Reflections on Guimaras Island. In celebration of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem – July 26, 2026

Reflections on Guimaras Island

In Celebration of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem – July 26, 2026

"Where birds and fish meet, sky and river;

when the world is at peace and not a stir..."

Photographs and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

To see the world in a grain of sand,

     And a heaven in a wild flower;

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,

     And eternity in an hour.

- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

Where birds and fish meet, sky and river;

when the world is at peace and not a stir;

   when the heart throbs not of fear and pain,

but tenderness of a flower grown by rain.

Living on the ledge is a curious thing,

From one world to another world;

Where freedom is honor and pride,

And finding but the edge of a sword,

That rules the Great Divide.

Would you like to live behind bars of saplings and bushes?
     where the pond creates a thousand images,
where deep down breathes life, life of the pond and the trees,
     where thoughts live or die as you wish?

It looks like a monster facing the sea,

         all clothed in verdant green;

it holds back the wind, wave and tide,

the evil spirit unseen.

How long will I wait and greet you a pleasant day?

But the shy creature is fast asleep in its burrow;

It can't understand our language, only that of the sea,

And kind notes and gestures more than humans know.

A nursery of mangrove starts to wean

the young plants early for the open sea;

when man by contrast would not dare

but spoils his child from being free.

And the sapling walks alone into the open,

on stakes firmly anchored in the mud;

hello, it greets the world, and many guests,

               to its shadow, confident and proud.

What is a swamp with its unkind, unpleasant name,

this forgotten domain between land and sea,

where monsters lurk, where death reigns, and life

is but an accident, where time is an enemy?

Swamp of sadness, swamp of despair, where

legends and tales are on the dark side;

yet the riches of the world from the ancient sun

here grew, the fossils coming out alive.

Pristine by the mirror of the sky,

the trees aligned on the shore;

the air in the stillness of peace,

the water emerald and pure.

Thoughts run faster than vision, often reaching no destination;

While a boatload of souls patiently waits at sea with the wind

To take them to where they are bound in work or pleasure;

Having also thoughts of their own, but aimed at their mission.

 

   Kugtong - giant lapulapu - feared in the bottom of the sea,
its kingdom secured by its fierce look and size;
who would believe Captain Nemo of Jules Verne's book?

Oh, unless you've seen it with your own eyes.

Bridges tell us of war and peace,
bridge across a river or waterfall;
pontoon bridge in the battlefield -

memories the longest bridge of all.

Either the rock is rising or sinking, I can only surmise,

A cave on the outside, a cavern deep down below;

Wish I were a witness, or that I might be -

To the creation of a world, its transformation, too,

But I would lose the essence of awe. I wish I won't be.

To each his or her reflection, yet collectively the same and one:

     the beauty of nature in a piece of rock floating,

Guimaras - a corner of Eden saved from Sodom and the Flood,

     where man is led back to his happy beginning.

AUTHOR"S NOTE: This post is dedicated to the participants to the 20th Annual 

Conference of the Philippine Society for Educational Research and Evaluation, May 10 and 11, 2012. I was given the honor and privilege to be one of them in the group. ~

How balanced are you today? Key to Peace of Mind

How balanced are you today? 

Key to Peace of Mind

Yes, you can earn and enjoy the most elusive state of happiness - Peace of Mind.

  Dr Abe V Rotor

When you wake up in the morning, go to the mirror so to speak, and look at yourself. Imagine you are at the center of a square. In a perfect square setting you find Peace of Mind. POM has four attributes, which are associated with positive feelings, such as happiness, feeling of good health, mental alertness, calmness, resoluteness, and the like.  A hearty laugh

At one time science tried to devise a biorhythm clock to indicate the ups and down of each of the four attributes. The premise is that every person has his own biological clock greatly influenced by body physiology. A woman's menstrual cycle, for example influences physical condition and temperament. Transition in life stages is a major factor such as the age of puberty, and mid-life crisis which is beautifully expressed, "Life begins at forty." And how about reaching the golden years and the sunset of life?

The coming and passing of seasons dictates the shape of our "square." Winter is generally the loneliest, thanks to Christmas. Spring brings pep and hope, when buds peep from the bare trees, when the birds herald its coming. Summer is vacation, it is a time for loafing and respite. Autumn is sad, but it is a beautiful season.

Then there are circumstances beyond human control such as tragedy in the family, sudden loss of health, broken relationships, and frustration over failures in personal goals.

Whatever conditions you are in today, go to the mirror and see for yourself who you are today.

The Magic Square
1. Intellectually, are you sharp or dull? Have you been forgetful lately? Maybe you have to postpone making a major decision if you are not mentally prepared. On the other hand, make full use of sudden mental alertness. Deliver a paper in a conference, call a staff meeting. Finish a chapter of the book you are writing. It's a new idea, it comes as a spark of genius. Capture it! Just don't submit to your intellectual mood - create one that would bring you the best mind for the day.

2. Psychologically what's eating you? Hold your horse away from anger or aggression. You'll only regret if you submitted yourself to unguarded moments, spurts of emotion which when uncontrolled will lead you to trouble. On the other hand, get out of bed, go to nature, there is a calming effect when you are close to her. Don't deny your genuine feelings though, for good reason. People will love you for being kind, for being compassionate. Remember. "Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone." (The Way of the World, Ella Wheeler Wilcox).

3. Physically, are you fit for the day? Assess the rigors you have to face. If you have been exercising regularly, keeping away from smoking and drugs, and taking the right food, your fitness is not only for a day. True fitness is a long term reward of strict regimen of good health. And remember to keep a positive disposition, just like the Greek philosophy, "A healthy mind in a healthy body."

