Endangered Hornbills Saved on the Wall

Endangered Hornbills Saved on the Wall

Art Works and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

Hornbills or kalaw birds are symbols of strength, protection, and connection to humanity and the spiritual world.

 

Beauty and the Hornbills, detail of a wall mural by the author. Miss Riza Fenis poses with a pair of hornbills painted on a wall at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, 2019.

Likened to The Beauty and the Beast,

a living story in our midst;

a ghost of our folly like the Genie

tamed no less by beauty;

But, could it be man the real enemy?

Ask the endangered specie(s).

The Last of the Hornbills, wall mural at the author's residence

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

It's a dirge I hear, once your cheerful call,

its refrain drowned in silence in eerie air;

in the like of Vivaldi's music, if I recall,

seeing you on screen in an easy chair.

A pair of kalaw, painting from an on-the-spot sketch by the author.

Patapat route, boundary of Cagayan and Ilocos Norte, circa 1976

Sonorous bird calls early in the morning

stopped my track for an hour;

camouflaged yet visible scene from afar,

guided me to a rare adventure;

the world stood still with the lovely pair,

 it's Nature's unspoiled grandeur!

The hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in the Philippines, and other parts of tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly colored and sometimes has a casque (helmet) on the upper mandible. Locally known as kalaw this bird is classified under the list of threatened species as forests reserves continue to dwindle due to logging and kaingin (swidden farming).

Art Evolution II: Be a part of nature, re-create her in art

Art Evolution II

Dr Abe V Rotor

Be a part of nature wherever you are,

re-create her in art, in other ways you can,

 more so in the heart of the young,

that they'll love her and understand.

 

Spent Earth, artwork by AV Rotor 2026

On display at the Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

A moth trapped in the night of a flood,

a scenario akin to  Silent Spring;

orphaned by man's indifference,

deaf to nature's warning.

Nature surround in art and song

Be a part of nature wherever you are,

re-create her in art, other ways you can,

 more so in the heart of the young,

that they'll love her and understand.

 

 Rizal in the garden memorial

From pedestal to grassroots,

 Noli to his exile in Dapitan; 

Rizal's life and martyrdom

for people to understand.

 

Bird nest replica - decor and teaching tool

Anahaw roots ensconced in a garden pot,

replica of bird nest for the real thing;

artwork for the living room and school, 

as specimen and aid in teaching.

House guest nature model

Wear a smile of  joy and prayer,

proudly wear a crown of halo;

put meaning to an abstract art,

and a precious moment, too. 

Empty wall into a wildlife sanctuary

Stare all day long on a blank wall,

imagine what we don't like at all;

bring back the eagles to a new lair,

 with their songs fresh and fair. 

 

Piggy banks made of old kettle, and upo-like calabash  

Reviving the tradition of saving,

recycling of waste into art,

in piggy banks and other ways,

we parents must impart. ~

Reflections Before a Make Believe Scenario

         Reflections Before a Make Believe Scenario 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Impressionism is alive -- the remnants of vision in the mind;
art movement, gateway to modern art - archive in the future,
when Nature shall have met its doom from the hands of man,
landscapes turning into wastelands, the good life's no more.
Make haste before it's gone - the earth green and pristine;
Wonder if life's as beautiful with the demise of Nature.

.

False comfort before a mural, 
archive of Nature in the future,
a warning to natural history,
when life had been so happy. 

When wildlife is no longer wild, but fun;

 either it has been tamed, or forever gone.

Oh, how we wish our hands are always clean, 

with water plentiful and pure, as it had been.

Oh, heart on the wall,

can you feel and call; 

do you still throb 

the throb of love?

Ivy on the wall, oh your art;

please don't hide a living heart.

  Make believe prey - in real life or simile,

   don't fall victim, but always be wary,

 in the swamp, on the street, in the hall;

   this reptile is older than our society. 

 

Take time out, leave everything -

your desk and papers - be gone;

seek Nature out there waiting,

you're a guardian to an orphan,

or it's the other way around.

Walk with nature to the end of the earth and time,

for everything is possible to the soul, heart and mind. ~

Welcome! Features of the Living with Nature Center, 2026

Welcome!

