Take a Break. Visit a Garden on a Weekend

Take a Break.  Visit a Garden on a Weekend 

Living with Nature

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

"A walk in nature walks the soul back home." — Mary Davis 

Take a break from work and school;

boredom and daily chore,

worry and anxiety;

be happy, live your life to the full.

"The garden reconciles human art and wild nature, hard work and deep pleasure, spiritual practice and the material world. It is a magical place because it is not divided." —Thomas Moore

 

Arboretum - a mini-forest and wildlife sanctuary

Walk through the tall trees unseen,

under their shade, cool and green,

spend some moments behind screen; 

no one will ask, Where have you been?

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn

Garden pond at Living with Nature home of the author

Garden pond invitingly quiet and serene,

save the splash of fish, and birds singing.

"Visiting a garden offers a peaceful escape, a chance to see rare plants, 

and fresh inspiration for your own outdoor space." Internet

 

Indigenous herbal plants - Aloe vera and pandan,

Practical and easy, 

for health and decoration;

it's our old folks' legacy 

  to the young generation.  

"When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden."- Minnie Aumonier

 

Art appreciation is a prelude to becoming an artist.

Paint a quiet little corner of Eden,

then write a poem about the scene,

"Life begins the day you start a garden." — Chinese Proverb ~

"Make your pet dog happy." In celebration of World Day of the Dog, August 26 2026

World Day of the Dog, August 26 2026

 Make your pet dog happy.

"A dog starved at his master's gate 

 Predicts the ruin of the state" 

- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

Dr Abe V. Rotor

Lassie and Anna at home. Sometimes pets overdo their jobs - or tricks.

“Make these dogs happy,” I told a group of schoolchildren who were taking art lessons from me. I gave each of them a copy of a trace drawing of a pair of dogs. The dogs looked sad, docile and there is something pathetic about them.

With pastel coloring instrument they accepted the assignment. In their young minds I saw their pets at home. As I studied the expressions on their faces, matched with their actions I noticed they were not only coloring their pets, they we virtually “caring for their pets.”

And what do you think they did with these animals? How kind are these children to them? How good are they as masters or friends – as pets? These are the things I gathered from their drawings.

Unchain – A young participant made a drawing of a chain being sawed off in order to free the dogs. Truly there is nothing more important than freedom, even for an animal. This is also true with animals. Aren’t zoos today moved to bigger spaces where the habitats of the animals are simulated? In the African Safari tourists are taken out, caged in their vehicles, while the animals roam free.

Build a doghouse – Keep them from heat and cold. Give them a sense of security and comfort. Give the doghouse some art and a bit of aesthetic sense. The house is a status symbol but its functional features are foremost.

Provide a shade – A tree beside the doghouse is a magnificent scene:
a bird’s nest atop, bridling and parent singing at feeding time, ripe fruits hang, a kite is stuck up on a branch, a boy climbs to retrieve it, leaves fall and form a litter on which the dogs lay. These and many more, which the children drew, revive the childhood to every viewer of their art works.

Give a bone – If there is anything a dog is associated with, it is a big bone. Aesop saw it fitting for a fable, a lesson about greed. For the dog however, it is a form of security, as well as a plaything. Be sure you give your pet food, fresh water and proper nutrition. Do not overfeed them.

Play with your dog, give a plaything – I found out that many of my pupils drew themselves beside or playing with their pets. Others drew cats and mice playing with their dogs. Playing is universal among animals, tame or in the wild. Others raced with them on the meadow.

Groom – Regularly bathe and comb them. Several drawings showed the dogs in attire, one in a circus outfit, another in casual wear, one eating on Chinaware. This is not rare because we often think of animal as human beings. Read “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. Or see the movie, “Babe.” Aesop’s fables are about animals that think like human beings – or it could be the other way around, as Aesop wanted to drive a point, quite often a painful lesson. Aesop was silenced because he was unwittingly hurting people with his fable.

Teach tricks and discipline – A ball, a stick, an electronic gadget to open or close the doghouse, are among the things the young participants included in their drawings. There’s a saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But children always see their pets young. This means they are growing up together, and sharing new tricks.

Vaccinate your dog – A participant drew a veterinarian administering an anti-rabies shot on his young pet. Precaution is always important, because catching rabies is dangerous.

Who are these children mirrored by their drawings? And who will they be through the keyhole of their imagination? How we regard our pets is what we are and become.

