Happy

Happiness comes in simple things like this. One more day being one with nature…the raindrops beckon.  I was giddy at the thought of  remembering what today brought me.

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Metamorphosis

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. – Gerard de Nerval

Don’t look now, but there was a time when I used to document every bloom and every seed that grows in my garden.  I even dreamed of writing about it, describing every bloom, how long it took for one particular plant to grow and  surprise you with that lovely bloom after nurturing it with your heart and soul. And always, the pleasure of seeing it transform before your eyes and the joy you feel after long days of wait is worth a thousand smile on your face. I remember taking these shots with my old Pentax Optio camera while recuperating from a life-changing ailment almost three years ago. It’s my Amazon Lily, from bud to bloom.

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Fall

A close friend of mine  once shared her album she took in BC. I simply love the colors of the fall season. I was having my morning routine of cleaning the backyard, sweeping dry leaves and deadheading some plants and I was briefly reminded of the pictures she shared.

This is how close as I can get to seeing a dry leaf fall from our avocado tree.

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Six PM

Can’t resist taking shots of these  and what better time to do it than at dusk, hmm….it’s more of twilight I guess.

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The Truth Will Set You Free

We’ve all been talking about it since day 1 but I stopped blogging about it on day 15. What the…..like any concerned Filipino citizen, I continued to watch it though until they went on Lenten recess last Thursday. It’s more than a month-long vacation for our esteemed senator judges, plenty of time to think and yes, reflect on what is happening  and what happened so far with the impeachment trial. Lately, Pulse Asia made this survey, a performance and trust ratings of various government officials and CJ Corona is included in it. One lady senator threatened to put them (and all those conducting their own surveys asking the CJ to resign) in contempt of court. I wonder if they are violating any rule but most of us appreciate these surveys if only to know the pulse of the nation. An economist friend who has a regular column in a daily newspaper says that if Corona is acquitted, it would surely affect our economy. Take that as something negative.

I am a regular reader of  this site, an updated  and thorough analyses on Corona’s impeachment. Raissa Robles is a journalist/blogger and I always  look  forward to what she writes  on Rappler.  Do visit her site , she’s a bright light amidst all the noise between the Prosecution and Defense teams.  And I always believe ;  “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

And here’s an open letter  to Sr. Flory Basa, FMM which I found in my inbox, it was penned by Dennis Concepcion.

Last night, I posted in an online Inquirer article an open letter to Sister Flory Basa, aunt of Cristina Roco Corona. Almost as soon as hit the Save button, comments poured in, and people started sharing and re-posting the letter in different blogs and sharing sites. I even found a Cebuano translation of the letter just today. Although there were a few negative reactions, majority of those who commented were very supportive. I guess a lot of people share the same sentiments as I have.

I am sharing the letter in its original form, and some of the links to sites where it has been re-posted so you would be able to read both the good and not so good reactions.

Dear Sister Flory,

I almost gave up on the impeachment process. I thought it was going nowhere. The defense team was succeeding in their suppression of evidences. The prosecution was fumbling all over the place. Some Senator-Judges were openly showing their dogged resolve to literally look the other way as the impeached pretender to the position of Chief Justice trampled on the very basic tenets of integrity and honesty. Like you, I had left it to the Good Lord to do justice in His own time.

But then your family, most especially you, came along. God indeed works in mysterious ways! The lawyers of Mr Corona and their misguided followers have done and will continue to do everything to discredit you, short of calling you a lying senile and disgruntled relative who wants more money. I saw your interview on TV, and you have that serenity about you. It is a peace of mind and soul that only true forgiveness can bring about. But you also have that resoluteness in your voice – firm, truthful and honest. You said charity made you forgive the Coronas, but truth and justice compels you to speak up and let the people confront the truth about Mr Renato Corona.

