Utility Wheel Chair Mobile: Inventor Jose Pepito A Rojas

      Remembering Successful People with Disabilities in celebration of Apolinario Mabini Day, July 23, 2024

San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series:

Utility Wheel Chair Mobile:  Inventor Jose Pepito A Rojas 

The genuineness of an invention lies in the unselfish motive and dedication to serve the “least of God’s brethren,” indeed the greatest service one can contribute to humanity.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Features of the UWC Mobile:

• Road Car
• Utility vehicle
• Wheel Chair

Side view of the UWC Mobile shows simplicity in design, made of all-surplus and easy-to- assemble parts, allowing details in innovations and personal aesthetics. Options: TV and radio, GPS, a detachable roof-umbrella easy-to-open-and-fold. It is its simplicity and practicality that makes the UWC Mobile universal, revolutionizing today's two-, three- and four-wheel transports. It is home made.  

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.  There’s no argument about that.  But taken on another line of reasoning, which to me is on the level of philosophy, invention is the work of a genius whose condition becomes the parameter of the benefits others might be served by such invention.  

For example, Braille writing and reading was designed by a blind inventor Louis Braille to whose name his invention was named. Today his invention is benefitting millions of blind people all over the world helping them become literate and share the world of those whose vision is unimpaired.

John Milton’s sequel of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained is believed to be in the imagery of the inner eye expressed in romantic and forceful epic poetry, while in the case of French impressionist Claude Monet his mural masterpieces evolved from the twilight of his vision that puzzled scientists if he had an ultraviolet eye.    

Can you imagine a deaf Ludwig Beethoven composing Moonlight Sonata for a blind girl wishing to see the stars? 

What motivated Alexander Graham Bell to invent the telephone, and Thomas Edison the phonograph and the cinematic camera but their indomitable courage in conquering their disabilities in learning and hearing, which consequently “brought the world closer.”  

And to think that the great Albert Einstein who split the atom was diagnosed of Asperger's Syndrome, a type of autism, Sir Isaac Newton the father of physics an epileptic, and Stephen Hawkings suffering of a rare motor neuron disease.

Henry Ford had dyslexia, so with Leonardo da Vinci and Walt Disney.  Perhaps the most extreme scenario is the case of Helen Keller who was blind, deaf and mute, and yet she became the light of the world for persons with disabilities (PWD). 

There are many PWDs who have hidden qualities akin, in their own ways, to those of great inventors and leaders.  One of them is our special person, Jose A Rojas, known to his family and friends as Boying.  He was born with a chronic paraplegic disability.  His hobby in electronics and mechanics gadgets led him to put up a home workshop, a local hub, so to speak, for radio and TV repair, for students working on school projects, motorists and hobbyists as well.

Imagine how busy Boying’s workshop is, not only because of his everyday visitors and many friends.  He would keep their attention and interest by sharing his rich knowledge, practical and experiential, about a wide range of things electronic and mechanical. It’s a tutorship school of sort.  

Who would not ponder on his invention, a Utility Wheel Chair Mobile (UWC Mobile)? 

It is a Road Car, Utility vehicle, and Wheel Chair combined. What is amazing is that the parts he used are second hand, and some even came from the junkyard.  

Which reminds me of the Moon Buggy. The inventor is a Filipino, Engr. Eduardo San Juan, a.k.a. Space Junkman. It is said that the “junkyard” provided components in building this wonderful lunar rover which beat all entries, including the sophisticated and all new models. Isn’t the passenger jeepney, signature of Filipino ingenuity, made of war surplus after WWII? And became a symbol of Filipino culture?

  In 1971, the Moon Buggy was first used by NASA during the Apollo 12 landing to explore the Moon. The inventor, Eduardo San Juan graduated from Mapua Institute of Technology. He then studied Nuclear Engineering at the University of Washington. In 1978, San Juan received one of the Ten Outstanding Men (TOM) awards in science and technology.

Here is a brief description on how The Moon Buggy won over all entries. 

