Nature Skeleton Trophies

Nature Skeleton Trophies

Dr Abe V Rotor

In Taiwan I visited a tree nursery, and a tree cemetery 

where the trees in the past are revered and remembered;

in Israel I visited a sacred park, each hero a living tree;

in Sinai I saw remnants of forests dismembered.

Driftwood with attached oyster shells recovered from an 

estuary makes a "perfect" trophy of Nature's skeleton, 

a reminder of man's indifference, greed and folly.

What comes out of a broken jar scares the guilty, 

In a world unknown, yet known to those in piety,

 standing at the crossroad of reality and fantasy.

"A harvest of trophies, not of victory, but of defeat." avr

 

"What good is a high rise, spiked and chained,

its grandeur is but a cross in the shy?" avr 

Herbarium in Glass

Herbarium in Glass

“A herbarium is better than any illustration; every botanist should have one.” — Carl Linnaeus

Dr Abe V Rotor

Take it from Nature, resin to amber,

through metamorphism -

 unique beautiful rock, akin to jewel,

 radiates the magic of prism. 

Composite specimens encased in glass

It's about evolution and diversity,

work of art and the laboratory;

a whole course of botanical study,

from Darwin to scientists of today.

Lily flower arrangement and venation encased in glass 

I see your venation sans skin;

what an intricate frame!

You are indeed the onion's kin,

in one Family's fame. ~

Lost Tree Frog Discovered in a Bathroom!

 Lost Tree Frog Discovered in a Bathroom!

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Common Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystar) has an arboreal habit, but now and then it comes down to feed on insects, and even visit nearby homes. 

This is how I encountered this living specimen one hot summer afternoon in a most unlikely place - the bathroom of a dormitory in a retreat house in Lipa City. 

As I was about to cool off, I found company with this unexpected creature perched on the shower head apparently enjoying itself. 

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Unabated loss of natural habitat has driven wildlife species to seek shelter in human settlements. Like the tree frog, they slowly adapt to man-made conditions, invading privacy and causing discomfort, and to the extent of spreading diseases.

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The last time I remember seeing a tree frog was when I was a farmhand. In Ilocos we called it tukak uleg or snake frog, because it is a favorite prey of snakes, and its distress cry sends instinctive warning to anyone who is in the vicinity. 

Sometimes it is called banana frog because it resides at the axils of leaf stalks where water from rain and dewdrops accumulate and make a series of miniature ponds. It is not unusual to find a frothy egg mass hanging up in a banana tree. Here the eggs hatch into tadpoles, and being larvivorous, feed on mosquito wrigglers and plankton organisms until the become frogs.

Here they subsist on insect pest and worm. It is a classical example of biological control which benefits farmers and residents in the area. 

Chemical pesticides were unknown to us and the farmers then. Many organisms disappeared since modern agriculture was introduced in the sixties, among them scores of species, including this curious looking tree frog. Once I compared this cadaverous and clumsy creature to Ichabod Crane as described by its creator, the father of short story in America - Washington Irving.  I had in mind the features of the tree frog when I described the odd looking fiction character.

"If your vocabulary is limited, " my dad once said, "use analogy." I did. Miss Leonor Itchon, my literature teacher in high school nodded wryly after my recitation amidst subdued giggling among my classmates. Well, I may not have received a good grade, but the tree frog helped me become a biologist. 

The bathroom encounter with my long lost acquaintance - the tree frog - that hot afternoon won't make a movie, but at least my son, Marlo and I, were able to document a biological renaissance. 

I had just made a review of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. The theme of the novel made me realize man's vulnerability to destruction amidst progress and pursuit of his dreams. At the end of the novel warns us, "the bell tolls for no one; it tolls for thee."

Maybe not, as long as creatures we thought to have been lost forever are coming back alive. Hail to the tree frog!

 By Dr Abe V Rotor and Matthew Marlo R Rotor, Lipa Batangas.

Priorities and Choices in Life

Priorities and Choices in Life
Dr Abe V Rotor 

Helen Keller, deaf-blind since infancy became a role model for millions of people. She wrote a moving essay that challenges us who have the power of vision on how we would value “Three Days to See” if we were blind like Helen Keller blind since infancy. (The Story of My Life)

Try this exercise. If you were given Three Days To See just as Helen Keller told in her essay, how would you prioritize these? (Please indicate the day after each item; or it is not applicable.) Please refer to the answers below

1. Lives of people everyday
2. Theater – concert, performing art
3. Transformation of night to day
4. Views from top of a high building
5. Loved ones and friends
6. Nature - landscape and garden
7. Museum of arts and natural history
8. Historical records of man & society
9. Things at home, favorite books, etc
10. Comedy, the lighter side of life.

After checking your work with the answers guide below, compare it with the priorities of Helen Keller.
1st Day - Loved ones, Favorite Things, Nature
2nd Day - Natural History, History, Humanities,
3rd Day - The Business of life. (NOTE: The lighter side of life closes the episode.)

Three Days to See challenges us to look into our priorities and choices in Life

• City or countryside life
• Aesthetics or materialism
• Permanence and transience
• Love and Friendship
• Spirituality and faith
• Computer graphics or fine arts
• Perception or sensitivity
• Affection or companionship
• Vice or hobby
• Knowledge or Wisdom
________________________________________________________

Answer Guide Lives of people everyday - 3rd day
1. Theatre – concert, performing art –end of 2nd day
2. Transformation of night to day –opening of 2nd day
3. Views from top of a high building – 3rd day
4. Loved ones and friends – 1st day, immediately.
5. Nature - landscape & garden – 1st day pm to sunset
6. Museum of arts and natural history – 2nd day
7. Historical records of man & society – 2nd day
8. Things at home, favorite books, etc – 1st day
9. Comedy stage play - End of 3rd day
_________________________________________________________

From this exercise we can better appreciate Helen Keller’s philosophy of life.

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am, therein to be content.”

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen and even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” ~

An Invitation to my Creator: "Please, come, and have some rest."

An Invitation to my Creator:

"Please, come, and have some rest."

Dr Abe V Rotor

[avrotor.blogspot.com]

Wall mural around a garden pond painted by the author in his city residence 

in QC, 2010

The walls I painted hills and valleys and forests,
towering to the roof I painted blue, clouds rising,
birds flying in flock to meet the rising sun, as fresh
as the morning air, chirping sweet songs, circling;

 

And below a dozen pako fish wake to the golden

reflection of morning, eager for food and company;
I wonder if ever they feel the confines of a den,
for I have faithfully copied Rousseau's scenery.

 

Dream no more I said to myself, of Paradise Regained. 
It is here, in the very core of Being next to the heart
and soul, this Phrygian landscape with touch of bane,
the essence of contrition and amendment for my part.

 

For nothing is unforgivable, that Sin inherited by us
from our ancestors - we're doomed, deprived of Heaven
on earth. No! the gifts of our Creator have been passed
onward, and here I created a piece of that lost Eden.

Here I see God across the wall, and above my head,
His harmonious creation over land, across the sea,
I am part of the cycle of life everyday, even in bed,
as seasons come and go, here I feel always free.

When lakes and rivers dry, and the sky no longer blue;

as cities grow, land fills with waste, air no longer fresh;
I pick my brush, say a prayer in color, shade and hue,
Invite my Creator, "Please come, and have some rest." ~

A reprint from former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air, 2008-2015) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Smile With Nature

Smile With Nature  

“A glad heart makes a happy face."

Proverbs 15:13-15

Wall Mural Paintings and Photos by Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature Place

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

 

“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart." 

- Proverbs 15:30

Dr Ana Maria Theresa P Labrador, Ph.D, Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, poses before a wall mural at the author's residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.  She is a former director of the National Museum. She is on a field study as anthropologist. 

 

"Light seeps through a tunnel, and casts away darkness, 

as it enters the heart and kindles love and gladness."  avr

 

House guests delight in "climbing" a tree on a wall mural.  Most people have a common goal in life: to find happiness. Everyone can be happy in many ways. Go over the lyrics of Smile. Better still, sing it, listen to the song, play it with a musical  instrument, like guitar, or with the violin accompanied by piano.  My dad used to hum the melody of the song in his old age.  You can imagine the smile radiating on his face.  

       Smile

Smile, though your heart is aching

Smile, even though it's breaking

When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by

If you smile through your fear and sorrows

Smile and maybe tomorrow

You see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although our tears may be ever so near

That's the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what's the use of crying

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile.

 

Smile, though your heart is aching

Smile, even though it's breaking

When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by

That's the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what's the use of crying

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you smile.

 

When there are clouds in the sky

You'll get by

If you smile, smile

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile (smile)

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile.  ~

 

Convert Old Table Set into a Work of Art

                        Convert Old Table Set into a Work of Art 

By Dr Abe V Rotor

Table Top View

Sun radiating from the center creates a three-dimensional illusion.

Common pattern and design for the whole set creates unity and harmony

 

 Refurbished set with background of old door and nature mural,

delights foreign and local guests. 

Don't retire your table set too soon,

and never throw it away;

Give it a new life as a work of art, 

and bring in Nature to stay. ~