The Posada Across the Street

In the last post I was a little sad that I had not seen a neighborhood Posada. Oh, the Posada led by the San Antonio Church was wonderful but there is something very special to me when it is a grassroots event. Ask and ye shall receive.

Last night just as Carly and I were getting ready to go to bed, I heard singing in the street. We flew back to the upstairs studio to get the camera and when I looked out the window, there was the Posada knocking on the door across the street asking to come in. I was afraid that by the time I got the camera and got outside that they would have moved on so I decided to shoot from the window.

It was a good decision because just after I took this picture, the door opened and this was the house that gave Mary and Joseph room in the stable. The little house is about 10 feet wide but still all the people who had been in the street, maybe 75 or 100 people, followed Mary and Joseph into the house. I love the small bouquets. I love the candles. I love the kids lighting sparklers. I love the music. I love celebrating Christmas in such an intimate way. How blessed I am that it all happened in the street by my house.

Help Wanted

Shot from my front door last night. It was shot at 1/5 sec, f1.8, 1600 ISO. I'm using a 45 mm f1.8 lens on the Olympus OMD E M-1 so it is the equivalent of a 90mm f1.8 lens. The lens weighs maybe 5 oz. I really, really like this lens. It is sharp and has good contrast. A similar lens on a full frame camera would weigh in at a  pound or more and probably cost 3X as much.

 

This image would have been better, and certainly would make a better print, shot at a smaller aperture and lower ISO and that would require a tripod. I have a small travel tripod but still it would be a nuisance to carry to dinner or a cocktail party. I want to go out to photograph at night with the camera on a tripod and no other agenda but a photo shoot.  I'm hesitant about doing that by myself. If I'm going to do some serious night photography, I need to hire an assistant who can be on the watch for what is happening around me while I'm setting up the shot.

 

Anyone looking for an occasional night time job?

The Story on My Street Tonight

There is much wind and finally a few drops of rain fall against the window. When I got up to close the window in my studio, I saw three people huddled on the ground. A round little woman dressed in pink was squatting against the wall. A man without a shirt was lying on the ground. A boy about 13 years old in a plaid shirt and jeans was partially sitting on the man and trying to hold him down. I watched for a few minutes and it became clear that the man was very drunk. So drunk that the boy could keep him from coming to his feet and although he was thrashing about he did not appear to be trying to hurt either the woman or the boy.

Did the woman and boy go get him from a bar? Has he spent all his week's pay on drink? Are they waiting for someone to come get them? How are they going to get him home? Are they homeless?

I looked out my other window and several of the neighbors are in the street looking at what was happening.

The sprinkle of rain became harder and the woman got up and covered the man with his shirt. When I looked out again a minute later the man was sitting up but swaying. He had his shirt on and the woman and boy were sitting on each side of him in the light rain. He is not stable enough to stand. The woman wiped a cheek. Rain or tears? The neighbors have put on jackets and are still in the street watching.

Oh, my heart is breaking for this boy who is trying to deal with the man. I'm sure it is his father. What should I do? Should I call the police? If they come and take the man away will it cause more problems for the family? Why are the neighbors just standing there?

I decide to go out and see what I can find out or if I can help. When I come downstairs from getting my jacket, the police have arrived and are putting the man in their truck. The neighbors gather around the woman and the boy and take them into their house. As I come back from walking Carly, some of those neighbors are coming back from the tienda and going into the house with drinks and snacks.

I am relieved because it seems that the neighbors are helping this woman and boy. But my mind is filled with stories of the life of the boy before tonight and what his life will be like in the future. 

I can't write these stories but they are there waiting for a writer to pluck them out of the air and put them down on paper. And yes, I am sure there were stories on the streets that I lived on in Houston but here the street is so much closer.  

Why Did You Photograph This?

You are may be asking what the heck is this and/or why did you photograph it.

I photographed it because I saw this amazing light on the bottle of clothes detergent that I had just bought and sat at the bottom of the stairs to bring up to the laundry room. It was glowing in the darkness.

I photographed it because I like the graphic design of the stairs as they made the turn to the living room.

I photographed it because of the colors...the red bottle, the blue top, the gray stairs, the dark shadows.

I photographed it because of the textures...the smooth bottle and the rough stairs.

I photographed it because I wanted to remember that second when I saw it and sucked in my breath and said, Oooh.

I photographed it because I love seeing the beauty in something common place.

And lucky me, I had my little camera in my hand.

The Vine

The fig ivy vine covers the long wall of the patio. And that is the only place I want it but it seems intent on moving on to the walls outside the living area and the guest bedroom wall as well. It has even managed to force its way on to one of the upstair bathroom windows.

Actually it makes a lovely lacey pattern when you look through the window. But it won't stop with being lacey. So in a few days Enrique will come with his second story ladders and hack it back to where it belongs.

I will be the victor in this battle....but only for a while. In a couple of months I'll look up and once again see the stealthy advance of the fig ivy.

Dreaming

Some people say their dreams are in vivid color that play across their mind or subconscious like a movie. And the next morning when they wake up they can tell you about the dream in detail.

Do you remember your dreams? Most of the time I don't.

But last night....last night was different. Well, actually it was early this morning in that kind of twilight between sleep and awake. I realized I was in a dream. The early part of the dream is very fuzzy but there was a connection between this woman and a man. They are upstage left in a restaurant. They could have been a husband and wife at a table or maybe the chef and the woman who took care of the front of the restaurant. Like I say, it is fuzzy.

