Greeting from a bird one morning

She came singing sweetly one morning; 

Greetings, I said, what is your message?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Perperroka (Ilk) perches on the rear mirror of a car

She came singing sweetly one morning

     after the cock had done his part;

she came all the way from the far North

     to share her language and her art.

Greetings, I said, what is your message?   

     she said something very strange 

half Russian, half Chinese, I supposed  

     from Siberia over the range.

Ah, you came with the High, the cold wind 

     of the amihan blowing hard; 

she said something again, and this time 

     half bird, half human, to be heard.

I'm a traveler too, on rolling wheels

     on narrow road and wide street;

while yours is the sky and all below it,

     yet choose to drop by and greet. ~  

A Study of Wildlife at the Park

It's the web of life at work that keeps the balance;    

truly, silently, the wildlife is part of our lives.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

House sparrow (gurdiun) and Billit China, both of the finch family, share company as gleaners at Disneyland HK. Visitors, particularly children, are amused of their closeness to humans for food and shelter.  Surprisingly they have always remained wild, and resist domestication unlike other birds. They would rather die struggling when confined in cages. Mackie and Markus with their grandma Lima stroll on the feeding grounds of the park, Disneyland HK 2017. Photos by the author.  

Finches to which our maya and house sparrow belong,
are Nature's janitors like the janitor fish;
gleaners of food leftovers, and often beg in number, 
friendly but shy, eyeing at any risk. 

They follow man wherever he goes, his home is theirs;
 in parks, plazas, churches, marketplaces,
they are attractions themselves posing for photographs; 
Audubon studied their species and races.  

 Pavlov recorded their instinct as conditioned learning, 
key to survival. True they are here to stay. 
 in  relationship with humans called commensalism
in return sing with our peace, work and play. 

Tree lizard camouflaged, mimicking the color and texture of its immediate environment, a protective mechanism against predators on one hand, and in lurking for its own prey. Authors's family stroll on the park among trees and natural vegetation. First photo modified from Internet, other photos taken by the author. Disneyland HK 2017  

Reptiles today are older, outlived the dinosaurs, 
What made them survive the Meteor's blast?
Wonder if being small is advantage after all;  

If so, insects, other minutiae are here to last.

Walk pass through, you think the way is clear,

Unseen they mimic the trees, rocks, their abode,

Silence too, is their weapon save the Gecko,

Beware when trespassing into their threshold.

They are Nature's biological agents in science,

Friends of farmers, gardeners and housewives;

     It's the web of life at work that keeps the balance;    

Truly, silently, reptiles are part of our lives. ~

"What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love." Message of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple

"Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends… Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - Steve Jobs

Dr Abe V Rotor

The last words of Steve Jobs were read on Good Friday, March 25, 2016, by Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Cruz Bacani, Jr. as a reference of his homily in expounding Christ's last and final words, "Into your hands I commend my spirit." How relevant are the parting words of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, billionaire and epitome of success?

Steve Jobs represents millions and millions of young people who pursue their chosen careers, strive for excellence, seek fortune and the Good Life in an era inexplicably termed                      postmodernism. But it is not only the young but the grownups as well who pursue endlessly and insatiably these goals invariably set by our society. Many fail to reach them, give up their dreams, and stop on the track of life.     

It is at this juncture when and where we need role models so that we can continue on living - with resolve and meaning. We look up to great men and women who inspire humanity by their noble works and their words of goodness and wisdom, often on their deathbeds, and from others, after they are gone.

This fact of life is a torch that keeps vigil in the dark phases of history that brightens hope when it dims in tragedy and disorder. For all we know our present world is being besieged ironically by crises in the midst of progress and plenty, of scientific breakthroughs and economic gains, and in the process "shrinking the world into a global village," which we call globalization. 

Steve Jobs did foresee these.  He was way, way ahead of us in his ideas. He was among those who "wired" the world, so to speak, through his inventions and discoveries to conquer cyberspace.  On his deathbed he realized that the greatest thing he could bequeathed to mankind, is neither honor and prestige nor wealth he acquired, but that universal and greatest thing in life, and more than life itself - LOVE.  It was his greatest hour when he said…  

"God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love."

Last Words of Steve Jobs 

By conspiracyclub -

Nov 12, 2015

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.

In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success…

However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.

At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.

In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds. I can feel the breath of God and of death drawing closer…

Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…

Should be something that is more important:

Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days …

Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.

God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.

The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me.

What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love.

That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.

Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.

What is the most expensive bed in the world? – “Sick bed” …

You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.

Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – “Life”.

When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – “Book of Healthy Life”.

Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.

Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends…

Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” ~

-----------------------

 

Waterfalls Under My Feet

"... when discovered they are made into a trade!
I wish waterfalls are seen only from above." 
Dr Abe V Rotor 

This waterfall, huge and imposing below,
where does it begin, where does it end?
minuscule from the air, the size of my shoe,
beyond sight afar, shrouded at the bend.