God has not only been good to you, He has shown even more compassion to us the Filipino people. While a lot of people your age would have been beset with illnesses of both body and mind, you have been blest with good health and a mind still so sharp and lucid. It is not so for no reason, I am sure. When the battle seemed lost, you came forth like a shining star to remind us not to lose hope. God allowed you to outlive your siblings so that the truth may be proclaimed in all its brutal glory, and not in the convoluted version being peddled to us by those who seek to block our nation’s search for justice.

Thank you for your courage in proclaiming the truth. Mr Corona might have succeeded in having his character flaws overlooked by the Judicial and Bar Council when he was planted by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the Supreme Court. He might have pushed his luck too far when he got his minions in the SC to legitimize his midnight appointment. I do not think he will be able to shut out the flames of truth that you now so resolutely hold in your hands. While they have everything to lose and will do anything and everything to cover up their lies, you only have your faith in God and his abiding fidelity to his promise that His justice will be supreme over all human frailties.

If it is not too much to ask, we will be forever grateful if you will do us a great favour – please take the witness stand. Please tell this nation how this man who claims the exalted position of Chief Justice as his unalienable right has done injustice to his own kin for more than 30 years. Please tell our Senators, who have been vested by our sovereign will with power in order to protect our nation’s interest, how the same power when wielded by someone who do not have the probity, integrity and moral uprightness not to be drowned by it can abuse the same to inflict harm on the very people he is supposed to serve and protect. You, who are old and weak, you whose only weapon is the truth, can teach our power-tripping Senators a most valuable lesson in humility and fairness.

I know it might be too much to ask from a frail, 90 year old servant of the Lord. But the stakes are too high – our future and those of the generations to come. If we allow this travesty to pass, we would have sold our souls to the devil. What are we teaching to our children? That as long as you can justify it in the rules of court, it is okay to be to be dishonest? That it is okay to do wrong as long as you can win it in court? That it is okay to do away with morals and the sense of what is right and what is wrong as long as there are good lawyers that you can pay to twist the facts and suppress the truth? Is this what we want for our country? Please say it isn’t so Sister Flory. For your family’s and for our country’s sake, please say it isn’t so.

And before I end this rather long letter, I would like to assure you that in case you do decide to take the witness stand and if Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago dare try to scare you off with her histrionics and self-serving plaudits to her perceived superior intelligence, and God forbids that something bad happens to you, I will march on the street even if I should do it by my lonesome self, and demand that God open up the ocean and swallow the entire Senate and everyone else who have dragged this country into the dark abyss.God is with you. We are with you. All right thinking Filipinos should be with you. Let us not stay in the dark. You have the light. Lead us to our redemption as a nation. God Bless you Sister Flory.

Sincerely,

Den

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More Blessings

Grace comes in the most unexpected places

At the most unexpected moment.

Clouds never stay long to obscure our view

Because God wants us to see the beauty of the sky.

Ah, I love what WordPress says:

Goal of 860 Posts Completed. Congratulations!

100%

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From One Bookworm To Another Bookworm

Alam mong adik ka na talaga sa libro when you want to enter every Booksale you pass by and hope to find that one particular book which you’ve been looking for for so long. Alam mong adik ka na talaga sa libro when you want to justify an expensive purchase at National Bookstore saying to yourself, it’s  Mother’s Day in two months anyway so it’s a gift, well, sort of.

Posted the above shout-out earlier on my wall at Facebook. The Me here is of course yours truly and LC is a friend residing in the US. And I find it funny that when the topic is about books, anything goes.

• • Me: Hi LC!
  •  LC: Alam mong adik ka sa libro na mas gusto mong pumasok sa bookstore at mamalagi ng buong araw sa loob at kuntentong kuntento ka!! Alam mo adik sa libro na kahit wala kang payong, hahayaan mong mabasa ka pero yung mga librong binili ay talagang iniingatang wag mabasa!! =)

    Unlike · 1
  • LC: Hi Arlene!!
  • ‎ Me: 101% agree! At alam mong adik ka na sa libro kung pagdating mo sa bahay gusto mo kaagad lagyan ng plastic cover at isulat ang “ex libris” on the first blank page with your name in bold letters….hahaha!