Features of the Living with Nature Center, 2026

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

Founder and Head, Living with Nature Center

Visit avrotor.blogspot.com and Naturalism – the Eighth Sense

Contact – 09954672990

20 FEATURES

Orientation Outline 

1. Renovated old home

   (survived typhoons, earthquakes, other calamities, WWII) for four generations. 

2. San Vicente Botanical Garden – living gene bank, shrine, outdoor classroom.

3. Living with Nature (Center), advocacy, hands-on, on-site learning

4. Community-based (visits, tours, workshops, research, practicum)

5. Refuge (respite, retirement, recuperation, balikbayan, childhood experience)

French and Belgian tourists lead house guests in January 2026

6. EcoSanctuary - Wildlife habitat, orchard, open field, local ecosystems

7. Natural for healthy and happy living (food, air, herbals, pets, sense of freedom)

8. Family museum (library, archive, souvenirs, achievements, paraphernalia)

  

 

CEO of a local tourist group poses with author, examines a deer head on the wall. 

9. “The Morning After Syndrome” - preparedness for the worst upheaval (COVID-19)

10. Exodus from the City (reversal from traffic, congestion, high cost of living)

 

NCCA (National Commission for Culture and Arts) executive and LGU (Local Government Unit) guides; UNP coed displays a relief religious art work made of recycled materials.

11. Right brain shift (creativity, hobbies, nature-friendly)

12. Integrated and holistic (The Humanities, back-to-basics, skills development)

13. You are not alone (“So far yet so near,” the world at the living room)

Old friends and acquaintances, professionals in various fields pose at the Center's garden.

14. Ecological prayer (Love God through Nature, Nature is God’s greatest gift)

15. Don’t be a victim of Instant Syndrome (DiY, home garden, cookbook)

 

UNP University of Northern Philippines) students study plant specimens with author..  

16. Save, save from impulse buying, planned obsolescence, ostentatious living.

17. Be simple and practical (countryside living, bayanihan, kamag-anak)

        

Bible month (January 2026) poster making student-contestants display their final works before their parents, teachers and church leaders.  Contestants come from 3 local school SVIS (San Vicente Integrated School), SSNHS (San Sebastian National High School), EMES (Ermita-Mindoro Elementary School)

18. The golden years of life (It’s not too late, you are missing life itself)
19. Yes, you can paint, cook, build your home, do the things you dreamed of.
20. Search for the meaning of life (Learn from Victor Frankl, Schweitzer, Rizal)

 

Bible month poster making contests candid views

    

Globally linked on the Internet avrotor.blogspot.com and Naturalism – the Eighth Sense in 6000 articles to date. Search topic, download, print for your educational use in your school, community, and organization. Linked with 14 books written by AV Rotor, Bannawag magazine, (Okayka Apong), Radyo Katipunan Ateneo de Manila University, Usapang Bayan, Radyo ng Bayan, other websites. Welcome to the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.  Contact – 09954672990

Art Lessons on the "Other Side of Midnight"

Art Lessons on the "Other Side of Midnight"

 Living with Nature Art Gallery

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Evolving art: version of lung x-ray; heaven-sent white doves.

Quo vadis art? People would passively ask,

lost track on too many a school;

Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, Matisse, others,

themselves not knowing their goal.

 

Waterfall cut in two, disrupts conventional subject and interpretation.

Philosophy takes us to a higher realm of understanding,

like a waterfall cut into two - or more; 

different views - new versions - of a singular subject;

beyond any artist or philosopher to restore. 

 

Heritage trees keep birds coming and going.

When is a tree considered a heritage tree?

Not by age, or number of generations,

but when birds keep coming and leaving,

 again and again through the seasons.

 

 

We live in an artificial world

Stary night of Van Gogh in glass marbles;

wasted leaves after Palm Sunday;

classics spoiled by postmodern living, 

woe to us in our era today. 

 

Cracked jars restored as art work

Recycled jars, their functions finished,

with neither water nor grain to keep;

aesthetics hides their condition today,

through art's make-believe and deceit.

 

Conservation and development - complementary and contradictory

To conserve nature's beauty and bounty,

leave her alone, key to a guardian's duty -

an Old Man once warned us succinctly.

But we want the Good Life, and feel free,

for that's what nature to us is meant to be.

Thus man, with his number and technology,

blindly continues to defy this Divine Treaty,

amidst ostentatious living and poverty. ~

* "The Other Side of Midnight" can refer to Sidney Sheldon's novel or symbolize a mysterious, introspective realm beyond the ordinary, representing darkness, transition, and hidden emotions.~

Animals have keener perception than humans, take heed!

 Animals have keener perception than humans, take heed!

Dr Abe V Rotor

Gray heron arrives with the monsoon season

Casting of cicada. Cicada emerges from the

soil soon after the first heavy rain in May

Remember Paul, the octopus that predicted the Spanish championship in world's football in 2010? While the story may be embellished, animals no doubt have well developed instincts that awe humans, the advances in spite of science and technology.

Birds migrate in anticipation of winter and return 1n spring. Snakes travel in the desert to drink in an uncharted oasis. Honeybees travel many miles to gather nectar and pollen w2ithout getting lost. Well, here are other outstanding feats.

1. The kingfisher (salaksak) is an emissary of death.
The kingfisher’s throaty voice is a call of death, so the old folks say. Well, when ponds and rivers dry up because of drought, this fish eater will scour for alternative food outside its niche, poaching around farms and homes.

2. Ants on the move signal the coming of a heavy rainfall, if not a typhoon. Likewise, cockroaches seek for shelter outside their hiding place.
The biological clock of these creatures responds to invisible signals, which comprise decreased atmospheric pressure, high relative humidity and air temperature. Their sensitive antennae and tactile hairs covering their body pick these up these changes of the environment. Thus we find ants in exodus, carrying their eggs and young nto sheltered places. Cockroaches become unusually active, flying about in frenzy, in search for a new place. There is a common message, that is, to escape to safer ground, an archetype information engrained in their genes passed on to them by their ancestors through evolution.

3. Cat grooming at the doorway tells of the coming of visitors.
Cats are fastidious clean creatures. Like birds at rest preening, cats lick their paws and fur clean especially after eating. But what has this to do with their alleged ability to forecast? Well, let’s look at it this way. It is customary in the province to cook something especially for our guests. And fond that we are with cats, we let them have their fill while we are cooking.

4. When house lizards (butiki) are noisy, there is a guest coming.
My father used to tell me when I was a child, that if house lizards make loud and crispy calls, it’s likely that a visitor is coming.

How do lizards know? Some people attribute this to the house lizard’s habit of “kissing” the ground at dusk. But this has nothing to do with predicting a guest’s arrival. But we know that when a person is anticipating a guest he is extraordinarily keen, and thus become aware of anything happening in his surroundings – including the mating calls of lizards.

House lizards take a drink on the ground and return to their dwellings on top of trees, on ceilings and roofs where water is scarce. By the way lizards are present where there are insects they feed on, such as areas around fluorescent lamps and streetlights.

5. Emergence of the June beetle ushers the start of rainy season.
Sometimes in comes out in May, hence also called May beetle.
This beetle, Leucopholis irrorata, resides under the soil for about a year as grub subsisting on roots of plants. It soon develops into pupa, and consequently adult towards the rainy season, remaining in its chamber until the first heavy rain comes. The beetle emerges and looks for food and mate. In a few days it dies, the female having laid dozens of eggs in the soil for the next generation.

What triggers metamorphosis is dictated by a biological clock pre-set by mature in the species. However, differential emergence among members of the population within the same species within a span of three months (April to June) is not fully understood.

I love the rainbow

I love the rainbow

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rainbow across the Bamban River, Tarlac

I love the rainbow

because it holds a pot of gold

that glitters in kaleidoscope,

and prism on its huge crown,

where lovely deities play I'm told;

it's reborn when worn and old

into a cathedral in the sky

cherubim sweetly sing in praise, 

humbling the proud and bold;

it guides the lost from the fold

and those searching for heaven -

a rainbow suddenly appears

whenever faith grows cold. ~