Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Personal Reflection of an Unknown Citizen

In remembrance of the 125th martyrdom of Philippine National Hero,
Dr Jose P Rizal, December 30, 2021

Personal Reflection of an Unknown Citizen on the lives of great men and women

Dr Abe V Rotor

Make your own personal reflection. Reflection brings out the inner person in you, like the inner eye of Heller Keller, the Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery', idealism of Longfellow and Alexander Pope, meditation in Michelangelo's Pieta, the mysticism of Venus de Milo, enigma of wildlife in Rosseau's painting, inner ear of Beethoven, waning light in Claude Monet's Waterlily Pond. 

I invite our viewers to this exercise. You may find this useful in retreats and seminars, specially in leadership, and in the fields of theology, philosophy, and humanities.

Jose Rizal 

One man fought a nation, and save a nation, abhorring violence.
His greatest weapon: peaceful protest and civil disobedience
in asceticism that swept the land;
people revering him as father and almost god.
His name is Gandhi.

His likes are the greatest specimens of mankind; they too, changed
the world forever, making it a better place to live in.
His name is Mao Tse Tung.
His name is Ho Chi Minh.
His name is Jose Rizal.
His name is Ramon Magsaysay
Her name is Princess Diana.
His name is Jose Burgos.
He is Maximilian Kolby

She is Mother Teresa.
He is Nelson Mandela
He is Pope John Paul II, et al

They are people for all seasons, for all ages, for all waves of change.

But little do we know of the unknown great man,
The Unknown Soldier -
unknown doctor, unknown teacher,
farmer, worker, entrepreneur,
old man, father, housewife, child;
The Unknowns in other fields of life, regardless.

They are whose deeds are also those of great men and women we revere today.
They are us – each one of us
in our own little way to make the world go round and around –
or make it slower, that we may taste better the true Good Life,
the sweet waters of the Pierian Spring, the cool breeze on the hill.
  
Nelson Mandela 

All of us - we have the capacity to be great.
Bringing up our children to become good citizens,
being Samaritan on a lonely road,
embracing a returning Prodigal Son, 
plugging a hole in the dike like the boy who saved Holland from the sea,
or living life the best way we can that makes other lives better.

St. Mother  Teresa

These and countless deeds make us great,
and if in this or that little way we may fall short of it,
then each and everyone of us putting each small deed together,
makes the greatest deed ever,
for the greatest thing humans can do is collective goodness –
the key to true unity and harmony,
and peace on earth. ~ avr

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Pomposity of colors - Nature's tool for beauty and survival

Pomposity of Colors - 
Nature's tool for beauty and survival 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Butterfly plant, what a coincidence
     in form and structure, and color;
I'd rather say, a case of mimicry,
     mutual protection, a favor of both.


Angel's trumpet, flimsy sinister, heralding
     not of victory but defeat;
Narcotics its essence, abuse its courtship,
     to the unwary on a dark street.


Balibago - white in the morning pink after;
     your secret of a short lived;
you must court the sun and bee without delay,
     in the act of make believe.


Mickey mouse the male, Minnie mouse the female,
     both flowers born on one plant;
If ever Disney got the idea from this plant, he's right,
     mystery is what people want.


Begonia, frail and dainty, and easy to wilt
     must shout its color to the butterfly and bee,
else its flowers like spinsters just fade away
     sad and lonely though colorful and free.


Caladium - but you are not a flower and far from one;
     yet you are an apple to the eye of the beholder;
whatever perceptions you create to your pollinators,
     count me as one, your ardent gardener. 

Caballero, name of the noble horseman, 
     wakes with the sun, retires at sundown,
season after season blooms the color of gold;
      tell me where your treasure is found. 


Puff lilies, forerunner of summer in the garden,
suddenly transforming it into a piece of Eden.


Tabernamontana pandakaki - what a name!
whatever that is, bears flowers a gyre of stars
in pure white shining in some forgotten corner
of a garden where other plants are scarce ~

Friday, December 24, 2021

"Nature, Nature on the Wall, A Beautiful Life to Recall.”

"Nature, Nature on the Wall,

A Beautiful Life to Recall.”
Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

 Dr Abe V Rotor

“Humans love the art of make-believe,
Scenic Nature painted on the wall,
Once empty and forgotten now alive,
Bringing in friends to the call.” - avr

       
Sor Veny V Rotor and Ms Helen I Nolasco (in red) pose before a mural 
painted by the author. Sor Veny was the author's sister, the eldest of 
three  siblings of the late Matias Rotor and Enriqueta Valdez..

“Sitting on the rock, reaching for the sky,
All day if you wish with no one asking why.”
   
     

“Grace is something in the spirit to share,
That grows the more we love and care.”

     
Sor Veny left, led house guest on a short walk at the botanical garden.

