November Scenery

(Posted Dec. 3) 

I got a chance to take an extended Sunday afternoon ride to Kalibo, about 65 miles  away from our place, on the north coast of Panay Island.  I've been there just once before in the 6 years we've been here, so I was quick to take the opportunity. 

(Sometime during this month, I was fooling around with camera and I THINK I figured out how to turn OFF the darned "date + time" tag   :-))  )

Aklan Province, which boundary is just beyond Pandan, is noticeably more forested than
our province of Antique (an-tee-kay).  Several people have mentioned their being much
more proactive in keeping their trees in-place.

I just enjoy riding along, admiring the scenery,

especially as the National Highway passes over several small ranges of hills.  This
part of the road is quite like some secondary highways in California.

The primary destination at Kalibo turned out to be this "Eco
Park,"  where local citizens and organizations had converted
a mud-flat area of "wasteland" into a Mangrove Forest (which 
sounds misogynistic to me, but I'm not really "UP" on all the
latest Social Justice issues).  This link goes to a very brief
video which describes the ecological importance of mangrove
(?¿ SHOULD it be "person"grove¿?) forests.  Our conversations
were not too badly affected by the continuous "eco."

Above plaque near the entrance describes the cooperative
efforts of creating the preserve area, a little bit of carved-
in-stone "Hooray for us."  I had to aim below the medallions of
organizations in order to fit all the text into the photo.  Nearly
all such markers in the Philippines are in English language,
usually with some grammar creativity.

Also near the entrance this not-too-happy-looking primate
kept vigil, free only to scamper back and forth along a
12-foot length of bamboo pole.


250 yards beyond the entrance, the raised walkway had
wound its way through young- looking but densely planted
forest to a river, spanned by this 250-foot-long pedestrian
bridge.  Our niece Gian, visiting from Manila, strikes a pose
for my camera. I was told that beyond the bridge, the pathway
continued approx. one kilometer to the ocean;  I thought
I could probably walk ONE kilometer, despite the steamy
heat and my late afternoon fatigue, but the returning
kilometer might be a little too much.  


20 yards before the bridge was a nicely placed bench, shady in the late afternoon.
and I relaxed and enjoyed this view through the young trees until the rest of
the group returned.

I made quite a few more photos of the bridge structure and the walkway, all of which was

bamboo pole- and- slat- construction. The combination of trestles and trusses used was interesting.  I think you can get a fair idea of it from the one photo above.  This construction is ubiquitous here, and is sturdy enough for its purpose; however, the bamboo will last only for a few years, so it must constantly be maintained.  As it is not an "engineered" product, it would not be permitted in any public-use and not in most private-use situations in the USA.

A week later, I was headed towards Batonan for a weekly English literacy program.  This
combination of light breaking-through-clouds and dark sky above created a vivid
contrasting display of colors, and I stopped long enough to make a photo through
the car's windshield.

I've been noticing this quite large and intricate piece of
drift-wood at our meeting place for several weeks now, and
finally I got a chance to get some photos.  The variety
of shapes in the old tree-roots defeated any attempt to
capture all of them in any ONE photo.  Lots of "fuel for
imagination" there.  I included the chair for size-reference.

A couple hours later I had traveled south again, beyond Tibiao to Barbaza,
when I again encountered the interplay of high-dark-overcast sky and
light areas where the clouds had parted.  This time I had some extra
minutes, and when the double-rainbow began to form I got out of the
car to try to capture the image.  The "double" is quite faint and is to
the left of the more vivid rainbow.

This photo is nearly continuous to the previous one.  The "double" is barely visible at
the tip of the farthest leaf on the tree, and you might see it more easily when your eyes
are scanning horizontally - - just a faint difference in color from the rest of the sky.

The camera can only hint at the striking and vivid colors of this scene. The rainbow seems
to spill light over the hillside at its "end;"  ALAS!  no Leprechaun , and certainly no gold!

A few more snapshot views of the panorama I saw give a little suggestion of its impact.
(YEP! this is the newly-widened-to-4-lane highway section, complete with slalom- poles!)

The sky being quite light to the west was probably the cause of the chiaroscuro effect.

Well, I don't think Ansel Adams' legacy is in any danger from the likes of ME!

I actually finished things to this point several days before Thanksgiving.  I hope some sense of the vividness of the scenery photos will come through the "sending process."  I held off  posting this two weeks ago  because I knew there would be various other photos coming along soon.

I was present at three (or four?) various Thanksgiving programs, at several churches,  and later in the month made trips to San Jose and Iloilo (for a wedding) (plus errands), so I'll pitch in here with some random and misc. pictures of the end of the month.  (I forgot to even pick up the camera during our Thanksgiving Day celebration at home, so no photos of that, but I suppose it looked pretty-much-same as others I've sent earlier.)

The decorations were fairly elaborate for our place, at Camp Moriah.  And you may have some sense of how the open- pavilion "feels" to be part of.  On the right, a forested hill overlooks the ocean, with about a 50 yard pathway down to beach-level.

Last minute study-focus - - 

- -  just before the "presentation."

Some readers will remember the songs propped open-and-ready at my "station."

Suzuki multi-cab pickup also = playground monkey-bars, when parked.

One elder lady at Pandan has been hand-crafting these hats
and purses for at least several months, and they "sell like hot-
cakes" at meetings, with the proceeds going to special
ministry projects of various sorts.

"GOOFY PROJECTS" Division Entries

Last week, the headlight-control switch on the Suzi-car began

to stay-in-place at the "flash high-beams" position; seems like

the internal return-spring is broken.  A replacement "MULTI-

Switch Unit" having the turn-signal, lights, and (opposite) the

windshield wiping controls, would be pretty difficult to find

I think (experience!) but I will begin to look.       After having

the high-beams be ON but UN-noticed when I parked a

couple times (yes, dead battery =  jump-starts, etc.) I

imagined this "Jethro- looking" (ref. Beverly Hillbillies)

rig with an external spring, and it seems to work fine.

 "Pull back" on the arm to flash high-beams, and it will
return to "off," without't affecting any other function.

(Right-steering-wheel vehicles are forbidden in this country, 
 so this car is like many thousands here -  - converted to
left-steer after it was imported. So it has a "backwards"
multi-switch with turn signal control + lights on the right
side. After four years, I STILL turn on the wipers-
left side! - instead of signalling, sometimes.)


In preparation for the wedding-trip to Iloilo, I found the need
for a shoe-horn.  Hadn't used one since coming here - - no
need, given the usual foot wear. I pretty much think I would
look long, far, and unsuccessfully for such a thing here;  but
15 minutes with a piece of already-concave bamboo, and a
couple tools, produced this funk- tional substitute. 

 At Guimbal, west of Iloilo, the main Highway has been widened all the way through
town already (unusual for this area, towns tend to be too congested) EXCEPT this
place where a quite-large Acacia tree has been preserved.  A couple signs here
also allude to a "Vanishing Mansion" which seems to be a local legend or joke,
which some day I'll stop long enough to investigate.

And as you've seen I REALLY like sunset vistas.  The ocean views are usually relaxing
and peaceful.