I talk to the trees - and they listen to me.

I talk to the trees - and they listen to me.

"When in bloom golden, only for a day or two;

confetti follows where the bees have gone,

in every flower is born a new life

in another place and time."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Tagbilaran, Bohol

Saplings race to meet the sun,

lanky to posts they shall become;

sans branches but bole and round

soon fall to the ax one by one.

Mt Makiling, Laguna

You bear the hardest wood -

ebony in deep shiny black;

your foes no less my kind

feeling and love we lack.

Tierra Pura, Tandang Sora, QC

Sunrise, sunset, the ground is alive,

lilting children under your care

that make up for your loneliness

in a world with so little to share.

Masinloc, Zambales

You were once doomed by the wind,

but benevolence saved you;

by your fruits and resting limbs,

sanctuary and playground, too.

Mt Makiling, UPLB Laguna

Black and white makes you bold and real

of your strangler's reputation,

climbing on your host tree to the sky,

a piece of mystery of creation.

Burgos, La Union

Tree house I see built on your limbs

has stolen your view on the scene,

the breeze in your leaves hushed away,

a living monument unseen.

Cebu City

Embroidered leaves by the bagworm,

turning to crimson and fall;

mutual indeed is host and tenant,

nature and creatures all.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Re-incarnation - this elephant tree had been

once roaming around in band;

threatened, endangered and gone,

what would it become the next time around?

Lagro QC

Whoever felled this old balete tree,

drove the deities away;

and the spirit of the tree shall not rest,

no prayer can repay.

UST Manila

Shadow of death I see across the lawn,

save the sun all mourning;

haunting the playground empty and quiet,

save a dead tree walking.

Ateneo de Manila University QC

To the conscious passerby,

in the morning holy,

in the evening scary,

a veil to laugh or to cry.

St Paul University QC

Young devil tree, but you aren't;

your eyes but holes to your heart;

your arm raised to praise, to call

a friend, such is nature's art.

Agoo, La Union

Over laden, if all these fruits,

a burst of a lifetime -

young to die like a mother

cut in her prime.

UST Manila

Living cradle to while away the time,

to catch up with many a lost sleep;

watch out, a nap gone over the clime,

where time and opportunity slip.

AdMU QC

Pendants you wear in the night,

blinking with the chilly air,

bring tidings beyond your shade,

to far places poor and fair.

When in bloom golden, only for a day or two;

confetti follows where the bees have gone,

in every flower is born a new life, the embryo,

seed to a tree in another place and time. ~

Composite Wall Mural Landscapes

Composite Wall Mural Landscapes*

Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

at his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Nature, so vast, so encompassing, so varied;

I can capture only a part of you with paint brush,

 within the walls of my mind, or on the open field,

 but a grain of sand, however big, is my canvas.  

Primeval Landscape

"Schools always appeared to me like a prison, and never could I make up my mind to stay there, not even for four hours a day, when the sunshine was inviting, the sea smooth, and when it was joy to run about the cliffs in the free air, or to paddle in the water." — Claude Monet

"Now and then a creature appears, real or in the mind,

Indeed rich is an artist's sense of imagination,

each stroke of the brush shaping its form or hiding

it, like in the wild, lurking and ready for action." - avr

“Wilderness without wildlife is just scenery.” ~ Lois Crisler.

"Wildlife is something which man cannot construct. Once it is gone, 

it is gone forever." - Joy Adamson.

*I am like a waterfall – wild and free."

“I love nature, I love the landscape, because it is so sincere. It never cheats me. 

It never jests. It is cheerfully, musically earnest. I lie and relie on the earth.” - 

- Henry David Thoreau.

"The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth - soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife." - Rachel Carson.

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

- Jacques Yves Cousteau

"When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs 

with the noise of it." - William Blake

A brooding bird, its nest by an idle waterfall in summer,

“The soul of a landscape, the spirits of the elements, the genius of every 

place will be revealed to a loving view of nature.” -  Karl Jaspers

Nature speaks and sings among the rocks, 

through the trees, creatures seen and unseen;

 when in complete silence you hear her more

in the heart and spirit, and in dream.  - avr

“Just let go – and fall like a little waterfall.” – Bob Ross

"If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor."

 - Eleanor Roosevelt

My sight fading in the night regains at dawn

how misty the valley may be;

it's a cycle of surrender, peace and renewal;

and a prayer of thanks to Thee. 

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Nelson Mandela

"

"Like a river, life doesn't flow backwards, more so with the waterfall.” 

"If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough." - Oprah Winfrey

Strange face appears on the rock by a waterfall

"Who is guiding me paint may be a tale of spirituality,

          but I could feel it, I'm not alone, it's a sacred story." - avr  

* These scenes, among others, may be viewed at the author's residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, Heritage Zone of the North (RA 11645).  They are a part of Living with Nature Center cum family museum and reading center, art gallery and botanical garden.