       What makes a house green
other than the color green;
but a verdant garden scene
happy and healthy to live in.

     
Sor Veny (foreground) led a short prayer before the 
Resurrection at her family's residence,

Apo Resureccion
How many times do we die and live again?
When we fall down and rise,
   we fail and succeed,
   when we are blind and see,
   deaf and hear,
   sin and atone,
   hate and love,
   love and care,
   ad infinitum;
the message of the Resurrection.

     

“Oh, heart on the wall,
Do you still feel?
Do you still throb,
The throb of love?
Ivy, ivy on the wall,
Don’t hide a living heart.”

House guest Ms Helen Nolasco poses before 
a painting of the author inspired by Grieg's Morning.

“Heavenly rays above your head, an experience full,
Enlightening to the heart and soul;
Listen to a voice once on Damascus Road to Saul,
Shh… just listen, listen to His call.” - avr

     
Stairway connects art gallery and library.

Stairway connects
the past and the present,
man and his Creator,
events current and future,
known and unknown
now and hereafter.

     
Sor Veny Rotor (right) explained to house guest some modern 
paintings at the gallery, among them are her works.

Modern art
Impressionism to surrealism,
Dali, Matisse, Picasso to blame;
Avant-garde and graffiti, the same;
Please roll back to realism.

Sor Veny V Rotor and Ms Helen I Nolasco (in red), house guest 2020
Living with Nature Center Rotor Residence
San Vicente Ilocos Sur ~

Thursday, December 23, 2021

When Stars Come Down to Earth

 When Stars Come Down to Earth


Photos and Poem by 
Abe V Rotor
Acknowledgment: Ateneo de Manila University Christmas lantern display

Compact Disc Star

Plastic Flower Star

Star of Yesteryear

Micro Components Star

Puppet Star

Wish upon a star come true in technology;
at home, on the street, on the campus too.
in cafes and malls, shining all around freely,
from high rise, over the metropolis's view.

Wish upon a star come true in greed and thirst,
dying in embers when failed and gone;
in bold discoveries even probing the universe
to cinders before man's plan has began.

Wish upon a star come true only in dream,
up, up in the sky, calling, smiling,
and in the pure and stout heart its realm,
always shining, leading those deserving. ~

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Mural Paintings of the Grand Palace of Thailand

Mural Paintings of the Grand Palace of Thailand
Real gold decorates the many buildings that include the temple
of the Emerald Buddha.

Photos and Verse by Dr Abe V Rotor

Mural, mural on the wall:
tell me who's the fairest of them all,
the grandest, the most powerful -

The wall is mute, its message full
of wealth, power before the Fall,
and the secrets of its soul.~

 
 Author (right) and host from Vinafoods, Bangkok, Thailand


The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and it consists of not only royal and throne halls, but also a number of government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It covers an area of 218,000 square meters and is surrounded by four walls, 1900 meters in length.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The King and I movie 

The story of an English school teacher (Deborah Kerr) and her unconventional relationship with the King of Siam (Yul Brynner) takes you on a charming journey back in time to Thailand in the early 1860's. As one of the best loved musicals of the 20th century, The King and I is a breathtaking production rich with history. But why did Thailand ban The King and IThat film is banned in Thailand because its depiction of King Mongkut - the current king's great-great grandfather - is deemed disrespectful and false. However, the memoirs of the English schoolteacher, Anna Harriette Leonowens, was not banned in Thailand.  (Internet)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 
The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. ~

 

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Arch of Bamboo: "At day's end an arch of bamboo comes alive."

Arch of Bamboo: "At day's end an arch 
of bamboo comes alive."
Dr Abe V Rotor


Student passing under an arch of bamboo, Sunken Garden,
UP Diliman QC. Photo by Miss Alyssa Beltran

Through the arching bamboo grove
that talks in whisper and creak;
at day's end of books and chores,
walks she alone in discreet.

The Gecko stirs to the dusk,
and calls its mate across the arch,
the sparrow the grove its lair,
calls the flock before it's dark.

The skipper its wings with eyes
darts and scares a passerby;
slithers the skink to its hole,
and bats take off to the sky.

The firefly lights its torch soon,
as heaven falls in darkness,
and the breeze dies in doldrums
or weaves through in soft caress.

The termites hum in their nest,
and spawn mushrooms around
punso, home of the dwende -
tale children are spellbound.

The ground fowls roost for the night,
away from their confine;
Not the slightest sound they make,
huddled close with their kind.

The children run for home aglee
before the kapre is back
in the grove, chanting tabi-tabi,
to build up courage and tact.

