What does it mean "Living with Nature"?

What does it mean "Living with Nature"? 

Internet

“Living with nature” as a philosophy implies a deep, practical, and ethical commitment to environmental harmony—one that integrates sustainable habits, ecological understanding, and a lifestyle grounded in simplicity and respect for the natural world.

 
Wall mural at the residence of Dr Rotor 

in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

According to Dr. Abe V. Rotor, “living with nature” means practicing a holistic, sustainable, and mindful way of life that harmonizes human activity with the environment—treating nature as teacher, provider, and home, while adopting eco‑friendly habits such as conserving resources, valuing biodiversity, and embracing simple, community‑based living.

Core Implications of “Living with Nature”

1. Harmonious Coexistence With the Environment

Dr. Rotor emphasizes that humans must recognize nature as both teacher and provider, learning from its processes and respecting its limits. This includes understanding ecological relationships and acknowledging the interconnectedness of all living things. 

University of Northern Philippines students on an educational tour at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

2. Sustainable and Mindful Living

The philosophy encourages:
o Reducing one’s ecological footprint
o Practicing conservation and responsible resource use
o Choosing natural foods and avoiding overly 

   processed or artificial products
o Maintaining clean air, water, and surroundings for

   personal and community well‑being

3. Practical, Hands‑On Environmental Stewardship

Children's art workshop under the trees at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

Dr. Rotor’s approach is highly applied and community‑oriented, promoting:

o Rainwater harvesting, recycling, and use of natural

   materials.

o Gardening, agroforestry, and ecological home gardens
o Herbal medicine and natural health practices
o Simple, countryside‑inspired lifestyles that prioritize

    resilience and self‑sufficiency

4. Ecological Awareness as a Way of Life

“Living with Nature” is not merely a set of practices but a mindset—an ecological consciousness that values biodiversity, respects all forms of life, and encourages lifelong learning and creativity rooted in nature.

Students gather marine specimens at low tide  

5. Response to Modern Excess and Environmental Decline

Dr. Rotor frames naturalism as a counterbalance to consumerism and environmental degradation. Living with nature means choosing simplicity over excess, and sustainability over exploitation. 

                  

Children's early adventure with nature

Summary

In Dr. Abe V. Rotor’s philosophy, “living with nature” implies a deep, practical, and ethical commitment to environmental harmony—one that integrates sustainable habits, ecological understanding, and a lifestyle grounded in simplicity and respect for the natural world.

 

“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more that what we could learn from books.” — John Lubbock (John Lubbock wrote influential works spanning archaeology, evolutionary biology, and natural history.)

Acknowledgement with Gratitude:  Internet/AI Overview/Google

References" Living with Nature book series by AVR, Living with Nature avrotor.bogspot.com and Naturalism - the Eighth Sense ~

My First Paintings: TEMPEST and OLD STONE HOUSE (Article in Progress)

My First Paintings 

TEMPEST and OLD STONE HOUSE

Dr Abe V Rotor

1 - Tempest

"When you come out of the storm, you won't be the 

same person who walked in." — Haruki Murakami

 

 Tempest in oil by AV Rotor 1969 (28" x 38" less frame)

2 - Old Stone House

"Old houses are full with memories and that's why they resist to collapse!"

- Mehmet Murat İldan (Turkish novelist and playwright)

 

Old Stone House in oil by AV Rotor 1970

 (28" x 38" less frame)

.Do you have a third eye?

Do you have a third eye? 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Do you have a third eye? If so, can you tell the future?

Read and analyze the poem.

Morning Flight, Wall Mural AVR 2000 St Paul University QC

Fantasy or reality - how can we tell

One from the other without a third eye?

Ah, but epics live on through the ages,

As classics live through their spell,

And Gulliver as told by the sages.

The third eye tells of a coming storm,

No less than the vagaries of the mind;

But what the future holds remains locked

In God's will until the time has come,

Beyond fantasy or reality or luck. ~

.I Like the Drynaria Fern for 13 Reasons

 I Like Drynaria for 13 Reasons

Original Title: Symbiosis of Drynaria Fern and Acacia Tree - 

More than Commensalism

Dr Abe V Rotor

Martinez or mynah birds ( Acridotheres cristatellus) thought

to be at the verge of extinction find abode on a century-old

acacia tree (Samanea saman), covered with an epiphytic

fern (Drynaria quercifolia)

Drynaria fern covers the limbs of an acacia tree in Tagudin, 

Ilocos Sur

 I like Drynaria for 13 Reasons

I like Drynaria for her feathery foliage in the distance like the proud peacock and the turkey trotting to win favors of their flock;

