Success comes with old age. Take it from these famous people

Success comes with old age.
Take it from these famous people

Organized and compiled by Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

1. Charles Darwin published his masterpiece in his old age, more than 20 years since he started his research. He was a late bloomer, did not pursue medicine but became a naturalist.

Darwin 

2. Benjamin Franklin was past 80 when he helped draft the constitution.

3. Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was in his 80's when he wrote some of his classic legal opinions and he served well into his 90's.

4. Artist Pablo Picasso as well as cellist Pablo Casals were active into their 90's.

5. Moses led his people from Egypt, and lived to a very ripe age. He became suddenly mature and old when he brought the 10 commandments from Sinai. Grandma Moses began her art career in her late 70's.

6. Victor Fankl, after second world war, and released from the Nazi camp, founded logotherapy, and a book A Search for Meaning. in his old age.

Frankl 

7. Greek shipping magnate Onassis was already very old when he married the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy

8. Michelangelo designed St. Peter's Cupola when he was 83 and remained active until he was 89.

9. Tandang Sora is called with such respect because of her age coupled by high quality of leadership – trust and confidence.

10. Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC went back to school for her PhD in her sixties, became one of the few Filipino ethno botanists, died at the age 94.

11. Dr Fe del Mundo, past her 90s continued to inspire doctors and those in the health profession.

12. Dr. Dioscorro Umali until his death at the age of 73, was IRRI’s visiting scientist to China; he held the highest position as regional director of UN-FAO.

13. I am fortunate to have studied under these famous professors in their old age. It is indeed a rare honor and privilege.

• Dr. Deogracias Villadolid Stanford Fishery expert, introduced tilapia.
• Dr. Nemesio Mendiola, Luther Burbank of the Philippines
• Dr. Gerardo Ocfemia, formost plant pathologist
• Dr. Velasquez, formost Filipino phycologist
• Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, author of the most popular book on medicinal plants.
• Prof. Leopoldo Karganilla, entomologist
• Prof. Emiliano Roldan, plant pathologist
• Dr. Juan Aquino, soil scientist
• Dr. Eugenio Cruz, agricultural engineer, invented the evaporator air-con.
• Dr Rufino Gapuz, animal husbandry expert
• Dr. Francisco Fronda, father of the poultry industry of Thailand.
• Prof. Domingo Paguirigan, horticulturist
. Dr Salvador Araneta, President of Araneta University 
  Prof. Jose Lansang Journalist, Lyceum of the Philippines 
  Dean Juan Torres, agriculturist, Araneta University
. Dean Jose Adeva, Lyceum of the Philippines
  Dr. Ernesto Franco, Management, Lyceum of the Philippines  
  
Prof. Amando Doronilla, journalist, Lyceum 
  of the Philippines 
. Prof Francisco Claridad, plant geneticist

14. Marlon Brando came back to the screen when he was in his seventies appeared as The Godfather and won a second academy award.

15. Spencer Tracy was the old man of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.

16. Anthony Quinn was Zorba the Greek and appeared as the old man in Harry Potter series.

17. Oliver Cromwell retired on the farm, then fought for the rights of England in his old age, deposed the king – but restored the monarchy after.

18. Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and looked at his old characters as himself. – Fagin and Ebenezer Scrooge.

19. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became the most respected professor in Cambridge in his old age – yet experimented on new style of poetry. Translated Dante’s Divine Comedy , Song of Hiawatha (Finnish meter), Evangeline (hexameter only for Latin and Greek Iliad) died at 75, very old in his day’s standard.

                                                                                                            Longfellow

20. Ludwig Beethoven experimented on the Sonata – Moonlight Sonata in his twilight years.

21. Handel wrote Alleluia when he was already very old.

22. Wise Kings – King Solomon, King David; the Three Kings, pictured as old men in promotion of Christianity among old people, and the rich and powerful – but they were not made saints.

23. Confucius and other ancient Chinese philosophers are pictured as old men - dignified, wise and humble.

24. Ronald Reagan was the oldest US president when he was elected, and became one of the best contemporary presidents of America. 

15. Goethe, philosopher; Matisse, modern painter; Keats, poet; Mao Tse-tung, Chinese communist leader - these, and thousands of old people of their kind, make our world a wholesome and promising one. ~

16. Severino Reyes, aka Lola Basyang, wrote his first story for children - Plautin ni Periking - at age 75.  He lived long to be able to finish more than 400 stories for children, which were adopted in Komiks, movies, stage plays, books and magazines.

Severino Reyes aka Lola Basyang

Please add more to the list.  Include those who may not be as popular as those mentioned.  

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8-9 evening class, Monday to Friday  

Kitchen Garden: Grow native onion leek at home

 Kitchen Garden: Grow native onion leek at home

                               Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Native onion grown in pot provides ready fresh onion leek for a number of recipes like fried eggs, soup, omelet, kilawin, porridge (lugaw), arroz caldo.