Through the arching bamboo grove
that talks in whisper and creak;
at day's end of books and chores,
walks she alone in discreet. ~
      

Friday, December 17, 2021

A kid's adventure with nature on a mural

 A kid's adventure with nature on a mural

Dr Abe V Rotor

Little Jun before a wall mural of nature painted by the author at his residence, 2016

Lucky this kid away from television,
     the mall and the computer,
Lucky this kid for being with nature,
     away from a robot master.~

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Bromeliads form a unique aerial ecosystem

 Bromeliads form a unique aerial ecosystem

Dr Abe V Rotor

Bromeliads include the pineapple (Ananas comosus), 
the only edible member of Family Bromeliaceae.


Brightly colored false petals of bromeliad attract insects and other organisms to fertilize its shy, short-live flowers. The bright pseudo flowers serve as markers in the dense and vast forest high up in the trees. Here bromeliads form colonies with connecting rhizomes, and with other epiphytes - ferns, orchids and lianas - make a unique aerial ecosystem. 



Domesticated bromeliads are popular ornamental plants in gardens and around homes. One disadvantages though is that it becomes a breeding place of mosquitoes and other vermin. It is because we have detached them from their natural habitat where they are part of a complex food web. Here mosquito wrigglers are preyed upon by naiads of Odonatans (dragonflies and damselflies), while the adults are trapped in spider webs. Tree frogs have their fill of flies and other insects.  Fish live in the axil ponds and can even transfer to nearby bromeliads and even to the water below to hunt and to mate.  While reptiles occupy the top of the food pyramid, hawks and eagles come to prey on them. Like a chain, just one link broken, and the system fails. 


Bromeliads, which includes the pineapple (the only edible member in the family), are nature's reservoir of miniature ponds that provide abode to many organisms from insects to fish. The central receptacle collects water from dew and rain which spills over to the adjoining leaf axils, making a continuous pond. The sequence, like a series of terraces, makes water collection and retention efficient, giving chance for the various resident organisms to complete - and repeat - their life cycles. And for transient organisms to have their regular visit.

In this pond system, detritus accumulates and fertilizes the bromeliad as well as other plants around and below it, including its host tree, in exchange for its foothold and other benefits. And being epiphytic and colonial in growing habit on trunks and limbs of trees, bromeliads  form a unique aerial ecosytem other epiphytes, and the surrounding trees.~    

Monday, December 13, 2021

A Little Corner of Eden

 A Little Corner of Eden

Was Paradise redeemed when man was gone?
No wonder Nature triumphs when left alone

Dr Abe V Rotor
Pristine Loboc River, Municipality of Loboc, Bohol 
(Photos by Ms Cecilia R Rotor)

A Little Corner of Eden
 Dr Abe V Rotor 

If I were to return after the Fall 
To where my forebears once lived; 
If I were to trace back their footsteps 
To their world of make believe. 

What would I tell to my dear Creator 
Whose open arms have waited so long 
For man to return, to repent for his Sin -
And I, having also failed all along? 

I would tell Him there is also a place, 
A little green corner of grass and trees, 
Of bees and flowers, rainbow and butterflies, 
Where birds come and sing with the breeze. 

An emerald river gently flowing, 
Meandering between hills and on the plain, 
Palms and trees bowing at its levees, 
Its waters soothing the day's pain.

I would tell Him of this place also forgotten, 
Abandoned by a bandwagon, 
By those who nurture the Utopian dream, 
Now orphaned and virtually alone. 

Is forgetfulness also Your tool of creation 
Where man shall be gone from here on? 
Paradise is redeemed and once more born?
No wonder Nature triumphs when left alone.~

 

                               Pristine Loboc River, Municipality of Loboc, Bohol 
                    
               Acknowledgment: Loboc Tourism Office. Living with Nature 3, AVRotor 

Friday, December 10, 2021

Bonding - Key to Success in Evolution

Bonding - Key to Success in Evolution

Mural Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

Bonding, above Darwinian competition - 
flock, school, colony, population, and so on,
that no species can exist without its own, 
 in cooperation with others, ad infinitum.

A flock of white doves from the blue sky,
emerges through the light in the forest,  
heralds the new day.  They joyfully fly 
and ask us if we had a good night's rest.


Can different species peacefully live together?
Ask the blue, white, yellow butterflies,
Swarming into the light of morning together, 
Peace is universal where unity lies. 

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

How superstitious are you? Here is a checklist.