“A starving dog at his master’s gate predicts the ruin of the state,” thus William Blake in “Auguries of Innocence” tells us. I, for one, would gladly meet with confidence and ease the master of a contented and happy dog.

The art workshop for children in which I used the dog as an exercise to demonstrate love for animals may be a simple way of changing attitudes and developing values. Children are known to be very effective in carrying out the multiplier effect of a lesson and we hope that they will carry this as they grow.

“Make these dogs happy,” could mean a thousand dogs in the future, and a thousand enlightened children who follow the footsteps of those who unchained the dog, built a doghouse, gave a bone, etc - and, altogether will make our world a kinder one. Reference: Living with Nature, AVRotor 2011

Part 2 - Ten-ten-ten - the dog that found a home

A home he found and a happy company with us 

and the neighborhood.

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

                                       Jemille and Ten-ten-ten, the dog that found a home

It was a quiet afternoon and guess who was knocking at the gate.

A starving dog, a mongrel, and what is there in him to gain?  

Could you spare me a morsel? His eyes moist and sad, begging,

And food we gave, closed the gate, everything was quiet again.  

The sun was setting down, we saw a shadow seeping through the gate,

He is still there, I told the children, and he was knocking again, 

Could you spare me a place for the night? His moaning told us so,

Who are you, who is your master? Silence. I felt a little pain.   

We took him in.  It was a special date on the calendar that comes

But once, and never again, not in a lifetime or generation.

Tenth day of the tenth month of the first decade of the millennium,   

And we named this lost dog Ten-ten-ten. What a celebration!  

A home he found and a happy company with us and the neighborhood,

Call his name, you wish luck and fortune, how easy to remember! 

And children tired from school come knocking to play with their friend,

Can we play with Ten-ten(-ten)? Heaven sent a dog to love and share.  ~

"How we regard our pets reflects what we are and will become." - avr

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⁠* World Day of the Dog or International Dog Day on August 26, 2026, does not have a single official, global annual slogan or centralized "specific theme" assigned by a governing body. Instead, the recurring core focus every year centers on dog adoption, rescue awareness, and honoring all breeds. Internet

Witty Philosophical Quotes:15 Reflections of Human Nature in Politics

15 Reflections of Human Nature in Politics

Witty Philosophical Quotes*

 Researched and Organized by Dr Abe V Rotor

"The cheapest way to have your family traced is to run for office." - Anonymous

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2.

"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."- Robert Louis Stevenson

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3.

"Under capitalism man exploits man, under socialism, the reverse is true." - Polish Proverb

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4.

"Don't be humble, you're not that great." - Golda Meir

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5.

"Since a politician never believes what he says, he is astonished by what others do." - Charles de Gaulle

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6.

"We have debated this bill now for nine days.  I heard the world was created in seven." - Robert Byrd

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7.

"An expert gives an objective view.  He gives his own view."- Morarji Desai

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8.

"He has the greatest opportunity for public service.  He can resign today."- Winston Churchill

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9

"Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. (Don't overdo it.)" - Lao Tze

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10.

"I've never thought my speeches were too long.  I've enjoyed them." - Hubert Humphrey PHOTO left

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11.

"A government big enough to give us everything we want would be big enough to take from us everything we have." - Gerald Ford

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12.

"By radical I understand one goes too far, by conservative one who does not go far enough, by reactionary one won't go at all," - Woodrow Wilson PHOTO right

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13.

"The victor belongs to the spoils." - F Scott Fitzgerald

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14.

"Guidelines for bureaucrats: 1. When in charge, ponder; 2. When in trouble, delegate; 3. When in doubt, mumble." - James H Boren

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15.

"Congress: Bingo with billions." - Red Skelton

* Acknowledgement with gratitude: Jokes, Quotes and One-liners for Public Speaking by Prochnow HV and HV Prochnow Jr 1983; Internet images

20 Witty Conversational Quips

Human Nature in Action and Imagination

20 Witty Conversational Quips

“Life is like a grindstone; whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you're made of.”― Jacob M. Braude

Researched and Organized by Dr Abe V Rotor

"Will you marry me when my hair turns to gray?"

"Why not? Haven't I stuck with you through brown, black, red, blond and purple?"

2.

"If you had your life to live over, do you think you'd make the same mistakes again?
"Certainly, but I'd start earlier."

3.