This is one way to encourage kids to have a daily supplement of vegetables. Vary the use of leek in their diet. Onion leek is rich in vitamin K, A, C and B6, manganese, folate, iron, fiber, magnesium, molybdenum, copper, calcium, and potassium. It also contains thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin, and antibiotic substances like Allicin and Alliin - from Allium, the genus of onion (A. cepa), garlic (A. sativum), kutchay (A tuberosum), and the original leek (A. ampeloprasum). Leeks generally have also high calorie value, and fair amounts of protein and fat. It is no wonder onion is the most important vegetable in the world.

 

Spouting bulb of shallot or bulb variety (Red Creole). Gather only what you need for the moment using scissor. Don't cut the entire stem - only mature leaves.

Grow leek where there is sufficient sunlight, preferably on an elevated place. It's easy to grow leek from shallot (Sibuyas Tagalog) and from bulb onions (Granex or Creole). Staggered planting assures continuous supply of leek for the family - and for neighbors too.

A pot of onion leek makes a unique gift to friends who love to cook, those in their senior years, and those convalescing. Don't forget to add a little ribbon and a personal message. Make this as project in school and community. ~

Captured Moments of joy in Photographs

 Captured Moments of joy in Photographs

Dr Abe V Rotor

Moments of joy, moments of sadness;

they come like a moving wheel

every day, all the time in our lives,

on the road of trial and will.

Moments of joy, moments of loneliness,

they come like a rolling cloud

in light and shadow, bright and gray,

fall as rain and clear the shroud.

Moments of joy, moments of suffering,

they come together in ease and strain;

nostalgia the happiest state of mind,

sweet is sweeter after pain. ~

Posing with a baby elephant, Thailand

Wild pigeon (bato-bato), pangaw (Ilk)

Philippine Hawk, Avilon Zoo San Mateo

Taking pride of ones craft.

Apple mangoes, Don Antonio Heights 2, Diliman QC

Floating lotus flowers, Thailand

Baby rabbits

Bronze sea lion, Thailand

Prize catch to market - siriw

Fruit cart, Darwin, Australia

Vegetable market, MM

Fish sauce (patis) for sale in a wet market, MM

First to see dragon fruit. Origin: Vietnam

Friendly owl. Avilon Zoo, San Mateo, Rizal

Bunny at home, QC

Garland of Dioscorea, relative of the ubi, at home QC

Listening to the sea with tambuli shell, MM ~

Record your own joyous moments, and those of your loved ones and friends. Organize  and compile them into an album or journal.  Why not a book? Share these treasured moments and experiences with your family, in school and community. Most importantly, they help perk you up in moments of loneliness and sadness.

Treaty of Nature and Man

Treaty of Nature and Man* 

Dr Abe V Rotor,

Garbage City

"Man, being the superior organism, has not only won over his rivals - all organisms that constitute the biosphere. He has also assaulted Nature."

Frantic exploitation of natural resources through illegal logging operations, followed by slash-and-burn agriculture (kaingin), has brought havoc to the Philippines in the past century. The detrimental results are measured not only by the denudation of once productive forests and hillsides, but also destruction through erosion, flood, drought and even death.

An example of this kind of ruination brought about by abuse of nature is the tragedy in Ormoc City where floodwaters cascading down the denuded watershed, killed hundreds of residents and countless animals. It took ten years for the city to fully recover. Ironically, before the tragedy, Ormoc, from the air, looked like a little village similar to Shangrila, a perfect place for retirement.

Decline in Carrying Capacity

A land area designed by nature to sustain millions of people and countless other organisms, was touched by man and we are now paying the price for it. Man removed the vegetation, cut down trees for his shelter and crafts, and planted cereals and short-growing crops to get immediate returns. He hunted for food and fun, and in many ways, changed the natural contour and topography of the land.

Following years of plenty, however, nature reasserted itself. Water would run unchecked, carrying plant nutrients downhill. On its path are formed rills and gullies that slice through slopes, peeling off the topsoil and making the land unprofitable for agriculture. Since the plants cannot grow, animals gradually perish. Finally, the kaingero abandons the area, leaving it to the mercy of natural elements. It is possible that nature may rebuild itself, but will take years for affected areas to regain their productivity, and for the resident organisms once again attain their self-sustaining population levels.

There are 13.5 million square miles of desert area on earth, representing a third of the total land surface. This large proportion of land may be man-made as history and archeological findings reveal.

Lost Civilizations

Fifteen civilizations, once flourished in Western Sahara, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the Sinai desert, Mesopotamia, and the deserts of Persia. All of these cultures perished when the people of the area through exploitation, forced nature to react. As a consequence, man was robbed of his only means of sustenance.

History tells us of man’s early abuse of nature in the Fertile Crescent where agriculture began some 3000 years ago. Man-made parallel canals joined the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to irrigate the thirsty fertile valley. In the process, the balance of Nature was overturned when the natural drainage flow was disturbed. Because the treaty was violated, nature revenged. The canal civilization perished in the swamps that later formed. The sluggish water brought malaria and other diseases causing untold number of deaths and migration to the hinterlands. Among its victims was Alexander the Great.