How superstitious are you? Here is a checklist.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

             Vampire bat

Check those items which have scientific bases to qualify them outside the realm of superstition. 
  1. Angalo is the legendary friendly giant among the Ilocanos.                                                                                                             
  2. 2. Avoid laughing when planting kamote otherwise the roots will become liplike.
  3. Bathing the cat will cause rain.
  4. Bats swoop on unwary people. 
  5. Bite your finger after you have pointed at somebody, so that the blame will not boomerang.
  6. Black ants on lansones means the fruit is sweet.
  7. Bringing salt under a sour fruit-bearing tree will cause the fruits to fall.
  8. One can read how nature intended plants to be used by examining their resemblances and other physical characteristics.
  9. Cassava grown from inverted cutting is poisonous.
  10. Cat grooming at the doorway tells of visitors coming. 
  11. Cockroaches eat on anything - almost.
  12. Conceiving mother who gets near a fruiting tree causes its fruits to fall prematurely.
  13. Eating shark influences human character with the animal’s behavior.
  14. Food offering on special occasions is homage to the spirits.
  15. Fruit trees watered with sugar solution bear sweet fruits.
  16. Garlic drives the aswang away.
  17. Hanging bottles on the trellis of gourd plants induces fruiting.
  18. Harelip or cleft lip is the result of an accident when the baby was still in the womb.
  19. If a Fortune plant received as a gift bears flowers, it is a sign of good luck.
  20. Inadvertently wearing reverse clothes leads one to marry a widow or an old maid.
  21. It’s customary to first spill a little of your wine in deference to the spirits. 
  22. It’s lucky to find a four-leaf clover.
  23. Kugtong or giant lapulapu – does it really exist?
  24. Mother who eats twin bananas will bear twin children.
  25. Mothers place the extracted tooth of their children under the pillow or mat so that the good tooth fairy will come and replace it.
  26. Nakakapagpagaling ang laway sa nausog (A little saliva relives someone who was chanced upon by the unseen.)
  27. Old folk’s advice: Don’t forget to spit on the spot where you answered the call of nature. 
  28. One who is fond of rice crust (tutong) is lazy.
  29. Papaya planted in front of a house brings bad luck.
  30. People with large ears live long.
  31. Place the first fruits harvested from a plant in a large container and pretend to carry them as if they were very heavy so that the plant will be heavy with fruits.
  32. When planting a tree seedling, avoid looking up so that the plant will not grow very tall. Stoop when planting coconut so it bears nuts early.
  33. Chicken soup is best for convalescent. 
  34. Rice is the first thing to carry with when moving to a new house.
  35. The balete (Ficus benjamina) is the home of bad spirits which cause those who go near the tree to become sick. ~
All of the above items are superstitious beliefs.

Friday, December 3, 2021

Farewell to a Beloved Museum

Farewell to a Beloved Museum

Member, National Committee on Museums (NCOM) of the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) 1995-2006

Part 1 - Goodbye, St. Paul Museum, Goodbye

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

On the road to Damascus, mural (8 ft by 8 ft) 1995, one of the 12 murals painted by Dr Abe V Rotor.  Saul, then a Roman general falls from his horse and hears a voice, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" This is the turning point of Saul's life to become St Paul, the Apostle, patron saint of St Paul University QC and the Museum.

Reminiscence is perhaps the sweetest and most precious of all the gifts one receives in the golden years of his life.

I remember the Story of St. Paul, in murals, the chapters of his life; I hope they are still there;

The story of St. Paul of Chartres Congregation, from its early beginning; I hope a chronicler hasn't forgotten;

Then St. Paul College, made garrison by the Japanese and liberated by the Allied forces, remembered in photos and relics of war;

Photo essays and verses about the Paulinian community by witnesses of history, and by new blood of my children's generation;

Paintings, drawings, expressions through arts in various mediums, original and inspired, gracing celebrations in school;

Religious collections, among them, a dozen Mother and Child versions, Michelangelo's, Da Vinci's - and our own;

Artifacts, ethnic in origin 
graciously given by benefactors, or accidentally found in some forgotten corner;

Mini-dioramas of ecosystems made by students - tropical rainforest, desert, coral reefs, grasslands, the ocean, lakes and waterfalls;

Reproductions of famous works, from Amorsolo to Goya, though second generation, are rare to find, or their values undermined;

Documents of institutional linkages with Canada, Japan, the consortia, the marginal communities, among others -

Remembered in their glorious past, walled by change and new programs; they are now part of the archives;

Oh, SPUQC Museum, museum of the students, of amateurs, a place for workshops, and hands-ons, stage, laboratory, classroom;

Refuge for displaced classes while new buildings rose, renovation never ending, in the promise of the new and the modern;

Goodbye, museum, link of a lost garden - Eco-Sanctuary - now ensconced with high edifices and pavements; the smell of grass is no more;

Goodbye, sweet museum, revered spot of pilgrims, hundreds, nay, thousands for fifteen years, whose many wishes were granted;

If I was all alone, I found the ghostly presence of three sisters of old in divine company, scholar, artist, and teacher in highest esteem;

They would come when everyone has left, or mingle in company, watching, inspiring like guardian angels;

I took care of you, as I did to my son, Paolo* fifteen year ago. Goodbye Museum, goodbye. ~


*To my late son, Paolo, to whom I dedicated my work as unofficial curator to the former SPUQC museum, now gone, I thank you. May you find peace from the earnest contribution we  made for the museum. - Dr AV Rotor

Part 2 - One Monday at Saint Paul

"High rise the buildings are - towers and spires, 
proud symbols of power;
In deep silence I heard it seems the same words, 
"Why do you persecute me?" 

