our mother of perpetual help

i thank you dearest mother for all the help...then & now...the altar of our mother of perpetual help at saint alphonsus church in windsor, canada...red roses, mine :) they are known to be symbols of love and affection :)

"to love those who loves you is only human. but to love those that hates you is of the divine"... a very nice quote that i've read lately. it is one of the hardest things to do but we must try to do it if we want God's love, if we want to have a light heart, always... and if we add prayer to it then we should be all set to take care of all the challenges of our life's everyday existence...

"God speaks to us through others for He knows the better way and the better route" ...as we realize that when we look back at our lives...

"life is about enduring" as i quote one lady actress. very true, be that of sadness, happiness or in between, until the end comes. in the meantime let's maximize the true fun but not the games. games are good for awhile but it's tiring and it won't sustain you long term. games are just that, games...

June 27th is the feast of our mother of perpetual help...i remember one vacation time the church was decorated with sooo many flowers plus those streamers above which i had snapped for eternity and posted here...below :)

water's allure

it is calm as a coming dawn
when there is no violent clouds
it is forgiving as a victim
of hate when the sun is bright

it is hot as a volcano
during turbulent times
it is danger when the earth
will tremble and crack

the sea has its allure
that it beacons you to
stare at it all day long

the sea has its potion
like magic that you're
enthralled and bought

its pulsating waves
is a welcoming heart which
invites to dip your tired feet

as its salty sea will
coat your bare skin and
make it numb

as you walk away
the pain, the lies
will soon depart

as they're just stacked
as memories to be forgotten

as the past will slowly crawl
away from you, relief at last...


the sea is like a drug that heals us. the sea is like an anesthetic that makes us suffer in silence...images are from the www, thanks to you who owns them for sharing :)

***

mighty sea you are a saviour
of the heart that is battered
bleeding and torn apart

thanks to you

our eyes sparkled
our spirits soared high
our hopes reborn again
and we are once more

deemed to be alive...

i miss the philippines

i want to see "Aida" verdi's opera, filipino style. i want to sit down on a beach and stare at it all day long. i want to plant perfumy filipino flowering plants, plus i want to see family and friends...and of course visit double dozens of churches, again :) i know it sounds lame but to me it sounds great and grand...also i want to feed the homeless, the hungry, the forgotten, the dinaandaanan na lamang, for they are the love of God in this world...

his other master pieces :)

amorsolo's paintings of churches

antipolo, malate and one spanish church unnamed. born in paco, manila, like i was, laughs. died at age 79, married twice and had 14 children, wow. 5 of them became painters as well but not as popular or as great as their dad. the filipino master painter of light and shadows who excelled in depicting or capturing philippine landscapes and ways of life. his works fetch millions. it is only a dream to own one in my case, laughs. but i have one favorite painting of him that i've seen in you tube. that of a church on top of a stairway and down below is an orange bush, a family with an umbrella plus vendors :) what multiple scenes captured by the strokes of this man's genius paint brush. no words fitting to describe it. with this art i would certainly settle for a mere reproduction :)

art is one way of making people pause, think, and remember you for eternity. did you make them fly higher, dream better, smile, and gave hope for them to reach out for the stars inspired by your works? this is what amorsolo does i think in most of his paintings. but people are different, artists are different. each shines in their own fields of expertise and we choose what endears into our hearts. the only thing is positivity always trumps negativity as smiles and laughter are always preferred to suffering. for we are just humans, we want happiness, the silent choice of everyone if we are normal :)

birthdays...

it comes in cycles
rain or shine
it comes every year
while you're still alive

why does life has to be measured in years
why does life has to be marked with candles...

is it better to count it
with how many arms
you have extended
to help the sick, the suffering
or how many smiles
and laughter you have
created with your words
or your works

is it better to do it
with how many roads
you have strengthened
or how many dark alleys
you have brightened
or how many tides
you have calmed
when the seas was
rough in one's life

or is it better to do it with
how many souls you have
changed for the better
once they have known you
ever since you've met

birthdays are scales
are you heavier now
in the hearts of others
or are you still a lightweight
with no meaning and no substance
and here you are gaining in years

life wasted for nothing
life lost without a trace
life lived without a marker
to be forgotten and vanished
in the minds of others

birthdays here they are
and we have the power
to make it stand out
to make it sing
sweet lullabies
to be heard by others
to be enjoyed by others
to make their lives smile for awhile
or for the rest of their lives...

life is short, our birthdays are numbered, let's make it count. it is never too late to "aid a life" in any small ways the best that we can for any amount of help big or small are just the same in the eyes of our heavenly father and that is God :)...so thank God for birthdays...we are blessed if we could have lots of it. we celebrate and then take a break, like in blogging. salamat for your visits...

Patar beach...