Carthage had another story. Three wars hit Carthage, known as the Punic Wars. On the third one, the Romans plowed through the city, ending reign of this erstwhile mercantile power, and removing the threat to the Roman economy. After the conquest, the Romans pumped salt-water inland and flooded the fertile farms. Today, Carthage exists only in history and in imagination of whoever stands atop a hill overlooking what is now a vast desert.

Omar Khayyam, if alive today, cannot possibly compose verses as beautiful as the Rubaiyat as written in his own time. His birthplace, Nishapur, which up to the time of Genghis Khan, supported a population of 1.5 million people, can only sustain 15,000 people today. Archeologists have just unearthed the Forest of Guir where Hannibal marched with war elephants. The great unconquerable jungle of India grew from waterlogged lowland formed by unwise irrigation management.

It is hard to believe, but true that in the middle of the Sahara desert, 50 million acres of fossil soil are sleeping under layers of sand awaiting water. Surveyors found an underground stream called the Albienne Nappe that runs close to this deposit. Just as plans were laid to “revive” the dead soil by irrigation, the French tested their first atomic bomb. Due to contamination, it is no longer safe to continue on with the project.

The great Pyramids of Egypt could not have been constructed in the middle of an endless desert. The tributaries of the Nile once surrounded these centers of civilization. Jerusalem appears today as a small city on a barren land. It may have been a city with thick vegetation. This was true of Negev and Baghdad.

Need of a Conservation Program

For the Philippines, it is high time we lay out a long-range conservation program to insure the future of the country. This plan should protect the fertility of the fields, wealth of the forests and marine resources, in order to bring prosperity to the people. As of now, the country is being ripped apart by erosion and floods due to unscrupulous exploitation by loggers and kaingeros.

It is only through proper management and effective conservation, such as reforestation, pollution control, erosion control, limited logging, and proper land use, that we can insure the continuity of our race. All we have to do is to keep ourselves faithful to the treaty between nature and man. ~

* A reprint, lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) on 738 DZRB. 

Apocalypse and The Good Life: "Global nuclear war, biggest threat to civilization."

  Apocalypse and The Good Life  

"Global nuclear war, biggest threat to civilization."

 Now and then we encounter apocalyptic prophesies -  from  Nostradamus to Malthus, from the Aztecs to NASA and Hawking - but we are still here apparently enjoying The Good Life.   

   

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)

Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense

The Good Life!  

We wish for more and forever. 

It is a dream come true

in folly, lust and frivolity. 

Global but of two worlds -

what is it really, 

and whose Good Life?

 Here are disturbing signs.  avr

Modern prophets walk the streets; biblical Four Horsemen of Apocalypse 

still a favorite theme of the arts. 

 

Choking smog over cities virtually a gas chamber; overcrowded human habitat, 

prelude to the death of cities.  

 

Global nuclear war, biggest threat to civilization. (Nuclear weapons have a potential 3 times killing power over our present population); combined with man-induced calamities, the scenario is indeed apocalyptic. 

 

Left, Global warming accelerating, will it "fry" the Earth?  (painting by the author). Artist's concept of Impact theory - collision with asteroid, meteor or NOVA, a theory to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and majority of other animals some 65.5 million years ago. 

 

Pollution on land, water, and air - cumulative in global scale and geometric in progression poses a very serious threat to the younger and future generations. It opens a second chapter to "The Evolution of Man," after Darwinian evolution. 


Pollution of the mind (information pollution or Infollution) from social media, science and technology, religion, academe, etc., has even a larger impact to humans challenging institutions, tradition, values and ideals.  All these are anti-thesis of The Good Life. So, what is The Good Life.  How does it relate to the  Apocalyptic Signs in our times?

Acknowledgement: Internet photos

Food, Food Everywhere - and not an hour to miss

 Food, Food Everywhere - and not an hour to miss

Don't trust your senses with all the food around you and on media. Moderation is the rule. Even Epicurean disciples find true satisfaction not in wanton indulgence but moderation in everything.

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)
Also open Naturalism - the Eighth Sense

Pinapaitan nga kalding (Ilk). Goat meat with chyme.

Kilawin (medium rare) goat meat, and pinapaitan.

Rice cake topped with crunchy bacon and leek onion

 

Pork with asparagus; 

A bowlful of mango-lettuce salad with rich dressing. 

 

Chicken teriyaki with sesame or linga seeds. 

Broiled tilapia - tempting to eat with fingers. 

Spicy caliente (ox hide)

Sinigang na samaral (malaga, Ilk)

Grilled pork with hot green pepper

 
Chicken inasal on banana plate; ukoy - fish and egg.
 Other ukoy recipe: squash and shrimps ukoy 

 

Arusip or ar-arusip (Ilk), green seaweed, served fresh with tomato, onion and 

a dash of salt. Sinkamas or yam, served with Ilocos Vinegar and salt

Tupig, rice cake with coconut, in banana leaves, cooked on charcoal, Patupat or sinambong, rice cake in woven coconut

 leaves cooked in boiling sugarcane juice

Brewed coffee, fried egg and bun

Our personality is reflected by the food we eat. Write an essay about this subject for your school.

Reference: The Living with Nature Handbook, AVRotor