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

  
                                                                                                St Paul University QC campus

One Monday I visited Saint Paul with inquiries I never asked before;
Fifteen years I served him, a teacher of this school, keeper of a museum;
Time has changed the world, global is its effect, would St Paul tell me
More of the ways of the world to give life a meaning? So did I assume.  

"Tell me where Damascus Road is, where you heard God speak;
Tell me how you crossed the Mediterranean in a storm and survived; 
Tell me how you carried the Word among unbelievers and Pharisees;
Tell me how you faced death yet keep alive your faith and noble pride.

"Tell me where have the Gentiles you converted and followers gone;
Tell me how you wrote the scriptures that gave the bible a wider view;
Tell me how man can become a saint and a saint to become man; 
Tell me how to reach heaven without striving to be a martyr like you."  

The sun rose high, sending reflection of gray clouds on giant glass panes; 
The pavement is bare, the marble floor a mirage, yet empty as the sea;
High rise the buildings are - towers and spires, proud symbols of power;
In deep silence I imagined the same words, "Why do you persecute me?"  ~

 Part 3 - Treasures of the former St Paul University QC Museum (1995-2006) 

Member, National Committee on Museums (NCOM) of the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA)

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Former faculty in-charge

 
Museum as site in celebration national events such as National Heroes Day (left, poster making contest),  and Environment Week (right) 

Dr Anselmo S Cabigan lectures on natural history at the former SPUQC Museum

These, among hundreds of items, are what used to be the features of a school museum of its kind - St Paul University Museum QC. These earned the museum recognition by the National Commission of Culture and the Arts with the curator sitting as member of one of its committees for a decade until 2007 when the original museum closed down to give way to a new plan.  

PHILIPPINE GRASS OWL (KUAGO)
[Tyto capensis amauronota (Cabanis)] Stuffed specimen
" Of all the birds I ever did see, the owl is the queerest me," goes the rhyme we learned in the elementary school. It is true in a sense because first, owls have monkeylike faces and large round eyes which are fixed in their sockets so that the bird must turn its head virtually 360 degrees to focus its sight on an object without moving its body. Second, owls are active only at    night , hunting for other animals which they swallow whole and sometimes live and kicking . In their search for prey they fly silently and ghost like, making occasional humanlike scary sounds . These indeed paint a very queer picture of this maligned creature which is in the list of endangered species. Ecologically owls are important in controlling the populations of rats in the field and forest. And without the owl, a full moon scene would be less romantic because it would  be devoid of the chilly touch of Doyle and Hitchcock . Besides, writers would have to look for another symbol, which we doubt of there is any other animal wiser than the wizard owl. AVR

GIANT SEASHELLS
Shells belong to vast Phylum Mollusca which contains about 100,000 species, half of which live in saltwater, while the other half live in freshwater and on land. All mollusk have complete organ systems, including a brain. They are generally egg laying. They are vegetarians, carnivorous and scavengers, and a few have even look to kill their prey. There are also poisonous species which may be lethal to man. These specimens are rare collections which are seldom found today. Their white and chalky characteristics are a result of continuous exposure to heat and rain. AVR

PYROCLASTIC ROCK FROM MT. PINATUBO
This figurine was carved from a solid rock emitted during the volcano's eruption on June 12, 1993. Although the volcano emitted pyroclastic material which was principally ash, occasionally  there were stones and rocks which were either thrown out directly from its bowels, or coagulated in the process of emission or sedimentation. The local folk etch a living from this solid material, which they carve into figurines or gather for the construction industry.

GIANT CORAL
With the unabated destruction of our coral reef it is not common to see undisturbed huge corals  such as this one. Corals are animals in colonies belonging to Phylum Coelenterata, which is often associated with Cnidaria, of the Class Anthozoa. This specimen belongs to an Acropora or Elkhorn species. Coral reefs are the forest of the sea, the counterpart of our terrestrial forests. 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 conversation 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. AVR

PHILIPPINE FLYING LEMUR
Cynocephalus volans Linnaeus, (Stuffed specimen)
In Carmen, an hour drive by jeep on rugged road from Davao City, a pair of Philippine lemur was caught at the edge of a forest clearing. The animals were clinging upside down, their face buried in the membranous fold that covers the body, batman style for fear of light and human beings. As we invade their habitats, cut down the trees and expand our farms, we are unwittingly flushing out the remaining rare Philippine flying lemurs. This animal is found also in Samar, Basilan and Bohol. It is nocturnal and solitary, spending the day inside holes of big trees in the forest. At night it climbs to the peak and glide again to the next as it feeds on young leaves and ripening fruits of certain tree species. Sometimes it travels too far that it is overtaken by daybreak before it reaches its tree home. In this case it seeks a nearby thick cluster of leaves and hides there, then resumes its travel back home the following night. Except  for its fur which is used as fancy cap , the animal has no commercial value. Its species is now endangered along with our vanishing forest. AVR

