details

what would your details be? a colorful caterpillar amidst leaves and roses?

handstitches, pockets and tiny glass beads?

details on an old curtain stitched and shirred to create another version of the same material

details of a dream expressed on a cafe's wall

or details printed on a baby's skin that will forever belong to him and that will be the footprints he will leave wherever he goes.

when we tell a story, the details make it a different story from all the other stories.  our lives are marked by the details that would add up to a quilt of images that we hope we can always remember...

do you witness the details of your "love" as accurately as the bees do with their flowers?

we are not a boring pattern if we look closely.  if we call forth silence, beauty will unfold before our unbelieving eyes.

look at yours.  what are these details that make you a work of art?

reset

I had to reset to enable some moods I could not carry out- like yoga and painting which are my sources of inner peace and balance and my way of contemplation and prayer.

Emptying to be full again.  Crawling to learn to walk again.

 The struggle is painful but also humbling if not frustrating. The process would oftentimes make me laugh at myself in a good way.  The push from friends makes it possible for the climb's completion if determination is lacking.

There are many ways we can manifest ourselves- and when I am able to speak without using words, then I feel more eloquent and the circle begins again.

back to the batcave

the plane from cagayan de oro to manila was full-packed.  women in shrouds and men in moslem tunics reminded me of where my feet walked minutes before i boarded the plane.  my bag was heavy with camiguin lanzones, mangosteen, baskets, a few pieces of stonewares for ana's new house, dirty clothes and a "head full of foliage and looking at the world through the heart." ( read this line from Gilbert's book, "Eat, Pray, Love.")

i was home after a few hours.
back to frogglerocks.
back to jacob who called me up while i was gone to tell me that he has a tear in his eye.
back to chew who probably was wondering where his cool and laughing grandmother was.
back to them who missed my face. :)

"back to the love that moves the sun and the other stars'"
"l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle..." (Divine Comedy)

back to frogglerocks.

a new globe broadband was waiting for me at home and it is the reason why i wrote this entry.  goodbye turtle speed and hello better internet connection. yipeeeeeee!!!

testing, testing 1,2,3!

Wabi sabi

here i am in a place of abundance where life is quietly simple and spiritual, a contrast between exquisite perfection and earthy ruggedness. i left my masks at home- my beads, my books, my clothes and shoes and name.

i am  nourished by the durian, marang, rambutan and santol scented-air, sunlight and food- beans, unpolished rice, leaves and fruits. i now begin to feel like a plant and a hydrogen atom.

i laugh like the river nearby and i bask in the love and light of friendship.   i do not know anything from now on.  i am empty and full. and i have acquired the grace of being one with the soot-covered pots and pans from where great food is cooked,

and the stillness of cups and mugs in between being kissed by lips and held by a hand.

 i now pray in front of an altar where the canisters of sugar and coffee and assorted pictures of dearly beloved nephews and nieces are, and i wonder...

 i feel more connected to the grounds where life springs from, and where it reaches the heavens more than how i used to know how and where to pray before..

Divine Moment

this reckless fellow will not be threatened by the presence of a contraption called "camera"

nor will it be intimidated by my scent

"leave me alone or..." it seemed to say as it tried to make itself look larger by "flexing" its wings

his sacred tryst done, he flew out my window divinely satisfied.

what a remarkable and magical creature radiating a pure light!

Teacher Emma

I missed time for myself.  I was caught in the frenzy of work and vocation trying to squeeze everything within a lifetime. My body screamed out loud at me.  It slapped, strangled and kicked me till I was blue. 

So after more that a year of getting sick, I made a pledge to pamper myself.  With the help of my children, Ana and Juaqui, and all the other people taking care of my school and loving it as much as I do, I should be on a perpetual holiday.   You see, it is not and has not been easy for me to do this.  I have always felt guilty about having a good time.  Guity pleasures- I've had plenty of that!  I still do.  No wonder, when school started, I stopped painting.  

I just realized that this morning.  I have wondered why I could not pick up a brush and paint away.  I have done other things, like take more naps during the day,  watch a movie alone, write, or cook.  Why can I not paint? I can finish a quick watercolor in 10 minutes, sometimes even in 5!  I painted in frenzy last summer, and i promised that I would paint again once we have launched the new schoolyear, but nothing has happened since then.

Painting was one activity that I would always give up, to give time and full attention to my school.  The Little Farm House is 18 years old.  She is no longer a baby but... like a mother, like a mother, I find myself unable to let go.  

I am letting go.  I am still watching and taking care of it through the people I trust.  My school, my baby, needs to go to school too.  It will benefit from other people, and from other experiences.  And yes,  it  is no longer a baby.  It is capable of being on its own.  Otherwise, the time and care I have given to it (her) for almost 2 decades would have been for naught.

I continue to be its muse and parent.  I am still its vision.  I still love to see the children.  And yes, I will paint too.  Paint without guilt. 

This is how I feel for now.

preschool kids and their birthday cupcakes

 

grade 2 children wearing their hats celebrating the school's 18th year

 

natural arrangements

All through the months, flowers bloom in profusion on both sides of the road leading to Frogglerocks.  They have adorned my living room  suggesting the time of the year!

My favorite time is between the months of December to May.  The colors vary from intense to mute. I love golden showers although climbing the tree to get a twig or two is tantamount to being swarmed by ants!

Wild fruits are interesting centerpieces.  It was a focal of interest for little Jose who would pop whatever his tiny hands could grasp. I found this tree on top of a small hill.

These Indian beads are charming with its starlike bursts all around the plant

 paper-like flowersof the tropical bougainville

dazzling fire tree flowers

I took pictures of my flower centerpieces to paint them later and only to realize that I have made quite a collection of these very interesting arrangements.

My motto: be open to exciting possibilities.  Be free!

the story of a house on an anthill

This is the house on the Anthill.  I had to give it a name so that Jacob can use the reference when he talks about his house.

It looks huge for a little child and also because it is open to the sky.

it reminds me of the structure of a ferris wheel maybe because the crosspieces are still visible.

i tried photographing its beautiful and honest structure.

and parts of crude machines and tools like this eye

a useful pail

a hardworking wheel

teeth

and more mean-looking grinders

Yes, Jacob's Mr. Dizzy is a piece of art!

looking good

this is the road that Jacob has imagined he will build someday

the visit and expedition is now over.  Jacob and Ima are heading back to Frogglerocks.

Last August 10, the family of raccoons, now ants,  moved in their new house.  Ana and Lloyd with the two animals or insects, Jacob and Jose are the new residents of Azucena St., Beverly Hills Subdivision, Antipolo, Rizal a.k.a. AntHill!


house design and construction supervision by Ors


Wishing you love, peace, health and abundance!!