^ MMSU Students Visit the Living with Nature Center. "To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

MMSU Students Visit the Living with Nature Center

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

   MMSU students pose with their work in a quick painting session

       

"Nature is the best teacher, model and friend." Painting by the author. 

 

Begin the begin, a song goes on;

end does not end in perfection;

yet in between lies the challenge

of art to its fullest expression.

 

            

Living with Nature museum and art gallery

Bring Nature home in an art gallery,

     a home museum and library;

preserve history into a living memory,

     folk stories and mythology.

    

18th Century Basi wine cellar

Basi meets European standard of port and sherry,

reminiscent of the Galleon Trade's long history,

basi long controlled under Spanish monopoly,

'til a Revolt broke up, so with the basi industry.

MMSU guests pose with the author-host at the Center's museum and library.

A museum if best described in imagery,

in William Blake's famous allegory:

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour." 

- William Blake 

Auguries of Innocence

“Real museums are places where Time is transformed into Space.”

― Orhan Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence

 

"Books are the greatest treasure of mankind, its collective attributes as humanity, the very stimulus of man's rationality to rise above other creatures - and himself." - avr

 

"Learn and Live" (Motto of the Open University)

"Books enlighten man to care for the environment, guide the young and future generations to a better future, and lead man to save his own species 

from extinction." - avr

 

Symbolism of The Old Man and the Sea

defined in Frankl's logotherapy;

countless in real life wanting to be free,

make the world's greatest story.

"Books grew with knowledge, brought new schools and movements 

in arts and philosophy, in unending search for truth." - avr

 

Books that changed the way we live

      are seemingly impossible to believe. - avr

"Books are the most widely read, the Bible; the shortest, Albert Einstein’s e=mc2, and book-to-cinema versions of Spielberg, Lucas, Cecile de Mills et al.

 

Enshrined bust of Dr Jose Rizal in the Living with Nature garden, 

with heritage trees around.

Known mostly in books and in the classroom,

     little understood as hero of his kind;

yet closest to his fellowmen in far away Dapitan,

     and in a garden he is now enshrined.

 

MMSU coeds pose with seedlings of palomaria  (Calophylllum*)

Now endangered this tree once locally common,

into the hands of the young hangs its future;

lest lost to man's folly and greed to oblivion;

hurrah! to the new breed of heroes of nature

* Calophyllum is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Calophyllaceae. They are mainly distributed in Asia, with some species in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. Wikipedia

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* The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) is a state university in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, established on January 6, 1978, Main Campus: City of Batac (300 hectares with Satellite Campuses: Laoag City, Paoay, Currimao, and Dingras. Academics: 14 colleges offering undergraduate and graduate programs. University President: Dr. Virgilio Julius P. Manzano Jr. 

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Annex - AI Overview

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

Context and Meaning of the “Mariano Marcos State University Students Visit the Living with Nature Center” Reference in Dr. Abercio V. Rotor’s Blog

Living with Nature - School on Blog by Dr. Abercio V. Rotor.

In Dr. Abercio V. Rotor’s blog, the phrase “Mariano Marcos State University students visit the Living with Nature Center” is part of a narrative that blends educational outreach, environmental awareness, and philosophical reflection. The “Living with Nature” program is a school-based initiative that promotes ecological literacy, sustainability, and a deeper connection between learners and the natural world.

Context in the blog
The blog post you referenced is one of Dr. Rotor’s “Living with Nature – School on Blog” entries, which often document field trips, community projects, and student activities tied to environmental education. In this case, the visit by Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) students is likely described as part of a hands-on learning experience where students engage directly with nature-based programs, possibly guided by faculty or community partners. This aligns with the blog’s recurring theme of integrating education with environmental stewardship 

Meaning of the phrase
The phrase itself is a descriptive event title — it identifies:

• Who: MMSU students (a group of higher education learners
• What: A visit to the Living with Nature Center (an educational facility focused on environmental learning)
• Why: To experience first-hand the principles of sustainable living, biodiversity, and ecological responsibility.

Connection to “To see the world in a grain of sand…”
The quote “To see the world in a grain of sand…” is a paraphrase of the famous line from The Sand and the Flowers by Rabindranath Tagore, which reflects the idea that small, natural elements can reveal the essence of the whole world. In Dr. Rotor’s blog, this is used as a metaphor for environmental education: by engaging with a small, tangible part of nature (like a grain of sand), students can gain insight into the larger ecological and cultural systems that sustain life. This metaphor reinforces the blog’s message that direct, sensory experiences with nature are key to fostering environmental consciousness.

