Petrified Wood

Petrified Wood

Dr Abe V Rotor

Petrified wood (Pietro, rock) is a fossil formed by the infiltration of minerals into cavities between and within cells of natural wood, usually by silica (silicon dioxide, SiO₂) or calcite (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃). Petrification is a very slow anaerobic process.

The replacement of organic tissue by mineral deposits is so precise that the internal structure as well as the external shape is faithfully represented; sometimes even the cell structure may be determined.

Petrified rocks are cut and polished into many items of commerce and art such as furniture, adornments, and decors.~

Ode to the Lowly Creatures

Dr Abe V Rotor

Haring gagamba (king spider), Amadeo, Cavite

Spider

Your home is the space
where your embroidery sways
and glitters with the rainbow
giving life to shadow.

Redeem your mother Arachne
vanished for her art by Athene;
put the morning star to rest,
and the sun to its crest.

Diatoms

Fortune on the De Beers' wasteland -
diamonds embedded in the rocks,
the greatest wealth of any man,
vast and immeasurable in bucks.

To anyone of us a fortune awaits,
whose skill can too, blaze a trail
on land and sea where man satiates
his craving for the holy grail.

Here's wealth to the researcher;
in Sesame's magic the lens opens
to a world of diatoms everywhere,
a greater wealth that never ends.

Hermit Crab
A rare pet you are -
you never had a home,
now you have two:
you borrowed the one
on your back; the other,
above your head -
that you earned it from
the humility of a pet.

       Hermit crab (Pagarus sp)

Red Algae

You are mistaken
to be aloof and mean;
of all seaweeds
you are the least seen,
for you live in the depth,
in the dimmed coral reef,
clothed in violet or red
which is your greatest gift
to catch the fading light,
to escape the grazers
and to be out of sight.


 Actinotrichia fragilis, red Marine alga


Sargassum
You make a forest on the sea floor
where the fish hide from the storm;
what puzzles those who explore
is your massive yet simple form.

Above: Sargassum; snorkeling on coral reef, Bacnotan, La Union

Tussock Caterpillar

You are Medusa in the garden,
a serpent in garb all golden,
sowing destruction on your way
until Perseus put you away.

Hairy caterpillar (higad)

Bouquet – Story of Life

"Fresh and lovely, humble at noon,

gleaming still in the setting sun, 

bouquet to wreath is a story -

the beautiful life of man." avr

Abe V. Rotor, Ph.D.

LIVING with NATURE CENTER 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

Bouquet – Living Calendar in acrylic by Dr AV Rotor (21”x32”) June 26, 2018

Courtesy of Mr and Mrs Mario Allan and Monalisa Rigucera.  

Flowers bloom best in spring,

     grains in summer, leaves in fall,

and in the wintry sunset of life,

     violets and roses crowd the pall. 

Flowers offered at the holy altar,

    confetti strewn on the pathway,

roses all lovers pledge their vow,   

   fresh bouquet on wedding day.

Monet’s water lilies at twilight,

      and Van Gogh's sunflower,

speak of the golden years of life,

     faithful to the final hour.     

Fresh and lovely, humble at noon,

     gleaming still in the setting sun,  

bouquet to wreath is a story -

     the beautiful life of man. ~

Sunset across Banaoang Pass

Dr Abe V Rotor

Sunset across Banaoang Pass, Santa Ilocos Sur

How can I pass across without stopping
       to see the sun glow its last ray?
How can I find rest under the reddening
       sky and pause a moment to pray?

Kids' World of Nature

 Kids' World of Nature 

"Where childhood is forever and never dies."

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 Catching land crabs with a bamboo trap. Palauig, Zambales 

How I love to catch gammarong (Ilk) crab 
when I was like my son Leo Carlo;
he learned the skill early from me, passed on
by old folks by the sea; Leo in turn 
shall teach others before the art is lost,
as  treasured trade and  tradition.  
   

 Building sandcastles.  Morong, Rizal 

Building sandcastles, building dreams,
on waking up are gone, but they return  
as. sandcastles and dreams again 
throughout  youth, higher and bigger,
 crumbling leaving ruins of memories, 
ruins where castles once stood proud,
uniting reality and fantasy into a happy,
wonderful and fulfilled life.    