"Were you excited the first time you asked your husband for money?"

"Oh, no.  I was calm - and collected."

4.

"Why do you want to work in a dynamite factory?"

"I want to make myself quit smoking."

5.

"Darling, if I had to do it all over again, I'd marry you."

"That's what you think."

6.

"A letter came for you today marked 'private and personal'."

"What did it say?"

7.

"What tense is, 'I am beautiful?'"

"Past tense."

8.

"Drinking makes you beautiful."

"But I haven't been drinking.:

"I have."

9.

"I had an awful nightmare last night."

"Yes, I saw you with her."

10.

"No, you can't wear your hair like Elvis Priestley."

"But dad, you wear yours like Yul Brynner."

11.

"What do you want?"

"Would you be so kind as to help a poor unfortunate fellow who is hungry and out of work?  All I have in the world is this gun!"

12.

"Mama, is it true that we came from dust and will return to dust?"

"Yes, dear.  This is what the Bible teaches us.  "Why?"

"Well, I just looked under the bed, and there's somebody there, either coming or going."

13.

"You're wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger."

"I know... I married the wrong man."

14.

"I sentence you to three years of hard labor."

"The joke is on you judge, because my doctor gives me only three months to live."

15.

"Darling, I'm ruined.  I lost my job.  I'm bankrupt.  I haven't a cent."

"Don't worry sweetheart.  I'll always love you - even if I never see you again."

16.

"Since pro means opposite of con, can you give me an illustration of each?"

"Progress and Congress."

17.

"What are you laughing at, you rascal?"

"Because you're whipping the wrong boy."

18.

"Jimmy, will you tell the class why you object to war?"

"Because wars make history."

19.

"How old were you on your last birthday?"

"Seven, ma'am."

"How old will you be on your next birthday?"

"Nine, ma'am,."

"Nonsense.  If you were seven on your last birthday, how can you be nine 

 on your next birthday?"

"I'm eight today."

20.

"Why did you park your car there?"

"The sign said, Fine for Parking."

  

ASSIGNMENT: Add to this list more witty quips. Create your own visual presentation of each item, in photo, sketch, choreograph, and the like, as project or workshop theme in your school and community. 

Acknowledgement with gratitude to Dr Jacob M Braude, author of a series of encyclopedia on humor, anecdotes, quotations, stories, notably Speaker's Encyclopedia of Humor, Prentice Hall Inc NY 1961.  Internet images.

International Cat Day August 8, 2026 The Cat: Classical Case of Evolution through Domestication

International Cat Day August 8, 2026 

The Cat: Classical Case of Evolution 

through Domestication

Dr Abe V Rotor

Cats are among the earliest domesticated animals dating back 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, where man started to settle down from nomadic existence, an epoch characterized by the rise of agriculture.
 

Poor, poor creature in idle rest,
Once proud with the king of the beasts,
The feline god Cleopatra caressed,
Agile that only the lightning can best –
You shame your kind and history,
And your evolutionary tree.




Mindless, you purr your answer;
“A pet I’ve become while my brothers roar.
Degenerated I am, but here I’ll stay
For some mice, imaginary or prey,
Making me a friend and almost sane
To be idle and tame with all to gain.” ~



 
The cat found man, or is it the other way around?

Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on former Paaralang  Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday.  Acknowledgement with gratitude: Ai Overview, Internet, Living with Nature series AVR-UST

*International Cat Day celebrates the companionship cats provide and raises awareness about ways to help and protect cats. The day was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

My Paintings - A Memorabilia

My Paintings - A Memorabilia

"Paintings are silent memories captured with color, 

holding moments in time forever." *

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Assignment:  Don't lose your paintings and other artworks.  Before selling or giving them away, be sure to keep their images in photographs.  Save them in your computer. Go over your old files, and discover your early works.  Restore, catalogue and organize them into a memorabilia with accompanying captions and verses as a project for your family, friends, and community - and treasure them for posterity's sake. 

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary" - Pablo Picasso

"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." – Paul Cézanne

 "I found I could say things with color and shapes 

that I couldn't say any other way."-Georgia O'Keeffe 

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language. 

It is the language of dreams."– Paul Gauguin

 "I dream of painting and then I paint my dream."

 - Vincent van Gogh

 

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

– Pablo Picasso

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints 

his own nature into his pictures."– Henry Ward Beecher

"The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands."