Guava, the Wonder Tree

 Guava, the Wonder Tree

By Dr. Abe V. Rotor

If there is another wonder of the world, it is the guava.

Have you seen a tree bearing “fruits” bigger – and heavier - than its whole structure?

Picking guava on the tree, a childhood adventure (Internet photo)

Here is for the Book of Guinness Record. Have you heard the guava tree talk, laugh and shout, sing beautifully or grunt, make echolocation signals? Its branches bend without wind, the trunk sways at 9.0 intensity, leaves fall as confetti.

Parents know where to find their children, and fetch them from their perch in the tree for their siesta or class. At once the tree falls silent, but the doldrums reigns briefly. Soon the children are back to their bailiwick tree.

Take the backseat London Bridge, Golden Gate or Eiffel Tower. The guava tree can bend and touch the ground, and become upright again – not once, not twice but many times in its lifetime. And every branch equally obliges to the 180-degree weight and pull of children. No wonder the best spinning top and the best frame for slingshot are made from guava wood, and is perfect "Y", too.

It is a living Christmas tree, sort of. Birds come frequently. The perperoka and panal - migratory birds from the North, come with the Amihan and eat on the berries, while combing the place of worms, and gleaning on anything left by harvesters. The pandangera  bird (fan-tailed) dances on the branches, while the house sparrow perches, picking ripe fruits and some crawlers. And if you wake up very early, meet the butterflies and bees gathering nectar and pollen from the flowers. Take a deep breathe of the morning air spiced with the fragrance of both flowers and ripe fruits.

 

 

And the tree has eyes. True. Round and luminescent in the dark, mingle with the fireflies and the stars – and a waning moon. It is romantic, scary, sacred. Fruit bats come at night and pick the ripe fruits. Rodents and wild pigs scavenge at night. Moths and skippers, relatives of the butterfly, are nocturnal in their search for food and mate. Old folks would warn us kids never to go near the tree at night. In my career as biologist I had the experience to see in the middle of a field guava trees lighted with fireflies. This scene was in Sablayan in Mindoro island. What a sight - Christmas in another time and in another place. What a magnificent sight!

Would a child go hungry where guava trees abound? I don’t think so. Because the fruits are packed with sugar, vitamins and minerals. The fruits are made into jelly, pickled and cooked as vegetable. It is perfect for sinigang. Have you heard of guava wine? It is the most aromatic of all table wines made from tropical fruits, and it displays a rare pinkish glow. Nutritionists say guava is rich in Vitamin C, richer than most fruits, local and imported. I came to learn later of the cancer-preventing substance derived from Psidium guajava,its scientific name, and its miraculous healing attributes.

Name the ailments commonly encountered, and the guava offers a dozen home remedies. Chew the tops and make a poultice to relieve toothache. The village dentist tells you to first make a poultice the size of a marble, then after he has extracted your tooth, he tells you to seal the wound with it to prevent bleeding and infection. Pronto you can go back to your usual chore.

Guava stem is the first toothbrush, try it. Soften the smaller end and you can also use it as toothpick. This is practical when traveling in a remote rural area. Chew a leaf or two for astringent and tooth paste. Crushed leaves serve as aromatherapy, a new term for an old remedy. And for an unconscious person, burn some dried leaves, fan the smoke toward the patient while pressing his large toe with your thumb nail. The patient senses both pain and smoke and soon takes a deep breathe - another, and another, until he gets enough oxygen and he wakes up.

Decoction of guava leaves for bath is practical in eliminating body odor. Guava soap is effective against skin disorders like pimples and eczema. With this knowledge my daughter Anna Christina formulated an oitment from guava as her college thesis. It is an all-natural antibacterial formula of the plant’s anti-inflammatory and therapeutically active properties against wounds or burns. Extract from the leaves contains 5 to 10 percent tannin, and fixed oils that have antibacterial and inhibitory effect against harmful microorganisms.

When I was a kid my auntie-yaya would gather succulent green guava fruits as remedy for LBM. Tannin regulates the digestive enzymes and stabilizes the digestive flora. She would also make guava leaf tea as a follow-up treatment.

As an offshoot of all these experiences, I asked my students to look into the potential value of guava seeds. The seeds contain 14 percent oil, 15 percent proteins, and 13 percent starch. And study also the bark and leaves in the development of drugs against diarrhea, and as astringent.

