A Blessing for Advent

Advent wreath is the centerpiece in this Sunday's altar adornments. 

You believe that the Son of God once came to us;

you look for Him to come again.

May His coming bring you the light of His holiness

and free you with His blessing.

R. Amen!

May God make you steadfast in faith,

joyful in hope, and untiring in love

all the days of your life.

R. Amen!

You rejoice that our Redeemer

came to live with us as man.

When He comes again in glory,

may He reward you with endless life.

R. Amen!

May almighty God bless you,

the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen!

(Source: www.catholicdoors.com)

Elegant floral arrangement accented the altar dais. 

Advent wreath is a meaningful Christmas symbol.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil


Note: All photos were taken at Saint James the Greater Parish in Bulusan, Sorsogon on November 30, 2014

On the Beach at Dusk

Dancalan Beach Resort, Bulusan, November 2014

Dancalan Beach Resort hall near the entrance is videoke heaven at night. (Bulusan, 2014).

Cottages dot the resort area (Dancalan Beach Resort, Bulusan)

The recent spike of visitors in Dancalan beach is a welcome development in Bulusan. Beach activities are noticeable along this area aside from the usual beach swim. Some resort establishments in the vicinity are now serving meals from breakfast to dinner.

If however you are not the videoke singing type, stay clear from the beach hall area and find a spot where you can be more comfortable away from the karaoke sound. The stretch of the beach is long in this coast.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Farewell, Menan Frayna

Farewell, Menan Frayna. Dios Mabalos!

May God reward you for your good deeds and commendable contribution for a better Bulusan.

A song for a farmer's death in San Jose

How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died? - Bob Dylan, Blowin' In The Wind

Blowin' In The Wind by Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly

Before they’re forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many years can a mountain exist

Before it’s washed to the sea?

Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist

Before they’re allowed to be free?

Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head

Pretending he just doesn’t see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

See also:

http://bulusanruralvagabond.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/echoes-from-the-mountains/

Photo: Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon

Postcards from the village (1)

Barangay San Francisco, Bulusan

Weaving karagumoy hats is a major livelihood activity in Kapangihan also known as Barangay San Francisco in Bulusan. To supplement the harvests of coconut and pili nuts in the area, women make hats almost daily that can fetch at around 7.50pesos each. Weavers average to about 10 hats a day minimum.

Karagumoy hat weaving is a traditional craft that dates back in the early 1900. Early Chinese merchants of Bulusan were the first to trade the hats that continues up to the present.

As the karagumoy hats become an established commodity being traded in town, cultivation of karagumoy in farm patches became the norm. It is common to see karagumoy, an indigenous plant  from the pandan family, inter cropped between coconut and pili in almost all agricultural patches of land in Bulusan.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Bulusan Lake sans the colored boats

In my recent visit (August 8, 2014) to Bulusan Lake, I challenged myself to compose a shot of Bulusan Lake without the ubiquitous colored boats. This is to veer away from the too cliched photos coming out in various tourist promotions about the lake with the colored boats prominently displayed on its serene waters.

Focusing on the natural beauty of the lake and its surroundings without the artificial trappings -- this was my mental guide as I walk slowly along the trail around the lake to find the spot. 

The above photo is the resulting image. Bulusan Lake photographs itself literally. A beauty.

Photo: Alma P. Gamil

Location: Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, Bulusan, Sorsogon

               Philippines

Raw snippets of the July 12 supermoon in Bulusan

Despite the limited zoom  of  my camera, I have finally captured the July 12 full moon after a series of failed attempts of shooting the full moon for the past several months this year. Said to be a supermoon plus the clear weather these coincidences on the exact day of the full moon made me feel extra lucky.

I have however 2 more supermoons to look forward to this year -- on August 11 and September 9. I hope by this time my zoom power will be powerful enough for closer shots.

All of the above photos were taken at the serene ambiance of Villa Luisa Celeste Resort in Bulusan, Sorsogon on July 12, 2014.

Photos: Alma P. Gamil
            Bulusan, Sorsogon

Community Portraits

Memorable summer for these young locals enjoying cozy afternoon moments at the beach, Dancalan, Bulusan, 2013.

Drawing sand graffiti is playtime for kids at the seawall, Barangay Dapdap, Bulusan, 2013.

Candelaria celebration in Bulusan,  Feburary 2014.

Guest bikers wait for the go signal at the start of the Bulusan Mountain Bike Challenge  2013.

Happy hat weavers of Barangay Mabuhay in Bulusan, 2013.

Photographs by Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Mindful along the road

Bulusan is a visual community that can inspire so many photographs even those coming from an amateur like myself. Photography is the main reason why I created this blog. To be true to this site's original calling, I will be converting this site into a gallery of photos from my hometown Bulusan.

'Mindful along the road' will be my first set.

