20 Classic Literature Books in Your Palm. More Books at the Living with Nature Center (Article in Progress)

20 Classic Literature Books in Your Palm.

More Books at the Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

The story of Heidi may have been written in 1880, but author Johanna Spyri's messages of optimism, altruism and nature appreciation continue to attract new readers around the globe.

Tous pour un, un pour tous (All for one, and one for all) is a motto traditionally associated with the titular heroes of the novel The Three Musketeers written by Alexandre Dumas père, first published in 1844.

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.” 

– Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

 

 

 

 

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."

"For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven."

"There is a time to listen to God through His creation."

         an acrylic painting by Dr Abe V Rotor

“For everything there is a season, 

and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.”

This sacred list from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 represents all the seasons and the important changes of our lives. Some are happy times, others sad; some are productive while others seem wasteful; some inspire peace and others bring pain. (Internet)

Day of Peace: Healing Our World's Wounded Peace

 Day of Peace is Every Day 

Healing Our World's Wounded Peace

 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Peace they bring these white doves in the sky;

passing over Flanders's Field of long ago,

when suddenly fired upon from down below;

it's history repeating the battle cry. - avr

Wounded Peace in acrylic by the author 2020

 The world has never been at peace.  Two world wars, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and many conflicts all over.  This painting is dedicated to peace in today's troubled Ukraine. 

World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first established in 1981 and first observed in September 1982 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people.

"Long live absolute world peace."

The International Day of Peace, is also officially known as Day of Peace, celebrated every  September 21 since 1982. To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell  PHOTO is rung at UN Headquarters (in New York City). The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as "a reminder of the human cost of war"; the inscription on its side reads, "Long live absolute world peace". Internet

“Expand thy wings, celestial dove. Brood o’er our nature’s night, on our disordered spirits move, and let there now be light.” – Charles Wesley

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“And there my little doves did sit, with feathers softly brown and glittering eyes that showed their right to general nature’s deep delight.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“And the dove came to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” – Genesis 8:11

Acknowledgement and thanks: Quotations from the Internet

Let Us Encourage Our Children to Engage in Art

Let Us Encourage Our Children to Engage in Art

“I started painting as a hobby when I was little. I didn’t know I had any talent. I believe talent is just a pursued interest. Anybody can do what I do.” – Bob Ross

Dr Abe V Rotor

Engaging children in art fosters creativity, emotional expression, and cognitive development, allowing them to explore their inner world and connect with the world around them. Art provides a unique language for self-expression and can help children develop essential life skills. Internet

Author and tutor Dr Rotor poses with young artists V-jay Rigos, Francesca Ragasa, R-jay Tolentino, and Kimberly Santos, all students of San Vicente Integrated School. March 30, 2025 at Living with Nature Center 

One fine Sunday morning four kids from the neighborhood came

 to draw with pastel colors, cheerful and cellphone-free. 

And what do we know, we grownups, teachers, parents, guardians?

Look at their works of art - what a great discovery!  

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle

 

Take your choice -  color as you wish,

from the creative mind, joyful heart

parrot, jay, heron - just don't miss

the free expression and joy of art.

"A picture is a poem without words". -  Horace

 

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Pablo Picasso

Sailboats in the wind sans sailors;

a proud mother hen sans her brood;

sans man's presence, yet complete

to the young, not we who are old.  

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when he grows up." - Pablo Picasso

8 Important Benefits of Art for Children 

That Everyone Should Know*

Creating art isn’t just a fun, colorful pastime. It has a variety of unique, positive effects on preschoolers, young children, and teens that other activities don’t provide. Here are eight reasons why you should encourage kids to participate in art on a regular basis.

1. Stimulates Creativity and Problem-Solving Skills

2. Promotes Self-Esteem and Self-Expression

3. Contributes to Fine Motor Skill Development

4. Helps Develop Visual-Spatial Processing

5. Builds Memory and Self-Control

6. Provides Rest, Relaxation, and Reward

7. Increases Academic Performance

8. Connects Kids to People and the World

 

Dr Rotor's family and friends, grownups and children - all disciples and students of art.                   

“The urge to draw must be quite deep within us, because children love to do it” – David Hockney

Acknowledgement with Gratitude to *Painting to Gogh (Painting to Gogh Offers Fun, Engaging Painting Tutorials for Kids), Internet

Lives of 15 Great Men and Women in History. More Books at the Living with Nature Center.

Lives of 15 Great Men and Women in History 

More Books at the Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another." - Charles Dickens 

 "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to  lose sight of the shore". - Christopher Columbus

 

"There is nothing impossible to him who will try." - Alexander the Great

"There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.". - Sir Francis Drake

 

"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work." - Florence Nightingale

"To conquer the world, one must first conquer oneself,"- Cleopatra

 

“We study the glory of God, and the honor and liberty of Parliament, for which we unanimously fight, without seeking our own interests.” - Oliver Cromwell

"Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go," - Captain Cook

 

"I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes... I really do not see the signal!" - Horatio Nelson

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can". - John Wesley

 

"Give me liberty, or give me death!"- Henry VIII

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". Robert Bruce

"In politics stupidity is not a handicap." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience." - Julius Caesar

"I have not told half of what I saw". Marco Polo

Acknowledgement with Gratitude: Google, Intenet

A Green World of Nature in Pastel

                          A Green World of Nature in Pastel  

Pastel Drawings of Sor Veny V Rotor, ofs

“Away, away, from men and towns,

To the wild wood and the downs, —

To the silent wilderness,

Where the soul need not repress its music.”

—Percy Bysshe Shelley

A basketful of oranges

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

 - Saint Mother Teresa

Flow gently under the bridge

“Love is the bridge that joins all the worlds together.” – Frederick Lenz

Green turtles 

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." - John Lubbock ~

"Carpe diem" (Seize the Day) in paintings

Carpe diem (Seize the Day)

 in paintings* 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Ghostly Forest* by AV Rotor 2025

Capture dreams on waking up from sleep,

else they fade and depart,

however weird, strange and even creep,

make them a work of art. 

    

*He who loves nature finds the forest a friendly place; he who doesn't, finds it haunted." - avr  

 

End of Summer* (12.5" x 33.5") by AV Rotor 2025

Late morning at autumn's start,

with the sun peeping shy;

southward the birds soon depart,

as we bid summer goodbye.

*“The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness 

that hinted at the end of summer.” - George R.R. Martin

Legendary Cave by AV Rotor 2025

It reminds us of the Minotaur*

slayed by a young hero; 

 wonder if there's a Theseus today,

to make the story true.

*Minotaur - a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity 

with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man

 Forest Primeval* (34" x 24") AV Rotor 2025

Seres - succession in ecology, 

forests evolve in diversity

and sustained stability - 

but where are the forests today?

* A "forest primeval" refers to an old-growth forest, untouched by human activity, characterized by large, mature trees, and diverse ecological features. AI Overview

 

Waterfall (34" x 24") by AV Rotor 2025

Cloud to rain to waterfall,

down the river to sea, 

again and again,

ad infinitum.  

The water cycle or hydrologic cycle, is the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the Earth's surface, driven by the sun's energy, involving processes like evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. AI Overview

Blue Fish AV Rotor 2025

Blue* in the deep sea 

makes the fish free,

invisible to their enemy

and to their prey.

* Blue light is known as high-energy visible (HEV) light because it has the shortest wavelengths - and therefore the highest energy - of all visible light. Thus making the ocean and the sky appear blue.

Nature's Lament Enshrined, AV Rotor 2025

Remnants of an old, old Bitaog* tree

rise against a sky on fire;

in whose hands entrusted by Thee 

failed to love and care. 

* Bitaog or Palo Maria tree (Calophyllum inophyllum), family Calophyllaceae, is a native species that plays a crucial role in the local ecosystem.  Bitaog trees were once abundant in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

 

Death of a Pine Tree (35" x 16.5") AV Rotor 2025

A living fossil of the once mighty pine* 

rises like the Cross, reverence and peace, 

it begs for man to take care of Nature

  from indifference, folly and remiss.

* The Pine tree belongs to Gymnospermae or cone bearing plants, that include conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, gnetophytes, and others, now listed among the threatened species. ~

"Carpe diem," meaning "seize the day," is a Latin phrase popularized by the Roman poet Horace, encouraging people to live in the present and make the most of each day, rather than worrying about the future ~.

Evolving Art:  Souvenirs from the Holy Land 

(Article in Progress)

Dr Abe V Rotor