Overall significance
In Dr. Rotor’s writing, the MMSU visit is not just a news item — it is a pedagogical example of how experiential learning can bridge theory and practice. The “grain of sand” metaphor underscores the transformative potential of such experiences, encouraging students to see the interconnectedness of all life and to internalize the values of sustainability.

In short:
The phrase refers to a documented field trip in the “Living with Nature” program.
It symbolizes hands-on environmental education and experiential learning.
The “grain of sand” quote is a philosophical metaphor for finding the whole in the small, and for recognizing nature’s interconnectedness through direct engagement.

A Halloween Story: “To Heaven and Back"

A Halloween Story

“To Heaven and Back"

Remembering the good old days and thanking people for all the good things they did, is perhaps the best offering one can give to someone who had "died, and came back." 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Towards the Light, Concept of the way to Heaven based on Christian teaching. On-the-spot painting by the author at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches QC

This is a true story - the story of Auntie Dorotea who went to heaven and returned for a second life.

 

This is not an unusual story.  Many people I am close with have a story to tell about close encounter with death.

How close is this encounter? It is leaving the world of the living and going to the world of the spirits, of the saints and angels for those who led a life worthy of a place in heaven. In the process the traveler encounters a mysterious scenery, a realm strangely beautiful.  The spirits are simply suspended in place, they appear weightless, and have no mass at all.  Angelic notes pipe through the calm and fades out into the din. There are no boundaries, Nothing moves except the travelers, in slow animated pace, all toward the source of light. They are all in white, flowing white. They seem not to know each other as they traveled on the long, long road. 

Finally Auntie Doting reached the source of light.   It is a kingdom different from any kingdom. She saw her son who died when he was a young boy. She saw uncle, her husband.  She recognized others, relatives, friends, neighbors. But they simply look at each other. And nothing more.

"Did you see my mom?" I ventured to asked.  To which she readily answered, yes. I felt happy mom is in heaven, even if I knew by religious belief.  

I allowed her to enumerate all acquaintances she saw in her sojourn. I was expecting a very important name. My father’s.

She paused and thought deeply. "No, I can't recall," she said. She was drawing in the air  with her fingers.an imaginary map.

"Try to remember, Auntie," I pleaded. 

Silence. 

Auntie Doting and my dad were partners in business for years in Ilocos. When I went to college in Manila Dad entrusted me under her guidance, together with my two cousins who were then high school teachers. Had it not been for them I would not have made it to what I am today. I was a wartime baby, and mom died when I was two. Dad never recovered his health although he lived to a ripe age. 

As a farmhand I used to tell dad, "I can't leave you alone, I can help you manage the farm." Dad would just remain silent. Dad graduated from De Paul University in Chicago during the Great Depression. He was among the bona fide balikbayan.  He returned and put up a mechanized furniture shop and bought some land.  Then the war broke, my mom died, so with my baby sister.  Slowly dad manage to put back what was left in his business which enabled us his three children to go through with our studies.  

Although I was the youngest I insisted to stay put on the farm.  Dad finally confronted me, "Is that  all you aspire in life?" Finishing a college degree was far from my dream. That was the time he sought help from Auntie Doting.   

Remembering the good old days and thanking people for all the good things they did, is perhaps the best offering one can give to someone who had "died, and came back."  It is a special way of expressing how grateful I am to my Auntie Doting. 

Days passed, Auntie's condition was fast deteriorating. At her deathbed she held my hand and whispered, "I saw your dad." ~

Water Conservation at Home and on the Farm in 3 Articles

Water Conservation at Home and on the Farm

Dr Abe V Rotor

Part 1 - Automatic Rainwater Collection and Storage

Brisbane, Australia 

Part 1 - Automatic Rainwater Collection and Storage in Brisbane, Australia  

Part 2 - Water Conservation: Harvesting Rainwater in Metro Manila

Part 3 - "Palay-isdaan" (Rice-Fish Culture) - An Agro-Ecology Model

Rainwater is collected from the rooftop, filtered, stored, and used in watering the garden, and for other domestic uses. Rainfall is scarce in eastern Australia where Brisbane is the capital of Queensland state. Although seasons are distinct,  it does not snow in winter which is in the months of July to September, the summer months in the Northern hemisphere. The photographs shown here were taken in August, by the author on his visit during the coolest part of the year with temperature ranging from 5 to 15 degrees Celsius. Rainwater is a precious resource for which reason water conservation is very important - harvesting rainwater directly from rooftops, and building reservoirs like ponds (lower PHOTO) which gathers and stores runoff, or building a series of dams along an intermittent stream.  Here are the main features of harvesting rainwater, based on the home of the author's daughter and family in Brisbane. 