STONE GRINDER "Gilingan"
This two-piece primitive grinder is perhaps one of the first machines developed by stone age man following the invention of the wheel some 4000 years ago. Although flour milling is now highly mechanized, this grinder is still used in remote areas. In fact there is a unique place in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, where local stone carvers, using hand tools, still make this grinder. The operation is simple. Glutinous rice previously soaked overnight is fed through the top aperture. The upper stone is slowly and steadily rotated by hand. The rice is crushed between the stones and the wet flour is expelled through the sides. With gradual addition of water, the flour flows down the furrow and is finally collected. Partially crushed grains are once more fed into the grinder. The tedious process adds traditional color and quaintness to our indigenous "puto bongbong", "duyduy", "suman", and other native delicacies. AVR

PHILIPPINE BATS (Stuffed specimens)
This cluster of Philippine bats are cave dwellers (Eonycteris), while the big solitary specimen is a fruit bat, Macroglossus lagochilus lagochilus. Cave bats belong to the genera Eonycteris, Megaderma, Hipposidros, and Rousettus, to mention the most important ones. Because the Philippines is endowed with their natural habitats, bats are a common sight in practically all over the 7,100 islands. one can imagine the fiction scene at dusk when the bats emerge in horde from their abode inside the cave complex of Tabon, Palawan or in Callao, Cagayan. Most bats are insectivorous and are therefore, ecologically important. Bat droppings form guano which is the best natural farm and garden fertilizer. Bats are nocturnal and can "see" their prey by radar using high pitch sound which echoes to their sensitive ear, enhanced by their acoustic membranous wings. They have developed the unique agility to catch their prey as small as a mosquito in mid-air through this aerial echo location phenomenon, compensating for their poor visual sense which has degenerated through evolution. Our concern today is to arrest the decreasing population of bats as we destroy their habitats, converting caves into tourists' spots, quarrying and deforestation. To literature lovers, would horror stories be the same without bats? AVR.

PETRIFIED WOOD
This is wood turned into rock by a natural process called petrifaction. This piece of wood was converted into rock by infiltration of mineral matter mainly calcium, the same material which makes up limestone. This specimen reveals the original anatomy of the wood - the bark, cork, cambium layer, xylem and the like - which may lead to the identification of its species, including its age by counting the annual rings, and such historical information as the occurrence of fire, pest attack, and drought which affected the living tree. All these were accurately preserved through petrifaction. This specimen belongs to an early Gymnosperm, relative of the pine, which dominated the Coniferous forest where the dinosaurs probably roamed. AVR

THE WHEEL
Man's First Invention
The wheel revolutionized human life and society. It laid down the foundation of agriculture, and later, industry - from the bullcart to the steam engine, and soon after, the automobile and spacecraft. Today we are virtually living on wheels - everyday. (From the prairies of Manitoba, Canada)

THE PLAGUE (Sand table)
It was supposed to be cycle, a round about wherein one branch was to benefit from the other. From the Supreme Being came the gift of creation and the division of talents among the races.  And then came the innovations made by man to benefit their kind and the other living things. But along with the advancement of technology provided us were their waste products.
The earth's pristine forests and the living inhabitants that adorn the surroundings would never have crossed our minds to even translate its parts into huge dumpsites. Garbage disposal has posed as a massive and disturbing problem since the sites are almost all filled up and has caused so much pollution to the nearby towns where the dumpsites are located.

It is surprising how much things can change in just a short span of time. In the most recent years, the rivers have bluntly been marred; its natural hues have transformed into a thick, black pigment synonymous to that of an oil spill which has pervaded throughout the seas, and sadly, these are all because of the careless discard of waste products. The chemicals emitted by industrial factories go straight to the waterways, directly affecting the condition of the water and the species inhabiting their particular niche. Shanties which are erected nest to the creeks or rivers disposed their garbage in the closet, most convenient place - the water. in a much wider scope, the waterways are continuous which means that one polluted water body will flow on the next path, and it may influence or eventually affect the water contained in another area.

Various insects swarm over the rubbish. These insects fly and prey from one object to another, and the cause disease that may severely affect our health. Facilitation of the chemical repellants contain strong components which, when infused into our system, may or will cause diseases.

