Hand prints to Heaven

Handprints to Heaven

Dr Abe V Rotor

    Handprint in acrylic by an Art Workshop participant at 

the Living with Nature Center, San Ilocos Sur, 2020

Hand prints to Heaven a mystery;

They’re credentials to gain entry;

Green for being Nature-friendly and jolly,

Red for daring and artistry,

Blue for spirituality

Black for faults quite in anonymity,

Fringes of light for glory.

But a yawning hole - is life that empty?

It’s a good study for you and me.

A broken icon found refuge in a garden

A broken icon found refuge in a garden

Dr Abe V Rotor

One sunset a broken bust glows alive

     Under the trees in my garden;

Smashed on the chin and across the face, 

     This figure is sadly spoken.

If heroes were immortals by their deeds,

     Mount Olympus won’t be forgotten;

Legends live in the hands of the artist,

     Even those who’ve sought in vain.

Concrete bust probably that of General Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First Republic of the Philippines, who fought the Americans after nearly four centuries of Spanish colonization of the islands, but lost. The country became Commonwealth of the Philippines for 50 years under the US. The bust was discovered and acquired by the author in a lumberyard in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur in 2018.  The sculptor  remains unknown to this day. 

Earth Day 2020 Feature 8: 10 Important Concerns of Ecology

The tree is the barometer of the health of the  Earth.

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. The world everywhere, from the tundra down to the rich tropical forests, faces unabated threats to wildlife destruction, as human activities continue to defile nature not only of its flora and fauna but of natural habitats.

2. While the target of conservation is the protection of plants and animals particularly those that are considered to be facing extinction and are being endangered, the greater concern of ecology is the protection of natural habitats and ecological systems. 

3. On another front of human activities often characterized by man’s quests for the “good life” through industrialization he believes to be the prime mover of progress and development, the production of unwanted by-products threatens the earth’s dynamic processes. Already the emission of gases from burning fossil oil has resulted in two serious consequences; thinning of the ozone layer and the building up of heat of the atmosphere resulting to global warming. 

4. As human population continues to escalate which is going to double the present 7.7 billion mark by 2025, more and more people now believe that only by heeding the Malthusian prediction that our world may be spared of an unimagined scenario of mass starvation and death. GRAPH

5. On the other hand, quests for new frontiers of science has led us to the fore – unlocking the code of heredity that may soon replace conventional breeding, resulting thus far in the production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Genetically modified Food (GMF). The long term consequences of tinkering with the gene far outweighs immediate benefits. Genetic engineering permanently disturbs the balance of nature from the food chain and food web leading to irreversible destruction of the ecosystems.   

6. The other frontier is man’s interplanetary travel beyond the distance of the moon, and for such ambitious adventure, man will have to learn to adjust to life in space and in the planets he targets at visiting. Interplanetary travel takes years, many years. Into the unknown man carries the environment of the earth in a capsule or bubble. Space biology studies not only the effect on man but to plants and animals as well – some kind of man-made ecological system in space. We have virtually started a new field, space ecology.

7. If a third world war is to come, what kind of war is it? People are in a quandary, even those who are witness to the last world war and different wars after that. On media, a third world war if really global, respecting no boundaries of politics, culture and faith. It will be a war everyone is concerned of – real and psychological, covering the ultimate warfare involving nuclear, chemical and biological.


8. On the concept of human habitat, how ideal can planning get close to it has been demonstrated in some models, which is far from the answer of what a human community should be. 

Imagined bleak future of our Earth, acrylic painting by the author

The crux of the problem is in drawing up a treaty between nature and man. Could this be an alternative to cities and high rise buildings?

9. Terms like ecotourism, ecomigtration, ecozones, etc. are jargons often disguised economic programs, rather than ecological in purpose. As such, projects of this kind must be reviewed in the light of ecology rather than economics. 


10. Zero waste management is ideal, it is a utopia of a modern world. But looking at the experiences of industrialized countries like Japan, Germany and Norway waste is just another resource waiting to be tapped. Why not? Isn't garbage the excess of our wasteful luxurious living? ~

Earth Day 2020 Feature 10: Let's Go Back to Nature (Self-Administered Test - True or False, 25 Items)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Drynaria, aerial fern on a century old acacia.  Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

1. "Going back to nature” means we have to live the lives of our ancestors and renounce our modern living.

