Wednesday, October 31, 2012

After the Storm

"After the storm, the sun shines again"~~~ by Anonymous

The Philippines is visited by at least, again at least, 26 typhoons a year! These typhoons are mostly during the rainy season, in the months of May to December. While we are at the midst of the dry season, we are overly waiting for the rains to come because it is always very humid and hot with temperatures always above 30°C, sometimes even reaching 36-38°C in the hottest parts. But at the back of our minds we know that it seldom rains without any typhoon or at least a Low Pressure Area (LPA) or an Inter Tropical Convergent Zone (ITCZ). In clear term, rains are only brought by typhoons!

Rains neutralize our overheated atmosphere, our dry land, our thirsty drying trees and plants, and most specially our tortured emotions and well-being! Huh! And the aftermath of these events, most specially during this very famous "climate change"-- floods and landslides. But there is a newly emerging disaster that happened in the recent flooding--garbage! It has been fully televised from the previous big famous typhoon; garbage accumulated at the Manila Bay area. It was a big deal and expensive, hauling truckloads and truckloads of that garbage. It did not only come from the inland Metro Manila, but also from the sea carried by the waves and deposited on the shores.

Our small beach in our province is also a repository of garbage during the recent small typhoon Ofel. I have seen this only for the first time. Our beach fronts a small bay facing the Pacific Ocean, and the garbage came from everywhere.

 To the left of where i stand. At least the garbage here are mostly biodegradable materials, thanks God not much of styrofoam and plastic.

 Composition: logs, bamboos, twigs, roots, banana trunks, coconut husks, coconuts

 To the right from where i stand: the same composition of garbage, but to my relief these are all biodegradable. Some people get the bigger branches to use as firewood for their stoves, others get the coconuts and bamboos. If only there is an enterprising gardener here, those debris will make a lot of organic compost, very good for gardening.

 At the background are the other islands at the other side of the Batangas Bay. The openings between those islands go direct to the Pacific Ocean.

My most familiar picture of that beach is still there, the colored stones. At least some small patches are still uncovered by the debris. And after all the organic materials are decomposed or eaten by microorganisms, these stones will again be fully visible.

After the storm, the sun shines again!

Outdoor-Wednesday-logo_thumb1_thumb1   

41 comments:

  1. Perhaps the ocean gets tired of all the stuff we toss its way and wishes to return it too us.

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    1. You are right Martha Z, in fact i guess it is still puking of what we have done to it!

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  2. Hello there!!! I'd love to experience a typhoon from a distance. They sound dangerous and fun. And rain is good as well. I like those shots along the beach. I can only imagine what else builds up there.....glad that stuff is all biodegrable:)

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    1. You wont experience a typhoon if you're far from it, better be really at it, haha! Happy Halloween Kreesh!

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  3. Talking about walking on the beach AFTER a big storm reminded me of our trips to the beach at Ocean Isle, North Carolina. We (along with other people) get up at daylight to walk on the beach ---collecting seashells and other things which have washed up on the beach during the night... So much fun!!!!!

    Guess you have been hearing about our huge storm (Hurricane Sandy) here in the USA... So much damage.... It's tragic.

    Hugs
    Betsy

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    1. Oh Betsy, this beach aftermath is not good for that purpose, but many people from the shore actually gathered firewood and coconuts from the debris. It is actually better in the US because services come faster to the needy after these circumstances!

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  4. Hope nature will find its way in returning all woods to the earth and nourish the soil for a healthy growth of a new generation of plants & trees.

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    1. Yes James, it is doing that everytime, it is now throwing-up or puking from our misdeeds!

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  5. I do remember those 'at least 26' typhoons that Philippines usually get. But Filipinos are resilient people and they always recover stronger and better :)

    Garbage pollution floating on the sea and getting washed on the shore is such a big environmental problem that needs to be addressed more seriously and regularly. But yes, after the storm the sun always shines again!

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    1. Yes Mark and Gaz, at least in this case in our beach they are mostly biodegradable, not really very serious as those in Manila Bay.

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  6. Yes our West coast is starting to get the refuge from the Tzunami that hit Japan a year or so ago. It's a constant chore to those that deal with this.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Oh at least the big refuge like these are visible, but there are wastes mixed in the water that we don't see. There are irresponsible residents of our earth!

