Garden Wedding and Reception of Arvy and Rosiel at CDM

Chateau Du Mer Hall Ready for Reception

The following photos were posted by RRC Professional Lights and Sounds of Boac, Marinduque during the Garden Wedding and Reception of Arvy and Rosiel, March 7, 2020.

Our Congratulations to the Bride and Groom! From the Owners of Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center, Amoingon, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines- David B and Macrine J,. Katague

How Many National Parks Have You Visited?

The United States has 62 protected areas known as national parks that are operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks must be established by an act of the United States Congress. A bill creating the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, followed by Mackinac National Park in 1875 (decommissioned in 1895), and then Rock Creek Park (later merged into National Capital Parks), Sequoia and Yosemite in 1890.

The Organic Act of 1916 created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Many current national parks had been previously protected as national monuments by the president under the Antiquities Act before being upgraded by Congress. Seven national parks (including six in Alaska) are paired with a national preserve, areas with different levels of protection that are administered together but considered separate units and whose areas are not included in the figures below.

Criteria for the selection of national parks include natural beauty, unique geological features, unusual ecosystems, and recreational opportunities (though these criteria are not always considered together). National monuments, on the other hand, are frequently chosen for their historical or archaeological significance. Fourteen national parks are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS), while 21 national parks are designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR). Eight national parks are designated in both UNESCO programs.

Of the 62 listed National Parks, Macrine and I visited only 10. How about you? How many have you visited? Was it worth your time?  For list and road map of the parks read:


https://matadornetwork.com/read/mapped-optimal-road-trip-see-us-national-parks/?fbclid=IwAR0vfnuu_XhWxFkdqPQeIJ2A4ziVS7ZMupNLL5q4EOla1clCG5Ja5VHRVSI

Meanwhile, enjoy this photo:

Chateau Du Mer Beach House, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Technology Use Among Seniors

Recently, I started subscribing the New York Times on line. My enjoyment of the news summary everyday reminded me of how lucky I am when it comes to computers use among senior citizens;  specifically of the group I belong-the octogenarians. I  found that less than 2% of octogenarians avail themselves with the pleasure of the Internet and Social Media. Photo Credit above: Flickr.com

http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-use-of-internet-by-senior-americans.html


Here's an interesting video on how technology marginalize senior citizens.


https://youtu.be/kQzrs5oP4WE

The following report detailed the technology use among senior citizens in the US.  Enjoy the report.


https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/05/17/technology-use-among-seniors/


Meanwhile enjoy this Painting from Ditas Katague collections
http://www.grievingthruglee.com/about/

Old But Treasured Photos from My Album-Part 3

Spiral Stair Case of the CDM Beach House

A Few Minutes After a Beautiful Sunset at CDM

Any One for Beer? CDM Balcony

Nunu ( Dwarfs) Decor and Welcome Plaque

My Marble Bench from Romblon

Round Marble Table and Table Tennis-Ground Floor of Beach House 

Macrine wearing her CDM T-Shirt (Back Porch-at Twilight),2011

Meanwhile, enjoy this video with the Nieva Brothers at CDM taken 4 years ago

https://www.facebook.com/david.b.katague/videos/10206321560494258/

Gravel Pathway Entrance of the Main House

My Favorite Gardening Quotes-An Update

My First Pineapple Harvest in US

One of my hobbies when I am in the Philippines( also here in the US) is to do some gardening, both actual and by mouth. If you do not know the term gardening by mouth, I do not blame you since I coined that phrase. It simply meant that I have a full time gardener that I order and do most of the hard work in the garden. So my mouth is the one that do the gardening and not my whole body which is getting older every year.

My Pineapple Plant during Winter in Northern California

I have a flower garden, a vegetable and a fruit orchard at the Chateau Du Mer in Boac, Marinduque. My flower garden has more than 50 varieties of orchids, 10 varieties of bougainvillas, 15 varieties of hibiscus and around 25 varieties of euphorbias and cacti.

My fruit tree orchard has more than a dozen of tropical fruit trees. Among my favorite fruit tress are the mangoes, papayas, avocados, lanzones, cashews, star apples, chicos, sugar apples, rambutans, guayabanos, citrus trees and of course coconuts and bananas.

My Gardening Books Collection

The following are 13 of my favorites quotes on the subject of gardens and gardening not including the head picture above. The number one quote by Monet is my most treasured quote in the list below.

At the bottom of the page is the link to an article citing examples of why gardening help people live over a 100 years old .

1. “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece”
― Claude Monet

2. “A weed is but an unloved flower.”
― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

3. “The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

4. “Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God.”
― Thomas Jefferson

5. “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”
― Thomas Jefferson

6. “Gardening is akin to writing stories. No experience could have taught me more about grief or flowers, about achieving survival by going, your fingers in the ground, the limit of physical exhaustion.”
― Eudora Welty

7. “Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.”
― Alfred Austin

8. “You're not a gardener, are you? So perhaps you don't know that once a garden is established, much of good gardening is about removal rather than planting, honing what you have to produce a pleasing effect, sacrificing the particular for the good of the whole. Gardening is a creative pastime, but the result is always a work in progress; unlike a painting or a piece of music a garden is never fixed in time. ("In The Garden")”
― Rosalie Parker, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 21

9. “All gardening is landscape painting,' said Alexander Pope.”
― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

10. Gardening is the purest of human pleasures. -Francis Bacon

11. I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. -John Erskine

12. Gardening requires lots of water, most of it in the form of perspiration. -Lou Erickson

13.

 

Here's the link on how gardening improve your chance to join the Centenarian Club of the World ( People over 100 years old)

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181210-gardening-could-be-the-hobby-that-helps-you-live-to-100?ocid=fbert&fbclid=IwAR3g9XDDNSFNopWRxUrXliCWzMFfUo-Kf7inMmk1Gcv1WFBy1uUMBRDIgYY&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F

Meanwhile, enjoy the piano playing of Carlos Avila-Macrine's nephew

https://www.facebook.com/carlos.avila.5059/videos/777433810040/

Our First Winter Snow in Maryland, USA

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day (High 70 F) here in Northern California but still snowing in other parts of US. This article reminds me of our winter years in the Washington DC area where we resided from 1990 to 2002. 

Let it Snow, let its snow!























Taken from the picture window of our Residence in Colesville, Maryland, USA

When I was a child (1940's) in the Philippines, my dream in life was to see and play in the snow in the US. This dream was attained when I saw my first snow in Chicago, Illinois in 1960. I was not able to document it, but the above photo taken in the front of our residence in Colesville, MD in 1994 may suffice.

Today the word snow triggers bad memories of traffic congestion and minor auto accidents when it is snowing. Other wise looking at the fresh white snow flakes inside your warm house is mesmerizing and an experience I will never forget. However, too much snow is not fun and could be dangerous to life and property.