“During the final test demonstration to select one design from various submissions, his was the only one that worked. Thus, his design won the NASA Contract. His overall concept and design of the Articulated Wheel System was considered brilliant. Each wheel appendage was mounted not underneath the vehicle, but was placed outside the body of the vehicle and each was motorized. Wheels could work independently of the others. It was designed to negotiate crater ingress and egress. The other vehicles did not make it into or out of the test crater. Our Father, Eduardo San Juan, was a very positively charged creative who enjoyed a healthy sense of humor.” Personal Note from Elisabeth San Juan, the proud daughter of Eduardo San Juan

                                             

Boying’s UWC Mobile is an alternative to the ear-splitting noisy motorbike and tricycle (it simply moves around virtually noiseless). It offers a no-pollution alternative to gasoline- and diesel-fed engines (internal-combustion engines). The UWC Mobile is for and of the people. It is a hallmark of a PWD's ingenuity in his own way to be of service to his kind - and humanity for that matter.

Boying Alconis Rojas poses with family and relatives with his three-in-one invention for today's active living, to serve the increasing number of senior citizens, persons with disability (PWD), including the infirmed getting out of their confine, and technology becoming practical and people-oriented.      

Rear view of the UWC Mobile shows a series of standard car batteries conveniently tucked under a plastic armchair. Wall socket charging for a few hours is all that the prime mover, a simple electric motor, needs for a few days' service up to a week or two.

Below: Two of the latest inventions of Boying:

Electronically controlled double lock system, one for the gate with hydraulic hinge control; the other for sliding door (lower photos), both designed for convenience and security. Note local and second hand parts were used in assembling the two inventions.

People on the grassroots are fascinated by simple and functional inventions, even  without the benefit of understanding their scientific explanation.  Among such inventions are Dr Fe Del Mundo’s improved incubator and a jaundice relieving device, Eduardo Quisumbing’s Quink quick drying ink, and Rolando de la Cruz’s mole or wart remover without leaving marks or hurting the patient. More popular ones are the solar panel, rice hull stove, mechanical driers for grains, among others.

On the collective consciousness there are inventions which developed spontaneously and through time lost the identity of their sources. Like oral history, stories passed on through generations (e.g. Epic of Lam-ang) became “literature of the people.” So with many indigenous inventions, which are regarded today as “people’s inventions.”

These are the likes of the jeepney, tricycle, kuliglig (hand tractor cum trailer).  We don’t have to go far.  Balisong  (butterfly knife), kampilan (local sword), kumpit (swift motorized dugout) - and recently, the kurong-kurong, PHOTO a tricycle sans roof, built for transporting rough and heavy materials. (Acknowledgement: photo from Internet.)

On the culinary side we have pinakbet, kare-kare, caliente (ox hide) whose origin are untraceable.  It may be as simple as it looks, but who invented the scissor? Paper clip? Indeed there are one-thousand-and-one inventions likely by the “Unknown Inventor.” 

The genuineness of an invention such as the UWC Mobile of Jose Pepito A Rojas lies in the unselfish motive and dedication to serve the “least of God’s brethren,” indeed the greatest service one can contribute to humanity. ~ 

NOTE: Jose Pepito “Boying Rojas” is the youngest brother of the author’s wife Mrs Cecilia Rojas Rotor. Boying took up industrial education and became proficient in electronics and mechanics by experience and association with his father who was an ardent hobbyist of cars and machines. Boying manages his own shop in his residence in Bayubay, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.    

Pictograph to Ponder

* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

SOS (Save Our Ship): " Let us save the Earth our only ship in space."

     "Let us save the Earth our only ship in space."

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

A view of the Earth from the moon 

   Two views from Antipolo of  Marikina Valley, a dying ecosystem  

1. Changing Environment, influenced by man, breeds a variety of ailments and diseases. Nature-Man Balance, the key to good health is being threatened.

2. What and Where is the so-called Good Life? The Good Life is shifting with the transformation of agricultural to industrial economy.

3. The Good Life is synonymous to Affluence. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need. Want leads to luxury - to waste.

Millions of trees and palms are sacrificed every Palm Sunday. Potential loss in coconut alone is immeasurably high, affecting farmers and the industry.

4. The world’s population is about 8 billion. Another billion will be added in less than 10 years. Runaway population is the mother of human miseries

5. The proliferation of cities, growth of cities to metropolises and megapolises, each with 10 to 20 million people ensconced in cramped condition. Cities breed Marginal communities

“People, people everywhere, but not a kindred to keep," in condominiums, malls, schools, churches, parks, sharing common lifestyles and socio-economic conditions. They are predisposed to common health problems and vulnerabilities from brownouts to food and fuel shortage, force majeure notwithstanding.

6. Loss of Natural Environment – loss of productivity, loss of farmlands, and wildlife. Destruction of ecosystems - lakes, rivers, forests, coral reefs, grasslands, etc. Destruction of ecosystems is irreversible.

