Those Angry Birds

Have you heard of Angry Birds? If you have not, then you lost touch of the kid’s world. A little boy was crying last week because his mama had enough of angry birds stuff. When the concept of angry bird was created in 2009 by a Finnish computer game developer, they decided that these wingless birds without visible legs should have an enemy. The time of swine flu epidemic made the hungry green pigs as the reasonable opponent to steal the eggs of these birds. The game was a hit. It generated millions of downloads in short times. Angry birds can be a clock, stickers, school bags, stuff toys, you name it, its success is all over the world. The game is so exciting and available anywhere or in anything even with your handheld phones. It became an obsession to kids and adults alike. These hungry green pigs has ice, wood and stones as their hideouts where the angry birds chase them with special powers according to their colors. The blue ones can split into three birds, the black is the suicide bomber and the white bird can drop explosive eggs. And the war goes on as addicted players go higher in each level. Like these video games, some of us want to create excitement in this mundane life by creating opponents. Those who are blessed with health, wealth, faithful spouses and good children like to venture into higher level of excitement like looking at the other side of the fence for greener pastures. To some people, good life can be boring. A little taste here and there isn’t bad enough until one morning, these little wingless creatures become so angry and all hell breaks loose. Many kids and even adults like this game not only because it is fun, but because of what these creatures represent philosophically. Annihilating those pigs is a form of emotional release that one can’t do physically. Whether we like it or not there are many hungry green pigs in our lives. Some people create them for us or we have created them ourselves. Avoiding these pigs is not an option for these angry birds, they hunt them, even if it will cost them their own lives to retrieve those eggs. As a gamer, the game should not be over. The hunt is insatiable. The excitement is mounting until dawn. But unlike those angry birds we can’t remain angry forever. For married people, marriage is a union of two forgivers. To be angry is like hoarding poison inside us, that finally corrodes our system. Annihilating our enemies will only create more enemies. There will always be hungry green pigs in our lives, but we can’t drop bombs like those angry birds all the time.

Keep it Up!

Every morning as I tend my garden, I always find a spider web. The rain pours and wash down my tiny friend. But moments later the spider comes up and weaves another. These tiny creatures defy all kinds of obstacles like natural calamities or human interventions. The male machos go through elaborate ritual dances with exact web vibrations to win their ladies even if it meant that they will become their succulent meal. Spiders can be patient and cruel. Spiders were here before you and I were born. They are relentless builders. Nothing seems to stop them in starting all over again. Their web building must have been done millions of times. Most garden spiders are harmless to people. Other types are poisonous. Most of them have eight eyes and eight legs. Unlike many other living things, spiders have no ears, but the apparent lack of hearing is being compensated by the hairs in their legs that feels the lightest vibration in their webs. They wait patiently for their unsuspecting prey to touch their sticky silken prison cell. They have no formal jaws, so the poor trapped fly is being liquified by an enzyme to suit their taste. These true blue-blooded areneae, of the arachnid order have elaborate courtship to prevent the male from being eaten by the ladies before fertilization. The male dances to create a precise pattern of vibrations in the web as part of the ritual. Finally as the male wins the female and the mating starts, few males survived after the mating process. Oddly enough, some male spiders co-operate in being eaten by impaling themselves in the females' fangs. Sad as it seems to us humans, the spiders continue to proliferate this way. Today even their venom which are poisonous to humans are under study if they can be used as non-pollutant pesticide. Spider silk genes have been inserted into mammals and plants for purposes of creating a silk factory. Spider silk has the lightness and strength of elasticity that is highly regarded as superior silk. Spiderman may come to reality one day. But I'm not sure if he will come as a superhero or a producer of spider silk. If spiders can start all over again and again, we humans have many more chances than the spiders. We are gifted with five senses. Unlike most spiders that has a short life span of one to two years, except for the tarantulas that can live up to 25 years, we humans have more years to live. Our only problem is how to live those years.

Unwanted

Unwanted His mother didn't want him to be born. His father deserted him. He could have stomped his feet, wailed, and be mad at the whole world. But this man carries around a smiling face, a singing heart, and a guitar that chases your blues away. He strums his guitar with incomplete fingers, and praise God with his music. He said he has all the reasons to be joyful. Despite being an unwanted baby, he knows that Jesus loves him so much that He died for his sake. This truth makes him see the world through a kaleidoscope of colors. He preaches God's goodness in his life and give others love that he had missed. Meeting this man made cancer so puny. Are you lonely? Do you feel that you have been set aside from all the rest to suffer a terrible fate? You are not alone. There are more lonely people today than ever before. Despite modern technology and gadgets as play toys, there is still a deep void within humans that only God can fill. Life is a series of stages that mold us. How we respond to certain situation depends on how strong our foundation within. Psychologists say that an infant who was abandoned by the very people who should have given him care and love will have difficulty in trusting the world. But this man turned his misfortune into a blessing,knowing that he was unwanted as a baby, all he wished was to love others.

ART AT THE PLAZA

Art at the Plaza, a summer art workshop will start on April 17 to May 17 at Hotel Florentina Rovira, Road, Dumaguete city. The diversity of this workshop is unique in itself as students are allowed to explore art in different mediums. Three visual artists, Wing del Prado, Sharon Dadang and Muffet Villegas will teach sketching, drawing, painting, pottery, sculpting and Fun art in different forms to interested students with ages from 8 to adult. Beginners and advance lessons will be offered in respective categories. The art workshop is a combined talents of Wing del Prado, who is a painting major from the College of Holy Spirit and had further studies in Parsons School of Design in New York . She had a one man show on miniature paintings at Peninsula Hotel. Wing has worked in Advertising Agency at Ace Compton Manila and had apprentice at Ace Compton New York. She will teach fun art in different forms. Sharon Dadang, is a painter, sculptor, teacher, facilitator and organizer of various events which include art exhibits, church based community teambuilding and a staunch peace advocate among others. Sharon has participated in various art exhibitions in 1993 up to the present. She was also a part time faculty of Silliman University College of Performing Arts. The team includes Muffet Villegas, a painter ,illustrator, writer and teacher who has been exhibiting her paintings for more than three decades now, locally and abroad. She recently held her 8th solo art exhibit with the theme “ Light and Shadows” at the Spanish Heritage in Dumaguete City. Art at the Plaza accepts registration on a first come first serve basis. Please call tel. no. 422-0827 for inquiries.

The Awesome God

Moonlight Mass Romance

The moonlight is enough to trigger their primitive instincts to reproduce. They may not have brains or eyes to see, but their whole beings become active and attuned to the pale blue light that make them romantic. The next thing that happens is a spectacle that many would love to see. Soon, the wide expanse of the silvery sea is covered with vast slicks of new life. Sperms and eggs are slowly pushed from the corals' mouths. How the right sperm ends up with the right egg is more complicated to solve.
The way corals reproduce is an amazing mystery even to this age of high technology.The pale blue light coming from the moon triggers a mass romance, causing acres of corals to spawn in perfect harmony after an October full moon.
Scientists say that corals possess this ancient protein known as cryptochromes, a gene in the coral's DNA that can detect moonlight. This gene is also present in other mammals, some insects and even humans. Studies show that it has an important role in our body clock , in terms of doing the right thing at the right time.

Last week, before the summer ends,I had another chance to get a glimpse of these primitive animals in their sanctuary. This is an added attraction to Antulang Beach Resort, where my husband and I spent our weekend together with writers and artists.
Most of us enjoyed activities like cruising, kayaking, snorkeling, horseback riding and painting on the spot. Distinguished writers like Krip Yuson, and multiple Palanca awardee writer Ian Casocot and writing fellows from Manila were also present. Lito Aro, Susan canoy and myself, met Simo, the " manananggot" a very interesting subject to paint.
Juanito Lee, Japi Villegas Lee,Annabelle Lee Adriano and husband Edu Adriano together with their daughter, the youngest budding poet and writer Suyen were perfect hosts.

Just below the rocks and the cliff are the white sand and clear green waters. A few hundred meters away, between the world famous diving site of Apo island and Antulang is an awesome collection of underwater treasures. A bed of multicolored corals where rainbow colored fishes frolic and hide. Our snorkeling guide, Marcelo Palon or Loi Loi, the butler took Susan and me to the corals.
The corals' wide array of colors lying on the ocean's bed are all found in God's painting palette. They grow so slowly, weaving intricate designs that goes beyond man's imagination. A wide cluster of them look like thousands of fingers reaching out for humans who are invading their privacy. Others look like thin fiery fans waving goodbyes. They are in all kinds of shapes and colors. Their intriguing hues range from cool colors like blues to the warmest colors like fiery orange.
Spending time with nature and knowing how living things are coping with life strengthens my faith that God is in control of everything. He knows exactly my body clock. Our time is written on His hand. He thought about us, and made us wonderfully, including these corals.