– Leonardo da Vinci ~

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               * Quotations from the Internet, with acknowledgement and gratitude. - avr 

Memorabilia of paintings on display at the Living with Nature Center, 

ancestral home of the author at San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

World Photography Day August 19, 2026: Theme: "My Favorite Photos" Photography with Nature

 World Photography Day August 19, 2026 

Theme: "My Favorite Photos"

Photography with Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Part 1 - Creative Photography - New Field of Humanities
Part 2 - My Best Photographs Series: Animals - Tame and Wild
Part 3 - My Best Photographs Series: The Art of Leisure with Nature

Part 4 - Nature in Photography and Poetry in 16 Scenes
Part 5 - My Best Photographs Series: Bring the Sea Home and Let the Children Play

Author's daughter and spouse enjoy a rare moment feeding by hand 

love birds in an aviary in Bangkok, Thailand, circa 2005

Part 1 - Creative Photography - New Field of Humanities

Photography has been relegated to the machine. This is not true. In fact it has created a new field in humanities - Creative Photography, which is aligned to visual arts and Performing arts.

Gulliver the giant, Gulliver the pygmy in Jonathan Swift's novels,

two friends acting, each in either role;

for in life, you are at one time a giant, at another you are a dwarf,

and seeing others the same, wise or fool.

Years apart through three generations make no difference;

looking back when the old were once children;

and children wishing for the future within their grasp;

in between the beauty of life is a moving train.

Image of Mother and Child - Holy Book's symbol of piety;

Holy Trinity too, with a Father God - the greatest mystery;

Prodigal Son and father - the mother Rembrandt sought.

And Joseph? Brave soldiers who died in wars they fought?

Community stage play of a subject and theme by local talents;

move over cinema, mall, computer and television;

we have had enough of robots and cyberspace pseudo heroes;

life's real, we've each a role with common vision.

Trophies, the greatest is invisible -

you reward yourself unknown,

the one no other else can own. ,

Don't cut the trees, don't!

Make a stairway across;

Save the clouds that fill the fount,

We have had enough, the Cross. ~

Part 2 -  My Best Photographs Series  

Animals - Tame and Wild 

Applied humanities in creative photography and poetry.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Marsupials at Brisbane Museum

Marsupials - animals with pouches,

second womb for their premature babies,

 only in Australia and New Zealand found -

it's one among evolution's mysteries

White hawk preys on rodents

Predation - key to survival of the fittest,

so said Charles Darwin in his theory;

only the strong with claws and wings,

in reality and in bedtime story. 

Kangaroo in Brisbane Museum

Kangaroo -  Australia's signature animal, 

Know him more in the wild, at least, in the zoo.

Friendly parrot, Brisbane Zoo

It seeks either company or food,

a test if you're kind and good. 

At home in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Camouflage or mimicry?

I, the artist of this mural,

amazed and happy.

St Paul University, QC

By a glass pane one morning

I found this  loving couple.

Indeed it's a great wonder: 

crepuscular - somewhere

between nocturnal or diurnal. 

 

Cat on her lap

Sun bathing this duo I found 

in the garden early one morning 

when others are in the rush hour,

in silence and prayer.  

Brooding hen in a broken jar

Whatever use this jar has, 

all ruined, save its crown,

yet a mother hen found it

a haven for her young.  

Preying mantis

Executioner - that's his brand,

this terror with built-in sword,

all gentle or feigning dead

to survive in this cruel world. 

Long horned grasshoppers feeding on the flower 

of balibago, Tagaytay

 You share the beauty of your host -

and beauty itself the cost. ~

Halloween Moth

 You can't hide behind mask;

it is no longer Halloween;
with thin lips and sleepy eyes,

          I know where you've been. ~  

     

Part 3 - My Best Photographs Series
The Art of Leisure with Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor

Catching the sunbeam on a mural painted by the author, Lagro QC

It's a dream world to this child;

to us, in art and fantasy.

Would she ever catch her dream? 

Guide her to the true story.

Playing with the waterfall on a mural, Living with Nature Center

She used to play with the falls

in situ in her younger days. 

Today, by reminiscence,

in thanksgiving and praise. ~

Posing before a wall mural of nature, Lagro QC

"I 'm part of Nature." she proclaims,

in a city where she lives.

Seldom had she the time and chance

to take what Nature freely gives.

