Heart

Consider this my month-ender blog. I used to write about month ends and beginnings but between the busy schedule of being a mom and sitting in front of my PC, I lost track  on the last time I did it. For a while there, I didn’t know what to blog about. And it’s not because I have nothing to say, there are lots actually and as usual, I could not organize my thoughts.

The other day, my son Josef and I were in the garden, having individual task of cleaning the pond and pulling out weeds from the peanut grass planted  at the front of the house. He of course had the share of the more difficult task of transferring the Koi  fish  (gosh, they are getting bigger now) and changing the murky waters of the pond. It rained on and off the past week so we had to postpone staying outside. Our avocado tree is shedding off leaves like crazy but producing flowers at almost every tip of each branch. You can just imagine the sackful of dried leaves I have to sweep everyday. We’re not there yet because it would probably take a month more  before every old leaf falls to the ground and new shoots show their faces on each branch. To cut the story short, he shouted and said, “let’s take a rest for a while Ma and I’ll show you something”. And he showed me this and I saw the happiness on his face while he hugged me close pointing to what he did with the trunk of our avocado tree.

I remember those love stories long , long ago that I used to watch on TV, with two names carved on a tree trunk like this and it made me laugh. What a day! 🙂

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Silence

Caught one of our cats perched serenely atop one of the branches of our avocado tree this morning and I can’t help but snap a few shots. There are  times in one’s life when you wish you could shut off the noise of this world and listen to the silence, when you’re at peace with God’s voice egging you to go on with life and never give up.

She must be saying, “Hello world, good morning”.

Oh, she was  suddenly shy, hiding her face just when I was about to click the camera.

“That’s the last shot you’ll take of me, please respect my privacy.”

Crazy, you might say but sometimes, our pets teach us to stay focused and enjoy what the day brings.

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Looking From Within

Sometimes you look back and see

Just mere shadows of the past

And you desperately try to recapture

Those moments of bliss and laughter

They’re now just blurred visions

Like a screened window where shadows lurk

Still.

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Today’s Quote

 

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Textures

Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: “Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print – my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey – from the subject before me? – Ansel Adams

 

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My Lenten Reads

It’s the second day of our Lenten journey. I am setting aside Preston & Child, Rosamunde Pilcher, Robin Cook , Barbara Taylor Bradford and other books in my stash to give way to some spiritual readings which I promised myself to do every year. So aside from the Bible and My Bible Diary 2012,  I have listed the books I will be reading in this season of Lent. Although I read them now and then, there’s nothing like the season of Lent to renew one’s spiritual journey through these inspiring books.

I bought this a year ago. It’s been on my wish list for so long and I was jumping with joy when I finally found a copy in one of my visits to St. Paul’s  bookstore. And to give you a glimpse of what is inside this book, let me quote:

Each one of us has exactly the same value and dignity as every single other person on Earth.

Each one of us is absolutely unique in time, space and eternity i.e. the now of human existence and in life eternal. There are no clones in God’s universe!

Each one has her or his unique role to play her or his special gift to make to the planet.

 

This is a gift from Carol, a former high school classmate who visited me when I was recuperating from chemotherapy sessions  two years ago. An unforgettable book, touching the lives of millions who love St. Therese of Lisieux.

I know that every soul cannot be alike. there must be different kinds  so that each of the perfections of God can be specially honored. To me, he has revealed his infinite mercy, and I see all his other attributes in the light of that. Thus they all seem glowing with love: His justice, perhaps even more than the others is clothed with love, for how sweet a joy it is to think that God is just; that, in other words, he makes allowances for our weaknesses and understands perfectly the frailty of our humanity.

 

This is a gift from Fr. Tacky, a Franciscan priest friend based in Rome. It’s one of my favorite books.  They are short stories on the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

Both are important

The Journey and Dream,

The coming out and entering in.

Without the Journey

The Dream is a futile entering into yourself

Where you ride a monotonous wheel

That spins around you alone.

To remain on the road too long

Dims the Dream until  you no longer see it

And the road replaces the dream.

The Journey and the Dream

Are one balanced act of love

And both are realized

Outside the mind.

 

 

We all know who Fr. Nouwen is.  The internationally renowned priest and author, respected professor and beloved pastor Henri Nouwen (pronounced Henry Now-win) wrote over 40 books on the spiritual life. He corresponded regularly in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish with hundreds of friends and reached out to thousands through his Eucharistic celebrations, lectures and retreats. Since his death in 1996, ever-increasing numbers of readers, writers, teachers and seekers have been guided by his literary legacy. Nouwen’s books have sold over 2 million copies and been published in over 22 languages.