Fortunately, the elders of the nations around the world have finally been roused by the peril that the ecological imbalance may induce in the coming years if they continue to neglect the warning  condition of the mother earth. We, as people of this earth have an austere responsibility to confront the current detriments that pang our niche.

Whatever we give out, it comes back to us in a hundred or ten folds. Waste segregation, if sternly followed will benefit not only us, the human race, but mother earth , as well since some matters of waste may be used to enrich the soils that hold the sturdiest of trees, and the most beautiful of greens. Segregation will also ease the efforts of recycling, since everything will be put to its proper places. Donated by Miss ROCHELLE N. ALFORJA, ABMC

Shipwreck - Paul on His Way to Romeby Dr Abe V Rotor

SHIPWRECKPaul on his Way to Rome
Acrylic Painting (105 " x 48") and Poem by Dr AV Rotor

There are crossings ahead unexpected,
No lights, no guide; to the lesser, the end
Of dreams or riches told but ne'er granted;
But to Paul the beginning’s yet at the bend.

There is a Caesaria where the laws of men
May deny the just. There’s a friendly Malta -
Goodness begets goodness in every brethren.
And there, too, a Herod or an Agrippa.

On a stormy night for Rome, Paul's last mission
To plant the Seed in the very heart of power,
Was a grave at sea, but greater was his vision,
On weathered rock a tree rose like a tower.

To live one must almost die is reference,
But is he willing to die that others might rise?
He is truly brave, and there's the difference
To the one who deserves to walk with Christ.

PARADISE AFTER ROME: End of Paul's Mission
Acrylic Painting (105" x 48") and Poem by Dr AV Rotor

The seed in time gives rise to a forest;
In the like of the Faithful that grows,
Leaving the Pharisees and Sadducees
To Nero's wrath, to where the wind blows.

Sodom after the Ark was forgotten,
‘Til Ormoc sang the dirge of Pompeii;
What’er happened to Utopia since then,
Look down Paoay Lake the old folk say.

Augustine warned people going downtown,
The city’s like a horde of restless ants.
And asked, where have all the proud souls gone,
The Pharisees, sapiens and the savants?

Ask not now if old friends will ever meet
Where once stood the great city's gate.
Who sees Golgotha, Paradise at his feet,
Truly he deserves a blissful fate.

The heaven in the stars and in dream,
The promise of afterlife fulfilled
Starts here with nature, Eden redeemed -
Walk Paul, Milton and others who sinned.

FIRST PAULINIAN TEACHERS

He was thirty then when he arrived in Levesville-la-Chenard. It was 1694. Here Fr. Louis Chauvet prepared young girl volunteers to run a school where the children were educated and taught Catholicism. Among the four young volunteers was Marie Anne de Tilly who came from a noble family, and Marie Micheau who became known outside Levesville. In 1708 the bishop of Chartres, Monsignor Paul Godet, invited the Sisters to open a house in Bourgneuf. A congregation soon grew here, not far from the famous cathedral of Chartres.
By 1727, the congregation was serving 17 institutions in France. In the next five years missions were sent to many parts of the world. it was at the beginning of this century when the first SPC missionaries arrived in the Philippines. From here on Paulinian education spread all over the country. There are twenty major institutions under the St. Paul School System today, and one of them is SPCQ. The teachers at SPCQ continue to carry on the vision-mission of the founders and first teachers at Levesville and Chartres.

Original photos and reproduction of the first Paulinian and lay teachers at SPCQ just after the Second World War.

ETHNIC TOOLS

These are tools and paraphernalia of early cultures which retain their basic forms and functions through time. Many of them are still used to this day by the minorities, such as the Aetas around Mt. Pinatubo, the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya, Igorots of Cordillera, the Itneg of Abra, Itawes of Cagayan, the Yakans and Tausogs of Mindanao, and many others. There are certain commonalities in these tools and equipment, but it is more of their distinctive characteristics with which we associate or identify the culture using them. The advance of civilization however, has either modified or displaced many of them. On the other hand, their discovery has led to many efforts in trying to preserve them, mainly for historical and aesthetic reasons - and posterity. They are often part of cultural presentations, or decorations on walls and hallways, and it is not seldom that we see a foreigner wearing rattan knapsack in downtown Manila or New York.

The Young Once (Original photos and reproductions)

Looking back many years ago your teachers looked like these in these photographs - cute babies, budding beauties, knights in the shining armor, and what have you. Compare them now. Is there any semblance? But first you have to identify them. No coaching, please. Abide with the rules of the contest. There are prizes at stake.

Birthplace of SPC (Original photos)
At Levesville a school was organized by Fr. Louis Chauvet and run by four young volunteers, among them were Marie Anne de Tilly and Marie Micheau. Near the Cathedral of Chartres is a house in Bourgneuf, the seat of the congregation. Above: these sisters who soon took over the helm of SPC and helped the congregation spread to parts of the world.