Countryside, Bulusan, February 2014.

Overlooking an old lava flow, Sitio Porog, Bulusan, 2014. 

Bulusan Volcano, February 2014.

Coconut grove, Dancalan, Bulusan, February 2014.

Road view, Dancalan, Bulusan, February 2014.

Photographs by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines, February 2014

Happy Three Kings Day!

"Their humble courage was what enabled them to bend down before the child of poor people and to recognize in him the promised King, the one they had set out, on both their outward and their inward journey, to seek and to know."

Photo by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, 1st Sunday of January, 2014

Insight from Wendell Berry

Composite mountains of  Bulusan Volcano

"I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until "retirement," but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know they can never compass with their understanding or desire."

Wendell Berry, The Unforeseen Wilderness : An Essay on Kentucky's Red River Gorge (1971), p. 33; what is likely a paraphrase of a portion of this has existed since at least 1997, and has sometimes become misattributed to John James Audubon: A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

Lifted from WikiQuotes

Photo by Alma P. Gamil

Mt. Bulusan : 'A Special Place in Philippine Botany'

Palali (sometimes pronounced/spelled as Palale) is a pure white katmon relative that flourishes abundantly in the mountains of Bulusan. http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/pelserpb/r/Dilleniaceae_Dillenia_reifferscheidia_75128.html

Receiving encouraging words from no less than a distinguished scientist was one of the  most rewarding experiences in my personal foray into flora photography in my hometown.

Dr James LaFrankie, author of the book  An Illustrated Guide on Asia's Tropical Trees posted the following in the FB page of the Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines :
"...you are getting a great collection of photographs of all sorts of interesting plants... Mt. Bulusan is a special place in Philippine botany so keep building your collection..."

Dr James LaFrankie attained his PhD in Biology from Harvard University. He is now a professor at the Institute of Biology, College of Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

I did not expect that my simple contributions of flora photos from Bulusan will be noticed. My only aim is to at least make some listings with photos of the flora that are found in Bulusan. This encouragement therefore is a signal for me to continue this plant listing activity one species at a time for as long as I can still hold a camera to photograph these immense biodiversity.

Furthermore, this marvelous information that Mt. Bulusan is "a special place in Philippine Botany" also underscores the importance of the preservation of its natural conditions. For me it means that Mt. Bulusan and its adjacent areas must first and foremost be NOT converted into an industrial field such as that of a Geothermal field zone that will alter irrevocably its surrounding ecosystem.

Photo: Alma P. Gamil
BVNP - Bulusan Volcano Natural Park
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Sunday stroll at Saint James the Greater Churchyard's Garden

The garden at the churchyard of Saint James the Greater enclosed by its historic Punta Diamante's thick coral stone wall is always a favorite destination for my photo strolls. Its easy access from my residence around two blocks away is not the main reason why. The real draw is Punta Diamante, the muralla or stone fort. It is a Spanish colonial period fortress and definitely one of the best kept secrets of Bulusan town. The place is even older than the famed Ruins of Barcelona located in the neighboring Barcelona town.

The historic ambiance of the place easily gives a hint that this place has the potential of a tourist spot similar to the 'Father Blanco's Garden' of the historic Intramuros in Manila often featured in magazines and national dailies. 

At present, the Saint James Parish's garden is planted with local ornamental plants that are familiar in the locality. It seems that these are perennially flowering dotting the expanse of the churchyard with colors. With variety of colors and patterns, I can spend hours inside its perimeter without being bored. 

I was not alone though, I spotted two boys playing 'play golf'. No idea though how they were able to have access to a real golf ball and club :) I did not bother to bother them with trivial questions because I was also busy with my shoot.

There are so many endless subjects in the vicinity that I know will register well in photographs. I started with the ornamental flowers and end up taking photos of interesting leaves and wild flowers as well in the sprawling churchyard.

Related post: http://bulusanruralvagabond.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/punta-diamante-bulusans-testament-to-a-glorious-past/

Photographs by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Bulusan flora documentation starts with a modest gallery at PhytoImages

One of the many species of  Pandanaceae family in Bulusan

Bulusan biodiversity is hands down the richest in the Province of Sorsogon. Surprisingly no documentation of its existing flora can be accessed in the web or in any publication. An interview with a leading NGO in the municipality confirmed  this observation.

In this light, I have decided to speed up my gallery of plant photographs from Bulusan, my hometown, with each plant correspondingly identified and curated by PhytoImages' pool of experts.

For those interested to view the gallery, you may visit this page at Phytoimages.

The above photo of a Bulusan pandan species is included in the gallery. More photos are lined up for uploading in the next few days hopefully with the known scientific identification ready.

Photo: Alma P. Gamil

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Bulusan Fiesta 2013 Gallery (1)

Photographs by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines