Saturday, September 6, 2014

Quaintness of Living in Catanduanes

Originally Part 6: BIOME 2010 
The author visited the place twice, on October 22 in 2010, and in the following year, as a resource person of a conference of environment, BIOME. Here are his impressions about the place.  Different from the perception of many that Catanduanes is a typhoon-ravaged island, the scenario is one that brings to mind the Island of Eden.  
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

A glimpse of the Pacific Ocean 


Pristine Landscape

Farm life

Idyllic life in Virac

Modernity creeps in
Threesome on a motorbike
Homeward bound

An illustrious son comes home
Taking time out to meet the people
Boats are for fishing and leisure
Young ones and young once
Marker to honor the first Spanish missionary in the island. 
Religious ambiance


Early warning of erosion

Final resting ground revered



Island of Eden

He was an island hero because he found it a home,
Stranded alone, his only companion a God supreme,
The mountains and hills, rivers and lakes, he sang
Of praise for all the living, flowing on a gentle stream.

The stream that flows down the fields and meadow,
Lined with reeds and trees, birds and fish at play,
Whispering in the wind, singing with crickets at night,
And on a calm day the sky comes down to the bay.

To mirror his face like Narcissus of old, sans pride
And vanity; and he found in him again humanity.

What if a lesser man comes to the island a castaway,
A survivor unknowing of the ways to live in sanity?

Here he befriended the typhoons and raging waters,
As he befriended the spirits and deities of the place;
He talked to trees to bear fruits, the fields for grain,
And thanked God and island for everyday grace.

Years and years passed, others came to the island,
To the biblical land flowing with milk and honey;
They built a country, in their gentle ways, a paradise
Of love that was to be told, man's greatest story. ~


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