A Singular of Roses

A Singular of Roses

Mural and Verse by Dr Abe V Rotor

A single rose is all the roses in the world;

Because a rose is a rose is a rose.*

Nothing describes it best but its word -

Oh, the power of a single rose!

* This expression comes from the American author Gertrude Stein. It appeared in her poem “Sacred Emily,” which was written in the year 1913 and published in 1922.

Confluence of Nature in Mural

Confluence of Nature in Mural

Mural and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Convert those empty walls, dead end corridors, hanging spaces, blank concrete fences, into Nature mural. Bring Nature inside your home. Instead of facing a blank wall, you will enjoy watching a waterfall. Stair case among rocks is a good idea. Pavements appear wet as a stream flows by. This is of course in the imagination. A rock breaks monotony of space, it creates a hidden view. Trees give a feeling of strength and height, and make you imagine of many creatures living there. Make the cloud a curtain, which opens in part to reveal flying birds, a rainbow, peeping sun, a stairway to the "Lost Horizon." 

Confluence of Nature mural in acrylic on canvas, 9ft x 8 ft

Confluence of nature, unity in diversity,

where sky meets land, river flows to sea,

where time and space, matter and energy

are in union and joyful harmony,

omnipotence of no other but Thee.

Nymphaea wakes up in red, pink and white,

     to the rising sun in glory and ease,

but ephemeral these flowers are at sunset

     sinking into the night in peace.

Hurry up the bees, the flowers cannot wait,

hurry up the lovers to the morning chime,

the lonely, the old, the sick, the meek;

beauty to behold in the nick of time.

Mirage - vision beyond any sense,

not to the eye or the range of a lens;

the sun peeps under a cloak of green,

something stirs seen and unseen.

Do fish ever sleep? I wonder like I wonder

if sheep ever sleep on some grassy hill,

and the gentle fish in a peaceful cove.

But where is that peaceful cove

and that grassy hill?

Living on the edge, the land by the sea,

     the woods on the levee

cling to the living and dead, new and old,

     taming the cruel and bold.

Transient is life, it's just a breathe away;

     make it long, we pray.

We live on the edge of time and space,

     of mortality and grace.

Nothing is impermeable,

Nothing is impenetrable;

Ask the sun and the wind,

The human mind and will.

Rage with fire, burn the sky, bled the heart,

Fire the kiss of life, fire the kiss of death;

And when your petals fall, so with your seed,

Fire the kiss of death, fire the kiss of life;

And beauty the brief passing of time and grief.

How many falls do you tumble all the time?

    And songs you sing in rhythm and rhyme?

Oh, you are simply filled with awe and joy.

    And I, I wish I were forever a boy -

I ride on your crest, plunge into your floor,

    Inside your womb I'm a child once more,

Together we flow, and I'm weaned out to sea

    To tell the world of a beautiful story. ~

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air), with Ms Melly C Tenorio DZRB 738KHz AM , 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Acknowledgment: Courtesy of Atty Lito and Dr Christine Doria. This mural graces their beautiful new home.

Nature's Sweet Lies

Nature's Sweet Lies

"Deceit and conceit in a duo,

Makes one believe or doesn't know

To accept things or analyze

Nature's own sweet and gentle lies." - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

A pair of locust in camouflage and mimicry with the environment

The locust in summer is brown,

A lonely creature yet a clown;

Full in monsoon of hues of green,

Grotesque and mean I've ever seen.

The moth wears dust to hide its frame,

At dusk wakes up and play the game

Of feigning dead, devoid of spark;

Its enemies think it's all bark.

Where comes the trigger, that I know,

Hormones by signal freely flow,

Masking colors, painting a view,

To match a perfect scenario.

Deceit and conceit in a duo,

Makes one believe or doesn't know

To accept things or analyze

Nature's own sweet and gentle lies.~

Ode to the Narra Tree

Trees for Peace

Ode to the Narra Tree*

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author savors the sweet fragrance of narra blossom. San Vicente Ilocos Sur.

The Siberian High brings you to rest;

Summer heralds your blossoms’ birth

Into a kingdom regal and blessed

That reigns over a parched earth.

You greet the sun with garlands of gold,

And draws artists to paint and draw;

And children from the city to behold

The beauty of your flowers’ glow.