    · Like · 1
  • LC: haahahaha….actually meron akong stickers na “ex libris” and I put them on my fave books!! Speaking of books,Arlene , you won’t believe what I paid for a hardcover complete works of Shakespeare!!??!!! I found it in one of the thrift shops and I asked how much was it since it didn’t have a price and the clerk quickly flipped through the pages and asked me how much do I want to pay for them and I was salivating at the mouth but I tried to be cool so I said, “how much do you want to sell it for?” and she looked at it one more time and she nonchalantly said, “hmm….ten cents.” Well…I quickly bought it and yes, I put my “ex libris” sticker, hahaha!!
  • Me: Wow, LC, that’s a good find! How lucky can you get!
  • LC: You can imagine me walking out of the thrift store with my cheshire cat’s smile!!! =)
  • Me: I am looking for old books by Richard Paul Evans  here but I could not find any. My hardcover copies were all destroyed by the flood two years ago. (Notice the link on RPE’s name,baka mabasa niya eto eh, maawa at padalhan ako…hehehe)
  • Me: Wow, LC, that’s a good find! How lucky can you get!
  • LC: hahahaha….talagang naka link!!! Hanapan kita next time magawi ako sa mga thrift stores!! There’s a handful pero karamihan mga romance and mostly by barbara cartland kaya nga I was soooo happy to find that shakespeare’s book.

    · Unlike · 1
  • Me: I haven’t read Cartland since high school pero paminsan masarap magbasa ulit ng ganun, easy read and all. RPE is on my mailing list for a number of years now and he is an online friend here at FB, a very accommodating and kind author. I have a whole album of his quotes which he shares with his readers.
  • LC: Oo, nakaka-addict yung mga Cartland;  I  remember meron pa akong guideline noon ng royalty hierarchy para alam ko kung ano ang baron/ness, viscount, etc. hahahahaha!! Sige, hahanapan kita ng mga books nya!
  • Me: Hahaha! Thanks in advance… Wala na atang mga ganung subject ano except those books by Judith McNaught (one of Nissa’s favorite authors).
  • LC: It’s been awhile I read those kind of books; lately it’s suspense/thriller for me. Sige, inbox mo address mo so kung meron akong mahanap, send ko sa yo.
  • Me: Lovely 🙂

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Lovely Saturday, Quiet Sunday

It’s been a long time, literally, that is! For the past few days, all I came up for a blog were one and two-liner features that made it to my most read list, just the same.  Anyway, I just thought of updating you all with the weekend I had.

Yesterday, I met a friend way back in college and I remember that the last time we had lunch together was a year ago. Although we get to text each other once in a while, it is always a welcome change to chat, giggle, reminisce, hold hands  and cry a little while drinking hot tea and making the big effort of finishing off the Shabu-Shabu plate she ordered at Gloriamaris  Restaurant at Gateway Mall.  Would you believe that we’ve been through the same predicaments and problems in life (not in the same degree probably) while counting the years being cancer survivors?  I’ve always said that the best people who would truly understand what you’ve  been through and what you are presently undergoing are those who are on the same road with you and traveling the same journey. Precy, a friend for almost forty years now is one such gracious and caring lady who is ready to help – a shoulder to cry on, a sister, family and all.

We attended a seminar on health and healing at  Noble Life International (Phils.) They develop and market organic healing foods endorsed by world-renowned medical researchers and doctors.  Their products are used by doctors and medical professionals as food therapy. Yesterday I learned a lot from one of their guest speakers, a neurosurgeon.  For the past three months,  Precy has been taking these  all-natural supplementary food medicines and she says that they really help in her recovery as a breast-cancer survivor. Having such toxic elements in your body as a result of six cycles of chemotherapy makes you so wary of eating unhealthy food. I’ve been so careful of my diet since I was diagnosed of stage three colon cancer almost three years ago. And again this brings me to some friends asking, “how can you talk freely about your illness and what you’ve been through?” Well, having a light-threatening disease is not the end of it as some people perceive it to be. It’s true, you have to go through the drastic measures of treatments, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and all but I am of the thought that sharing it through my blogs would somehow ease the pain for someone out there undergoing the same health problems as I am. And I feel happy that in my own little way, I am  doing a bit of helping these people cope. It’s the reason why I put up this blog in the first place.

Nissa and Obet came over yesterday to have dinner with us!  They brought with them ingredients for a yummy dinner, pork sinigang in guava.  And Obet could cook, we let him labor in the kitchen, churning out a tasty and indeed yummy sinigang sa bayabas. It was a lovely Saturday, alright:) And I had the chance to see the photos forwarded by their official wedding photographers. They haven’t chosen yet what to put in the official album from around 2,000 photos which will be narrowed down to about 150 at the most. I suggested that we have the candid shots printed and have them made into one lovely family album, after all, it’s not every day that your one and only daughter gets married:) .

It was a quiet Sunday and I almost cried listening to Fr. Leo’s homily today!

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Yeay!

My daughter Nissa texted me this a while ago. Lovely words, what a way to start the morning saying a simple prayer for God’s blessings.

Be thankful for yesterday

because you have wonderful memories to think about…

Be thankful for today

because you are able to wake up to celebrate life…

Be thankful for tomorrow

because you will be able to fulfill your dreams and wishes…

But most of all, be thankful to GOD

for He was with you yesterday,

He is with you today

and He will always be with you tomorrow and

forever!

GOD bless you!

GOD bless everyone reading this  🙂

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University of Santo Tomas (Main Building)

Two months ago, I had another opportunity to take shots of  one  of my favorite subjects, my alma mater, the University of Santo Tomas, officially known as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the Catholic University of the Philippines. UST or USTe as we alumni fondly call it is the oldest existing  university  in Asia. In terms of student population, it is the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus. The institution was established through the initiative of Bishop Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the third Archbishop of Manila. I blogged about it  more than any other subject  I encountered. You see, I am a proud alumna of the University spending nine years of my life since high school in this revered institution.

The UST Main Building with its massive, imposing and seemingly solid facade is one of the best city landmarks in Metro Manila. Designed by Fr. Roque Ruaño, O.P., priest and engineer, it has the distinction of the first fire-proof building in the country. The building is composed of forty independent structures separated from each other by a gap of one inch, which is filled with loose cement. One of these structures rises beyond the level of the fourth floor to form the tower in the center of the huge box-like stone mass.

Back in high school, I was never curious what the statues and monuments atop the main building stand for. Being a student who saw them everyday, they were  just part of the campus and the lovely facade of the building. It’s when you have left its portals that you get to appreciate it better and you’re proud, so truly proud that after all these years, you are still welcome in its bosom.

The  trio of statues represent  theologians and historians: St. Augustine, the Doctor of the Church, St. Raymond de Peñafort, O.P., doctor of Canon Law, and Vincent de Beauvais, O.P. French historian. And the three statues facing A.H.Lacson St. are those of the playwrights: the Spanish Lope de Vega, the Greek comic Aristophanes, and the French neo-classical comedian Moliere .

The wide campus in front of the UST Main Building.

The cross atop the tower symbolizes the University’s mission to impart knowledge in the sacred and civil sciences. Slightly in front of, and below the tower is the “Tria Haec” clustered around a giant clock in the center facade of the fourth floor. The hooded and robed figure “Faith” brandishes a cross up high and occupies the top of the clock. Lower and to the left of the clock stands “Hope” and to the right, “Charity”. All these statues communicate with their varied expressive poses magnified in stone. They teach in silence.

These three figures represent  the great philosophers Aristotle, St. Albert the Great and Plato.

This is  the inner quadrangle of the Main building. The surrounding rooms here used to be the UST Main Library (back in my time, that is).

I walked these halls countless times during my student days and working for almost three years as a student librarian instilled in me the love of books.  Those were the days and I really miss you, USTe!

Hmm…just want to remember, this is my 855th post, thanks WordPress!

Goal of 855 Posts Completed. Congratulations!

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