Mary Grace Bertulfo

Fiction. Nature writing. Nonfiction.

Archive for the 'Hour of the Sliding Bracelets' Category


“The Earth is Our Mother…”

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Hour of the Sliding Bracelets | 1 Comment »

For my birthday, I recently received a beautiful book I’d been longing for called THE WOMEN. It is filled with the haunting and evocative sepia photos of 19th century photographer Edward Curtis. Curtis spent 30 years of his life traveling North America photographing and recording the Native nations he met, documenting traditions, cermonies, languages, and [...]

Flow, Stop, Go

Friday, February 13th, 2009
Hour of the Sliding Bracelets, Writing the Flow | 3 Comments »

One of the things I love about writing is what, over the years, I’ve come to know as The Flow. It’s that Time beyond time. It’s when the words come, in a smooth rush or a river of images, and I no longer feel I’m “in control” of the story. The Voice that rings in [...]

Sliding Bracelets

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Hour of the Sliding Bracelets | No Comments »

In the 16th century Philippines, Visayans had ingeniously divided the day into hours based on events like: Iguritlogna, the time that hens lay eggs. Or Natupongna sa lubi, the time when the sun descends into the palm trees. My favorite is Makalululu, the hour when you point to the sun and your bracelets slide down [...]