 

Santa Paradise, floor-to-wall mural by the author

Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

A make-believe scene of the sea

in its ebb at its rugged shore,

a place to be happy and free

for two friends in their leisure.

Parakeets in courtship, Living with Nature Center 

Don't disturb the couple, don't;

if you were in their place

as people onto you, won't;

instead, give them solace.

Head of a deer reconstructed, LWNC

Angry and scared for both,

as a deer hangs on the wall;

it's a sad message in thought,

a reminder of the Fall.

Owl in captivity, La Union Botanical Garden

Owl - longingly sad and lo!

 Freedom is just a step or two

and be with its kind again.

Oh, what can we do, brethren!

Black cat by a waterfall mural, Living with Nature Center

Complete the scene, break the spell,

that bad luck and emptiness 

are but creation of the mind.

You're a sentinel of goodness.

 

B&W ducks on parade, Living with Nature Center

Quack, quack, quack, one-two three,

keep pace with their company. 

Ducks of the same feathers

flock together, is true story. ~

Part 4 - Nature in Photography and Poetry in 16 Scenes

Dr Abe V Rotor

"On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it." 

- Jules Renard

It's indeed Pavlov's conditioned learning,

they come at the time of feeding,

and we, delighted of their friendliness,

shared our being kind and loving.

Author delights on the mythical Pierian Spring, UST  Manila

In each leaf a fountain

stored from cloud and dew;

I won't thirst on my travel

even days without rain.

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

of nature." –Claude Monet

Beauty begets beauty,

but only for a time;

sooner of later fades,

with its scent divine.

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home." –Gary Snyder

There's always a monkey on my back,

asleep or awake,

I lead the evolutionary track

for all creatures' sake.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." 

–John Muir

What tells you this owl this hour of day?

" I can't join you at night," the owl seems to say,

"with my hunting adventures around the bay,

and you on the computer night and day."

"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

I won't pity you my friend

having reached your end,

if worth a museum piece,

to disturb man's peace.

"Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine 

are hard to beat." –Laura Ingalls Wilder

You are made of jelly, third state of matter:

colloid pulsing in the computer.

But I would rather make you a prism

in search of an unknown realm.

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet 

and the winds long to play with your hair." - Khalil Gibran

Let him be among the sand pipers and crustaceans;

to grow up unlike us away from sea and sun;

I wonder how we survived not having as much fun,

in modern caves, concrete jungle, always on the run.

Whiling away before a wooden frame;

sungka played wild and tame,

turns friend to fiend; to loot and burn;

all's fair in this ethnic game.

Tame, though its gene is wild;

sans its own kind in the wild,

human its master and king,

and every guest its friend -

but in a little while, one by one

until the species is gone, and lo!

the hero in the last hour,

would he himself follow.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” – Karl Lagerfeld

Extinct beasts come alive in our midst,

challenging faith and tradition;

seeing is believing yet how nil these are

to the realm of understanding,

a God before and now, near and far,

makes man's awe and thanksgiving.

Desert ship, the camel tame and dumb,

why of all places you have come?

is it a new wasteland that you found

from forest and pasture land?

Nothing beats the native chicken's taste,

and for the convalescing patient;

the karurayan all in immaculate white,

to the herbolario, an angel sent.

“The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, 

even when the people in it do.”– Andy Warhol

Who can tell a beast from a baby?

all babies though are in a bind;

and like our own it needs TLC,

orphaned from its own kind.

A baby elephant with sultry eyes

feeling the touch of a lovely lass;

for a mother's love is also weaned,

as childhood soon will pass.

Stars of the sea were once

stars in heaven that fell

to bring joy in the deep blue

which was thought as hell. ~

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life 

by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange

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Lesson on  Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan.sa Himpapawid (School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 KHz AM 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Part 5 - My Best Photographs Series 

Bring the Sea Home and Let the Children Play

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 Floor-Wall-Ceiling Mural Complex,

by the author in his family residence

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

The sea all day and into the night,

sings and tells a beautiful story,

to a child in endless awe and wonder,

to treasure it in sweet memory.  

“The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.” – Rachel Carson

Laugh with the sea, roar and hiss,

but be still in its silence;

when calm rules the world at peace,

in respect and reverence.    

“In still moments by the sea life seems large-drawn and simple.

 It is there we can see into ourselves.” – Rolf Edberg

 

 

“Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought 

of which the sea would not be part.” – Hermann Broch ~