The sadness in goodbyes...

You grow, you leave, you depart
To seek your destiny, your own life
You look sometimes as a vagabond
Searching, seeking tirelessly at your own

This life, most of it is a mystery
Just as tomorrow come what may
No need to be ruffled, don't you hurry
This earth will turn as usual in its way

The sun will shine as bright
All the stars will twinkle alright
The planets will orbit in their routes
Just as you and me slowly will grow up

We live, we love, we hurt
We smile, we cry, we laugh
We hope and pray for luck
We lose, we win, we say our thanks

Deaths, goodbyes, farewells
Can't dodge it, even if you will
Accept, go on and move on
And try to live your life, from now on

Till the end will come your way
Till all around you is black and gray
Till that silent goodbye that you can't say
Bidding adieu and farewell permanently...

death is the result of the ticking of time...death is the end of happiness, sadness and all our strife. few welcome it but most do not want it...but just the same we will all meet it, someday, somewhere, sometime...Christ has died and so shall we...sad isn't it? but death is rest...

When the Good is Gone...

At that wishing well of wonder
Under trees of untrodden paths
Birds fly freely, sun shines brightly
Weeping gently, is one soul's heart

As flickering moon beams edge their way
In between soft leaves on a dark lit eve
Walking in silence casting shadows
While gentle winds slowly ripple away

Balmy breeze brings warmth fresh air
Rolling waves from ocean near
Pure white sand so soft it shines
Burning heat hot as the sun

Everywhere, search had begun
Since you left, for a love that's gone
Hoping someone will fill the space
Of emptiness that you left behind

Sadly no one can ever fill that void
Of those years that is full of joy
All I have now is a wasted world
Without a wand, and that magic twirl...

To my dad, again :)...written (2-2-'07)...above is my cosmos bush one past autumn or fall...the leaves were starting to drop, piece by piece, one by one aided by the gentle wind, the leaves are gone...like life on earth...one goodbye at a time but sometimes not only one...but a lot of lives are gone...we love our dads...forever... and my dad's resting place in manila...

Dear Dad

Sitting in silence, one starry lit night,
Beneath an oak tree not far from our house,
Thoughts of time passed,
Flashed into my eyes...

Those carefree days filled with daily delights,
Full of laughter and of joyful jibes,
Everlasting smiles, teasings to the top,
Sadly, time had to interced for that to stop.

Missing happiness and musings of sorrow,
Teardrops falling no more face a glow,
My heart stopped to laugh, broken and torn apart,
From your undue absence, when you had to depart.

Dear dad, fate is such that,
Time steals someone,
Life's sunshine,
Love of one's life...

Tomorrow, Jan.19th, should have been your 79th b-day, but where ever you are now, in heaven I'm sure... Happy Birthday to you!...the best person I've ever known...(1-18-'07)

"AIDA"

aida

isa kang binibini na
tapat kong magmahal
isa kang prinsesa na
nawala at ngayon
ay natagpuan

ang layo nang araw
ang gabi ay nandito na
ang unan ay basangbasa
punong puno na
naman nang luha

bakit ang bagyo
kong darating ay mabangis

bakit ang kidlat
ang sulyap ay napakasakit

bakit ang baha
tinatangay niya
ang lahat walang itinitira

bakit ang tadhana
ang ibinibigay sa iba
ay laging pagdurusa

dahil ba kaya sa pag-ibig
na tutuo ang buhay ay napuno
dahil ba sa pag-ibig hinahamak
kahit kamatayan makapiling
lamang ang sinisinta at kasuyo

pag-ibig bakit ka ganyan
kong minsan ang puso
ay nadudurog
di makatulog
dahil sa ikaw
ay napakalayong ligaya
na di namin kayang maabot...

the cast of aida of manila

if i am in manila i will be watching "aida" the musical, filipino style. i know it will be fun. i was surprised because josh santana is also in the cast? he was the very handsome partner of carol banawa in one teleserye that i watched then. this young guy looked wholesome and very guapo :) i know all of you will agree. i think he went to school after the teleserye if i remember right. young ladies, he is a catch if he is not already taken :> pics nicked from the www aka, girlie rodis' for the musical's promotion...and this guy even released an album titled, eres tu...i went to itunes and see if i can buy his "historia de un amor" version but nada. now i will see if i can buy his album when i'm in pinas, no. 2 things that i wanna do on next vacation :)...a cute handsome guy plus adorable :> i'm sure that he is not short of choices for GF's like when one is "lost" lots of replacements naman diba ;) "journey of a smile" one of his songs, maybe that will replace "historia de un amor"...(^&*)...

wow, aida is really a sad love story because of its ending. but aida showed that it is better to die besides your beloved than live life without him... hmn, how romantic... but how many like aida's do we still have in this universe at this time? pls. count me out, laughs. gosh! it is only a man made opera but who knows when presented with a true to life scenario, no one knows really what we will do for the one we truly love...sacrifice, giving them their happiness, dying with them or for them as well...of course :) and i'm thinking bagay na bagay na theme song nito pala this on going tune, (^&*). sad, thought provoking, soulful...plus the title,"L Appuntamento" by Ornella Vanoni, the appointment in the tomb or grave by the 2 lovers, alive, where they died together...what was verdi thinking! i don't like it, laughs.