Goodbye as the hardest words

Saying Goodbye
Running a race and watching others fall one by one can be scary. Because this race is not about reaching the finish line but by running still... and running more...days, weeks and years. This is about buying time, and if possible, missing the finish line.
Life can be so wonderful, we don't want it to end. Loved ones and friends are treasures that we can't simply leave behind. But sad to say we are all made of dust, and to dust we shall return.

Science had made new discoveries. From cloning to finding a new planet which is earth like in size. They have challenged death itself, by prolonging people's lives through machines. But it remains as a challenge to conquer death itself, except to those who believe in the atoning death of Christ.

I have not really faced the reality of physical death until I had breast cancer. I thought life on earth is forever and it will never end. But visiting hospitals and sitting among others who have cancers too, it was like sitting on a death row.

I learned few days ago that my friend died after battling with cancer for a few months. Many have been praying and interceding for her as we have stayed connected with her husband while she was confined in one of the hospitals in Manila. But despite of pleadings and tears, she had to go. She was a christian believer and she loved serving the Lord. Rene is back to her real home now, although we will be missing her a lot.

Physical death is a sad part of human existence. Yet it is part of life. Many people avoid this topic, although this is one of the two things that are certain in life. Death and taxes.

As I face my own mortality, saying goodbye to those whom I love is the hardest word to say. It is like leaving a home you have grown to love. So many familiar faces and so much memories to leave behind.

But we can't live here forever, can we? We are all squatters in this world. Just like the grass in the fields, we are here today and gone tomorrow. No matter how much we drink anti-aging drugs and applying anti- aging lotions on our skin, we all face but one destiny.

But death for believers in Christ is not saying goodbye. It is about seeing you later, because we believe in life after death. It is the beginning of another journey where there is no more pain, and no more needles.

For us who believe in the atoning death of Christ on the cross, life is like a small dot and after that is an endless line called eternity, where there is no illness, nor death to separate us from our first love, who is God.

A Memory

The Gift of Time
“The cicadas are singing intensely because they have only few weeks to live. They have to make most of their time.” My mother said to me as she thoughtfully looks out of her window.
My mother’s name is Rosita. Her soft snowy white hair is covering a portion of her intelligent face, which sometimes becomes puffy with all the medicines she’s taking. It is late afternoon and the cicadas are singing among the trees in my mother’s garden. The sound is deafening but they bring so many beautiful childhood memories for both of us. I come to visit her often in her modest home close to mine, which is surrounded with mangoes, coconuts, and other fruit bearing trees which she and my father planted when he was alive.
Today, she is sick, and my brother Carlos and I care for her.
She came back three months ago after spending four years under my sister’s care in California. Her health is failing now at the age of 81, but she insists to do her gardening despite of her kidney problems. This wonderful woman taught me how to paint at the age of three, and showed me many important things in life that I will always treasure.
Our mornings during childhood were always beautiful because she woke all of her four children with butterfly kisses. She retired many years ago after teaching grade school for more than thirty years. Her beautiful mind is now fading. She forgets everything you said in a few minutes and she asks the same question over and over again.
She remembers the past so vividly that I can paint her childhood in my mind. And today, she teaches me about this beautiful insect that can be found also in other countries like Australia and North America.
The cicadas sleep for about 17 years under the ground and live for only about four weeks above the ground and in the trees. They emerge for the first week, sing and mate for two weeks, and the last week is spent for laying eggs and dying.
Most of the cicadas don’t last that long, since the birds love them too, yet in those few weeks of life, these patient creatures have accomplished their purpose.
In my curiosity, I also found out that since the mothers won’t be there to take care of their young called nymphs, God made these “Nymphs” sleep through adulthood , more or less 13 to 17 years under the ground until they emerge again and live for less than a month. Yet their short existence never seemed to bother them. They sing songs and serenade their mates with the highest pitch possible.
Their life is too short for them to complain. The sounds are produced by the male adults as a mating call and also to distract the birds from eating them. The males will sing to the top of their tymbals, or a pair of ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen and produce an intense noise beyond 120 dB , which can reach the pain threshold of the human ear at a close range. Other small species of cicadas produce higher pitch songs that it is beyond the range of our hearing.
What is more amazing is that the producer of this noise is protected by its own sound. The cicadas organs for hearing called the tympana, automatically closes so that it won’t be deafened by its own noise.
Experts are still researching on the mechanisms involved regarding the singing apparatus of the cicadas.
Our God made an amazing universe, that our human mind cannot fully comprehend. He reminds us once again that time is a gift. How long we live is not as important as how much we have lived.
“…you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”-James 4:14