2. We can actually transfer genetic materials from one organism to another irrespective of species or class or sub kingdom by means of genetic engineering, resulting in the formation of what we call as GMO.

3. Genetic engineering actually started with Gregor Mendel, the father of the science of genetics and heredity some two hundred years ago.

4. There is no question about a human clone of not having a soul because, the soul of the parents transcend to offspring which is the clone.

5. We live under different ages all at a given time - atomic age, computer age, age of genetic engineering, and space age – all rolled into what scientists called the age of postmodernism.

6. “Tailor the land to the crop, and not the other way around,” is a cardinal rule of "treaty between man and nature."

7. Man is a recent creature on Earth. If the 5 billion years of the earth’s existence is compared to a calendar (365 days), man came into this world only on the eve of December 30. Man is only one-day old on earth.

8. “Our lives are being run and outrun by science and technology.” This statement is generally true.

Man is only one-day old on earth, yet he dominates all creatures today.

9. "Universities without walls" or "distance education" will enable mass education to the grassroots. It will break the cartel or control by elite universities and colleges.

10. Toxic metals abound on land, sea and air – from kangkong to tuna to fowls – unless we control the emission and spread of these toxic metals.

11. Going back to nature is to become a strict vegetarian – giving up animal products. Unless we do this we can’t truly say we have gone back to nature.

12. “Ecological paradigm of salvation” means “we express our love and care to people by protecting nature.” Plant a tree, for example, is reverence to nature and therefore to the Creator; kill a tree and you commit a sin – more so it caused flood and erosion leading to death and destruction.

13. Support and actively participate in movements such as Clean Air Act, Piso sa Pasig, Clean and Green, Green Revolution, Carless Day, Car pooling, Biofuel, Saving Endangered Species, Greenpeace.

14. Convert deserts into woodlands and pasture; empty shorelines into resorts, given the tremendous resources to accomplish such gargantuan task.

15. Petrodollar is the life of the world economy – so that we support the idea there there is plenty of oil yet to be discovered. There should be no letup in tapping these reserves.

16. We should implement stricter laws such as: absolutely no logging (total log ban); impound all smoke belching vehicles; no conversion of agricultural to industrial lands; no hunting of wild animals; and the like.

17. Even without the human species, Planet Earth will continue to “go round” so to speak in the same way as it did in the last 5 billion years – and perhaps go on for another 5 billion years. We just don’t know what will be the kind of dominant species after us.

18. Homesite for the golden years is feasible in the rural as well as in the urban areas; it can be modified according to area, design and structure – but not purpose.

19. It is good to go back to classics without aristocracy, spirituality without religious dogmatism; philosophy without ideological bias; realism without barbarism – to have a better view of life, and a firmer basis of our decision and faith.

20. Science and technology has imprisoned us in many ways – that is why we are not truly happy. We need a direction – a definition of life’s meaning. Logotherapy is as relevant as in a situation where we are kept helpless in a prison camp.

21. Science and technology has actually eliminated the scourge of the human race – disease, poverty and ignorance. Actually we are only begging for more benefits discreetly.

22. Today it takes weeks for man to make diamonds in special oven chambers the size of a washing machine, when it would take nature thousands of years to make one.

23. Reports have been verified of the presence of bromate in sugar, sulfite in wheat flour, nitrate in meat, human hormone in milk.

24. Alternative vegetables are not to be recommended because we have barely studied them unlike conventional vegetables.

25. Homeostasis means dynamic balance – Nature’s way of renewal, renaissance, seeking stability as continuing goal.

x x x

ANSWERS: 1 F, 2T, 3F, 4F, 5T, 6F, 7T, 8T, 9T, 10T, 11F, 12T, 13T, 14F, 15F, 16T, 17T, 18T, 19T, 20T, 21T, 22T, 23T, 24 F, 25T

Earth Day April 22, 2022: Dead Tree Walking

Earth Day April 22, 2022:

Dead Tree Walking

"I came from Paradise lost, would you walk with me?"

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Limb of a dead tree resembling a headless

human figure, España, Manila 2007

I am the ghost that walks
from a forest before;
I am the conscience of man
sleeping in its core.

I am the memory
from the distant past;
lost among the throng,
living in the dust.

I came from Paradise lost,
orphaned by the First Sin;
the hands that cared for me
can't now be seen.

I long for a heaven, too,
a gift of being good and true,
but if heaven is only for man,
 I did serve him through.

But I am a ghost now.
Would man join me for a walk
to tell the world the story
of a once mighty oak? ~

Earth Day 2020 Feature 5: A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm (Lesson on Imagery in Literature)

A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

                                                                                 Guimaras in my palm

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)

I have just finished a manuscript, a sequel to Living with Nature series.  I have chosen for its title, A Piece of Planet Earth in my Palm, because the palm is the seat of human thought, emotion, and spirituality. It is the seat of truth when we take an oath, seat of execution after a decision. In this particular case, it is in the palm where an idea comes as a snap, where creativity is born and nurtured.  Where dreams can be realized, we are known, and finally, we are received by God.  

One can surmise the depth of Rodin’s Thinker in the palm of a clenched fist, more than his pensive mood. I can imagine Helen Keller, born blind, cup the face of a person to express love, or to photograph the person in her mind. We gauge cleanliness by the palm; we appraise the value of articles, examining their details and hidden secrets.

What could be a higher level of expression of respect to the flag than a palm placed on the breast, and an open palm to pledge loyalty?   And is there a deeper sense of contrition than cupping both hands and drawing them close to a bowed head? The faithful raise their hands with open palms in praise and exultation, building a spiritual bridge that unites humanity and God, the world and the Creator.   

And among the grassroots, the farmer gathers a handful of grain in the field, examines it to know if it is ready for harvest - and not so much for its bounty, expresses thanksgiving to Mother Earth. It is also in the palm of the Man with a Hoe, made rough by hard work, that the soil is known of its readiness and suitability to a crop he is going to plant.  The young Lincoln would brush dirt and wipe his palm as if to release some burdens of the day’s work, while looking far into the railroad he was building.

We extend our arms of welcome and reconciliation with open palms. Genuine handshake is felt by the palm. Cold and sweaty palm is a barometer of our emotion.  The warmth of our palm has a deep source in the core of our being. It is a thermometer of our anger or calmness.  And to believers, the map of our lives and fate.

On my palm is a living earth, the microcosm of nature and culture. It is in the palm that we ponder over Rodin’s sculpture, feel Helen Keller’s love and kindness, hear a schoolchild sing before the flag, the faithful whisper a prayer, feel the soil, know the grain when it has turned golden.  Of the young worker brush dirt and look into the horizon.  It is in the palm that we can hold the world, live a life of eternity, find heaven in simple beauty, and infinity in our short sojourn on this earth. ~                  

Earth Day 2020 Feature 3: Trees are benevolent hosts to countless organisms

The tree laughs, talks, with all the joys of childhood.
"A tree is a joy forever."

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. The tree laughs, talks, with all the joys of childhood. "A tree is a joy forever." Tandang Sora QC

2. Playing hide-and-seek in a bamboo grove. The spirit of the place gives quaintness to living. Taal, Batangas

3. A fallen mango tree makes a romantic ambiance. 

(Atimonan, Quezon)

4. Phylodendron gains foothold on Dita tree (Alstonia scholaris) as it reaches for the sun several meters high. UST Botanical Garden

5. Balete (Ficus benjamina) strangles its host to  certain death, hence gaining a notorious name of Strangler's Fig. Mt Makiling, Laguna

6. Fruticose lichen clings on bark of tree. Lichens are communities of algae and fungi. They aid in food production and recycling of organic matter, as well as help conserve water. Caliraya Lake, Laguna

7. Drynaria fern as ephipyte helps conserve water, attract wildlife that protects trees from pests anddiseases.  It is not unusual that a branch gives way to the weight of the tenant fern. Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

8. Roots are exposed by slow erosion reveal tenacity of this tree. The tree allows growth of plants and animals like millipede and land snails, as well as microorganisms, many are symbionts to the tree. Mt Makiling Botanical Garden, UPLB 

9. Interlacing roots, principle of inarching, riprap slopes and banks, provide abode to many organisms. Mt. Makiling, Laguna.

10. Algae and mosses live on the spongy bark of acacia, providing nutrients to the tree, and creating a favorable microclimate. UP Diliman, QC

11. Crustose lichen coats trunk of young tree. Lichens are important to the tree; they also indicate pristine condition of the environment. Caliraya Lake, Laguna

12. Even after death the tree remains a host to red mushroom, termites, other saprophytes and decomposers, giving off its entire energy to serve the living world. Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches QC ~

Earth Day 2020 Feature 2: Dirge of a Dying Creek

"I am dying mother -
but my mother doesn't answer; my mother doesn't answer." - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor  

The afternoon sun casts an aura of the creek's once beautiful state with trees and shrubs lining its banks. Now the creek is virtually dead - biologically. Note highly polluted water and dumped quarry materials blocking the natural waterway. (Parallel Aurora Blvd, QC)  

Balete or Strangler's Fig clings on an adobe rock cliff.

Views of middle stream, and upper stream to the east. The creek is now an open sewer, ugly, obnoxious 

Outgrowth extends over the creek as if to hide its pathetic condition and man's indifference from public view, 

Just across the creek to the north lies a man-made pond of the Oasis - serene and aesthetic, except the foul air of Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, methane, ammonia and other gases, being emitted by the nearby creek
.

Dirge of a Dying Creek                   
  

Once upon a time, so the story goes, clouds gather 
from the sea and land, cumulus to nimbus,

falling as rain, drenching the trees and grass and all,

and down the lake and river and field it goes. 

I was born this way, like my kin, many miles away,

children of Pasig River, seat of a civilization,

the artery of vast Laguna Lake and historic Manila Bay,

and I, a tributary of this magnificent creation.     

I lived in the stories of Balagtas the poet laureate,

in Rizal's novels, Abelardo's Kundiman song,

I throbbed with the happy heart of a living system,  

like the Rhine, Danube, Nile and Mekong.

I am part of history, obedient to man and nature's will,

I gave him clean water and fish, I sang lullaby;

laughed with the children at play under my care,

through generations and time sweetly went by. 

Seasons come and go, the story goes on - ad infinitum -

but where are the birds that herald habagat?

where have all the children gone after class, in summer?

reflection on my water, green carpet on my rock?

I am dying, dear mother, I long for you and my kin,

I choke with debris, laden with waste matter,

my banks are no more, concrete walls have taken over,

I am dying mother -  but my mother doesn't answer;  

my mother doesn't answer.  ~    

Earth Day 2020 Feature 1: Dead Coral - Microcosm of our Dying World

Dead Coral -  Microcosm of our Dying World

Photos and text by Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Someday these children will understand what "ruined nature" means.     

A broken coral is permanently dead, it cannot serve as foothold of baby 

corals (larvae) to become polyps and grow to maturity, much less to 
form a community. Likewise seaweeds will not survive. In short, the 

ecosystem in which they were once a part is dead.

Dead coral samples, Morong Bataan, April 16, 2014

My kin are dying in mass grave of toxic water spurred by global warming,
acid rain formed by gases and particles rising and mixing with the clouds;

My symbionts - the algae and other protists, monerans, that catch the sun
through the magic of photosynthesis, their products I cannot live without;

My tenants free in my household their abode, living in unity and harmony
in a pool of energy, passing on to others their share through the food web.  

My transient friends that come by to rest along their route to other places,
to find refuge from danger, tide with the season, then resume their journey; 

My colleagues living in vast colonies, growing dutifully over the bedrock 
set by my forebears through the ages that protect the land from the sea;  

My friend octopus ensconced in my crevices lurking in perfect camouflage     
and mimicry, giant lapu-lapu its kingdom within my walls, a fort it made;

My favored guests the whale, dolphin, and sea cow, once land mammals
that turned to sea and never returned, are now orphans without a home;    

My strange bedfellows, at one time lovable at others not, the sea urchin, 
starfish that invade like an army, yet useful in keeping nature's balance; 

My co-host of countless organisms, the seaweeds attached on my back
as thick as a forest, layer after layer, with the biodiversity of an ecosystem; 

My enemies - the mudflat and sand bar - shifting and invading my territory,
and while I choke,  sea grasses will soon grow, to which I gladly withdraw;

My gentle friend the tide that baths me everyday, washing away my dirt,
and keeping me clean and fresh, so with my tenants and visitors alike; 

My adopted children, a nursery I provide them, from early life to weaning,
as they prepare to go out into the open sea, strong, confident, and free;

My next generation of free swimming larvae in sheer numbers seeking
a permanent home to become polyps, and grow into corals like me.

My visitors from the human world,  peering through the glass and lens,
the beauty of my world, no other can compare, now dead - and gone. ~

A healthy young coral reef, painting by the author

Beauty with a Coral at the former St Paul College QC Museum 

- a false concept of aesthetics and conservation.

 Life cycle of a coral 

 An unspoiled coral reef 

Coral Reef - Forest of the Sea

Coral Reef - Forest of the Sea   
Coral reefs are the forests of the sea, 
counterpart of our terrestrial forests. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

Detail of wall mural, Caverns under the Sea, counterpart of mountain caves.

Author's residence, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

With the unabated destruction of our coral reef it is not common nowadays to see undisturbed coral colonies, the same way we seldom see virgin forest anymore.

Corals are animals in colonies belonging to Phylum Coelenterata, which is often associated with Cnidaria, of the Class Anthozoa. With the association of seaweeds, they constitute the abode of fishes and other marine life, without which our seas would not be as productive as they are today. 

However, the destruction of coral reefs through illegal fishing like “muro-ami” and dynamite fishing, as well as the conversion of shores into resorts and fishponds have greatly reduced fish catch and the diversity of marine species. 

Today our laws prohibit coral gathering, more so for export. Coral reefs conversion is a priority program of many countries. Without corals our island would fall back to the depth of the sea and our continents would be reduced through erosion. 

Thus, corals are nature’s architectural and engineering wonder for they serve as riprap and barrier against the restless sea, while making the world underwater a truly beautiful scape beyond compare.~

 

 Coral Reef - forest of the sea, richest in biodiversity compared 

to other marine ecosystems. (Acknowledgement: Internet photos)~

Folk Re-enactment of the Passion of Christ, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Folk Re-enactment of the Passion of Christ

 San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Dedicated to my kababayan, particularly to the players of the Good Friday passion play. These shots were taken with a palm size digital camera with 7.2 Mega pizels, photos are unedited. 

Calvary scene where the seven last words of Christ reverberated throughout the world - the most revered moment of His life that made Christianity the world's biggest religion ever: 1.2 billion followers two thousand years after - and still growing. 

The living icons are natives of the town - artisans, farmers, students, fisherfolk and a host of natural artists, who know too well about the kind of life they portray for and on behalf of Christ in His greatest hour.  

 

The game cock enthusiast offers his hobby and trade; the tippler knows just how sober it is to lose oneself that he may enter into the world of spirituality - an apostle worthy of  partaking in Christ's last supper. 

 Young centurions dreaming of bringing peace and order in a troubled world, reversing the biblical role into honor and heroism. The re-incarnated Pontius Pilate, allegory of power abuse among today's leaders, softens in the heart of a young boy whose innocence shall grow into the idealism of new young leaders.  

Judas Iscariot hanging on a tree, believed to be the haunting strangler's fig or balete, likewise haunts those who turn their back against Christ.  The player broke the omen, indeed a most difficult role in the stage play, by asceticism, an old principle of perseverance with meaning. The difference of a repentant Judas who took his own life with that of a neo-Judas today is that there is redemption in the latter in Christ's own way of human salvation - which is the essence of His coming as the Messiah.