Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, [www.pbs.gov.ph] 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday
When
was the last time you took a nature's trail? Camping in the wood?
Walking down the beach? Nature invites you to relax, to find peace of
mind - and to be healed.
Resting in the shade
Walking under the trees, ADMU QC, 2008
Walking
is leisure and therapy when you combine and harmonize your body, mind
and spirit with nature. It is an exercise that restores gait and adds
strength, and it brings inner peace. The mind becomes sharper;
sensitivity is honed. And just like what the Greeks believed to be the
fountain of youth, it could be the missing key to “a healthy mind in a
healthy body.”
They
say that to keep yourself healthy and active you must exercise
regularly. It is one way to keep yourself fit with their environment.
But more than physical fitness, the psyche must be given equal
treatment. They must be exercised altogether. And the catalyst is
Nature.
This
is particularly true to one approaching middle age or old age. It is
important to slow down, harmonizing the body and mind. Slow down in the
same way jogging comes to the pace of easy walking. Make exercise not as
a task but leisure.
To achieve this, first you must condition yourself to
• have peace of mind,
• be positive,
• be keen with nature’s presence and rhythm, and
• remember, it’s your day.
While
the body responds to the physical world such as the condition of the
road, and presence of people and objects, the mind is keen with the
beauty of the surroundings and creates images that only the person
concerned personally experiences. Here environment and imagery become
one.
Listen to the Songs of Birds
One morning on the grounds of the University of Santo Tomas I heard a Philippine black-headed shrike or tarat or panal (Lanius schach nasutus).
Its crispy calls signal the arrival of the Siberian High. It tells of
harvest time and kite flying. The chilly air is exhilarating to breathe.
Listening to its rhythmic calls, I soon found out that its kin had
arrived at the same tree, and soon I became an audience of their
concert. I stopped walking to hear and watch them until they moved to
another tree.
At one time I saw another bird – pandangera (Rhipidura javanica nigrotorquis),
named after its tail that constantly moved and opened like a fan. I
searched for it in a nearby fire tree about to shed its leaves, and
while it sang and danced, sent showers of yellowing leaves to the
ground. Happier and more musical than that of the tarat, it also came
with the annual migration of birds as the Northern Hemisphere approached
winter.
What
an unusual experience to find these rare creatures in the heart of a
crowded metropolis – indeed a sanctuary in a concrete jungle. To me
there is nothing sweeter than recollecting of farm life, giving zest to
urban living.
Take
time to appreciate the creatures of the air - the epitome of freedom.
Watch them soar and ride on the wind. Play hide-and-seek with them among
the trees. Listen intently to their songs. Pick up a tune, imitate and
put them into notes. Observe their kinship. Search their nests. Birds
are among the most beautiful creatures, especially the males. Study
their plumage. Marvel at how nature engineered them for flight and
arboreal life. Reflect on this, “If I have wings, will I find freedom
and peace?”
Understand the Ways of Nature
While
strolling along the water edge of the man-made lake at the Ninoy Aquino
Parks and Wildlife Center, I stopped to rest beside a mudflat where
water had earlier receded. Seeds had begun germinating while minute
snails combed its the slimy surface, leaving trails glistening in early
sunshine. Holes suggested there were creatures living underneath it. And
yet the mudflat looked like a wasteland – a paradox, because there was
much water around.
Not
far away was another mudflat, much older than the first because plants
have colonized it and were vigorously competing for sun and space. I saw
grasshoppers trapped in spider web, a house lizard stalking for its
prey, beneath it was a toad, eyes half open. It was a mini forest of
sort.
Taking
the same route in the weeks that followed, the bare mudflat turned into
greenery, while the older mudflat become part of the lakeshore which
was to become part of its bank. I pondered on the gradual transformation
of the mudflats every time I took the same route.
The
ways of nature are mysterious. Learn to adapt to its laws and order
continuously and without end. While you will never fully understand
them, you will find them useful to living in many ways, enriching it
with so many blessings.
Some years ago I wrote a verse and I quote:
“You are alone at your lowest ebb.
At low tide the sea reveals her shore
That bathes under the sun to its edge.
Go to the sea and learn its chore.”
Summer at the Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC
Learn
the realities of life as may be gleamed from the mudflats – or from the
seashore in this poem. You realize that renewal is a fact and is
happening everywhere. There is renaissance everyday. The cycle of nature
is dynamic aimed at rebirth and stability - so with your life.
The
mudflat became part of the shoreline and soon enough, became strong to
protect the lake from erosion and siltation. How do we compare this with
life? Similarly the foundation of life undergoes an orderly process,
seasoned with time, and aimed at a goal. Stop now and then, and reflect
on the dynamic evolution of the landscape and life itself.