Summer fun on the beach.  San Juan, Ilocos Sur

Frolic in company with the waves and tides, 

when the sea is as blue as the sky, and wish

boyhood is forever and never dies;

or you'll always tarry in later years  if you don't;

for fleeting moments are most precious,

ephemeral yet eternal in that child in you 

who lives into the golden years of life.  

    

 Christmas for under-the-bridge children.  Pasay MM

The bells of Christmas sound louder among the poor;
the Bethlehem star shines brighter, too.  
The angels come earlier in their homes without door.
 in exchange of a simple lantern or two.  

 Instant swimming pool from busted pipe.  Sta. Mesa, MM

A swimming pool in the middle of a street,
a busted pipe blessing to a dozen kids 
in the neighborhood in frolic and laughter;
like a Riviera or Thoreau's Walden;    

it's a children's world, a corner of Eden. 

   

Mushrooms growing on a tree stump.  UP Diliman QC 

Mushrooms on a stump, home of the dwarfs:
 red, yellow, white, or in disguise,
each color a character, a foe or a friend,
to find where the pot of gold lies. 

Nipa Hut by the river, Tagbilaran, Bohol

Frolicking - game of the vibrant and the young,

recreating a primitive social bond;

where innocence meant freedom and bravery, 

In sweet abandon, here and beyond. ~

Be vigilant! Don't be a victim of unscrupulous trade practices.

In our age of consumerism, unscrupulous trade practices are getting rampant. Protect yourself and your family.

Don't fall into the tender trap of consumerism. Impulse buying, psychological appetite. Restraint, restraint.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Wa-is, coming from the word wise, is the local parlance to describe a person who puts one over his fellowmen. It is taking advantage of others of their situation, ignorance or weaknesses (lamangan). Here are common cases.


Be sure you know what goes into your coffee. It may be adulterated with ipil-ipil seeds. Likewise, chocolate may contain road dust as filler. Papaya seeds mixed with black pepper is not uncommon. Peanut butter comes from broken and immature seeds; bagoong and patis from unsold fish at the end of the day.

1. Coffee is adulterated with ipil-ipil (Leucaena glauca) seeds. The seeds contain mimosin that retards growth and causes baldness.

2. Broken and inferior peanut is ground into peanut butter. It is high in aflatoxin which causes cirrhosis and cancer. Healthy nuts are sold whole peanut.

3. It is the culled piglets (bansot) that are made into lechon. The robust ones are grown for meat.

4. Papaya seeds are mixed with black pepper. They look similar.

5. Inferior quality fruits such as strawberry, orange and mango are made into jam and puree.

6. Ordinary milkfish (bangos) is passed on as prized Bonoan bangus from Dagupan. The lower tail of Bonoan bangos is shorter than the other tail.

7. Unscrupulous traders add water and salt to bagoong and patis to increase their volume.

8. Premium grade fruits are arranged on top of kaing (basket); inside are of inferior grade.

9. Ordinary rice is mixed with premium rice, and passed on as premium grade.

10. Cabbage grown on the lowlands of Ilocos is brought up to Baguio and passed on as Baguio cabbage which commands a higher price.

11. Before a large animal like cow is sold to the auction market it is first bathed with patis to make its body to swell and appear fat. This is a malpractice observed in Padre Garcia, Batangas, the biggest animal auction market in the Philippines.

12. Tomatoes are forced to ripe when price is high, This is done by uprooting the whole plant laden with fruits and hang it upside down until all the fruits, including the immature ones, are "ripe."

13. Immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear accident fallout-tainted milk found its way to the Philippines. The huge shipment was impounded pending investigation. When the investigation was over, to the surprise of not everyone, milk was gone. To the amazement of housewives - powdered milk and polvoron became so suddenly cheap!

14. Double dead is not a new term. This is meat from already dead animals - poultry and livestock sold clandestinely. It is prevalent during foot-and-mouth epidemic for livestock, and corriza for poultry, usually in the summer months.

15. Check expiration date, also date of manufacture. If there is none - erased or altered - don't buy the commodity. This is specially true with canned goods, bakery products, and other perishable products. Check date of harvesting or slaughter for fresh items. There may be frozen food long overdue for disposal.

16. The most rampant trade malpractice is short selling. Watch out those weighing scales on the sidewalk. You pay for three kilos lanzones when the actual weight is only two. Translate this to bigger volumes.