Sybil’s ghost hangs, flowerless you stand,

Your pods in pendulum motion

In the wind, and falling to the ground

To start a new generation. ~

*Pterocarpus indicus is a species of Pterocarpus native to the Philippines and other tropical countries that constitute the "tropical rainforest belt". The plant is used as folk remedy for bladder ailments, diarrhea, dropsy, headache, stones, thrust, and tumors of the abdomen. Narra leaves contain flavonoids which are antioxidants. Narra wood is highly prized for its quality as furniture and classy paneling. Cutting down of narra trees is strictly prohibited in the Philippines and other countries. Narra is now classified under the list of threatened species. Narra is the national tree of the Philippines. ~

Sugar solution extends the life of cut flowers.

                  Sugar solution extends the life of cut flowers.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 Living with Nature School on Blog

Pulsing for roses is done by immersing the stem ends for one to

three hours in 10% sugar solution. Photo credit Wikipedia

  

Don't cut the flowers, if you can help it. Have potted flowering plants instead. To ensure continuous flowering give your plants proper care under suitable condition. Orchid painting in acrylic shows how delicate orchid flowers are. Don't detach the flowers from the plant. Display as a whole plant undisturbed. After the occasion, take it back to its original plant for recovery. 

In horticulture, they call this pulsing, a technique of providing nourishment and extending the shelf life of cut flowers. This technique lengthens vase life twice as much. It allows buds to open and postpones stem collapse, while it enhances freshness of the opened flowers.

Pulsing for roses is done by immersing the stem ends for one to three hours in 10% sugar solution, and for gladiolus 12 to 24 hours in 20% sugar solution. Daisies, carnation, chrysanthemums, and the like are better handled if harvested and transported in their immature stage, then opened by pulsing. It is best to cut the stem at an angle, dipped 6 to 12 hours in 10% sugar solution compounded with 200 ppm of 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate, 100 ppm citric acid. Best results are obtained at cool temperature and low relative humidity. 

* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Say tabi-tabi po' when entering a thicket in deference to the unseen spirit ..

 Say Tabi-tabi po'  when entering a thicket in deference to the unseen spirit 

Dr Abe V Rotor

 Living with Nature School on Blog

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with

 Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

A scary grove of leafless frangipani, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC 

Respect the ghosts and spirits

When walking on untrodden trail,

Or beating a path to nowhere,

Unreached by mail or far from rail.

If you wait 'til the sun goes down,

And home you aim before dark you bid;

Then take the route through the thickets

Say tabi-tabi as old folks did. ~

Tabi-tabi in Tagalog, bari-bari in Iloko, is a courteous word to let one pass safely in an unknown territory.

There’s no harm in believing in it, and practicing it. It warns any would-be attacker such as a snake, or any helpless creature to give way. It is good to be conscious and cautious in an unknown territory. Uttering the word is building self-courage. Keep within hearing distance if you are in company.

Orchid of Five Wounds. Does it exist?

 Orchid of Five Wounds. Does it exist?

Orchids, Paintings by Anna Christina Rotor. Does the orchid of five wounds really exist?  Or is it only in the imagination?
Is there such an orchid?

"It comes from a plant, Inday, that grows in the deep woods. It is an orchid, and it has a very unusual name, Five Wounds, Orchid of Five Wounds. Quite unusual, isn't it? But not anymore than Baby's Breath or Angel's Tears. This one got its name because on the tip of each white petal is a spot of red or purple, like a drop of blood. There is a legend that when Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, some drops of blood from his wounds fell on this plant. Hence the name. Someday I shall tell you more about the legend."

This is an excerpt from The Orchid of Five Wounds, a short story about a sixteen-year old girl suffering of inoperable blindness. The attending doctor was describing this very rare flower. Before the kind doctor described the flowers, the patient caressed the flowers separately, feeling the petals, bringing the bunch nearer her nose. "I have never seen it before, but I think it is beautiful. Ten flowers on one stalk, petals like pearls... the fragrance reminds me of orange blossoms, but it is not..."

This excerpt gives the reader an idea on how loving a doctor can be in treating a patient. It reveals the doctor's knowledge of psychology and botany, separate disciplines he managed to unite with healing. There is mystery about the specimen - does this orchid really exist?

No one knows exactly. But the doctor in this story is thought to be the author himself - Dr Arturo B Rotor- in whose honor a new orchid he discovered was named after him, Vanda merrilii rotorii as described by Dr Eduardo Quisumbing, the country's foremost botanist. There's one thing, writers usually lead their readers into the realm of a mysterious world where the essence of living is elevated to a higher plane that challenges the faculty and psyche.

Surely the Orchid of Five Wounds resides in that realm. ~

The Men Who Play God, by Dr Arturo B Rotor, 1866 Republic Heritage Awardee, contemporary of Jose Garcia Villa, Salvador Lopez and Manuela Arguilla. Published by Ateneo de Manila University)