In year 2003, after a year of living as monk in our community secluded from the world- I acquired the ways of a monk- i acquired the looks of a monk-a medieval contemplative monk.

One of the ways I learned inside the monastery was how to make a good meditation and contemplation in the silence of the surroundings.

I grew my facial hairs involuntarily and developed a feature of a monk! This photo was one of the photos that Dom Caedmon took of me while we were at the riverside of Chama river at 3pm while we were doing our Lectio Divina.

It was a strange practice that contemplative monks do their meditations and contemplations at the wilderness as they strongly believe that it is in solitude at the wilderness when they encounter God and feel His holy presence.

I saw, I climbed, I conquered Chama canyon!

Proofs of my conquest! With monkbrothers and nuns of our neighboring community of Benedictine sisters of the monastery of our Lady of the Desert, I climbed the canyon finally! This was in May 30th of year 2005.

Cross at the clifftop

This cliff is overlooking the whole community of Christ in the Desert monastery.

If i remember it right, I only climbed up this  canyon twice and never did try again after the second time.

It was  just exhausting and challenging yet fulifilling to be on top of the canyon.

Many guests tried to reach the top of this canyon but many failed. So, with my brothers climbing up with me, I felt a bit secure and safe while doing the trek.

 Afterall, I had years of experience as mountaineer in the Philippines.

a stranger in paradise

We are all strangers in this space called world because the real one is not in this world but in the afterlife.

abundance

There is no doubt that summer solstice is gonna stay for days, weeks and months.

Where I lived for nine years, summer means time to stroll the  long trails of the riverbank of chama river that connects the big river in Colorado to  the river dividing the monastery property in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

 This has always been a great mystery of God's love for His humankind: nature made for them to enjoy them and receive benefits from their abundance.

wind waves

In fluid dynamics, wind waves or, more precisely, wind-generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and canals or even on small puddles and ponds.

They usually result from the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface. Some waves in the oceans can travel thousands of miles before reaching land. Wind waves range in size from small ripples to huge rogue waves.

When directly being generated and affected by the local winds, a wind wave system is called a wind sea. After the wind ceases to blow, wind waves are called swell. Or, more generally, a swell consists of wind generated waves that are not — or hardly — affected by the local wind at that time. They have been generated elsewhere, or some time ago.

Wind waves in the ocean are called ocean surface waves.
Tsunamis are a specific type of wave not caused by wind but by geological effects.

In deep water, tsunamis are not visible because they are small in height and very long in wavelength. They may grow to devastating proportions at the coast due to reduced water depth.

Wind waves are mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air; the restoring force is provided by gravity, and so they are often referred to as surface gravity waves.

As the wind blows, pressure and friction forces perturb the equilibrium of the water surface. These forces transfer energy from the air to the water, forming waves.

In the case of monochromatic linear plane waves in deep water, particles near the surface move in circular paths, making wind waves a combination of longitudinal (back and forth) and transverse (up and down) wave motions. When waves propagate in shallow water, (where the depth is less than half the wavelength) the particle trajectories are compressed into ellipses.

As the wave amplitude (height) increases, the particle paths no longer form closed orbits; rather, after the passage of each crest, particles are displaced slightly from their previous positions, a phenomenon known as Stokes drift.

For intermediate and shallow water, the Boussinesq equations are applicable, combining frequency dispersion and nonlinear effects. And in very shallow water, the shallow water equations can be used.

night lamp

A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate automatically in dark weather.

In older lighting this function would have been performed with the aid of a solar dial.

It is not uncommon for street lights to be on posts which have wires strung between them, such as on telephone poles or utility poles.

liquor in the water...

Liquor or liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.

The word liqueur comes from the Latin liquifacere (“to liquefy”).

A distinction can be made between liqueurs and the kind of cordials that are made with fruit juice.

In some parts of the world, people use the words “cordial” and “liqueur” interchangeably.

Liqueurs date back centuries and are historical descendants of herbal medicines, often those prepared by monks, as Chartreuse or Bénédictine.

Liqueurs were made in Italy as early as the 13th century and their consumption was later required at all treaty signings during the Middle Ages.

Nowadays, liqueurs are made worldwide and are served in many ways: by themselves, poured over ice, with coffee, mixed with cream or other mixers to create cocktails, etc. They are often served with or after a dessert. Liqueurs are also used in cooking.

Some liqueurs are prepared by infusing certain woods, fruits, or flowers, in either water or alcohol, and adding sugar or other items.

Others are distilled from aromatic or flavoring agents.

The distinction between liqueur and spirits (sometimes liquors) is not simple, especially since many spirits are available in a flavored form today.

Flavored spirits, however, are not prepared by infusion. Alcohol content is not a distinctive feature.

At 15-30%, most liqueurs have a lower alcohol content than spirits, but some liqueurs have an alcohol content as high as 55%.

Dessert wine, on the other hand, may taste like a liqueur, but contains no additional flavoring.

under the sea...

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics.

Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.

Diving is one of the most popular Olympic sports with spectators.

Competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness.

China came to prominence several decades ago when the sport was revolutionized by national coach Liang Boxi and after intense study of the dominant Louganis.

China has lost few world titles since. The success of Greg Louganis has led to American strength in diving internationally.

Other noted countries in the sport include Italy, Australia and Canada.

coconut tree

flood

building blocks

world-view

couple

by the sea

best friend