Forest-Scape (Article in Progress)

Forest-Scape 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Henry David Thoreau, quoted in the movie “Dead Poets Society”)

  

Let's Protect the Wildlife like Our Pets (Taming the Wildlife - A Lesson in photography)

National Pet Day April 11, 2026

Let's Protect the Wildlife like Our Pets

Formerly, Taming the Wildlife - A Lesson in photography

The rules of Nature are the same, bold and cruel,

benevolent and fair.

Photos and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Papilio butterfly resting on a jar of water.  At home, QC   

Caution, slowly get close to your subject,

     a blue butterfly sitting by the water;

like Narcissus admiring his own image; 

     through the lens you're a storyteller.   

Salamander, aquatic reptiles raised as aquarium pets. At home, QC 

Prehistoric in miniature, these reptiles are,

     living fossils frozen by time;

revealed by macro lens the past before human

     came to earth over the clime. 

Parrots and love birds in captivity offer a close photographic 

study of colors and plumage designs. At home, QC

The hardest subject in photography is wildlife;

     unless you study them in captivity;

adapted and acclimatized they yield to details,

     obedient sans freedom and natural beauty.  

A carp eyeing a potential prey across a glass wall. 

Two worlds apart these creatures live: 

    one in water, the other in air;

Yet the rules of Nature are the same,

    bold and cruel, benevolent and fair. ~  

show them you're trustworthy, kind and true. ~

 10 Verses to Live By Every Day

"That others may learn and soon trust you,

show them you're trustworthy, kind and true. ~

Verses and Photos by Dr Abe V Rotor

Banaoang Pass, Santa, Ilocos Sur, wall mural by the author 

at his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

1. Walk, don't run, to see better and to know
the countryside, Mother Nature and Thou.~

2. We do not have the time, indeed an alibi
to indolence and loafing, letting time pass by.

Sun on a hazy day

3. As we undervalue ourselves, so do others
undervalue us. Lo, to us all little brothers.

4. Self-doubt at the start is often necessary
to seek perfection of the trade we carry.

5. What is more mean than envy or indolence
but the two themselves riding on insolence.

6. The worst kind of persecution occurs in the mind,
that of the body we can often undermine.

7. How seldom, if at all, do we weigh our neighbors
the way we weigh ourselves with the same favors?

8. Friendship that we share to others multiplies
our compassion and love where happiness lies.

    Morning rainbow, Bamban, Tarlac 

9. Evil is evil indeed - so with its mirror,
while goodness builds on goodness in store.

10. That others may learn and soon trust you,

show them you're trustworthy, kind and true. ~

Gem on a Pine and its Shadow

Gem on a Pine and its Shadow

Original Title: Gem Perched on a Tree

Dr Abe V Rotor



Atop Tagaytay Ridge, March 24 2013 Photo by the author.

The brightest gem perched on a tree is looking through,
       to see in its shadow a family free;
to whose care these are to the world and humanity,
       a gift of a Creator, loving and true. ~

Ode to a Stream on the Wall

Ode to a Stream on the Wall

Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor


Markus 1 (in stroller), with friends at home in Lagro QC, 2016

Flow gently, sweetly with the breeze
and sing with the little children;
whisper with the rocks and trees,
make every creature their friend.

Sing the songs of the forest deities,
the cheerful crickets and birds,
lullaby of Mozart, chorus of Liszt:
"Grow and be happy,” they urge. ~

Butterfly's Alive in Children's Art

Butterfly's Alive in Children's Art
Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

“Butterflies are nature’s angels. They remind us what a gift it is to be alive.” —Robyn Nola, Appreciation and Love for Nature

When was the last time you saw a butterfly,

fluttering among flowers in the garden?

No, not on the cellphone, not in the books.

Go, find this lost lovely beauty and friend.

Make it alive in your hands, in your mind

with colors bright and happy in your heart;

tell the world her message of love, peace,

and shall never, never from us, depart.

“When the spirit of nature touches us, our hearts turn into a butterfly!” 

—Mehmet Murat Ildan (Contemporary Turkish playwright, novelist and thinker.)

Author demonstrates basic art under the trees.
   

  
 Children's Summer Art Workshop at author's residence

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Go, search your butterfly in the field,

to where she lives free and happy.

No, not with the lens or any gadget;

enshrine her forever like a deity. ~

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne (American novelist and short story writer.) ~

"Chicks emerge from under a brooding hen."

 "Chicks emerge from under a brooding hen." 

Dr Abe V Rotor

     Sweet sound breaks the calm morning air,

  peaceful and happy in a country fair.

 the newly hatched chicks meet the world,

a mystery of life many times told.

