Garden Tales

Garden Tales 

A Patch of Eden

Dr Abe V Rotor

Where have all the native fruits gone?

Where have all the native fruits gone?

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

                                 Tiesa (Lucuma nervosa), siniguelas (Spondias purpurea)

Where have all the native guava gone,

the bats and birds and the young one?

Where have all the sweet nangka gone,

its fruits buried under the ground?

Where have all the old piña gone,

on the upland, sweetened by the sun?

Where have all the red papaya gone,

solo by name, the only tree of a kind?

Where have all the pomegranate gone,

friendly though like the deadly one.

Where have all the pako mango gone,

to cook the finest sinigang?

Where have all the big pomelo gone,

its rind made into jelly and jam?

Where have all the red macopa gone,

the laughing children in its arm?

Where have all the native santol gone,

set aside for a large-seeded one?

Where have all the tall mabolo gone,

sapote and caimito that ripe into tan?

Gone to the genie everyone,

technology’s child becoming man. ~

 

 Black Sapote (Diospyrus digyna), Atis (Anona squamosa); 

native guava (Psidium guajava), macopa (Eugenia jambalana) 

Common Filipino Folk Superstitious Beliefs

Common Filipino Folk Superstitious Beliefs 

Compiled by Dr Abe V Rotor

Washed clothes should be taken from the clothesline at night, 

lest they be stolen and worn by dwarfs.

1.    All about moles: A person with a mole on his foot is a born adventurer. A person with a mole on his face will be successful in business. A person with a mole in the middle of her nose will be rich but unhappy.  A person with a mole close to his eye is attractive to the opposite sex.  A mole on the hand signifies wealth or thievery. A mole on one's back is a sign of laziness. A mole along the path of tears will be widowed. A mole on the sex organ is sign of active sex life.

2. Encountering a yellow butterfly will bring you good luck.  If a brown butterfly enters your house, you will lose money, if it is a black butterfly a relative is going to die.

At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold. 

3. It is a good idea to change the name of a sickly child. That way you may be able to fool the spirits who are causing the sickness. 

4. The number of steps on a staircase should not be in multiples of three. Count off the steps as oro (gold), plata (silver), and mata (death). The last step must not fall on mata.

Acknowledgement: 

Filipino Folk Beliefs Blogs - Estareja, Mendiola , Alamares , Borlongan
Living with Nature, AV Rotor
Living with Folk Wisdom, AV Rotor

Fishing for Peace of Mind

Fishing for Peace of Mind
Dr Abe V Rotor

"Through years of fishing I have counted the blessing of this sport by good health and peace of mind - my biggest catch ever." AVR

Saturday 4:00 am
A hurried coffee anticipates your thoughts in the anchored boat. The shore wakes up very early with returning night fishermen. You receive “Lucky fishing” more casually than “Bon Voyage.”

5:00 am
You anchor at 10 to 30 fathoms, your companion calculates by sixth sense. Your other companion: absolute silence. By now the fish stirs to dawn and appetite. Cast your line.

5:30 am
The fish bites. The line jerks and grows taut. Tug to drive the hook in and pull but give a little line if he goes for a wild run. Ready the scoop net, and land him in. Probably your heart jumped with a seven-pound bite, a five-pound pull, but you get only a two-pound grouper or sea trout.

6:00 am
Your second or third catch, your partner’s fourth or twelfth. And he is not unusually excited. The sea is creaseless now except for ripples of small fishes chased by larger species. Occasionally a game fish stirs or a tortoise, which feeds of drifting weeds, pops its head out and lets a heavy sigh. Flying fishes playfully glide and splash in kaleidoscope colors. You squint at the early sun.

8:00 am
You try trawling. Your partner checks bearing for distance and location and idles the engine. Your line dangles far and you hold it firm as your boat makes the rounds. You feel a tug, give an arm’s length or two of line to allow the fish to take a big bite. When the fight begins, your companion instinctively pulls the boat to a stop and you continue pulling. Play with wit. It’s dorado, carelessly strong and fast. Tire him first for easier landing.

10:00 am
The sun beats on your Mexican-rim hat and old long sleeve. You reach for cold drinks and sandwich. You see boats, perhaps a dozen, each to its own. Fishing is a highly individual sport.

11;00 am
You return and dock in. Tie your catch through the gill. Feel the weight of the bunch at your heart’s content. Somewhere around the corner men talk about the big fish that got away.

11:30
It is time to cook your catch. Broiled fish and sinigang are best for a family picnic on a weekend.

It is unthinkable that a fisherman dares to be alone at sea, aware that his life is being dependent on a defenseless frail craft. Yet freedom and love for adventure dominate all dangers, as if by going to sea he satisfies an ancient craving.

Here he seeks contemplation to break a prosaic life style. Or escape heavy social demands. The fishing line, like a communication wire, carries messages outside of convention and even rational matters. It connects two worlds – the deep and modern man. The game is primitive but it is played with fair rules.

Ernest Hemingway’s character in The Old Man and the Sea dramatizes the ritual. To wit.

“He felt neither strain nor weight, and he held the line tightly. Then it came again. This time it was a tentative pull, neither solid nor heavy, and he knew exactly what it was. One hundred fathoms – down a marlin was eating the sardine that covered the point and the shank of the hook. He was happy, feeling the gentle pulling, and then, he felt something, hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the fish and he let the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off the first of the two reserve coils. As it went down, slipping lightly through the old man’s fingers, he still could feel the great weight, though the pressure of his thumb and finger were already almost imperceptible…”

Much is said of great men who were fishermen in leisure, or in deep thoughts. Darwin and Newton changed the history of the world with their discoveries. The greatest Teacher who ever lived was a fisherman. Ideas are the greatest catch.