7. Species are threatened, many are now extinct, narrowing down the range of biodiversity. Human health depends largely on a complex interrelationship of the living world. No place on earth is safe from human abuse. Coral Reef – bastion of terrestrial and marine life, is now in distress.

Reflection of deer in a fountain, UST Manila 

8. Wildlife shares with our homes, backyards and farms, transmitting deadly diseases like SARS, HIV-AIDS, Mad-Cow, FMD, Ebola, and Bird Flu which can now infect humans, allergies notwithstanding.

9. “Good Life” cradles and nurses obesity and other overweight conditions. Millions of people around the world are obese, wih 34% of Americans in the US obese.

10. Global warming stirs climatic disturbance, changes the face of the earth.

11. Globalization packages the major aspects of human activity – trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts, education, science and technology, politics, religion and the like.

12. . Mélange of races - pooling of genes through inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages produces various mixed lines or “mestizos” - Eurasian, Afro-Asian, Afro-American, Amerasian, and the like. Native genes provide resistance to diseases, adverse conditions of the environment. But will this advantage hold on even as the native gene pools are thinned out?

13. Modern medicine is responsible in reducing mortality and increasing longevity. It has also preserved genetically linked abnormalities; it cradles senility related ailments. It made possible the exchange of organs and tissues through transplantation, and soon tissue cloning. It has changed Evolution that is supposed to cull out the unfit and misfits. Man has Darwinism in his hands.

14. The first scientific breakthrough is the splitting of the atom that led to the development of the atomic bomb as the most potent tool of war as evidenced by its destruction at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the nuclear reactor which still holds the promise of providing incessant energy to mankind. The second scientific breakthrough – Microchip led to the development of the Internet which “shrunk the world into a village.”

16. The third breakthrough in science, Genetic Engineering, changed our concept of life - and life forms. It has enabled man to tinker with life itself. Revolutionary industries Examples: In vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, Human Genome Project (HGP or gene mapping), multiple childbirth, post-menopausal childbirth, DNA mapping, etc. Birth of the prototype human robot – pampered, he lives a very dependent life.

17. Genetic Engineering gave rise to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Gene Therapy. It has also primed Biological Warfare into a more terrifying threat to mankind and the environment. On the other hand Gene Therapy aims at preventing gene-link diseases even before they are expressed; it has actuallty revolutionized medicine. More and more countries are banning GMO crops and animals through legislative measures and conservation programs, including protection against “biopiracy”

No to Genetically Modified Organisms Campaign all over the world

18. Today’s Green Revolution opened up non-conventional frontiers of production – mariculture, desalination, desert farming, swamp reclamation, aerophonics (rooftop farming), hydroponics, urban farming, organic farming, Green Revolution adapts genetic engineering to produce GMOs and Frankenfoods. We may not be aware, but many of us are eating
genetically modified food (GMF or Frankenfood) everyday – meat, milk, chicken, corn, potato and soya products, and the like mainly from the US. Many food additives and adjuncts are harmful, from salitre in longganiza to pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables, aspartame in fruit juice to MSG in noodles, formalin in fish to dioxin in plastics, bromate in bread to sulfite in sugar, antibiotic residue in meat to radiation in milk.

• Hydroponics or soiless culture makes farming feasible in cramped quarters, and it increases effective area of farming.
. Aeroponics or Multi-storey farming Vertical Farming Farming in the city on high rise buildings 
• Post Harvest Technology. is critical to Food Production. PHT bridges production and consumption, farm and market, thus the proliferation of processed goods, supermarket, fast food chains, food irradiation, ready-to-eat packs, etc.

19. Exploration into the depth of the sea and expanse of the Solar System - and beyond. We probe the hadal depth of the ocean. We build cities in space - the Skylab. Soon we will live outside of the confines of our planet earth. Now we aim at conquering another planet, another Solar System to assure continuity of mankind after the demise of the earth.

20. Regional and International Cooperation is key to global cooperation: EU, ASEAN, APEC, CGIAR, ICRISAT, WTO, WHO, UNEP, WFO, FAO, like fighting pandemic diseases – COVID, HIV-AIDS, SARS, Dengue, Hepatitis, Bird Flu

Four Enigmatic Plants: Bromeliads, Arius, Pongapong, Makahiya

 4 Enigmatic Plants 

Dr Abe V Rotor

               1.  Bromeliads form a unique aerial ecosystem

Bromeliads include the pineapple (Ananas comosus), 

the only edible member of Family Bromeliaceae.