Chicks emerge from under a brooding hen at home. 

Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

Unedited photos by the author. 

"The hen symbolizes motherhood - love and care for her brood - with perseverance until her chicks are fully weaned." - avr  

Palette Board Speaks of Neo-Darwinism Evolution of Life

Palette Board Speaks of Neo-Darwinism Evolution of Life 

Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

 Coral reef of deceiving beauty, 

red for warning, black for death;

white as skeleton; blue-green, 

invasion of the primitive scum

that once ruled the earth.  

Speleology and tourism, what a combination;

though both exploit the secrets of the past,  

trace the beginning of human's civilization,

and Plato's allegory of the escaped outcast.    

 Linnaeus, if alive today, would wonder, 

how he missed in his study 

organisms posthumously emerged  

from science and technology.  

If you can decipher what life forms these are, 

you must be an artist, like Picasso or Matisse,

masters of abstract art - not the ideal, the real, 

the form and order of God's creation remised.

Relief painting with a palette knife,

to capture a hatching egg;

take the backseat brush, the time is ripe

for freedom in art, I beg.

 Caked paint on palette board used by the author, 2016

I labored painting to the last rays of the sun, 

     and all the day's worth was gone;

on my pallete board, lo! what I have found,

     a subject never was in my mind. 

A work of art indeed but whose masterpiece?

     and i looked up to heaven to ask

what the images mean and want to convey.     

     it's our world wearing a Janus mask.~  

  

The Science and Art of Making Wine the Practical Way

 The Science and Art of Making Wine the Practical Way 

Dr Abe V Rotor

"Wine and friends are a great blend." – Ernest Hemingway.

Mead* Honey Wine designed by award winning

 creative artist Conrad Rotor, author's nephew.

"Wine is bottled poetry." -Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Basi Wine, pride of the Ilocos Region presented as a table  

artwork at the author's residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

"Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures." — Michael Broadbent

Table wine from 10 different local fruits produced by the author 

in his home cellar in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur as shown below. 

 

"Age appears best in four things: Old wood to burn, old wine to drink,

 old friends to trust and old authors to read." – Francis Bacon

 

Premium table wine in different sizes,and designs for different occasions like wedding.

The connoisseur does not drink wine but tastes of its secrets. – Salvador Dali

Wisdom and Wit and Wine - avr 

Love, like wine, gets better with time.

A good day starts with good coffee, and ends with good wine.

If a glass of wine is good for you, imagine what a bottle can do.

Wine is sunlight held together by water. – Galileo

Wine improves with age. The older I get, the more I love it.

I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines. -Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield.

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* Mead or honey wine is brewed and aged for one to five years in burnay (glazed earthen jars), a  home product of the author's family in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Still Life: Flowers, Flowers - “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

Still Life: Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Dr Abe V Rotor

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” —Henri Matisse

French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship.

"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends." ―Kakuzō Okakura

(Japanese scholar and art critic who in the era of Meiji Restoration reform promoted a critical appreciation of traditional forms, customs and beliefs."

  

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson

(American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.)

 

“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.” ―Luther Burbank

 (American botanist, horticulturist, and pioneer in agricultural science who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career.)

  

 "It relaxes my mind to paint flowers. I do not bring to it the same tension of spirit as when I am in front of a model." — Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style.)

“Pick a flower on Earth and you move the farthest star.” ―Paul A.M. Dirac

(British theoretical physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of quantum mechanics.) ~

Still Life painting of Dr Abe V Rotor with details.  Acknowledgement with gratitude - Quotes and sayings from the Internet

APPLIED HOME ECONOMICS: Don't waste food! Don't!

Don't throw away holy grace.

Don't waste food.  It is a sin against the Giver and humanity. 

So please, don't!

Dr Abe V Rotor

  • Food is Santa Gracia (holy grace) as old folks reverently call it.
• Food waste could otherwise go to millions who have not enough to eat.
• Food waste breeds pest and disease, sickens the air.

• Anything that goes to waste draws down the economy.

• Waste widens inequity in resources.

Coffee shop bin - what an extravagance!

Here are some things to do with food leftovers.

1. Sinagag - fried rice mix with bits of bacon, ham, fried egg, fish, and the like.

2. Torta - tidbits like those mentioned in scramble egg. Include veggies like carrot and onion.

3. Pickle – excess veggies and fruits plus vinegar, sugar and salt, and spices. Good for carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, green papaya, yam (sinkamas), others.