• Integrated with housing program
• Built-in system, pre-fabricated design  
• Practical, easy to operate system
• Support from government and organizations
• Economical and environment-friendly

Water impounding on the countryside, Norvic Star cottage.

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  Photos by the author.

A pond is formed from a natural basin, or it is a man-made catchment of runoff water and spring. Water is also conserved in a similar way by building a series of dams along an intermittent stream, to store water for the dry months which is otherwise lost during rainy season. Ponds attract wildlife, stopover of wild ducks and herons and other migratory birds. It is home of reptiles and amphibians, and a good number of freshwater fish, for which ponds are fishing grounds for fish farming and sports, for their aesthetic function and beauty as park, notwithstanding. 

Part 2 - Water Conservation 

 Harvesting Rainwater in Metro Manila

 

A bountiful harvest of rainwater cuts down water bill; it is environment-friendly and
a source of enjoyment. At home, Lagro QC. Photos by the author.

1. Join downspouts together to maximize harvest of rainwater in one place.
2. Keep roof, gutter and downspout, regularly clean and de-clog any debris.
3. Avoid using red lead paint, use epoxy paint instead, to avoid lead contaminant.
4. Filter rainwater with fine screen or cloth before transferring to container.
5. Plastic containers are convenient but they serve only as temporary storage.
6. Wide mouth containers may cause accident. They are not designed as bath tubs.
7. Use water within five days, otherwise it breeds mosquitoes and other vermin.
8. Clean and expose containers under the sun for an hour or two to disinfect.
9. Invert and be ready for the next rain to come. Store only clean rainwater.
10. Final storage is ideally a garden pond. It is multipurpose: fish culture, water for cleaning, watering and for use in case of fire.

A garden pond adds aesthetic beauty to the place, adds coolness and tranquility, cum gentle sound of a fountain and running stream. Garden Pond at home in Lagro, QC. Take Nature Home wall mural complex by the author.

1.  

Catfish and pako fish raised in a garden pond at author's residence.

Part 3

"Palay-isdaan" (Rice-Fish Culture)

An Agro-Ecology Model 

Dr Abe V Rotor

  

Living with Nature Center Garden Pond

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, Photos by the author

Palay-isdaan is a revival of a virtually lost art and indigenous farming system and industry. Since the late fifties, the introduction of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and their rampant use decimated wildlife in ricefields. As a rule therefore, the ricefields must be free of these poisons, for palay-isdaan to succeed.

 
 

Top, clockwise: lowland ricefield during monsoon season; harvesting fish ahead of rice harvest as monsoon ends; close-up of Azolla, aquatic fern as natural source of fertilizer, fish food, and mulch in controlling weeds in the ricefield; duck raising may be integrated with rice-fish culture. 

This technology is indigenous. What we call palay-isdaan is an innovation of a traditional way of raising fish and other freshwater organisms while the rice plant is growing in the field during the rainy season.

Many wildlife species are found in ricefields as their natural habitat. These are commonly freshwater fish like hito, dalag, gurami, martiniko, and lately, since the fifties, tilapia. Then we have ulang PHOTO (freshwater lobsters), shrimps, kuhol, PHOTO suso’, and tulya. 

Strong rains release these organisms from their hibernation, usually in carabao wallows, ponds, and river basins – or in mud where they were ensconced during summer. The ricefields become one huge lake at the peak of the rainy season, and as the water subsides, these organisms are trapped in the paddies. Farmers pick them up for food, which is indeed a good source of protein for his family. Many find it a sport hunting them, while others find ways of protecting them until they reach maturity. The latter is the basis of palay-isdaan technology, which has these features.

1. The dike (pilapil) must be strong and high enough to prevent the fish to escape. To do this, trenches are dug around the rice field like a moat, two meter wide and one-half meter deep. The soil material is used to rebuild the dike.

2. Another model is to build a wide trench, 3 to 4 meters wide and one-half meter deep, running through the center of the rice paddy. This is usually done in low-lying areas where the water stays much longer. The trench serves as a natural trap for the fish as the surrounding water subsides.

3. A third model is recommended for irrigated areas where the rice field is managed like a fishpond. Here the farmer selects the fish he wants to grow, provides them with supplemental feeds, and gives attention more than what the other two models require. A commercial model would mean converting 30 percent of the total area into trenches.

Palay-isdaan is a revival of a virtually lost art and indigenous industry. Since the late fifties, the introduction of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and their rampant use decimated wildlife in ricefields. As a rule therefore, unless the ricefields are free of these poisons, palay-isdaan will never succeed.