Brightly colored false petals of bromeliad attract insects and other organisms to fertilize its shy, short-live flowers. The bright pseudo flowers serve as markers in the dense and vast forest high up in the trees. Here bromeliads form colonies with connecting rhizomes, and with other epiphytes - ferns, orchids and lianas - make a unique aerial ecosystem. 

Domesticated bromeliads are popular ornamental plants in gardens and around homes. One disadvantages though is that it becomes a breeding place of mosquitoes and other vermin. It is because we have detached them from their natural habitat where they are part of a complex food web. Here mosquito wrigglers are preyed upon by naiads of Odonatans (dragonflies and damselflies), while the adults are trapped in spider webs. Tree frogs have their fill of flies and other insects.  Fish live in the axil ponds and can even transfer to nearby bromeliads and even to the water below to hunt and to mate.  While reptiles occupy the top of the food pyramid, hawks and eagles come to prey on them. Like a chain, just one link broken, and the system fails. 

Bromeliads, which includes the pineapple (the only edible member in the family), are nature's reservoir of miniature ponds that provide abode to many organisms from insects to fish. The central receptacle collects water from dew and rain which spills over to the adjoining leaf axils, making a continuous pond. The sequence, like a series of terraces, makes water collection and retention efficient, giving chance for the various resident organisms to complete - and repeat - their life cycles. And for transient organisms to have their regular visit.

In this pond system, detritus accumulates and fertilizes the bromeliad as well as other plants around and below it, including its host tree, in exchange for its foothold and other benefits. And being epiphytic and colonial in growing habit on trunks and limbs of trees, bromeliads  form a unique aerial ecosytem other epiphytes, and the surrounding trees.~ 

2. Arius - Batanes' signature tree

 

Batanes State University in cooperation with the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Science and Technology, is developing the Arius as a signature plant of Batanes in like manner Kiwi fruit is the signature of New Zealand, and Smyrna Fig of ancient Persia (now Iran).

Pastry made from the "berries " of Arius, product developed by Batanes State University. Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries"

Here is a classical example of a "wild plant" rediscovered for its many potential uses.

1. Pastries and other bakery products

2. Jam, jelly, "raisin"

3. Fruit wine, natural vinegar

4. Fruit juice, tea

5. Health food - rich in tannin, flavonoid, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, calories

    and vitamins

6. Enhancement of active long life.

7. Reforestation, watershed, windbreak, ornamental

8. Pesticide - volatile oil is a safe insect repellent.

9. Natural Christmas tree - saves cutting of trees during the Season.

10. Living fossil - helps trace evolution and phylogeny of living things.

The gymnosperms are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos, meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds. Gymnosperms are much older than angiosperms, they were the dominant plants before and during the time of the dinosaurs (Mesozoic Period)) while the angiosperms began to flourish in the Cenozoic Period when the human species began to develop - and to what we and the living world are at present.

Stages in the development of the cone to berry. NOTE: The term berry is used here for practical reason, not as botanical description; true berries are the fruits of certain flowering plants. (Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia, Missouri Botanical Garden).

Arius (Podocarpus costalis) a relative of the pine and cypress is a gymnosperm, which is distinct from angiosperms or flowering plants. Many gymnosperms like the redwood, bristle pine and our own Baguio pine are among the longest living organisms on earth. Although it may not live for one thousand to three thousand years like the Sequoia and Bristle Pine, Arius for one has a lifespan of 100 to 300 years for which it earned its name "century plant" in its native habitat - Formosa, now Taiwan and Batanes. To the Ivatans, it is Batanes Pine.

Arius is listed among the endangered species of the world. It is because of its limited natural habitat - mainly shrub forests and natural vegetation on limestone formation such as those found in Batanes, such habitat is now facing increasing loss to agriculture, settlements and other forms of land use conversion. Domesticated Arius and those propagated for ornamental and bonsai lose their natural ability to adapt to new environments. Thus they fail to maintain a natural population even with the help of man. But not in Batanes. This is why Batanes should undertake a conservation program for Arius through reforestation, habitat conservation and large scale planting. A natural gene bank must be established to study its genetic diversity and possible variations with those growing in other countries natural or introduced. Nursery management would be a good base for its propagation through multisectoral approach, Arius being the very signature of the islands - singular and distinct - worldwide.