4. Paksiw – if not consumed is fried, makes a new menu.

5. Daing – fish in season is dried, cooked with gata’ (coconut milk).

6. Suka – fruit vinegar from overripe pineapple, banana, others, but not tomato and kamias.

7. Pudding – bread not consumed on time is also made into pizza bread- bread crumbs, garlic bread.

8. Sopas – Grind bones, shrimp head for soup and broth. Bulalo for whole bone.

9. Pastillas – milk powder not consumed on time, also grated hardened cheese.

10. Veggie and fruit peelings – for animal feeds, composting. Include solids from brewing (coffee) and juicing fruits. Ultimately, inevitable food waste is collected for feeds in poultry and piggery.

Excessive serving leads to food waste and obesity.

Food waste also emanates from carelessness in handling, food preparation and serving. Much is also lost due to lack of proper processing, transport and storage facilities. Estimated loss in postharvest alone runs from 10 to 37 percent of actual harvest of crops.

In "Give us this day our daily bread..." in the Lord's Prayer, us here is regarded as thanksgiving and remembering the millions people around the world who may not have the food they need.

I believe in the wisdom of the old folk who remind us of the value of food. They have experienced hunger during war, drought, flood, crop failure, pestilence - even in normal times. They have not lost sight of the presence of Santa Gracia.

Yes, children there is a Santa Gracia . ~

APPLIED HOME ECONOMICS: 5 Practical tips to cope up with current food shortage

APPLIED HOME ECONOMICS*

 5  Practical tips to cope up with current food shortage 

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Brown eggs are preferred over white eggs

 Brown eggs come from native fowls that subsist mainly on farm products. They are very resistant to the elements and diseases that they simply grow on the range. White eggs on the other hand, come from commercial poultry farms and are highly dependent on antibiotics and formulated feeds. Another advantage of brown eggs is that they have thicker shells. Besides, their yolk is brighter yellow as compared to that of white eggs.

Preference to natural, and organically grown, food is gaining popularity worldwide. It is because many ailments, from allergy to cancer, are traced to the kinds of food we eat. Many kinds of allergies have evolved from genetically engineered food, for which they have gained the reputation of Frankenfood, after the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, published in 1818.

2. Salted egg with fresh ripe tomato 

Bored with monotonous breakfast? Looking for a side dish?

Serve red eggs with fresh juicy red tomato. It's easy to prepare.  Just have a ready supply of red eggs and ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator. Lycopene, carotine and xantophyll in tomato  promote good health. Check the quality of the red egg.  Discard those showing discoloration and trace of unpleasant smell.

Making salted eggs is an old technology, and most likely originated in China.

Here is an easy-to-follow procedure, the old folks’ way.

•  Mix 12 cups of clay and 4 cups of salt, adding water gradually until they are well blended.
•  Apply a layer of this mixture at the bottom of a palayok or banga.
•  Coat each egg with the mixture.
•  Arrange the coated eggs in layers, giving a space of 3 to 5 cm in between them.
•  Add the extra mixture of clay and salt on top, cover the container with banana leaves, and keep the setup in a safe and cool place.
• Try one egg after 15 days by cooking below boiling point for 15 minutes.  If not salty enough, extend storing period.
• Color eggs if desired. 

3. Eggshell seed bed 
This is for your home garden.  Save whole eggshells as seedling bed of pechay, mustard, cucumber, tomato, pepper, and the like.  When ready the seedling is transplanted with the eggshell intact.  Just crack it to let the roots grow freely and reach out for water and soil nutrients in the new place wherre it has been transplanted.

 

 

4.  Crispy Kamote (Sweet Potato) Fries

To make potato fries crispy on the outside and soft inside, immerse in ice water for a minute or two. Proceed with usual deep frying. Do the same with kamote or sweet potato, gabi (taro), and ubi and sinkamas (yam)

5. "Gibba" keeps rice longer from spoilage

 Whatever is the explanation why rice cooked in a pot previously heated with a pinch of salt will not spoil fast is beyond scientific explanation. Yet it is common knowledge in the rural area.

This is what housewives do. The call the process “gibba,” literary, to heat at extreme temperature like firing clay in a furnace. Put a pinch of salt in the cooking pot - clay pot, heat until the salt disappears. Cook rice as usual in the pot. This will prevent rice from getting spoiled in a short time.

Another technique using salt is to place a pinch of it on the cover while the rice is boiling. This is shorten cooking time. (Lesson from Miss Veny Rotor of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, supported by Tinong Viernes, April 8, 2009).

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Applied Home Economics is an interdisciplinary field applying scientific, social, and practical knowledge to improve daily life, nutrition, and resource management for individuals and families. It covers areas like food studies, textiles, family finance, and consumer education, focusing on applying these skills to sustainable, real-world scenarios. Britannica Kids/AI Overview/Internet