17. Frozen dressed chicken? After thawing, it shrank by a quarter. So with fish. Sometimes water is injected before freezing.

18. Formalin is added to ice water to preserve fish. Any trace of formalin is enough warning. But not so many people can detect it.

19. Kalamay sa ba-o. How do we know if it's really filled? This is where trust of a suki comes in.

        

                            Go for MSG-Free food - always:

when ordering food in a restaurant, buying food items in the supermarket, above all, by making it a rule at home NO MSG and its clandestine trade names. 

20. Food coloring makes food and drink attractive and inviting. Many food dyes are carcinogenic.

21. Over packaging (e.g. tupig is over wrapped with excessive banana leaves, so with carabao cheese, puto and the like. Too much and elaborate packaging is part of selling strategy. It is a tool of manufacturers of many products from toothpaste to underwear.

22. Davao pomelo, Zambales mango, Laguna lanzones,

23. Nakatikim ka na ba ng kinse años? (Referring to a 15-year old wine). It's a lie; a viable business can't let money sleep that long. And how about the hidden indecency of the message? Would you patronize the product?

24. Made in USA, Made in Japan, But the components of the appliance are made in China. German Design, but locally made. "USA" Translation: Deer

25. Dilution = More Profit, in shampoo, washing detergents, softdrink, fruit juice, whiskey, brandy, rubbing alcohol, perfume, gurgle. We may be buying "water" and least of the product.

26. Fillers in toothpaste, detergents, cosmetics, etc. Breaded fried chicken, fish to make them look bigger - and cheaper.

27. Sale! Sale! Be aware of the original price, and find out if it's really sale.

28. Advance payments. Payment-in-kind. Wholesale price, factory price (really?),

No exchange no return. The customer is always right. I mean, the right of the customer.

29. Smuggled? contraband (guns)? Stolen? Regulated (drugs)? Fenced? The customer must know the law. Ignorance is no excuse. Don't fall victim of illegal activities.

30. Book Cover Syndrome. We are in an age of aesthetic design. Of beautiful facade. Of first impression. Of idol endorsers, of the "in" thing. "Contemporary" means now; tradition is passe. Futurism (Lady Gaga), gender insensitive (Charice).

Don't fall into the tender trap of consumerism. Impulse buying, psychological appetite. Restraint, restraint.

These and many more practices attest to the negative traits of some Filipinos - and other nationalities as well. It is by knowing these unscrupulous trade practices that we are forewarned. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed."

Continue this list and share with others. ~

Respite from a long walk. Take a break. Won't you drop by and say, Hello, to Nature?

"Be a part of the scene for a while and just let time pass you by." avr
         Dr Abe V Rotor

Wall Mural by the author in his residence in QC.

Beat summer heat on the campain trail;
take a break by a living wall:
sailboats riding on the sea breeze, 
dolphins in playful race,
the sea beneath is full of life  -
why all the haste and strife? 

 

  Make believe water flowing to wash your hands

stream running down under your feet;

soothing is the ambiance of nature on a wall . 

having walked long an a busy street

 

Yours is the world of Nature even only for a while;

it invigorates, it recharges, it elevates

the sagging spirit, tired nerves, frayed muscles; 

find rest in the realm the mind creates.

Some food and water to the needy, 

make a oasis in a desolate city;

moreso a helping hand and company

bouy the spirit above pity. 

Refresh by a cold mountain stream

running down the grass;

be a part of the scene for a while 

          and just let time pass.~             

    

What's eating you? Rather, what are you eating?

Dr Abe V Rotor

.

Eating with gusto (Vigan empanada)

In either case, you have a problem. A problem that's bothering you for sometime now. You may have adjusted to it somehow, but you still find difficulty counting sheep to get some sleep, or waking up without the Monday Blues. Time passes slowly in wasted hours and gloom. Even so you think the best healer is time and silence - which indeed may ease, but not erase, your pain and suffering. And prevent you from slipping into untoward consequences.

You lose weight, your eyes are sunken, and happy moods are getting few. You decline invitations, keep distance even from friends.

You lose appetite. Recipes you liked before are no longer appealing. You eat light and miss meals specially after taking a can or two of beer. And don't take one shot too many of that liquor. And stop smoking. You are anemic and suffer from ulcer symptoms. Don't let things get worse while early.

