology.” This statement is generally true.

Man is only one-day old on earth, yet he dominates all creatures today.

9. "Universities without walls" or "distance education" will enable mass education to the grassroots. It will break the cartel or control by elite universities and colleges.

10. Toxic metals abound on land, sea and air – from kangkong to tuna to fowls – unless we control the emission and spread of these toxic metals.

11. Going back to nature is to become a strict vegetarian – giving up animal products. Unless we do this we can’t truly say we have gone back to nature.

12. “Ecological paradigm of salvation” means “we express our love and care to people by protecting nature.” Plant a tree, for example, is reverence to nature and therefore to the Creator; kill a tree and you commit a sin – more so it caused flood and erosion leading to death and destruction.

13. Support and actively participate in movements such as Clean Air Act, Piso sa Pasig, Clean and Green, Green Revolution, Carless Day, Car pooling, Biofuel, Saving Endangered Species, Greenpeace.

14. Convert deserts into woodlands and pasture; empty shorelines into resorts, given the tremendous resources to accomplish such gargantuan task.

15. Petrodollar is the life of the world economy – so that we support the idea there there is plenty of oil yet to be discovered. There should be no letup in tapping these reserves.

16. We should implement stricter laws such as: absolutely no logging (total log ban); impound all smoke belching vehicles; no conversion of agricultural to industrial lands; no hunting of wild animals; and the like.

17. Even without the human species, Planet Earth will continue to “go round” so to speak in the same way as it did in the last 5 billion years – and perhaps go on for another 5 billion years. We just don’t know what will be the kind of dominant species after us.

18. Homesite for the golden years is feasible in the rural as well as in the urban areas; it can be modified according to area, design and structure – but not purpose.

19. It is good to go back to classics without aristocracy, spirituality without religious dogmatism; philosophy without ideological bias; realism without barbarism – to have a better view of life, and a firmer basis of our decision and faith.

20. Science and technology has imprisoned us in many ways – that is why we are not truly happy. We need a direction – a definition of life’s meaning. Logotherapy is as relevant as in a situation where we are kept helpless in a prison camp.

21. Science and technology has actually eliminated the scourge of the human race – disease, poverty and ignorance. Actually we are only begging for more benefits discreetly.

22. Today it takes weeks for man to make diamonds in special oven chambers the size of a washing machine, when it would take nature thousands of years to make one.

23. Reports have been verified of the presence of bromate in sugar, sulfite in wheat flour, nitrate in meat, human hormone in milk.

24. Alternative vegetables are not to be recommended because we have barely studied them unlike conventional vegetables.

25. Homeostasis means dynamic balance – Nature’s way of renewal, renaissance, seeking stability as continuing goal.

x x x

ANSWERS: 1 F, 2T, 3F, 4F, 5T, 6F, 7T, 8T, 9T, 10T, 11F, 12T, 13T, 14F, 15F, 16T, 17T, 18T, 19T, 20T, 21T, 22T, 23T, 24 F, 25T

Earth Day April 22, 2022: Dead Tree Walking

Earth Day April 22, 2022:

Dead Tree Walking

"I came from Paradise lost, would you walk with me?"

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Limb of a dead tree resembling a headless

human figure, España, Manila 2007

I am the ghost that walks
from a forest before;
I am the conscience of man
sleeping in its core.

I am the memory
from the distant past;
lost among the throng,
living in the dust.

I came from Paradise lost,
orphaned by the First Sin;
the hands that cared for me
can't now be seen.

I long for a heaven, too,
a gift of being good and true,
but if heaven is only for man,
 I did serve him through.

But I am a ghost now.
Would man join me for a walk
to tell the world the story
of a once mighty oak? ~

Earth Day 2020 Feature 5: A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm (Lesson on Imagery in Literature)

A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

                                                                                 Guimaras in my palm

To see the world in a grain of sand,

      And a heaven in a wild flower;

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,

      And eternity in an hour.

                            - William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

I have just finished a manuscript, a sequel to Living with Nature series.  I have chosen for its title, A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm, because the palm is the seat of human thought, emotion, and spirituality. It is the seat of truth when we take an oath, seat of execution after a decision. In this particular case, it is in the palm where an idea comes as a snap, where creativity is born and nurtured.  Where dreams can be realized, we are known, and finally, we are received by God.  

One can surmise the depth of Rodin’s Thinker in the palm of a clenched fist, more than his pensive mood. I can imagine Helen Keller, born blind, cup the face of a person to express love, or to photograph the person in her mind. We gauge cleanliness by the palm; we appraise the value of articles, examining their details and hidden secrets.

What could be a higher level of expression of respect to the flag than a palm placed on the breast, and an open palm to pledge loyalty?   And is there a deeper sense of contrition than cupping both hands and drawing them close to a bowed head? The faithful raise their hands with open palms in praise and exultation, building a spiritual bridge that unites humanity and God, the world and the Creator.   

And among the grassroots, the farmer gathers a handful of grain in the field, examines it to know if it is ready for harvest - and not so much for its bounty, expresses thanksgiving to Mother Earth. It is also in the palm of the Man with a Hoe, made rough by hard work, that the soil is known of its readiness and suitability to a crop he is going to plant.  The young Lincoln would brush dirt and wipe his palm as if to release some burdens of the day’s work, while looking far into the railroad he was building.

We extend our arms of welcome and reconciliation with open palms. Genuine handshake is felt by the palm. Cold and sweaty palm is a barometer of our emotion.  The warmth of our palm has a deep source in the core of our being. It is a thermometer of our anger or calmness.  And to believers, the map of our lives and fate.

On my palm is a living earth, the microcosm of nature and culture. It is in the palm that we ponder over Rodin’s sculpture, feel Helen Keller’s love and kindness, hear a schoolchild sing before the flag, the faithful whisper a prayer, feel the soil, know the grain when it has turned golden.  Of the young worker brush dirt and look into the horizon.  It is in the palm that we can hold the world, live a life of eternity, find heaven in simple beauty, and infinity in our short sojourn on this earth. ~                  

Earth Day 2020 Feature 3: Trees are benevolent hosts to countless organisms

The tree laughs, talks, with all the joys of childhood.
"A tree is a joy forever."

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. The tree laughs, talks, with all the joys of childhood. "A tree is a joy forever." Tandang Sora QC

2. Playing hide-and-seek in a bamboo grove. The spirit of the place gives quaintness to living. Taal, Batangas

3. A fallen mango tree makes a romantic ambiance. 

(Atimonan, Quezon)

4. Phylodendron gains foothold on Dita tree (Alstonia scholaris) as it reaches for the sun several meters high. UST Botanical Garden

5. Balete (Ficus benjamina) strangles its host to  certain death, hence gaining a notorious name of Strangler's Fig. Mt Makiling, Laguna

6. Fruticose lichen clings on bark of tree. Lichens are communities of algae and fungi. They aid in food production and recycling of organic matter, as well as help conserve water. Caliraya Lake, Laguna

7. Drynaria fern as ephipyte helps conserve water, attract wildlife that protects trees from pests anddiseases.  It is not unusual that a branch gives way to the weight of the tenant fern. Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

8. Roots are exposed by slow erosion reveal tenacity of this tree. The tree allows growth of plants and animals like millipede and land snails, as well as microorganisms, many are symbionts to the tree. Mt Makiling Botanical Garden, UPLB 

9. Interlacing roots, principle of inarching, riprap slopes and banks, provide abode to many organisms. Mt. Makiling, Laguna.

10. Algae and mosses live on the spongy bark of acacia, providing nutrients to the tree, and creating a favorable microclimate. UP Diliman, QC

11. Crustose lichen coats trunk of young tree. Lichens are important to the tree; they also indicate pristine condition of the environment. Caliraya Lake, Laguna

12. Even after death the tree remains a host to red mushroom, termites, other saprophytes and decomposers, giving off its entire energy to serve the living world. Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches QC ~