Sundown at my Backyard

Our backyard lake at sundown- serene, calm, beautiful.

Friday Photo Flashback

My mother's college graduation photo - circa 1950

That old TV

The switch from analog to digital t.v. (DTV) has enhanced television viewing because of the clearer picture and better sound quality.  Through this advanced technology, stations can now broadcast shows in High Definition (HD) or multiple Standard Definition (SD).  By June 2009, stations broadcast only in digital signals.  In fact, nowadays, television comes in digital, SDTV, HDTV, EDTV; soon, there will be more advanced types to come.

Buying a new t.v. may be the easier solution to enjoy DTV, but if you love your analog t.v.,  or are looking for a more affordable alternative (although you are not able to watch it in HD), connect your analog t.v. to a digital box converter, and you can still view t.v. shows in your old analog t.v. set.

Martin Luther King Day

( a shot of my co-employee's poster)

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 

"What are you doing for others" ?

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Early Morning Listening Pleasure

It's a beautiful Sunday morning. Banabear and I are up early. While doing my cleaning chores around the house, I am listening to my favorite gospel singing group, the Heritage Singers.

 Here's one of my favorites:

Make music to praise the Lord. He has done wonderful things. 

Let this be done throughout the earth.

- Isaiah 12:5

Friday Photo Flashback

High School Life

With friends (sophomore year)

Graduation 

These pictures, taken more than a decade ago, bring back memories of fun times.  We always remember with fondness our high school days.  I am still in touch with a lot of my high school classmates.   Most of them were my classmates since grade school and college.  Thanks to Facebook-  we are still able to communicate even though we are now situated in different parts of the world.

Christmas 2011 get-together in New York with some of my US-based high school friends.

"Happy times may come and go

but memories will last forever."

In Memoriam: 911

Located at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York, the 911 Memorial is a tribute to the  nearly 3,000 lives lost during the foreign terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. 

Two main attractions in the site are the North and South Pools, said to be the largest manmade waterfalls in North America.  The pools sit where the Twin Towers once stood.  Inscribed at the edge of the memorial pools are names of the victims.  

The North Pool contains the names of victims of the World Trade Center North, Flight 11 and those killed during the bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993.

The South Pool contains the names of victims of the World Trade Center South, the first responders, Flight 176, Pentagon, Flight 77 and Flight 93.

Artifacts and mementoes can also be seen at the Visitor Center, just outside the Memorial.

"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others.  

It's a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. 

But not only of loss and mourning.  It's also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice,

and the love that lays down its life for a friend-

even a friend whose name it never knew.

-Pres. George W. Bush

911 Memorial

My visit to the 911 Memorial

That's me with my camera reflected in Greer's sunglasses

Check Out

I love shopping but doing it during the holidays when the stores are over crowded is not my idea of "fun". I certainly do not enjoy standing in line, with a dozen or so shoppers ahead of me, waiting for my turn at the check out counter.  Thanks to technology and the barcode scanners, my waiting time has been cut in half.  Scanning the price tag instead of punching the numbers in the machine definitely speeds up the check out process and makes life easier for the clerk and the shoppers.

Battery Park on a December Afternoon

A short walk from the 911 Memorial and New York's Financial District is Battery Park, a 10-acre public park facing New York Harbor and the Hudson River.  The day before Christmas, my friends and I had lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants at the Winter Garden Atrium.  After lunch, we braved the cold December winds and explored the park.

New Year, New Beginning

Today is the first day of the year 2012.  The previous year has been tough for a lot of us but difficult times can help us grow into better and stronger persons, depending on how we respond to trials that we face in life.   Let us face the new year with courage, hope and faith for a brighter tomorrow.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,

to them who are called according to His purpose.

- Romans 8:28, KJV

The Christian life is not a constant high.  

I have my moments of deep discouragement. 

 I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say,

"O God, forgive me," or "Help me."

-Billy Graham

Do not think of a painful experience 

as a dark time in your life.

You emerge out of everything learning something

or becoming a better person.

You realize who your real friends are and

how much your loved ones mean to you.

- Colleen Ho

We must accept finite disappointment, 

but never lose infinite hope.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know

how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

- Richard Nixon

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant;

if we did not sometimes taste adversity,

prosperity would not be so welcome.

- Anne Bradstreet

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow;

it empties today of its strength.

-Corrie Ten Boom

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur

when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy and unfulfilled.

For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, 

that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching

for different ways or truer answers.

-Unknown

Take into account that great love and great achievements

involve great risk.

-Unknown

Pray that your loneliness may spur you into

finding something to live for, great enough to die for.

-Dag Hammarskjold

Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.

-Les Brown

PhotoHunt: Light

It's the time of the year when colorful lights adorn our homes.

"And the dancing lights, both bright and clear

Mean Christmastime is finally here!"

(Christmas Lights)

Maligayang Pasko

The Philippines is known for celebrating the world's longest Christmas season. As early as September, Christmas carols can be heard over the airwaves and people start putting up Christmas decoration.

I have been a U.S. resident for more than 4 years and the Christmas holidays still make me homesick. It is the time of the year when I feel most nostalgic, remembering the good times I shared with family and friends. Christmas in my country has more meaning and is more festive. I am sure my sentiments are shared by a lot of my countrymen who are also away from the Philippines.

When I put up my Christmas decoration a couple of weeks ago, I wanted a "Filipino" touch to it. I am glad I found a "mini parol", a tiny Christmas lantern made of wood and sigay shells. I attached it around a sugarcane shaped candle (a cottage industry product of rebel returnees from Negros Occidental, my home province) placed atop a ceramic carabao (water buffalo) pulling a cart of sugarcane cuttings (this ceramic tabletop decor was a going-away present from my bowling teammate and friend).

Something to remind me of home.


A carabao pulling a cart filled with sugarcane cuttings is a typical countryside sight in my country, especially in my home province, touted as the sugar capital of the Philippines. A "Parol" is a traditional Filipino Christmas decor. It is a star-shaped lantern, usually made of bamboo and colored paper.

"Maligayang Pasko" is a Philippine greeting meaning, "Merry Christmas".

Mary, Did You Know?

One of my favorite Christian hymns is the Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know?" Below is Donny Osmond's version of the song.

If there were no Jesus, there would be no Christmas.

He is the Reason for the Season.

Typical Backyard Scene

Our backyard overlooks a beautiful, albeit man-made, lake. From inside the house, one can see through the glass sliding door the view of the lake.

Early in the morning, I can see ducks swimming around the lake

or huddled together

or walking, er, waddling in one line.

Others are just seated beside the lake by themselves, as if in deep meditation.

The ducks are very 'sociable'. When they see me walking outside, they waddle towards me.

Unlike the ducks, the other birds "visiting" our backyard are kind of 'anti-social'. They would scamper away at my slightest movement or sound.

The other day, I woke up early to a cool morning and saw four water birds seated on the grass in one row, with their necks strained in the same direction. They were a lovely sight and I wanted very much to capture them with my camera. However, as soon as I opened the door of our lanai, they hurriedly jumped into the water. I must've scared them away.

On midday when the sun is up, I see ducks "cooling" themselves underneath the big mango tree

or under the shrubbery.

Others would sit out in the open "sunbathing", probably taking advantage of the warm-cool weather.

Dusk is my favorite part of the day. When the sun sets, the waters in the lake remind me of the movie, "On Golden Pond". I love gazing at the "dancing" lights reflected in the water.

The ducks must love it, too.

Sometimes I see a couple of ducks on an "early night swim", enjoying a refreshing dip in the water before calling it a day :)

I love our backyard lake.