Take a break, a vacation if possible. Go back to your hobbies, your "favorite things." Evaluate your plans and priorities in life. Open up to your family and friends, go to your family doctor and get professional advice. Remember you are not alone with your case. There are millions like you - many even worse - all over the world. Learn from those who found their way out successfully.

Have you read "Hope for the flowers," by Paulas, "A Search for Meaning," by Victor Frankl? Or some classics like "Les Miserables," by Victor Hugo? Go watch good movies and TV programs. Turn on you favorite music. Why don't you write your thoughts and ideas?

Sooner ot later you will get away from what is eating you up.

There are people of your condition who take the other road. They indulge in food to the point that they become food addicts. They gain weight tremendously, many end up obese.

Analogous to the popular adage of knowing who you are by your friends, what you eat, and reveal what you feel at the moment.

For example, when you are angry you crave for meat, hard and crunchy foods. It's like releasing your anger with your teeth. Grrr.. Depression follows and you have sweet tooth. Just anything sweet. Truly, you need calories to perk your mood, and sugar readily goes into your bloodstream.

But in times of loneliness, which may include frustration in love life, you crave for anything that is filling like pasta and pansit. Bottomless iced tea, rice unlimited, anyone?

Your mood sways, this time you are stressed and you reach for anything salty. You can't eat without toyo, patis and a lot spices. Hot chili, please! Ah, tuyo and suka, for breakfast. Dinuguan for dinner. Green mango and bagoong alamang.

People who can't overcome their problems go for food as last resort. Or are they trapped to food addiction? Just being anxious and you look for ice cream, candies and cakes. Why? Isn't anxiety a prelude to discovery? When the brain is stimulated is there need of elevated calories supply?

Maybe, but there is no answer to the claim that a jealous person will crave for anything and everything. Food and others as well, I suppose.

What's really the problem with these two scenarios: What's eating you? and What are you eating that makes you obese? Pogo, a comic character says, "The problem is us."

The Man Who Ate Everything Ma Ceres P Doyo, (Sunday Inquirer Magazine May 29, 2011),

Noli Me Tangere's Introduction in Rizal's Handwriting

Dedicated to Dr Jose P Rizal on his 157th birth anniversary, June 19, 2018
Researched by Dr Abe V Rotor
Translation:

"What? Does no Caesar, does no Achilles appear on your stage now,
Not an Andromache e'en, not an Orestes, my friend?"
"No! there is naught to be seen there but parsons, and syndics of commerce,
Secretaries perchance, ensigns, and majors of horse."
"But, my good friend, pray tell me, what can such people e'er meet with
That can be truly great? - what that is great can they do?"

- Friedrich Schiller, "Shakespeare's Ghost," translated by John Bowring

Translation:

TO MY COUNTRY

Recorded in the history of human suffering are cancers of such malignant character that even minor contact aggravates them, endangering overwhelming pain. How often, in the midst of modern civilizations have I wanted to bring you into the discussion, sometimes to recall these memories, sometimes to compare you to other countries, so often that your beloved image became to me like a social cancer.

Therefore, because I desire your good health, which is indeed all of ours, and because I seek better stewardship for you, I will do with you what the ancients did with their infirmed: they placed them on the steps of their temples so that each in his own way could invoke a divinity that might offer a cure.

With that in mind, I will try to reproduce your current condition faithfully, without prejudice; I will lift the veil hiding your ills, and sacrifice everything to truth, even my own pride, since, as your son, I, too, suffer your defects and shortcomings.~

Glowing Caterpillars

Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

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Glowing Caterpillars in acrylic on mounted canvas (21.5” x 22”) AVR 2014

Wondered I as a child seeing you glow in the dark,

     passing  the day in slumber with your host;

your fire is myth, but what philosophy does it make,  

     of your presence exacting a heavy cost?

As I grew up, I learned phosphorescence everywhere:

      plankton of endless number and variety;

the woods and fields studded with watchful eyes,          

      and you, you make a glowing crown of a tree.

I’ve seen wild mushrooms, jellyfish in the deep, glow,

      sulfur bacteria in boiling caldera shining;

and in old age a myriad fireflies mingling with the stars,

     that link us all to a Supreme Being. ~