I like Drynaria for her sturdiness in the wind, cooling the summer air and keeping the coolness of the Amihan in December;

I like Drynaria for her resiliency, bending with the limbs and branches, turning upside down and up again the next season;

I like Drynaria for sleeping through the dry months while her host takes the show, verdant green, robust and free;

I like Drynaria for resurrecting from a state of torpor, as if she defies death and perpetuates life while others simply die;

I like Drynaria for her economy in sustenance, living on captured dirt and rain, yet discreet of such austere living;

I like Drynaria for touching the clouds with her host taming it to fall as rain and shared by all creatures around;

I like Drynaria for her ability to multiply fast through invisible spores, in one sweep of the wind are sown in far places;

I like Drynaria for its benevolence to many creatures, tenant and transient, keeping their brood in her bosom;

I like Drynaria giving the Martinez birds a home, where they sing in joy and praise and thanksgiving for a beautiful world;

I like Drynaria for keeping company to passersby, to tired souls in the shadow with her host tree, in dark and unlikely hours;

I like Drynaria for giving off oxygen, and taking in carbon dioxide that poisons the earth and living things, among them no less than I;

I like Drynaria, for caring its host and vice versa through symbiosis - a perfect bond that humans have yet to learn someday. ~

Drynaria fern growing on mahogany tree (Swietenia macrophylla),

UST Botanical Garden, Manila. ~

.Oh, time! You are a friend.

Oh, time! You are a friend.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Brief rest before taking a test.

Dream, yesterday was a dream!

A unicorn I rode to rainbow's end

to where a pot of gold might lie.

Oh, time! I thought you're a friend.

And to the other end I walked the trail,

To find my rainbow gone at the bend;

And I, on a crossroad I stood alone.

Oh, time, I thought you are a friend.

What road shall I take - the less trodden?

I gazed at the horizon to its end,

Rough was the way and never ending.

Oh, time! I thought you are a friend.

And here I am, half gone, long is the way;

Lo! I see again my rainbow at the end;

Tread on I must, there's no unicorn now;

Oh, time! you are indeed a friend. ~

. Verses, Verses: Good wine grows mellow with age; a good man grows into a sage.

 Verses, Verses

Good wine grows mellow with age;

a good man grows into a sage.

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. How seldom, if at all, do we weigh our neighbors the way we weigh ourselves with the same favors?

Morning rainbow, Bamban, Tarlac 

2. Friendship that we share to others multiplies our compassion and love where happiness lies.

3. Evil is evil indeed - so with its mirror,
while goodness builds on goodness in store. 

4. That others may learn and soon trust you,
show them you're trustworthy, kind and true.

5. Kindness and gladness, these however small
are never, never put to waste at all.

6. Beauty seen once breaks a heart, Wait for the image to depart.
7. Being right and reasonable;
Black or white, and measurable.

8. She's coy who speaks soft and light;
Smoke first before fire ignites.

9. Every promise you can't keep
Drags you into a deeper pit.

Purple sampaguita {Jasminium sambac}

10. To endure pain of hatred,
A leader’s wisdom is dared.

11. Make believe prosperity;
Sound of vessel when empty.

12. Take from the ant or stork,
Patience is silence at work.
13. He finds reason for living
Who sees a new beginning.

14. Beauty builds upon beauty,
Ad infinitum to eternity.

15. Good wine grows mellow with age; a good man grows into a sage. ~

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

.EcoArt Series RED DAWN

EcoArt Series

Red Dawn

Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

A red dawn (or red sky in the morning) traditionally means that a storm or bad weather is approaching. 

White doves bring peace from the sky

to the battleground down below,

amidst sounds of gun and children's cry.

Sh...Welcome the new dawn's glow.

"Night never had the last word. The dawn is always invincible," 

- Hugh B. Brown.

 

Forest fire, the day after, glows in ember,  

 requiem of nature for man to remember, 

being her guardian to arise from slumber,

 to keep the earth holy within his power.

 

Mars, the red planet may not be alone for long;

our Earth, towards its early sunset may belong.

  

Dainty flowers in monstrous look denies

beauty, their fragrance dearth;

gone are the friendly bees and butterflies,

that bring down heaven to earth. 

  "One may not reach the dawn save by the path of night." 

- Khalil Gibran.

Fish herald the day by the school

before fishers arrive at the shoal.

Rhodophytes glow in the deep sea

where the sun can reach;

Porphyra makes a pasture for fish,

nurtures them to our table. ~

"Every dawn is divine. Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life," - John Ruskin ~