But I hear it hissing clear, tumbling down,
its rock walls shudder, the trees quiver,
flowing down the gully in leap and bound,
meanders and merrily pours into a river.

I've long wondered how a waterfall is made
Isn't by Nature alone, the presence of God?
yet when discovered is made into a trade!
I wish waterfalls are seen only from above.

These are two of a series of waterfalls on the slope of the mountain along the cable car route. Scanty rainfall at this time of the year (approaching autumn) explains the low water supply of the falls and their tributaries. Vegetation of the watershed is likewise poor, since many trees are deciduous (shedding of leaves) and dormant in preparation for the coming cool and windy months.

 

 

A cable car connects the main island of Hong Kong to Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, where the Big Buddha, a large bronze statue sits at the top near Po Lin Monastery. It symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and faith. It is from the cable car that these photos were taken through its glass floor. Upper photos were taken at the summit showing the silhouette of Buddha, and the adjoining peaks, while the lower photos showing the harbor and newly opened settlement are views half-way the car’s descent. The pair of shoes belongs to Markus two and one-half years old accompanied by his sister Mackie, their daddy and mommy, and grandparents.~

The Eyes of Nature

"Many eyes are looking at me

here with Nature,

by day and night 

beneath and atop a tree." - avr

Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

Also visit my other Blogs:

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[Living with Nature School on Blog]

 Eyes in the Forest, acrylic painting on canvas (60" x 44"), by AVR, May 2012

Details: Young adventurers in full gear prepare to penetrate the forest; emergent tree rises to a hundred feet surpassing the canopy layer. A nest is perched on the top, with a mother hawk attending to her young. A pair of deer, a coiled boa, and many more hidden and camouflaged. Trees are real giants of the living world. The Dipterocarp is tallest tree in the Tropical Rain Forest. 

The Eyes of Nature

Many eyes are looking at me here with Nature;

By day and night, beneath and atop a tree.

They're scary, they're mean, they're sleepy, 

And how do I look to them seeing me?

Wink and they wink, close and they do, too.

Quick the flashlight, and they disappear;

Can eyes exist alone, like stars in the sky?

I wonder if these eyes are like stars to cheer.  

Yes, the fireflies have lamps that flicker,

The moth and butterfly have wing spots

Like monstrous eyes to stave off predator,

And cave dwellers glow in rows and knots. 

The fish in the stream is silver in the moonlight,

As bubbles rise to the surface and sparkle,

The owl rarely blinks, no creature dare around,

Its infrared vision indeed a marvel.

Raindrops falling make a thousand eyes
Life they bring to the rainbow, borrowing
its colors glow, and sparkle as they drop,
reborn with the light of the river flowing. 

Mushrooms are phosphorescent, they glow,

while others absorb light for future use; 

Ah, boast the snake, I can freeze you to fall,

An eagle swoops, there's no excuse.

Petals attract a pollinator in the night

Crickets shine when won by a song,

Seeds pop out to meet the rising sun,

And the sun shines happily all along. 

Eyes, eyes, eyes, - for us to see the world, 

And all eyes the world is bound;

In our sleep, in the deep forest and ocean,

Eyes make the world go round. ~

MOTHER AND CHILD II

Dr Abe V Rotor

  

Move over Sir Raphael,

your obra maestra is too pure;

and heaven too far from hell,

and life on earth obscure.

"The Four Waves" that are Transforming Our Society

Self-Administered Test  (True or False -  25 Items)

Dr. Abe V. Rotor

The illiterate of the 21th century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn,  Alvin Toffler

1. Alvin Toffler is an American writer and futurist (Future Shock, Eco-Spasm), known for his works discussing digital revolution, communications revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity.

2. Actually Alvin Toffler’s work is a joint undertaking with his wife – Heidi Toffler – also a writer and a futurist.

3. If there are three most influential voices among business leader, they are Alvin Toffler - after Bill Gates and John Rockefeller.

4. “Society needs people who take care of the elderly and who know how to be compassionate and honest.” Says Bill Gates one of the richest man on earth. “Society needs all kinds of skill that are not just cognitive; they’re emotional, they’re affectional. You can’t run the society on data and computers alone.”

5. The first wave is the society characterized by hunting and gathering – a nomadic society transient and divided – which favored early humans to explore the world in their time. The Fertile Crescent which was later part of Babylon at the confluence of the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers was the first site ushering the beginning of the First Wave or the Agrarian Society.

6. The First Wave Society is characterized by the nuclear family, factory-type education system and the corporation.

7. The Second Wave Society is industrial and based on mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass transit, mass entertainment, weapon of mass destruction, mass religion.

8. The Third Wave Society is a combination of mass movement and bandwagon with standardization, centralization, and synchronization, often ending up with bureaucracy.

9. Two predictions of the Third Wave by its advocates led by Toffler are paperless office and human cloning. We have already realized this no doubt, in spite of technological barriers and politico-religious conditions have imposed regulations and generated varying opinions and controversies.