A Short List for Sharing
How do we share our experiences with others?
Take
these practical clues. Take notes and seize the moment. A scribble
here, a scribble there will certainly refresh thoughts and memories.
They enshrine feelings and capture imagery. Here is a list I made from
my observations on the UST campus and while strolling at the Parks and
Wildlife Center.
1.
I discovered germinating seeds along the sidewalk and under the trees,
pale green in the early sun rays, shy and delicate but daring to meet
the world. Get close to them and observe the beginning of life.
2. It is the olfactory sense that works this time: the white, clustered flowers of dita (Alstonia scholaris) are most fragrant at dawn and dusk. They are inconspicuous during the day. Stop and smell their fragrance.
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As the mind keeps us up in our work, so does it makes walking with nature an enjoyable experience.
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3.
Nymphaea water lilies come in white, yellow, red and purple, and are
most beautiful if they come out spontaneously in the same pond. The
flowers open slowly with sunrise. Sit down by the pond and observe them.
Bees hover and alight on the open flowers, taking time to gather
pollen, and kissing the dew and nectar.
4. The fire tree (Delonix regia)
casts a dainty veil in the sky. What a contrast with the fire it
breathes in summer! Shy, the veil is the finest of all foliage,
filtering the morning sunlight into long fine rays converging in the
misty air below. Such are the contrasting characters of this tree – one
associated with fire and blood, the other of calmness and humility.
5. The traveller’s palm (Ravenola madagancariensis) is
supposed to guide a lost traveler, providing him direction and precious
water. But the fan-like arrangement of its leaves are in disarray,
apparently because it has lost its sense of direction in the crowded
garden. How many of us have also lost direction in our lives in crowded
cities?
6. A giant African snail (Achatina fulica)
leaves a slimy trace during the night, and remains docile during the
day. Introduced by the Japanese soldiers during WW II, it has become an
orphan and a pest, an enemy of gardeners. What a way to live!
7.
A house lizard darts on flies and gnats. Either it is a late or early
feeder. For the house lizard is nocturnal and sleeps during the day. But
early morning finds them still on their prowl. Creatures have different
biological clocks.
8. Balete (Ficus benjamina)
– I find it a villain, strangling its host tree with massive prop
roots. The parasite uses its host as prop and trellis until it has
gained enough body to stand by itself like any tree. Man can be as cruel
as the balete. Don’t get within the strangler’s hold of the balete.
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Being a biped is an advantage of man over all other creatures, for at this level we are most keen to what is happening around.
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9.
The Philodendron is kinder, it is a soft vine, it snakes up into the
branches to catch the sun, its roots clinging on its host, but not
harming it. As summer arrives, it retreats, leaving but some stems from
which new buds grow the next season.
10.
Old camphor trees are as old as two generations, I saw them for the
first time I came to Manila in the sixties. They were already mature
trees then. Now they senile and dying. It is the polluted air that is
killing them. So with the agoho trees (Casuarina equisitifolia). I don’t
find the old ones anymore.
Oasis: Fancy or Myth?
It
used to stroll at the Sunken garden of the University of the
Philippines in Diliman. On a couple of occasions I conducted an
on-the-spot painting contest for a summer workshop here. Even during
summer this one place remains like an oasis in the desert. It is because
it is the basin of the surrounding watershed. The ponds are always
full. Ducks are friendly to picnickers, cicadas sing in the trees
unafraid, and frogs even croak in the day. Some people throw something
in the water, a coin perhaps, wishing for something.
I looked at the calm water. It was perfect mirror. I took a piece of paper and wrote my thoughts.
Tell me your throes,
Worries and woes;
And to the fishes
Your wistful wishes.
I laughed at what I wrote and threw a pebble. Ripples erased my thoughts.
Now
and then you look for a “oasis” because there is drought around. Here
you feel detached, even while others suffer, even if the world is in
trouble. While you prefer the lighter side of life, you can’t remain in
the comfort zone of the oasis forever. Otherwise you miss the many
challenges of life that bring about its true meaning.
Walking
is not a means of escape. It is not one when there is trouble at home,
or when we want to evade responsibility. It is not recourse either. You
simply can’t reason out, “Sorry it’s time for my leisure.” Even if it is
in keeping with good health and groom. There must be something bigger
that should aim at.
Keep
on walking. Pass through the UST botanical garden, walk on the banks of
the Parks and Wildlife lake, and promenade in lush greenery of the
Sunken Garden. While you take time in these places, keep on walking into
a bigger world to meet people, to share with them the great experience
of walking with nature. It is yet the best walk you did on earth. ~
Stop and smell the flowers.
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