Prayer is the bridge between my unconscious and conscious life. prayer connects my mind with my heart, my will with my passions, my brain with my belly. Prayer is the divine instrument of my wholeness, unity and inner peace.

 

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Learning Something On Hearsay Evidence, HDO and WLO

It’s now Day 23 of the trial and I wrote earlier that I am getting tired watching it but still, I remain glued infront of the television every afternoon anticipating what will happen next or who will appear as the Prosecution’s next witness. Yesterday, it was Secretary of Justice de Lima who was called to the witness stand and she testified on the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court last November 15, 2011 which we all know she defied. It pertains to the motion filed by the Arroyo family to grant them permit to travel abroad to seek medical help while they were still on the Watch List Order (WLO). The rest is history since the Bureau of Immigration didn’t allow them to leave on the instructions of Secretary of Justice de Lima. She said in her testimony that the TRO issued, which she said is a continuing TRO (for ordinary people like me, that means, there is no expiry date) did not reach her office until the following day. She further said that the SJ spokesperson Midas Marquez announced the validity of the TRO even if these conditions were not met.

At the start of the trial today, she was cross-examined by the lead Defense lawyer Cuevas and moved that all the testimonies pertaining to the dissenting opinions of  Asst. Justice Sereno be removed from the record since De Lima has no personal knowledge of what took place inside the Supreme Court and she just based her testimonies on the records attached (dissenting opinions of Justice Sereno).  Despite Sen. Santiago’s motion that the Defense team was right in their assessment that it was a hearsay evidence, the Senate Pres. Judge Enrile made a ruling that they are not striking out the testimonies made yesterday by de Lima since an Impeachment Court is different from a criminal court where hearsay evidences are not allowed except in eleven instances where they recognizes such. He cited two books, two extensive studies made in the US  regarding Impeachment trials. And since this is the first time that they are impeaching a Chief Justice, they could not base it on some previous trials made in the past.  The Impeachment Court had decided earlier at the start of the trial that they would not issue subpoena to the judges of the Supreme Court.

Watch List Order (WLO) prevents anyone from just leaving the country without a “lifting” or “allow order” and has  a 60-day duration  while Hold Departure Order (HDO) is valid for 5 years  unless lifted by the Court of Justice. Sen. Lacson asked de Lima if there is a law that authorizes Circular 41 and she answered that there is no law expressly authorizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) or DOJ Chief to issue a WLO but DOJ has power to issue rules and to promulgate rules and regulations. She further said that the power to issue HDO/WLO may have been abused in former Pres. Arroyo’s time but she assured Lacson that she won’t do that out of a political vendetta.

I won’t delve into the nitty-gritty of what happened today since it was so obvious that most senators were just grandstanding by way of “clarificatory questions” but I appreciate what I learned, that in a criminal court, hearsay evidence is not permitted  and you don’t need to worry about your rights being violated  if you are a law-abiding citizen, you would not even be served a HDO or a WLO.

And here’s the latest news on former Pres. Arroyo’s arraignment today at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. Arroyo entered a “not guilty” plea on poll sabotage case.

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Remembering

The music

lingers still

Except –

there are no words

to complete the song.

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If Flowers Could Speak

I don’t know why, but I always get a thrill every time I see  flowers. This makes me grab my camera and take a few shots or two and most of them grow in our garden at home. I even had this ambitious longing to document every bloom I encounter. These are just random shots I took  two years ago. As always, experimenting on macro shots is one of the highlights of my  lazy days, sometimes 🙂

Rain Lily

Where flowers blossom, so does hope. – Lady Bird Johnson

Vanda Orchids

“Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.” 
–  Gerald De Nerval

Vietnam Rose

“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.” 
–  Heinrich Heine

Dendrobium

“When bright flowers bloom
Parchment crumbles, my words fade
The pen has dropped …”
–  Morpheus

African Rose

“The world is a rose; smell it and pass it to your friends.” 
–  Persian Proverb

Malaysian Mums

“Flowers are love’s truest language.” 
–  Park Benjamin 

Red Roses

“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”
–  Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

They call these Bluebelles, I am not sure though.

“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.”
–  Henry Ward Beecher

Pink Carnation

“It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.”
–  William Carlos Williams  

Golden Candle

“The actual flower is the plant’s highest fulfillment, and are not here exclusively for herbaria, county floras and plant geography: they are here first of all for delight.”
–  John Ruskin   

Red Hibiscus

“What a desolate place would be a world without a flower!  It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome.  Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our starts the flowers of the heaven.”
–  A.J. Balfour  

The names of these last two  pics escape me. Took these shots  in our garden in the province.

“In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.”
–  Abram L. Urban

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Today’s Quote

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