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    1. Your comment is a bit uncomfortable, went to your site but nothing in there. I am sorry I am not most of what you described, most specially the USDA zone denial sufferer. My trials on temperate seeds are just because they are sent by well-meaning friends from the US, not really my own intentions.

      Thanks.

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  8. Great photos ~ Mother Nature is not nice sometimes ~ We just had the tail end of a hurricane ~ Glad you are safe. ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

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    1. Hi Carol, nature will still need to do a great more chaos for cleansing what we in this planet have notoriously done! Thanks.

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  9. Great pictures of after the storm. This debris is a mess but I know it is minor compared to the destruction left in Sandy's wake. I am praying for all who suffered from this storm.

    The pretty colored stones are amazing.
    Happy Outdoor Weds.
    xo, Jeanne

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    1. Yes Jeanne, it is minor compared to what Sandy did, but this is actually very minor compared to the flooding and landslides experienced by my countrymen. In fact some areas are still under flood months after the strong typhoon.

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  10. Hello Andrea, 26 typhoons a year? Oh my, how nerve-wracking that must be. I live in the land of extremes, from hot (for me!) temperatures in the summer to way down below zero in the winter, but I don't think we ever have anything near 26 storms a year.

    I'm glad most of the debris on the shore was biodegradable this time, what an awful mess it must be when man-made junk is washed ashore. There sure is a lot of wood to deal with.

    I love the stones on the beach, very pretty!

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    1. Thanks Karen for dropping by. Even if you have all rocks around you, they are not as colorful as these, so i guess we can trade-in some! Haha, i told you i need some of those big ones in your site!

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  11. I do agree that the ocean is tired of getting to be the dumping ground so it give it back to us. I hope the people can find other uses for these garbage and not just "burn" them.

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    1. I think I am a bit guilty of something, as i didn't say that much of those biodegradable materials are not man-made or garbage by men but destruction by typhoon!

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  12. I liked your account of typhoons in the Philippines. Now the oceans are also tired of our garbage! It is fortunate the garbage after a typhoon is organic. The coloured stones are very pretty.

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    1. Yes lotusleaf, at least we don't see much plastic and wastes of so called "development" in our beach!

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  13. WOW! 26 typhoons a year is way, WAY too many!

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    1. That's really a lot, a typhoon for every letter of the English alphabet!

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  14. Interesting post. It's a shame about all the garbage.

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    1. Thanks Carver for dropping by. These 'typhoon garbage' are not mainly wastes of the population, but destruction by typhoon. That's why most of them are branches, twigs or coconut husks.

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  15. 26 of them a year? I would be so nervous waiting for the next one. Your comment is well taken as I hope services will come to the people who need it here in the states, but I know some people will be waiting for a long time. But those with insurance will have money to rebuild..the rest I worry about...this was a very timely nature notes post Andrea..Michelle

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    1. Thanks Rambling Woods, it is always better if 'force major' events happen in advanced countries, at least their system are better organized. I hope we get them as fast here too!

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  16. Wow that is a lot of typhoons. I'm guessing most of them are not destructive. I hope you can see the stones on the beach again soon.

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    1. yes Melanie, at least not all of them are destructive, you are right! hehe

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  17. I had no idea about the typhoons or the garbage..
    here in the northeast we have to hope the sun will rise again...

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  18. How mother nature can wreak havoc ...sorry to see the destruction as we are dealing with it here too...

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    1. Yes Donna, it seems like our world is really being torn apart!

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  19. it's good that at least it's mostly organic materials. it would be really sad if it were human created garbage. But what a mess.

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    1. Yes Wendy, i am glad wastes of "development" are not plenty here, e.g. used toothbrush, plastic sheets and containers, styrofoam, etc! So these will just feed the fishes!

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  20. That's a lot of debris. The storms toss a lot of floating flotsam on your shores.

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  21. That is a lot of debris,good most of it is organic!

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  22. Such an interesting post Andrea. We forget about such impacts of these storms. But as you say, at least most of it is organic...thank goodness for that.

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Your comments inspire me to post more, and our conversations make life and gardening more meaningful.

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