10. Third Wave means a post-industrial society. It has generated keywords to unwind the complexity that characterize our society today, some of these are Super-Industrial Society, Information Age, Space Age, Electronic Era, Global Village, Cyberspace, Technotronic Age. These include terms like e-Commerce, e-learning, e-mail, on-line teaching, global positioning, Google Earth, ATM, globalization, and the like.

11. The Third Wave Society is an aging society. It is found in highly industrialized countries where population is coming to a standstill, where longevity breeds octogenarians up to centenarians. There will be need of new medical technologies from self-diagnosis, self-administer therapies delivered by nanotechnology to do for themselves what doctors used to do. Robotics are no longer workers in industries; they are becoming domesticated.

12. “Prosumers” is a coined word – producer and consumer. It means we are eliminating much of the work of middlemen. We are linking production and consumption directly. Examples are freelance work, open source, assembly kit, instant house package, build your own car or plane. These belong to the second wave.

13. The Third Wave changes the concept of retirement (re-tire as good as new tire), child labor (kids are smarter, they can earn and make a living early), education (distance education, on-line, crash workshop), nationalism (citizen of the world, too); concepts of capitalism, socialism, nation-state, so with corporation, cooperatives, entrepreneurship, management, and the like.

14. The Third Wave Society is moving away from international organization to seek its own direction as intended by a particular society, thus undermining the UN and its organizations like FAO, WHO, WTO UNEP, WFO; APEC, EU, NATO, ASEAN, ANZUS, International Court of Justice, North American Union, and others.

15. The Fourth Wave Society is characterized by man's quest for expansion into outer space, possibly incorporating the rise of a second agricultural revolution in an off-world setting; it means reclamation of the desolate regions of the earth; it means creating a prototype superhuman through genetic engineering.

16. Jose Rizal in his essay, The Philippines a Century Hence, prophesied the Philippines as a progressive nation likened to the great nations of Europe.

17. Among the socialists that influenced China are Marx, Lenin, and Engels – who are all Germans.

18. Charles Darwin and Thomas Malthus – evolutionist and futuristic, respectively, changed the world’s thinking regarding demography.

19. Michel Jordan and Yao Ming are towering giants in the NBA, first in NBA’s history to have regular Chinese player.

20. These artists changed China – Picasso for abstract art, Marilyn Monroe for feminism, Mother Teresa for religiosity; Julius Caesar for autocracy.

21. There are great men who became famous for their prophesies - Nostradamus and Malthus. One saw tomorrow, the other saw the four horsemen of Apocalypse.

Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.  Subsistence, increases only in an arithmetical ratio (as shown in this graph)  – Thomas Malthus

22. Philosophy – both ancient and modern – can be traced ultimately to Socrates, be it Platonian, or Aristotelian, and the philosophies of Emmanuel Kant, Marx, Thoreau, Sartre.

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

24. It is no longer possible for us to return to the Second Wave, much less to the First Wave, and live a less stressful and more meaningful life, because time is irreversible, and epochs and eras have their own specific time - they are now part of history, and there is no turning back. Life is truly a one-way direction, reminiscent of the poem, "I pass this way but once."

25. Little do we know of the unknown great man, like the Unknown Soldier, yet he represents countless people whose deeds are also those of great men and women we revere today. They are us – each one of us.

---------------------------------------

ANSWERS: 1T; 2T; 3F;Peter Drucker instead of John D Rockefeller, 4F;quotation from Alvin Toffler's; 5T; 6F; second wave or industrial society; 7T; 8F, still second wave; 9F have not been realized so far; 10T; 11T; 12T; 13T; 14F, the more international cooperation is needed; 15T; 16T; 17T; 18T; 19T; 20F, not among the 50 people listed by Time; 21T; 22T; 23T; 24F, we have the choice to live the kind of life we wish to follow - "I am the captain of my soul, I'm the master of my fate"; 25T.

RATING:
24-25 Outstanding
21-23 Very Good
18-20 Good
15-17 Fair
12-14 Passed

Read, read, read. Open avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature. There are about  3,800 posts to date. 

A personal reflection in these critical times.

Reflect on Thomas Gray’s Elegy on a Country Churchyard, specifically this stanza.

“Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
       The deep unfathomed caves the oceans bear; 
Full many a many flower is born to blush unseen, 
       And waste their sweetness in the desert air.” 

This unknown great man did not die in vain, in the same way we should regard ourselves because we – all of us has the capacity to be great.  Bringing up our children to become good citizens, being a Samaritan on a lonely road, embracing a returning Prodigal Son, “plugging a hole in the dike like the boy who saved Holland from being engulfed by the sea,” or living life the best way we can that make other live the same – these and countless deeds make us great, and if in that little way we fall short of it, then each and everyone of us putting each small deeds together, make the greatest ever deed, for the greatest thing humans can do is collective goodness – the key to true unity and harmony. 

Dr. AV Rotor