Through the years of fishing, or casting, and occasional big time fishing, I have counted the blessing of the sport not by my average or biggest catch, but by good health, better insight of personal values, and brighter outlook in life.

I believe that our faculties are sharpened by meditative moments through which we subconsciously sooner or later, find ourselves with more resolve to the assigned task of daily living. Incubation of ideas is like building a structure. It takes place during contemplative moments. Why many decisions are put off until after well-spent weekend?

Fishing reminds us of humility. I was boasting of my first catch. Later, I realized it cannot even qualify for an amateur’s record. Didn’t I laugh at a fisherman who hauled a chunk of coral he believed to be a big fish? The day after that, I came home empty handed and nearly lost my life at sea and he was so sorry to hear about the incident.

Millions over the world enjoy this lifetime sport. “Once a fisherman, a fisherman forever,” so goes the saying.

When the rivers and brooks run with fresh upstream water, the ponds full, and where freshwater meets the sea, or after a tempest, or during new moon, go find your fish.

Although luck plays a good part, yet experience and knowledge are no substitute. Nobody though, becomes perfect at fishing there is always something new to learn, and often it is the sixth sense that works better.

Harmony with Nature, the key to peace of mind and happiness, is probably the ultimate in fishing. Isaac Walton, father of this sport, lives with his song:

In these flowery mead would be,
These crystal streams would solace me;
To whose harmonious bubbling noise,
I with my angle would rejoice.” ~

The author's long time fishing companion, the late Melecio Martinez, proudly shows a rich catch to a curious boy - who, too, may find someday fishing a meditative sport.

Fisherman-Teacher

Lessons you teach, they do not find in school,

No words, nor chalk, no talking tall.

                                                         Dr Abe V Rotor

Fisherman-Teacher (Internet photo)

Wherever you go your silence draws a crowd,

The strong or the lame, the shy or the proud;

Each bite, each pull, each step, the children watch;

For how long matters not. It is the catch.

Your rod a magic wand, focus of your fad;

    Under the blue sky and cap you're faceless,

And they don’t know if you are happy or sad;

    Whatever, a special guest you are no less.

Lessons you teach, they do not find in school,

    No words, nor chalk, and no talking tall;

Patience, patience, who waits is not a fool,

    Waiting for his fish whether big or small.

Years from now they too, will take over the trade,

    To catch their fish, or set forth free;

Beyond the fishing line, will they be afraid?

    Beyond patience, it’s a great story. ~

Big Bang – the Origin of Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

                       

Big Bang (19" x 23") painting by the author 2012

Once upon a distant past, a proto mass 

     of converging gases, too huge 

to hold on in space exploded -

     the Big Bang like a centrifuge.  

Born the universe and galaxies

     in countless numbers expanding,

countless more, orphans in space,

     our known world but a sibling.

Were this true - life so little do we know

     today from its very spawn; 

move over Oparin, move over Darwin, 

     theories past and our own. ~

  

Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Ring of Fire in acrylic, AVR 2016

Besieged by advancing culture, 

a forest once sacred and pristine,

falls into the evil hands of man - 

and man loses to his old sin. ~   

Early Sunset of a Landscape

   Early Sunset of a Landscape

"Landscape - but whose landscape?

robbed from people, robbed from Nature..."

Dr Abe V Rotor

View from a hill in Antipolo, Rizal, June 1, 2013

Afternoon and it's already sunset,

behind gray clouds the sun's shining,

wearing a red veil over the horizon,

with dust stirred into the air floating.

Beauty in birth and death - and life,

in between - clinging to final fate

in man's hand - and oh! how lonely,

how sad, nil of hope and losing faith.

Landscape - but whose landscape?

robbed from people, robbed from nature,

from beauty sublime, to one's design

for gain and power, not for the future. 

And he speaks on behalf of progress,

measured by concrete and steel,

by the amenities of the Good Life,

in unending want, incessant fill. ~   

  

The Eye in the Coral Reef

The Eye in the Coral Reef

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Eye in the Coral Reef, Acrylic Painting by the author 2015

The eye! The eye!

among the corals watching.

conscience of the sea,

over Homo sapiens fishing.

It never winks, it's alive,

guarding against man's folly,

whose eye, not of man,

disgraced guardian of the sea. ~

University of Santo Tomas (Founded 1611) Oldest Center of Academic Excellence

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

UST has one of the biggest student populations in Asia with some 50 thousand enrolled in two dozen colleges and faculties, from conservatory of music, fine arts, medicine to graduate school. 

Symbolic commitment for peace amongst religions.

Participants to the 7th Asian Conference of Religions for Peace, UST 2009

Graduate students take a break on a field study

On retreat for the quadricentennial of UST

Seminarians on seminar

The late Joey Velasco (in light t-shirt), is shown here with Dr Dante Lerma, and the late Dr Florentino Hornedo, and the author (far right) during his painting exhibition at UST. At the background is Hapag (Christ's Last Supper with Poor Children of Payatas QC). 2008Communications students under Dr Abe Rotor, pose with Joey Velasco (center, standing row), The untimely demise of the artist is a loss not only to art but humanity.   

 
Public school teachers in Metro Manila and suburbs pursue special courses at the UST graduate school under the government's program of upgrading education in the country.

Students working as a group is good training in bayanihan, a Filipino tradition.

Graduate students in biology study the rich flora of the university campus.