L'appuntamento (English) Lyrics

I was wrong so many times till this point and I already know it
that today almost certainly
I am wrong on your behalf but one more time
what can change in my life
accept this strange date
was madness
I am sad between the people
that go by me
but the nostalgia to see you again
is more powerful than crying
this sun lights up on my face
a sign of hope
I am waiting when suddenly
I will see you appear from a far
Love, hurry up, I can't resist...
if you don't arrive I don't exist
I don't exist,I don't exist...
the weather has changed and it rains
but I keep on waiting
I don't care what the world thinks of me
I don't want to go away
I look inside me and I ask
but I don't hear anything
I am only a left-over of hope
lost between the people
Love it's already late and I don't resist
if you don't arrive I don't exist
I don't exist, I don't exist
lights, cars, shop-windows, roads, streets
everything gets mixed up in my mind
my shadow is tired to follow me
the day dies slowly
There is nothing else left than going back home
to my sad life
this life that I wanted to give to you
you have crumbled her between your fingers
Love, excuse me but I can't resist
now forever I don't exist
I don't exist, I don't exist

summer delights...

...adorned my front little garden  :) my guess is that my flowers are happy with me taking their pictures, laughs. yes... flowers, flowers and flowers, they make me smile for sure... click images for a more beautiful view of my summer blooms although it is not officially summer yet and here they are :> i love to garden. maybe if i will have one in the philippines it is more gorgeous because the blooming season in the tropics is longer! no winter kasi :) so more time to toil and to tend to my garden and i would be planting flowery shrubs who are perfumy like gardenia, sampaguita, ilang-ilang and dama de noche, wow! i will be very, very happy that i can imagine now :) hmn, in the meantime i am dreaming how malate church looks like now as compared to the time when the great amorsolo painted it before. one vacation must see place for me...

sa bawat pagpatak nang ulan

kong ang init nang tag-araw
ay hindi mo na kayang tiisin
huwag kang mag-alala dahil may
tag-ulan pa naman na darating

madilim man ang kabihasnan
at maraming ulap na dumaraan
huwag matamlay dahil may kanta
kang maririnig na bigay nang tadhana

ang buhay natin ay talagang ganyan
may lubak na nadaraanan
pero pagkatapos naman
ay may panatag sa kalooban

dahil ang buhay natin ay isang gulong
na kong ngayon ikaw ay nasa sulong
bukas naman ay kakaiba dahil
ikaw ay tinitingala at sinasalubong

kong ikaw ngayon ay dinadaandaanan
lamang at hindi pinapansin
alam natin na ang Diyos
ay parating nakatingin sa atin

kaya huwag sanang papatak
ang iyong mga mahal na luha
dahil bukas ang araw ay sisilang pa naman
at ikaw ay... magiging masaya :)

negativity pushes us down while positivity lifts us up, my mantra...

cats knew how we feel...

i think it's true :) h_saya is always around when i feel blue...(^&*)...and no where when i'm in a light mood. and when we are sick, there they are as well :)...i wake up early and here he is, playful and rubbing his tail on my arms, maybe saying it's time for you to feed me, laughs. and when you give him catnip he becomes uncontrollable. that catnip is like a drug that makes him act up, bites you playfully. i dunno, i think maybe an opposite to other drugs that makes one stoned, i guess...but saya is definitely love. JC always mimic cat language every time he thinks of him anywhere we are at, seriously, laughs. he loves this cat so much...where we are, there he is, even in the philippines for as JC puts it, he's family :>

what makes my day a victory...

when the sun shines as bright on a cloudless sky. when the stars twinkle till dawn of night. when the rainbow emit bold colors in the sky. when the rain will stop and you can smell the grass, the flowers, the earth with that magical, natural perfumy blast.

when your love ones care and make you feel that way. when your day is filled with ecstasy instead of agony. when your dreams are slowly making its way to your face. when you felt you've made a difference to a life that's in need of help...

when your life is slowly passing by and you can let out a smile. when you sleep at night and your shoulders aren't as tight. when you've sacrificed and did what's right. when you've paved the way to a future that will be bright...

...that when you close your eyes at night you can hear God in your heart saying to you... "well done my daughter...i am truly proud"...

my blooms this past summer :)