* In Honour Of ...

my Parents.  Roger and Dorothy.  Or Dottie and Rogie as they called each other.  I realized today I do not know what day my Papa passed away.  I know it was within the last couple of days.  It made me realize how truly unattached to time I am.  Looking back on my life, timing just isn't in my memory cells.  I remember events, but could I tell you what year, what month, what day??  ... a definite no on that one.  What I do remember about my Papa's passing is every detail, every second of the three days leading to and including his crossing over.  I could describe it to you in minute detail.

During the last three years of their lives, I lived with them.  I learned more in that three years than I had in my entire lifetime.  It was an honour.  It was a gift.  I shall always be grateful for the opportunity.  I shall always be grateful I said yes to the opportunity.

I really have nothing left photograph wise of my parents.  When it comes my turn to leave this earth, no one will be interested in my family history.  It just didn't make any sense to me to keep it.  I miss it sometimes.  Looking through the few momento's I have with me, I came across this photograph.  I think it might have been around 1948 - 1950.  I remember the absolute love and delight I held in my heart for Papa's hat.  I remember Mama's fur coat and her boots with the fur trim.  For the first time ever, when I looked at this photo today, I saw a little smidgen of myself in my Mama.

I miss them.  They lead a full, rich and splendid life.  Papa was 97 and Mama was 93 years upon this planet.  It doesn't matter how long they are able to stay with you does it.  When they left, I felt like an orphan.  Speaking with other friends, I think this is a very common reaction.

The lessons I learned being their daughter have been invaluable.  The love we shared is a treasure.  Papa has been gone for seven years, Mama for nine years.  It doesn't seem that long and yet it seems forever.

The flags flew at half mast for you, Papa.  I think you would have liked that.  I will always remember that image and out of respect and love hold it in my consciousness.  

So here's to you .. both of you.  Here's to the footprints you left behind.  Here's to the people you touched.  Here's to the goodness you created.  Here's to the gifts you scattered everywhere you stepped.  Here's to the courage you held in your hearts to live your best life.  I hope I have just a little of you in me.  It would make me proud.

Rog and Dot

Should you be interested in reading my thoughts on my parents passing, you may do so on "Fragments of a Woman".  Papa's passing HERE 

Mama's passing  HERE

 “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

* More Pozos

Pozos is at a much higher altitude than San Miguel.  I'm adjusting to the altitude here.  Yesterday, however, walking up hill caused some puffing!  It was interesting, the middle of the streets were paved.  That's where the cars drive ... walking can still be challenging.  I'm sure some of the cobblestones are original, so it's walker beware where you step.

As I mentioned yesterday, Jenny and I were looking forward to shopping, however, by the time we dragged ourselves away from the shops in the jardin ... everything was closed.  On our little tour, we came across a very very tiny tienda still open.  When we peaked in the door we spied some beautiful hand made clay pots from Michoacan.  This type of pot has been part of this culture forever.  Straight from the earth.  We both drooled and bought one ... actually I bought two.  One for flowers, and one for the coffee table to put 'whatever' in.  Photos follow.

The gallery itself is a wonderful space.  An old colonial building put back together it is well loved by the two men who own it, one of which appears in this photo.  He is the gardener, and everywhere you look you see his work.  Wonderfully artful groupings of plants so pleasing to the eye.  I want to bring him home with me for a week to help me create the jardin.

An artful vignette.

... and another

Loved this one!

Outside the gallery is the 'lower jardin'.  Shops are wrapped around this area.  People can sit and enjoy a drink or coffee from a local restaurant.  A lovely, open, inviting atmosphere exists and I could happily loiter there enjoying the ambiance with my journal in hand.

I want to plant some of these tall cacti in my jardin.  Are the not regal?

These gorgeous table and chairs call to me.  I have to keep going today, but I will be back.

Beautiful light through the trees.

 

Purchasing our beautiful pots.

Hats and old pictures hanging on the wall in the small tienda where we had he most delicious chotolate calliente!

The Beatles (old poster in espanol, James Dean, Elizabeth and Rock, Marilyn (just out of sight).  All there ... fabulous.

So that was my day in Pozos.  Only a glimpse into all that history.  Definitely want to go back and explore the architecture, ruins, mines, houses, etc.  My day was full and rich.  A day with a wonderful young family.  Made me very home sick for my girls.  A day full of art and friends.  A day full of strolling and soaking it all in.  One of those days which makes me feel complete.

We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but to make the past alive so that it can explain us and make a future possible.
Alan Bloom

* A beautiful day in Mineral de Pozos

About thirty minutes from San Miguel, there exists the magical town of Pozos.  At one time a bustling centre for hundreds of mines, with a population of 70,000 to 80,000 residents, Pozos now sits quietly in ruins, being admired and rebuilt into a viable community. 

Yesterday I was so fortunate to be able to spend an entire day there, attending the opening of an art exhibition entitled "The Now Revolution", and generally poking around enjoying the company of the family who invited me, as well as countless strangers and friends who embraced me with their warmth.

The day literally flew.  Jenny and I have decided we must go back.  A music store exists in Pozos where they make hand made instruments.  Many more shops are flourishing with beautiful arts and crafts which beckon me with their bright colours and incredible designs.

I naturally traveled, camera in hand, however it was on the wrong setting.  I am disappointed in the photographs.  Still, they are a great reminder of a wonderful day.

On the road to Pozos.  The truck in front of us full of fresh fruit and vegetables ready for market.

YUM!  Fresh produce is excellent in Mexico.  Pineapples rival, if not surpass, those grown in Hawaii.

Driving into Pozos, women carry heavy containers of grain on their shoulders or head.  The old ways continue here.  An intricate part of the precious beauty in this country.

Old and young together.  The family, still very much in tact.

Approaching the centre of town, the church and the jardin.

The photos which follow are from the show.  Aptly christened "The Now Revolution", Five artists interpret what is relevant in Mexico NOW.  Speaking with the artists and discussing their inner interpretations was fascinating.  The art?  World Class!

Spectacular work by Ezshwan Winding, my encaustic Maestra.

Ezshwan and Jenny

I so enjoyed my day in Pozos!  Tomorrow I will post more photos of the gallery space and the little portion of Pozos I experienced. 

For those of you who are interested in history, a short synopsis of the area follows.

I begin the story of Pozos at the end of the 19th century.  It was, however, already established between 1550 and 1560.  A long and incredibly interesting history.

"By 1895, there were 500 mining concerns, 306 operating mines and 70,000 to 80,000 residents. The Mexican stock exchange, the Bolsa de Valor, is founded to promote shares in Pozos mines beginning with Cinco Señores.

1910 marked the beginning of the Mexican Revolution and the beginning of the end for Pozos. The cessation of mining operations during the fighting and the subsequent flooding of the mines combined with a dramatic fall in the world price of silver to cause the mines to begin to close. Finally, with the advent of the Cristeros War in 1926, the last mine, the Angustias-Dolores, closed a year later in 1927.
By the 1950s, there were perhaps only 200 or less people living in Pozos.

In 1982, then Mexican President Jose Lopez-Portillo decreed Pozos a National Historic Monumental Zone recognizing Pozos's importance historically.

Today, according to the most recent census, the population has grown to 2,223 mostly farmers and herders or people who commute to nearby towns and factories. However, many US expatriates and others have begun to establish Pozos as a center for art.

 "What is real is not the external form, but the essence of things . . . it is impossible for anyone to express anything essentially real by imitating its exterior surface."  ~ Constantin Brancusi

* A little closer every day ..

Some photos of what's happening at Quinta de Luz.  I'm loving the mosaics in the jardin.  They will be completed today.

Cesar and Jose begining the mosaics.

Finished the star.  Working on the sun.  They are taking such care with my design and doing a great job.

Looking down from the studio terrace.

Maestro Jose priming the trim on the fireplace.

Emilio chinking the walls to ready them for tile.

Star completed but not dry.

El Sol, almost complete.

"Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth.  Only you can be responsible for that.  If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen.  Accept who you are completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different."  ~ Stacey Charter

On other words, lets stop trying to please the world, and please ourselves.  When we are pleased with ourselves, the rest of the world will be too.  Such a concept!  ha ha

* Making Christmas Presents ... Havin' Fun

The photo below says it all.  I have a mess going on my kitchen table.  "By The Light" will be such a welcome part of my life.  I am having fun!  Had to cover a few things up with beads .... don't want anyone peeking!

Christmas Gifts underway.  I'm also working on a Day of the Dead Nicho for my studio.

"No one in the world was ever you before, with your particular gifts and abilities and possibilities. It's a shame to waste those by doing what someone else has done."  ~ Joseph Campbell

* Happy Halloween

Ever get that 'alone' feeling?  I have a feeling our knowledge about the Universe and it's workings could fit in a pin head.  We have only just begun to understand.  Have a peek at this short video and allow your mind to wander.   Hubble Ultra Deep Field 3D

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2010 October 31
Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula
Credit: Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Observatoire de Paris) et al., ESA, NASA Explanation: Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day, a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With a modern calendar, however, the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Another cross-quarter day is Groundhog's Day. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Perhaps a fitting tribute to this ancient holiday is this view of the Ghost Head Nebula taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Similar to the icon of a fictional ghost, NGC 2080 is actually a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Ghost Head Nebula spans about 50 light-years and is shown in representative colors.


Tomorrow's picture: peak of the furnace

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* Neighbourhood Gossip

My friend, Wendy, lives a block away in a gated community which was developed about ten years ago.  I took a few photos so you can see where she lives in relation to me.

See where the white truck is sticking it's nose out out. Behind the truck you will see the beginning of a wall which extends down the street.  You can see roof tops within the walls where a small community exists.  This is where Wendy lives.

The gossip is about this house.  The owner is building a huge addition without the approval of the council.  Not only that, they have expanded their property on to common ground, taken up the entire space, taken light away from other houses, and have built a huge 3 story mansion.  They will get away with it.  The money it would cost the strata to take them to court would be over the top for residence of this community.  Interesting, don't you think?

 

No more gossip.  This photo was a nice surprise.  I saw the birds and was trying to get them in my lens as they flew over.  I was snapping like crazy.  I pushed the delete button on the rest.  This was the nice surprise.

Blue denim's taking a walk in the wind on a distant clothes line.

Workers equipment neatly piled for the weekend.

Art as Flirtation and Surrender

In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do,

and that sight becomes this art.   ~ Rumi

* More Trivia and "The Hood"

Took a few photos upstairs tonight just to document the progress.  Then I began to look around.  I'll explain as we go.

When I walked upstairs tonight ...

the light was so incredibly beautiful.  It took

me back to Greece and the light there.  The Blues and the Whites.  .... sigh ....

Cesars' shoes stacked neatly on the unfinished window sill.

Notice they have put a lovely rolled lip around the arch of the fireplace. 

Now that the terrace is mostly cleared off, you can get a better idea of the size.  I am not, however, right at the edge of the other side.  I don't like standing with my back to a long 'drop'.  ha ha

This is the wire which seems to fascinate me so much.  I am working on a series of "People of the Wire", which was born from wire like this.  I will take photos when I'm finished.

I'd like to call this "Roses and Rebar", however, they are bougainvillea on the roof a couple of houses over from me.

This one lives on the roof next door.

Electrical Meters are locked up in little cages here.  If there is no lock, chances are someone will steal it.  A black market exists for electric meters as there is a shortage in town.  You can wait months to get one.  They are a hot commodity.  This is the meter across the street.  I like the grate.  Now that I've seen this one, I don't like mine anymore ...

I love the light towers all over town.  These are across the street from me.  Nice view ..... wait for it ...

LOL ... this is the same view before I edited it.  Wire all over this town.  I'm really not sure how the electrical in SMA works at all. 

The house across the street.

There are no street cleaning machines with sweepers or water who come along and keep the streets clean.  Each person sweeps the street in front of their house.  Women of the neighbourhood often take an evening walk ....

it's done like this.

More about the hood tomorrow.  In the meantime, I'm on a Rumi quote kick.  Here's another one I adore.

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep."  ~ Rumi