At one time I was isolating yeasts that occur in nature which I needed in preparing bubod – yeasts complex for basi wine fermentation, I stumbled upon two kinds of yeasts -Saccharomyces elipsoides and Brettanomyces. The second, I discovered is the secret of French wine quality. This French yeast resides in our home yard, in the flower of the native guava! Later I found out with the help of Food Development Center of the National Food Authority the same yeast naturally occurs in the flowers of macopa (Eugenia jambalana) and duhat (Syzygium cumini), both are members of the guava family - Myrtaceae.
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Guava is the tree of happy childhood. The tree bears fruits and children. Look at all the children climbing, swinging on its branches, some armed with bamboo poles, others with small stones, still others with slingshots aiming at one thing: the ripe fruits on the tree. The tree builds sweet childhood memories.
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The guava seed is an example of Nature’s way of breaking dormancy of seeds and enhancing their dissemination. Dormancy is a temporary delay for seeds to germinate, which may last for a few days to several years. This is important as a survival mechanism of plants. Guava seeds are not destroyed by gastric juice and peristalsis of the digestive system of animals – cold or warm blooded - because of their very thick and hard pericarp. This biological property ensures the species to colonize a new land.

You can’t crack guava seeds. If you do, especially with a decayed tooth you’ll end up going to your dentist. Oh, how I would wince and hold on anything. Either the old tooth is forced out of its place or the seed has lodged in the cavity.

Old folks also believe that guava seeds can cause appendicitis. Well, its seed is too large to enter this rudimentary organ. I believe though that it is its abrasive nature that makes way for the bacteria to enter and cause infection. And subsequently inflammation. Well, if this is true, then it’s a risk one takes in eating guava. You really can’t remove all the seeds, and if you succeed you take away the fun and quaintness of eating this berry.

We have introduced foreign varieties of guava which really don’t grow into a tree. The fruits are very much bigger, but far from being as sweet as those of our native variety. In a few years the guapple, as it is called, becomes senile and die, while the native guava lasts for a lifetime, and longer.

Today when I see children climbing guava trees it reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of its many friends – birds, ground fowls like ducks, chicken, bato-bato, goats and self-supporting native pigs. I imagine butterflies, dragonflies and Drosophila flies attracted by the ripening fruit. And frogs and toads patiently waiting for these flies to become their prey. Finches and sparrows, the quick and dainty La Golondrina (swift), the pandangera, panal and perperroka – I miss them.

Yes, the fruit bats, they are the source of children’s stories, among them is about clumsy bats dropping their load of ripe fruits accidentally falling of rooftops. In the dead of the night what would you imagine? “It’s the manananggal! (female half-bodied vampire).” Our folks at home would even make their voice tremble. And we would cling to each other in bed we kids of our time. Our elders take advantage of the situation and whisper, “If you don’t sleep, it will come back.”

In the morning who would care about the manananggal? Or seeds causing appendicitis? Or the danger of falling from the tree. Or chased by a wild boar? Or challenged by a billy goat or a brooding hen? As usual we would search for ripe berries and have our fill. Then we would hurry down and run to relieve ourselves, too loaded we simply take comfort in some nearby thickets. In time guava trees would be growing this these spots.

Children would be climbing these trees, having their fill of the fruits, and joyous in the adventure of childhood, making the guava tree the greatest wonder of the world. ~ 

Landscapes - Bridge of Nature and Human, Reality and Fantasy

Landscapes - Bridge of Nature and Human,

Reality and Fantasy

Dr Abe V Rotor

 The Forest is a Natural Beauty in acrylic by the author , 2015

"I love the tranquility I feel each time I step into the forest. The forest has a calming and therapeutic effect on me. I enjoy listening to its music – the chirping of the birds, the trickling of water from the leaves, the sound of flowing streams..." - Tan Ee Long, The Forest is a Natural Beauty 

Clouds Over the Mountain in acrylic by the author 2020

“The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn’t it be?- it is the same the angels breathe.” -  Mark Twain

The Rock in the Sea,  in acrylic by the author, c 2005

"Think how we sailed up-wind, the brine

  Tasting of daphne, the enormous wave

  Thundering in the water cave—

  Thunder in stone..."

         Archibald MacLeish, “The Rock in the Sea” 

A Field of Wild Lilies in acrylic by the author, 2015

A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night,
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.
- Ben Jonson

Walden Pond in acrylic as envisioned  by Anna Christina Rotor,

then in the grade school, circa 1995. 

"Where have all the trees and the pristine waters gone?"

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden ~

"Sea on the Wall" Forever. The Old Man and the Sea

"Sea on the Wall" Forever

Mural inspired by Ernest Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize novel, 

The Old Man and the Sea

                                                      

 Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor

I love to paint the sea, the sea

     when I was young,

as young today in my memory,

     and after I'm gone.

"Sea on the Wall" Mural detail, A V Rotor 2015 at author's residence 

in Lagro QC (30ft x 15ft)

Quotations from 
The Old Man and the Sea

By Ernest Hemingway

Everything about him was old except his eyes, and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”

“But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”

“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.”

“Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?”

The thousand times he had proved it meant nothing. Now he was proving it again.

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy.

“I may not be as strong as I think, but I know many tricks and I have resolution.”

“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not crazy, I do not care.”

“No one should be alone in their old age, he thought.”

You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more? ~