The First Graduates of St. Paul College Quezon City. 
1946-19471946-1950 (original photos)
These Pioneers blazed through the travails of SPCQ in the first 5 years of struggle for survival and self-reliance, a proof of SPC's determination to carry on the Paulinian vision and mission.

     Part 4 -  Murals by Dr AV Rotor and Children: 
                             Marlo, Anna and Leo 

Ruins of Colonialism ( 8ft X 8ft) 

Arrival of Paulinian Sisters in Dumaguete (c.1905), twin hanging
 wall murals (approx. dimension 4ft x 12ft each) 

Submarine cavern wall mural  (5ftx 7ft)

 
Submarine Cavern 2, wall mural AVR

  
Submarine Cavern 3, wall mural AVR  

Tropical Rainforest wall rural 8' x 15'' AVR

Tropical Rainforest 2 Wall mural approx. (8' x 10') by Matthew Marlo Rotor


Burning of St Paul Novitiate WWII, Hanging wall mural (4ft x 12ft) By Leo Carlo Rotor 

Evacuation from Burning St Paul Novitiate Building WWII
hanging wall mural (4ft x 12ft) By Leo Carlo Rotor 

Watchful Owl. Wall Mural by Anna Christina Rotor
(4ftx5ft) *

Author inspect mural Forest Stream (detail) in a state of deterioration
(c. 2010)

Seven Doves Fly Heavenward, wall mural by Anna Christina Rotor
(4ftx5ft) *

Happy Cave Dwellers, wall mural By Anna Christina Rotor
(4ftx5ft) *

* Murals in state of deterioration, or repainted with white.

“A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, 
and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can.”
– Maira Kalman

Part 5 - Relevance of Museums Today
Dr Abe V Rotor
 
Burning of St Paul building WWII, mural detail by AVRotor
Seven Sisters, sculpture by Julie Lluch, detail

Life size icons at Museum's entrance greet visitor.

Porcupineendangered indigenous animal

Rare starfish. Spines make a fine wind chime.

Isn’t a museum something concerned with antiques and the things of the past?” A colleague once asked me.

“No, no.” I sounded defensive. Then I began scanning his thoughts. There I saw the image of past civilization and institutions. No wonder he was telling of the Egyptian museum, the Aztecs in the Mexican Museum, the American Indians in the Smithsonian, the Renaissance Gallery, and the dinosaurs in the Chinese Museum in Beijing. All these have long lost their glory and now they are remembered in glass cases and fossils. Then my thoughts turned to SPCQ. Why a museum on its 50th anniversary? My friend flashed a devilish smile.

He played the devil’s advocate; I played the student’s role. He raised the mercury, so with my enthusiasm. I did my assignment. There are museums like the giant Smithsonian Complex and the provincial Manitoba museum in Winnipeg that do not only focus on the past. The space museum projects man’s lofty dreams to conquer space. Hirschhorn museum* is part of the Smithsonian Complex in Washington DC, a gallery that is both subjective and prospective, veering from the traditional and classic. 

The Tel-Aviv museum features a documentary of the Iran-Iraq war. The trend of museums today is to link the past and the present, and beat the path for the future. In no other time in history have museums tried to project the fullest breadth of human accomplishments and potentials. They exude a touch of reverence to the Creator, reflecting his faith in the institutions which he built in spite of their imperfections, and man’s glory and admittance of failure – all these point out to one thing: that he is the most special creature that ever lived.

I remember Dr. Dillon Ripley’s words. “ if it is truly active and reflective of its own time, a museum will, like any living thing, change and grow.”

Dynamism lies in keeping abreast with the times - our fast changing modern times, when man in the last two centuries alone, has discovered more things than what all his ancestors probably did.

Humble Beginning of a Museum

In the mind of Dr. Ripley, of course, is one of the magnitude and prestige of the Smithsonian in which he had long been the curator and director. Or those of the internationally known institutions like the Chicago Museum of Natural History, or the Vatican Museum. Then there is Rikj Museum of Holland (Left PHOTO) and the   great Louvre of France (PHOTO below). Name a country and you will see the finest of her culture in the native land’s museums. But the entire thing has had its early beginning - most probably like how the SPCQ museum got started.

The question is that, “How can a newly born show its worth?” But who does not love a baby? The baby itself is love. He holds the key of idealism in this world of ours. The great promise of God in man is mirrored in his smile and innocence. And he has all the potential that this world would be better to live in with him, as he grows, as he lightens the flame of idealism which in many of us adults had long been extinguished. The SPCQ museum is a baby that rekindles our heart, that tells us that this world will go on despite its imperfection – because we know how to start life again, though the rebirth of faith and hope.

Note: Excerpt from an interview with the author during the inauguration of the SPCQ Museum in 1994

*The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn.