Sky Watching 2012

Black clouds hover over the salt marshes

It was only this year that I've started watching the skies more avidly than before. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I've been lucky enough to have a great view of sunrises from my front window. I also walk at the park right by the salt marshes and I often watch the planes coming in to land at SFO. It's a wide open space and there's an unobstructed view of the sky. One day while walking along the trail, I espied black smoke in the horizon. Then I heard the sounds of sirens and police cars speeding to the scene of the fire.

Since I walk around the park after work, I'm often rewarded with breathtaking sunsets.

Bay Area sunset

The sky is a canvas in progress. Cloud formations change so quickly that by the time I pull out my camera from my handbag, I've lost that particular scenario. It's a little tricky to take pictures while driving unless you're at a stop sign and the train is passing through so you're waiting ages for the light to turn green. Here's one I took at the stop light. I used my old IPhone to take this image. This is what came out.

Cirrocumulus clouds

And when dark clouds gather, rain is just a whiff away.

Dark clouds over the Central Valley

I woke up early the day after Christmas and watched the sunrise. It was so different from the warm and fiery sunrises of summer. The sky was grey and cold. But it was still a marvel to watch.

Sunrise - December 26, 2012

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"And I am well nourished by it." Me

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Images by Charie

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the

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