"Sea on the Wall" Forever

                                   "Sea on the Wall" Forever

Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor

I love to paint the sea, the sea

    when I was then young -

as young as today in my memory,

    and art after I'm gone.

"Sea on the Wall" Mural detail, AVRotor 2015 at author's residence 

in Lagro QC (30ft x 15ft)

Nature's Recyclers

Nature's Recyclers

Dr Abe V Rotor

Foliose lichen grows and breaks down the lignin of wood.
Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC

Moss builds soil from rock, an example of biological 

weathering.Calaruega Retreat Center, Alfonso, Cavite

Termites eat wood with the aid of protozoa that live in
their stomach, an ideal example of symbiosis.

Termite mound covers a tree stump. Parks and Wildlife
Nature Center, Quezon City.

Mushrooms grow on plant residues, and convert them into
humus which fertilizes the crop. Antipolo, Rizal

Shelf mushrooms grow on dead wood, eventually converting
it into soil that piles up on the forest floor. Mt. Makiling, Laguna

Rot fungi blanket the dead limb of Ficus tree.
UST Manila.

A host of soil insects, principally crickets and grubs, was
responsible in toppling this tree. Caliraya Lake, Laguna.

Rhizobium bacteria convert atmospheric Nitrogen into nitrate
for the use of plants. Note tubercles in lower photo where the
beneficial bacteria reside. ~

Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polytes)

 Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polytes) 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Frass-like caterpillars of Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polytes)

feeding on citrus leaves.  Photo by the author.

Obnoxious I look and smell no one dares to get near,
much less to pick me neither by beak nor tongue,   
for my enemies are few, so my friends - if I know;
you see, if you are ugly and dirty no one bothers you,
like anyone else not excluding some humans;
but in my case Nature designed me this way, 
and she thinks I'm beautiful, to me it is a gift of life;
surviving in a cruel world.  I rest now and someday
I'll metamorphose into something beautiful 
in the eyes of humans, so beautiful and dainty

no one will ever ask what I was before. ~

Live and mounted specimens of Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polytes)
The swallowtail butterflies represent the grace and free nature of the 

human soul. They are associated with hope, endurance, change, and life. 

Photos and artwork by the author. ~

Raise the lily flowers high

 Raise the lily flowers high

Dr Abe V Rotor

     White lily (Fleur de liz), emblem of Saint Paul of Chartres congregation

When the world is down and one looks up to heaven,

Many hands, big and small, raise the lily flowers high;

When the path is thorny and rough and uncertain,

Flowering lilies near and far take away your sigh.

And when the summer sun torches the earth dry,

Lilies bloom while other creatures go to sleep,

In pure delight offer the world in war and grief,

Hope and peace, and comfort for those who weep. ~

Fight for a Cause, a peerless chance.

                                  Fight for a Cause, a peerless chance. 

Dr Abe V Rotor

                                            No, not a mob adrift with the current;

fight for a Cause, a peerless chance;

 death the cost, but the meaning of your life,

while you walk here on earth but once. 

   Acknowledgement: Internet photo

Spontaneity in Art Reveals Natural Beauty

Living with Nature 

Spontaneity in Art Reveals Natural Beauty 

"Spontaneous art reveals Nature's beauty,

with man's conscious and sub-conscious state,

at peace and quiet, reverence and piety."- avr

Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

A flower in its demise, dies that a new life emerges - in fact a whole offspring many times over in number. Nature's art sets the theme of many a work of artists, they themselves would never have thought of before.  

"Light - its particle-wave property

enables the eye to see

the universe's great mystery."

 - avr

A maze is but a scene gone wild and when captured on canvas or screen suggests an idea akin to one's experience and imagination, such as these galactic representations somewhere in the universe - or under the microscope.   

"With red, blue, and yellow,

   nature creates the rainbow,

  with prism of light through,

  that an image comes true."

 - avr

What is black is not emptiness, but the result in proportional ratio of the primary colors - red, blue, yellow - combined by the power light.  In the process these colors create limitless possible combinations seen by the eye, depending on the organism, invisible rays, mirage, auroras affecting vision, notwithstanding.  

"Travel inside a leaf, other than into space, 

 One small step for man,

a giant leap for mankind - 

      the farther you go into an unknown place." - avr

A leaf in the palm of your hand, or seen as chloroplasts under a powerful lens, freshness of spring, green meadow and hill - captured and nestled in the mind, heart and soul, reflect true peace, "Peace is always beautiful," says Walt Whitman

"A Blade of Grass, Whitman says,

     magnificence of Nature's ways." - avr

"The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection." - Michelangelo

How superstitious are you? "People with large ears live long."

  How superstitious are you? Here is a checklist.

  "The balete tree (Ficus benjamina)  is home of bad spirits." 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

             Vampire bat

Check those items which have scientific bases to qualify them outside the realm of superstition. 

1. Angalo is the legendary friendly giant among the Ilocanos.
2. Avoid laughing when planting kamote otherwise the roots will become liplike.
3. Bathing the cat will cause rain.
4. Bats swoop on unwary people.
5. Bite your finger after you have pointed at somebody, so that the blame will not boomerang.
6. Black ants on lansones means the fruit is sweet.
7. 
   Bringing salt under a sour fruit-bearing tree will cause the fruits to fall.
8. One can read how nature intended plants to be used by examining their resemblances and other physical characteristics.
9. Cassava grown from inverted cutting is poisonous.
10. Cat grooming at the doorway tells of visitors coming. 
11. Cockroaches eat on anything - almost.
12. Conceiving mother who gets near a fruiting tree causes its fruits to fall prematurely.
13. Eating shark influences human character with the animal’s behavior.
14. Food offering on special occasions is homage to the spirits.
15. Fruit trees watered with sugar solution bear sweet fruits.
16. Garlic drives the aswang away.
17. Hanging bottles on the trellis of gourd plants induces fruiting.
18. Harelip or cleft lip is the result of an accident when the baby was still in the womb.
19. If a Fortune plant received as a gift bears flowers, it is a sign of good luck.
20. Inadvertently wearing reverse clothes leads one to marry a widow or an old maid.
21. It’s customary to first spill a little of your wine in deference to the spirits. 
22. It’s lucky to find a four-leaf clover.
23. Kugtong or giant lapulapu – does exist in deep rivers and lakes.  
    
24. Mother who eats twin bananas will bear twin children.
25. Mothers place the extracted tooth of their children under the pillow or mat so that the good tooth fairy will come and replace it.
26. Nakakapagpagaling ang laway sa nausog (A little saliva relives someone who was chanced upon by the unseen.)
27. Old folk’s advice: Don’t forget to spit on the spot where you answered the call of nature. 
28. One who is fond of rice crust (tutong) is lazy.
29. Papaya planted in front of a house brings bad luck.
30. People with large ears live long.
31. Place the first fruits harvested from a plant in a large container and pretend to carry them as if they were very heavy so that the plant will be heavy with fruits.
32. When planting a tree seedling, avoid looking up so that the plant will not grow very tall. Stoop when planting coconut so it bears nuts early.
    
33. Chicken soup is best for convalescent. 
34. Rice is the first thing to carry with when moving to a new house.
35. The balete (Ficus benjamina) PHOTO is the home of bad spirits which cause those who go near the tree to become sick. ~

All of the above items are superstitious beliefs.