Closeup of the foliage; medium size trees dominate a local landscape; Arius bonsai
estimated to be two centuries old or so. (Eastwood bonsai fair. Photo by the author, 2013 )

One of the treasured plants at the former EcoSanctuary of St Paul University QC was a pair of Arius trees until tall buildings took over the garden. Dr Sel Cabigan and I used to visit the plants when we were professors in that university. Indeed the Arius is a very curious plant.

First, it is unsuspecting as a gymnosperm. It does not have needle leaves like the pine. It produces cones becoming berries which ripen into dark purple, its seeds exposed at the bottom like the cashew (kasoy), as shown in the photo.

Second, as a conifer, it is an evergreen. The tree remains green throughout the year, its crown full and deep green. It loses its leaves one by one without being noticed, unlike the deciduous narra, talisay, and other flowering plants. Being a non-deciduous, it protects the area from brush fire. It is efficient as watershed cover to catch and store water, while protecting the soil from erosion and siltation, and unexpected change in pH and fertility. Its litter serves as mulch that slowly become organic fertilizer while conserving soil moisture in the process.

Third, it is photoperiodic. It responds to specific day length that dictates cone bearing and formation of berries. It is climate specific. Though it may grow vegetatively on the lowland, and at lower latitude, it does not produce cones - and these may not form into "berries" at all. In Batanes and Taiwan the Arius undergoes the normal cycle, being indigenous in these places.

Fourth, its essential oil is an insect repellant, as ointment, smudge (katol), or simply by applying fresh leaves where insects abound like in poultry houses, kitchen cabinet, and tents. Try crushed leaves mixed with water for watering garden plants.

Botany of Podocarpus costalis: Morphology

Shrubs or small trees to 3 m tall; bark greenish, very smooth; branches spreading horizontally. Foliage buds 2-4 × 2-4 mm, of long, triangular scales with spreading apices. Leaves spirally arranged, crowded at apex of branchlets; blade of adult leaves narrowly oblanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, (2.5-)5-7 × (0.5-)0.8-1.2 cm but juvenile leaves larger, leathery, midvein prominent and raised adaxially, less distinct but more broadly raised abaxially, base tapered into short petiole, margin slightly revolute, apex rounded or obtuse, subacute in juvenile leaves, sometimes mucronate. Pollen cones axillary, always solitary, sessile, cylindric or ovoid-cylindric, 3-3.5 cm × ca. 7 mm, surrounded at base by a cluster of membranous scales ca. 2 mm wide. Seed-bearing structures borne on peduncles ca. 1 cm. Receptacle red when ripe, cylindric, 1-1.3 cm, base with 2 deciduous, lanceolate sterile bracts ca. 1.5 mm. Epimatium dark blue when ripe. Seed ellipsoid, (8-)9-10 × 6-7 mm, apex rounded, shortly mucronate, mucro ca. 1 mm. - Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
-----------------------------
Batanes State University in cooperation with the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Science and Technology, is developing the Arius as a signature plant of Batanes in like manner Kiwi fruit is the signature of New Zealand, and Smyrna Fig of ancient Persia (now Iran). The joint undertaking is headed by BSU research and extension director Dr. Robert Baltazar who found the potential value of the carbohydrate-rich berries.

Special thanks to our relatives who brought to our home in QC pastries made from Arius: Mr and Mrs Werner Arthur and Erlinda Mohr, Jimmy Calucag, and daughters Ma Jennalyn and Ma Jamila Alconis-Calucag. Congratulations to Batanes State University and Dr Robert Baltazar et al.

I also wish to acknowledge my former professor and co-professor at the UST Graduate School, Dr Florentino H Hornedo, a native of Batanes, for his invaluable achievements as university professor, author, social scientist , and UNICEF commissioner, and most specially as a friend. ~
                                  3. Enigmatic Pongapong

Vegetative phase of the life cycle of pongapong, (Amorphophallus campanulatus). The plant grows luxuriantly, then dies out without trace of its trunk and leaves. Overnight, like a fairy tale, a curious giant flower breaks out of the ground. Center of Ecozoic Learning and livelihood (CELL), Silang, Cavite.

Pongapong is a rare plant. Its reproductive stage is in the form of a single bulbous flower arising from an underground enlarged root. The flower is pollinated by flies attracted by putrefying odor of meat. Once fertilized the flower settles down as if decayed as the seeds mature and become ready for dissemination. The vegetative stage of the plant is succulent appearing like a giant fern. The enlarged root is often harvested for hog feed. It is cut into small pieces and cooked with other feed ingredients. Dr. Anselmo S Cabigan, biology professor examines the plant.

What a life you have, my pongapong fair:

     At one time you are all but a huge flower, 

Emerging in royal velvet with deathly air; 

     Yet in monsoon, you are reborn a tower.

Breaking out while Hades is in slumber.

4. Makahiya - Shy and Coy Plant 

Makahiya (Mimosa pudica)

Children wonder with awe on this enigmatic plant,

growing up to Nature's secret with lesser want. 

Global Warming and Forest Fire

                                            Art guides man out of the unknown

Global Warming and Forest Fire

Dr Abe V Rotor

Global Warming and Forest Fire in acrylic by the author

There's irony in art: one said, it's beautiful;

     I like the bright color, said another;

It is as if it were real, a critic commented;

     but what's the message, brother?

One asked if I painted it right on-the-spot;

     a child thought it was by imagination;

a man was furious: who burned the forest? 

     blaming one and the whole nation. 

Calmly I said, it's an effect of global warming,

      and man's folly plus the phenomenon; 

 art takes the lead, breaking man's indifference,

      and guides him out of the unknown. ~ 

War-and-Peace

War-and-Peace

Dr Abe V Rotor

and  Mateo M Rotor

War model against a painting background of peace in 3 views, 

by Mateo M Rotor, 9.  On display at the Living with Nature 

Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

 

War-and-Peace, two views

War - toy game of grown ups;

Toy - war game of children;

in between cold peace,

and cold war reign.

Transient is war-and-peace,

the art, science, myth,

 the meaning of living  

in joy and grief. 

Symbols are but man's hope

for the ideal, in reality 

an elusive dream

devoid of piety.   

* War model is made of steel and wood scraps, the backdrop of acrylic on canvas painted by Mateo in 2022, then 9 years old.  He is grandson of the author. The theme spontaneously developed mainly from the on-going wars in Israel-Gaza, Russia-Ukraine, other trouble spots in the world, notwithstanding. 

Impressionism is alive -- the remnants of vision in the mind

Impressionism is alive - 

the remnants of vision in the mind

(Reflections Before a Make Believe Scenario)

                                                              Dr Abe V Rotor

Impressionism is alive -- the remnants of vision in the mind;
art movement, gateway to modern art - archive in the future,
when Nature shall have met its doom from the hands of man,  
landscapes turning into wastelands, the good life's no more. 
Make haste before it's  gone - the earth green and pristine;

Wonder if life's as beautiful with the demise of Nature.

.

False comfort before a mural, 

archive of Nature in the future,

a warning to natural history,

when life had been so happy. 

When wildlife's no longer wild,

it's either tamed or gone.

Oh, how we wish our hands are always clean, 

with water plentiful and pure, as it had been.

Oh, heart on the wall

do you still feel, 

do you still the throb 

the throb of love?

Ivy, ivy on the wall

don't hide a living heart.

 Make believe prey - in real life or simile,

don't fall victim, always be wary,

 in the swamp, on the street, in the hall;

this reptile is older than society. 

Take time out, leave everything, 

your desk and papers - be gone;

seek Nature out there waiting,

you're guardian to an orphan,

or the other way around.

Walk with nature to the end of the earth and time,

for everything is possible in the soul, heart and mind.

BOOK: Living with Nature in Our Home and Community

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Part 1 – Community Life - Realities and Challenges

1.     Gross National Happiness (GNH): A measure of growth & development 

2.     Twenty philosophies of Ageing Gracefully 

3.     In Search of Meaning in the Golden Years of Life: 30 Scenarios of Our Postmodern World

4.     Optimism: The future is much better than the past and present 

5.     The Power of Mindfulness 

6.     Functional Literacy 

7.     Let's Save our Children from the Tender Trap of Commercialism 

8.     Computer Addiction Leads Us to Vices and Drug 

9.     Life Begins at Retirement

Part 2 – Understanding Nature, the Great Teacher 

1.     Nature is the Mother of Invention and Serendipity 

2.     Ecological Garden as Science Laboratory

3.     Slow Down and Enjoy Life with Peace of Mind 

4.     Applied Chronobiology: Take Heed of Your Biological Clock

5.     Biological Basis of Selfishness and Selflessness 

6.     Devolution of Life

7.     Dimorphism - Functional Anomaly in Nature 

8.     Allergy and the Environment 

Part 3 – Keeping an Environment-Friendly Relationship 

1.     The Making of Nata de Coco Shoes 

2.     Twelve Practical Tips for the Home 

3.     The Practice and Value of Gleaning 

4.     Save those spent ball pens. Refill! 

5.     Harvesting Rainwater: The Art and Practice 

6.     Practical Home Technologies 

· Practical Hydroponics and Aeroponics

· Liquid Fertilizer

· Make your Own Mineral Water

· Natural Kitchen Scrub and Sandpaper

· Multipurpose Banana Leaves

· Grow Native Onion Leek at Home

· Garlic Sprouts, Anyone?

· Boiled Jackfruit Seeds

· Urban Home Composting

Part 4 – Nature – Great Provider of The Good Life 

1.     Banana saved my life and restored my health 

2.     Discovering the Least Known Fruits 

·       Aratiles - petite berry children love

·       Arius - Batanes' signature tree

·       Karmai: the  "Acid Fruit" ?

·       Pomegranate - Ancient, Sacred Fruit

·       Fragrant Limonsito (Triphasia trifolia)

3.     Wild Vegetables in Times of Hunger 

4.     Ludong The tastiest fish in the world and the most expensive, too 

5.     Ipon or dulong - A special delicacy of Ilocanos 

6.     We can grow wheat in the Philippines 

 Part 5 – Conservation of Natural Resources 

1.     La Mesa Dam: Heart of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa Water System 

2.     Lichens and Mosses are Nature's Indicator of a Healthy Environment 

3.     Acacia Tree and Drynaria Fern - More than Commensalism 

4.     A tree fell and took with it its tenants and symbionts 

5.     Death of a Living Fossil - Oliva (Cycad) 

6.     Forest of the Future: The Ecology of Hedge Forests

7.     We are Living in a Plastic World 

8.     I am Nature Crucified 

9.     The Two Worlds of the House Sparrow 

 Part 6 - Nature and Humanities 

1.     Tranquility Reigns on a Wall Mural 

2.     Grains Museum Re-opened After 30 Years 

3.     Dioramas Depicting the Philippine Grains Industry at NFA Grains Museum 

4.     Books - the Greatest Treasure of Mankind

5.     The Plus Factors of Life

6.     What makes an unfinished work of art a masterpiece? 

Supplemental Articles (Fillers)

1. Living Prism

2. Markus before a Wall Mural 

3. The Blue Stream 

4. Decorative Rug Vendor 

5. “What I lived for.”

6. Buena mano, a happy disposition 

7. A Heart on the Wall 

8. Bleeding Heart of the Forest 

9. Teacher’s Image According to her Pupil

10. Ants in Exodus 

11. The Last Fire Tree in Summer 

12. Takip-Kuhol 

About the Author 198

Abercio V. Rotor, Ph.D.

Books Written by Dr AV Rotor 

Acknowledgment 
Impressions 

Number of Pages - 286

                                                       Introduction

Abercio V. Rotor, Ph.D.

Living with Nature in Our Home and Community is a sequel to Living with Nature Handbook, and Living with Nature in Our Times, published by the University of Santo Tomas.

 This new volume is divided into six parts. Part 1 – Community Life - Realities and Challenges has 8 chapters dealing with Gross National Happiness (GNH), a new measure of growth and development.  There are three articles addressed to those advancing in age: Twenty Philosophies of Ageing Gracefully, In Search for Meaning in the Golden Years of Life, and Life Begins at Retirement.  On the part of the young, there are two articles to caution them of today’s dilemma: Let’s Save Our Children from the Tender Trap of Consumerism, and Computer Addiction Leads to Vices and Drugs. On the other hand, these articles on Optimism, and the Power of Stillness, give a sense of comfort and hope.

 The second part consists of articles on Nature as the Great Teacher, among them are Nature is Mother of Invention, and the Garden as Science Laboratory. Slow Down and Enjoy Life has a parallel message with allergy control through clean environment (Allergy and the Environment).  Understanding Nature explores such topics as Devolution of Life, Dimorphism, and Chronobiology, which is a natural way to maintain good health by taking heed of our biological clock. 

 The third part reminds us to uphold a friendly relationship with the environment, starting with Practical Home Technologies in nine ways, coupled with 12 Practical Tips in household management.  Save, is a household call through Harvesting Rainwater, Practice and Value of Gleaning, and recycling by Refilling Spent Ballpens, as practical examples every home can implement.

 Part 4 reminds us to recognize and value Nature as Great Provider of The Good Life.  Why not? Even the seemingly weeds in the field and backyard are valuable especially in difficult times.  Wild Vegetables in Times of Hunger are surprisingly plentiful and nutritious, so with certain fruits taken for granted in lieu of commercial ones.  Take the case of Aratiles, Karmai, Pomegranate, Limonsito, and the like. This section endorses the cultivation of new but proven crops (We can grow wheat in the Philippines), and protection of indigenous ones, for their many uses and advantages (Banana saved my life and restored my health). Likewise, the section advocates the protection of our exotic natural resources like Ludong and Ipon.

 Conservation of Natural Resources occupies the fifth section of this book, starting with water resource (La Mesa Dam: Heart of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa Water System).  How aware are we of the conditions of our surroundings? Here are indicators through these three articles:  Lichens and Mosses are Nature’s Indicator of a Healthy Environment, Acacia and Drynaria Fern, Forest of the Future, the last article showing a model combining agriculture and forestry (agro-forestry).  Three articles warn us of the consequences of man’s destructive behavior and folly towards affluence: I am Nature Crucified, Death of a Living Fossil, and We are Living in a Plastic World. 

 The last part of the book opens to the reader, enlarges the realm of art, which when combined with nature in harmonious relationship, is called Humanities. Nature and Humanities is the appropriate title of this final section which consists of these articles: Tranquility Reigns on a Wall Mural, The Plus Factors of Life.  A holistic portrayal of nature in the museum is vividly presented in Grains Museum Re-opened After 30 Years, with accompanying details through Dioramas and Artifacts. The return to books in combination with computers has reached a point of reviving and enlarging the library, and extending and connecting it with home libraries, thus preserving the integrity of Books - the Greatest Treasure of Mankind.  If at the end, one has not finished his work that he has sincerely set to finish, do we consider his work useless?  Read What makes an unfinished work of art a masterpiece?

 Many of the articles in this new volume were derived from three weblogs or (Blog).  avrotor.blogspot.com (Living with Nature School on Blog).  It is extended to Naturalism – the Eighth Sense, and a third, A Naturalist World – Dr Abe V Rotor.  The combined number of posts to date runs to more than 5,000 articles, which pertain directly and indirectly to the titles of these blogs, and based on the concept and realms of Multiple Intelligence. Now and then, articles are re-posted, updated, enriched, combined into a series of lessons for radio broadcast (e.g.TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University broadcast on Radyo Katipunan, and on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid of Radyo ng Bayan). Articles derived from these sources, among others, are organized for Workshop sessions (e.g. Children art workshop, field lectures, demonstration, and exhibits).

 This book is an addition to the present pool of references and collection of library materials in the Living with Nature Center in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, founded and managed by the Rotor Family.  The features of the center are:  art gallery, library and museum, botanical garden, and livelihood projects.  It receives visitors, mainly researchers and students, and occasionally, tourists.  Activities in the Center include organized educational tour, field lecture and demonstration, art exhibit, research, radio broadcast and publication.  These activities are regularly posted on the Internet via Facebook and Blog, and published in the Bannawag Magazine (Okeyka Apong is a column of Dr. A.V. Rotor).  A good number is in celebration with local, national, and international events, such as Teachers Day, Children’s Month, Family Day, Book month, Arbor Day, and the like, including public holidays.

 The importance of the series of books on Living with Nature, including this new volume, is expounded by Dr. Lilian J. Sison, who was then the dean of the graduate school of UST in the later part of my professorship in that university.  She said in her message in Living with Nature in Our Times, that the book gives us practical knowledge that elevates our awareness on three levels: that of our perception of the things around us by our senses; that of our perception of the inner stimuli that affect not only our physical being but our psyche and emotion; and the third which occupies the highest level of awareness – that which is beyond mere perception because it requires us to imagine, plan and anticipate the future. 

She said that the book cautions us while walking on the busy lane of change, and reminds us to retrain our senses, and hone our sensitivity to better appreciate the best that life can offer.  Only when we are close to nature that we are able to truly appreciate its exquisiteness; only when we heed the old folks’ advice can we truly appreciate the beauty and bounty of nature.  And by Living with Nature in Our Home and Community. ~

Published by Sadiri Publishing

Quezon City, Philippines
sadiri publishing@gmail.com