4. Because it takes time for the fish to grow to maturity it is advisable to plant traditional varieties which mature in 110 to 130 days. But this is feasible only where the rainy season is long and water supply is readily available. Traditional varieties generally do not need chemical spraying and fertilization.

Well-managed rice-fish farms in Central Luzon and other parts of the country can yield as much as 200 kg of tilapia per hectare. At P100 per kilo, the gross value is P20,000. While this gives around15 percent additional income, the farmer should consider a reduction in rice yield by at least 5 percent. Still palay-isdaan gives more income than rice monoculture.

Irrigated areas can have two fish crops a year, but this is not advisable because of the high cost of irrigation. Besides, it is virtually impossible to grow palagad rice (summer crop) without heavy dependence on chemical pesticides and fertilizers.~
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Palay-isdaan is a practical and cheap source of food and nutrition for the farming family.  It provides a natural sport and recreation most especially to children. Palay-isdaan is among the attractions in agro-tourism.   
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Acknowledgement: Internet photos as indicated

Find Happiness in Nature through Art

Find Happiness in Nature through Art

Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

"Nature is the art of God."

-Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy

Time out!

Drop the things too heavy to carry.

Carry only those you need truly.

Too long leisure, too long working, 

 tired and spent, dull and boring.

"Get out of your box."

A metaphor for breaking free from your comfort zone.

 to embrace new perspectives and experiences. 

 

Paint the flower, fresh or spent;

dive into the water, meet the fish;

through imagination you're free;

fly, fly away as you wish. 

"What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?" –E.M. Forster

 

Switch off the TV, Cellphone;

shh... listen to silence alone.

"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." –Sir John Lubbock

 

Art makes up for lost time free,

unity and harmony of a family.

"My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature."

– Claude Monet

Laughter and lilting fill the air,

the world be a drawing or mural;

the world is but a grain of sand

and eternity but an hour.

“God is discovered entirely through creation – the brilliance of a sunset, the powerful roar of a waterfall, the symphony of sounds you hear in the heart of the forest, or the vastness of space and its countless stars.” — Benjamin Sullivan, British artist ~

Naturalism is a personal philosophy of life and everyday living. (El Niño special feature)

El Niño Phenomenon special feature

Naturalism is a personal philosophy of life and everyday living

Naturalism offers practical solutions to the many undesirable effects of excess capitalism being inflamed by consumerism - and the strong El Niño phenomenon* we are currently facing. Naturalism speaks of a healthy and harmonious relationship between man and his environment which is the key to the principle of sustainability. - AVRotor

 Dr Abe V Rotor

  Living with Nature - School on Blog

 

Harvest Time, mural detail by the author. 

 Air pollution, Paris France 

All over the world people are "going back to Nature." They eat food grown without or least chemicals, wear clothes made of plant fiber, live in homes designed with the natural landscape.

They have learned to avoid genetically modified food, cuisine of unknown ingredients, and vitamin capsules claiming panacea. They shun from drug dependent medical treatments.

They find more time with family, friends, hobbies and relaxation. They have become wiser to know the difference between necessity and want, affluent and austere living.   

Many are moving out of the city and settle down on homestead, or country home in various versions of our own Nipa Hut where simplicity and self-sufficiency make living happy and healthy.  

These new breed of environment-friendly advocates are less dependent on the supermarket and the shopping mall. They have freed themselves in many respects from the burden of postmodern living, a kind of freedom from the clout of a materialistic culture, from the entrapment of corporate domination, from the artificiality of things made beautiful, and from the restlessness in living on the fast lane.  

Challenges of naturalism 

1.  Kamachile tree killed to give way to a road -  a requiem to a small living world.  

Naturalism is not new to us, by human nature we love the environment, we are hurt if it is destroyed; a tree is akin to our well-being as it gives food, oxygen, and shade.

It buffers strong wind and filters dusts. It anchors the soil from erosion as it binds silt before it is washed away.

A half century old kamachile (Pithecolobium dulce) deliberately killed (see girdle) to give way to a barangay road. Bantay Ilocos Sur.

It absorbs carbon dioxide which we and animals exhale, and exchange it with life-sustaining oxygen.

A tree is home of many organisms. The death of one big tree means the death of its tenants and symbionts, and displacement of transient organisms like birds, insects and reptiles. It's indeed a requiem to a small living world.

2. Red sunset - indicator of dirty, poisonous air
It may be romantic, but sad. The air we breath is a potpourri of gases spewed by cars, factories, and products of modern living from automizer to Freon.

Many of these substances do not settle down to earth but remain up in the sky visible as smog, a contraction of smoke and fog. It is the invisible materials that destroy our health, affecting all eight systems in our body with our lungs the most vulnerable and the entry to various organs - heart to kidney to brain. Red sunset means foul air over Metro Manila

When it rains these gases are carried down, funneled by the watersheds down to rivers and lakes and ultimately to the sea. Even areas away of the path - farms and pastures decline in productivity.

It's a long stretch of destruction that continues and worsens as long as pollution is not checked.

And what would be the long term consequences? Acid rain destroys the very base of production. Dioxin, the most potent man-made poison, kills at very low dosage. Rain water is no longer potable, even as it feeds the wells and spring.

3. Rising sea and tidal wave consequences of global warming 

The sea is rising, the shoreline shrinking. 

Because many cities sit by the bay and on river banks, displacement of millions is expected to worsen. On low lying islands in the Pacific like Kiribati of the Micronesian group of islands residents are forced to leave their homes permanently. 

Seaside battered by tidal waves in Morong, Bataan 

We can only imagine how difficult it is to leave home and never see it again.  We call forcible evacuation as ecological migration.    

Swamps are formed and spread out;  salt intrusion destroys farmlands, fishponds are submerged, salination changes the structure and composition of lakes and rivers. To what extent? We can only guess how our children and grandchildren will inherit the worst scenario. 

The Arctic has been reduced to one half, the edges of Antarctica are falling off, the glaciers are disappearing. Greenland is being watched closely - its melting is likely to cause a considerable increase in sea level enough to change the map of the world. 

4. Floods, Floods - Modern Noah's curse

There is flood at any given time and place on earth.

Certain theories are down-to-earth occurrences, like flood.  A fine day and suddenly a thunderstorm dumps water equivalent to a month's rainfall.  

The pattern of rainfall has drastically changed.  Rain forming mechanism is now influenced by loss of green cover, sprawling settlements in megacities, swirling atmosphere stirred by air transportation.

Altered water course by reclamation and dams, pollution in air changing  its composition, abuses in land use policies - or no policies at all.  These among others bring Noah to memory. But didn't Noah - like us - helped cause flood by cutting down forest after forest to build superstructures like Noah's version of a "floating world?"
 
5. Garbage - by-product of affluence
 
Affluence has a bigger and worse by-product - poverty.

Cities make a Janus face, one happy, the other sad; one of high rise buildings, the other of shanties; one of high social standing, the other of marginal existence. 

And yet garbage is a "resource whose use is not being tapped, or yet to be tapped." "Garbage is ones waste, but another's need." These of course are but rhetoric, adages. 

Payatas, Smokey Mountain, and similar sprawling dumpsites all over the world, speak of an antithesis of progress, a world of the poor and dejected, degenerated from the advances of civilization. 

 
Payatas dumpsite in QC, a garbage community
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*El Niño–Southern Oscillation is a global climate phenomenon that emerges from variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean. Those variations have an irregular pattern, but do have some appearance of cycles. The occurrence of ENSO is not easily predictable. El Niño is one of the most powerful drivers of global weather, climate conditions and hunger. El Niño conditions have started and are expected to strengthen through 2026 and continue into 2027, potentially becoming one of the strongest on record and raising concerns for food security in vulnerable regions. WFP and our partners are taking early action now, helping people prepare for floods, droughts and storms before they hit, which also helps reduce humanitarian needs. Wikipedia/Internet

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About the former Living with Nature on the Internet and Radio 

738 DZRB AM with Dr Abe Rotor and Ms Melly Tenorio Mon to Fri 8-9 evening class.  Winner of 1st Gawad Oscar Florendo for Developmental Journalism 

Living with Nature-School on Blog was initiated by the author in May 2010 as a conduit of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air), offering the website viewer and the radio broadcast audience a simulcast audio-visual session of a particular topic/s for the day. The website (avrotor-blogspot.com) made the lessons available jointly or independently open worldwide.        

Within the period May 2910 to July 2015 alone, there were more than one million pageviews.  Topics of interests (top ten) were indicated, so with the participating countries, on daily, weekly and monthly basis other than the continuing total visitors record. PBH audience, other than blog viewers, were monitored by its sponsors (DZRB-PBS), which has 32 stations nationwide and worldwide access on the Internet. There were two satellite websites - Naturalism - The Eighth Sense and A Naturalist World of Dr Abe V Rotor. Selected articles from the Blog  were published in a series of books (Living with Nature Series), and in the author's column (Okeyka Apong) in Bannawag Weekly Magazine.  
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