4. The spirit - the Little Prince in every person (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery) - is key to attaining an ideal square of your life. Feeling of emptiness is traced to a spiritual vacuum - when the inner person is neglected. When the "why" in life gets more and more difficult to answer, when life's true meaning comes to a crossroad - or even to a dead end. When spirituality can be neglected even in the midst of religious fervor, and therefore will not grow. When winning is not a win-win equation, when the pedestal is out of reach, the spirit fades away. Take heed, don't wait for the day you get lost in the Sahara desert, so to speak.

Balance yourself today, the best way you can. Continue doing so day after day, until it becomes a discipline - self-discipline. Only then can you earn and enjoy the most elusive state of happiness - Peace of Mind. ~

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Past lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday.
Lesson on TATAKalikasan, Ateneo de Manila University 87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, every Thursday, 11 to 12 a.m. March 16, 2023; Lesson, Ilocos Sur Community College Education-Extension Program, December 11, 2023

Scarecrow – Endangered Folk Art

 Scarecrow – Endangered Folk Art

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Love that scarecrow (banbanti Ilk.). It is folk art on the farm. In the middle of the field it feigns scary to birds, what with those outstretched arms and that mysterious face hidden beneath a wide brim hat. There it stands tall amid maturing grains, keeping finches or maya birds (Lonchura Malacca jagori and L. m. formosana) at bay.

Scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield. 

Finches are widely distributed in Asia and the Pacific feeding on rice grains, and alternately on weed seeds, but now and then they also steal from the haystack (mandala) and poultry houses. They are recognized for their chestnut colored compact bodies, and sturdy triangular beak designed for grain picking and husking. The scarecrow also guards against the house sparrow, mayan costa (billit China Ilk.), including the loveable turtle dove or bato-bato (Streptopelia bitorquata dursummieri), all grain feeders.

Philippine maya bird, national bird of the Philippines - considered a "pest" in rice fields, for which the scarecrow is intended to drive out.

A scarecrow is usually made of rice hay shaped like a human body wrapped around a T-frame. It is simply dressed up with old shirt and hat. The idea is to make it look like the farmer that the birds fear. There is one problem though. Birds, like the experimental dog of Pavlov (principle of conditional learning), soon discover the hoax and before the farmer knows it, a whole flock of maya is feasting on his ready-to-harvest ricefield. It is not uncommon to see maya birds bantering around – and even roosting on the scarecrow itself!

Today the scarecrow is an endangered art. In its place farmers hang plastic bags, or tie old cassette and video tape along dikes and across the fields. These create rustling or hissing sound as the wind blows, scaring the birds. Others use firecrackers and pellet guns.

At one time I saw a lone scarecrow in the middle of a field. On examining it closely, I found out that it was made of a mannequin dressed the way the fashion world does. It reminded me of the boy who discovered the statue of Venus de Milo in a remote pasture in Greece. On another occasion I saw balloons and styropore balls hanging in poultry and piggery houses, bearing the faces of Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean and a host of movie and cartoon characters. Interestingly I noticed that the birds were nowhere to be found.

When I told my friend, an entomologist, that these new versions of the scarecrow seem to be effective, he wryly replied, “Maybe there are no more birds left.” Suddenly I remembered Silent Spring, a prize winning book by Rachel Carson. The birds that herald spring had died of pesticide poisoning.

Modern scarecrows, though still essentially decoys, seldom take a human shape. On California farmland, highly reflective aluminized PET film ribbons are tied to the plants to create shimmers from the sun. Another approach is automatic noise guns powered by propane gas. One winery in New York uses inflatable tube of men or air dancers to scare away birds.

In the United Kingdom, where the use of scarecrows as a protector of crops date from time immemorial, and where dialects were rife, there are a wide range of alternative names such as:

Hay-man England

Bodach-rocais (lit. "old man of the rooks") Scotland

Vogelscheuche German PHOTO

Kakashi Japanese

Heo Suabi Korean

Orang-Orang Malaysia

Tao-tao Philippines

Pugalo (Пугало) Russian

Espantapájaros Spanish

Bù nhìn Vietnamese

Flay-crow

Bird-scarer

Rook-scarer

Korean scarecrows

A scarecrow wearing

 a helmet (Japan) 

Wikipedia; Trudgill, Peter. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Penguin Books, 2000); Photos from Wikipedia, Internet 

Past lesson on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

EcoArt: Greening the Home (Article in Progress)

Evolution of Art

EcoArt: Greening the Home  

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Potted plants by the window grill merged into an integral scene of trees and lianas,

and connect house and garden

 

Left: Potted cactus with "man-heaven- earth" motif.  Right, wind chime hangs on a mural. Together, they welcome guests at the doorway.

 

 

 

The art in the garden is expressed simply and naturally like the shape and formation of leaves and flowers, type of growth, plant arrangement, singly or in combination.  

 

Trees are clothed with lianas and epiphytes.  On the ground are fern and seasonal plants, Between big trees are shrubs and hedges. Make a group of trees an arboretum or a miniature forest, which also serves as a botanical collection..  

Now and then there is need to prune the trees.  This allows other plants to grow,

and induce old ones to form new crown.  Cut dead branches for safety reason. 

  

 

Symmetry - radial and bilateral - is key to nature's art.  The garden is also a living laboratory. Apply Fibonacci's principle,  Linnaeus nomenclature, Henri Fabre's entomology, among other studies.. 

Space for a plaza, for picnic, strolling, outdoor game and gathering. 

  

Part 2 - Cyptobiology

Study of Nature's Spirit