Then the dream becomes very vivid. Two women walk in downstage right. Both attractive. One with blond hair back in a bun or french twist. She was wearing a simple 1930's bias-cut dress in white wool jersey. The other was in a stylish fitted royal blue suit with a short but not short-short skirt, deep neckline and a large Kate Middleton hat set at a jaunty tilt.

Next the three women are seated at a table center stage. There is a bit of small talk. Then the Kate Middleton hat lady pushes a small envelope toward the restaurant woman. On the front of the envelope is written a large sum of money and something like "Take it and leave now." The restaurant woman reacts with shock. From that point on, if I would have had a pencil I could have been writing dialogue. The words were just pouring out although now I can't remember exactly what they were.

Was this a pay off for a mistress or wife? Was it the old corporate golden handshake, take your severance and go?

Why did I have this dream? What does it mean? Does it mean I need to go shopping for some fashionable clothes or get a new hair style? Or, is it a plot for a 10-minute play? Maybe the muse is channeling a great novel or screen play and I need to be ready. Should I go to bed tonight with a pen and pad in my hand ready to transcribe? You never know about these things.

Hey, it is my dream so stop it!  I can hear you laughing!

White Curtain

When we bought this house this white muslin curtain was up in the dining room. It is still there. I've thought a hundred times that I should replace it but it holds some fascination for me.

When I've had those thoughts about replacing it I'm usually sitting in the dining room or living room looking at it but then the replacement thought is quickly replaced with thoughts about how the light is coming through it. How it fills the room with such a lovely soft glow. I like the folds and how the color changes to a pale green when it drops below the window sill. Just look at the layers of fabric in the hem. And how the light spills from under it, quickly fading away.

What could I replace it with that would be an ever changing light display? Would another type of curtain fascinate me or just be another curtain in the house?

Now you know why this cheap curtain has never been replaced.

My Internet Was Down

Today there was a segment on Sunday Morning News about our dependency on Smart Phones and Tablets. Some people even say they are addicted to staying in touch all of the time and become anxious and depressed when they can't. I can relate to that feeling. This past week I was without Internet for four days. That means that I could not get email, I could not do searches, my Vonage phone did not work. I was totally out of touch with my family. This week there were reasons that I really, really needed to be in touch. Sooo, I was anxious, depressed and angry.

The Internet being out reminded me why it is hard to live here. I can put up with the bells, the roosters, the noise in the hood, the shopping challenges but doing business in Mexico seems terribly complicated and customer service is so far from the US model that it is hard to recognize that it exists.

You can't call the cable company and tell them that your cable is out. Oh, there are phone numbers but no one ever, ever answers. The only way to let them know is to go there, take a number and wait in line. I estimate that the cable company is about 3/4 of a mile away from my casa. I walked there, took my number, waited and reported that my cable was out. They told me that they would check it out in the office and call me in the afternoon if they needed to come to my house the next day. It was two days later when the cable guy showed up at the door but the Internet had started working about 30 minutes before he knocked. He told me it was a system problem but he checked out my modem anyway.

I was ready to switch to TelMex for the Internet and I still may. Some people I know have both MegaCable and TelMex because they do business via the net and they can't be down for several days at a time.

All of this just points out how dependent we have become on technology. When we first started coming to San Miguel there wasn't such a thing as Vonage phones or MagicJack or Skype. And the Internet was slow and not dependable at all. No one had a cell phone of any kind much less a Smart Phone. In fact, it could take you a year to get a phone line in your house. Here we are 12 or 13 years later able to connect with the world. And we expect that technology to be available all of the time or we start to have withdrawal. I think it is stuff like this in San Miguel that just snowballs for some people until they decide to head North. I wasn't a happy camper last week but I'm not heading North.

The image is of shadows on the terrace. I have a new photo toy I'll tell you about in another post.

Wednesday Morning

On the couch looking at the patio. 

Dappled light on terra cotta walls.

Tall cactus reaching to the sky

Birds  chirping away

Fountain gurgling

Leaf patterns everywhere

Some would say a waste of time. 

I probably would have said that a few years ago. 

Not now

A blessing

A meditation

My soul is replenished

In this moment

Peace, calm and joy

Wednesday morning 10:15 AM

Re-Entry

I'm back in San Mighel de Allende but as usually happens there are some re-entry problems. One of those problems is a big one. I'm not sure yet exactly what it is but it could be a monitor on the way out, a bad graphic card or some other computer problem.

At first I was sure that it was the monitor and I was making arrangements for someone to import a new one for me. This was after I had spent several hours researching Samsung monitors. Why Samsung monitors, you ask. Because Samsung monitors are made in Mexico and I figured that I would be able to either find a way to buy the one I wanted on line in Mexico or Samsung Mexico could help me.  I was wrong. I did find a phone number for Samsung but it went back to the USA. The customer service rep there spent considerable amount of time  trying to find a way for me to contact Samsung MX but he couldn't do it either.

Last night about eight, the thought finally came to me to start the computer in safe mode and see how the monitor looked. It looked okay. Sooo...it may not be a monitor problem. My computer tech is out of town but will be back and will check out the whole system. Until then, I'm on the iPad and you will not be seeing any pictures.

Another problem is the pigeons. I have a pair that are trying to nest in the portico. I've broken the eggs, torn down the nest and I go out about every 15 minutes to chase them away but those stupid birds are not discouraged.

I'm thankful to be home. I'm thankful that the Internet was working when I returned. I'm very happy to have Carly home. I'm surprised that the weather isn't as hot as it has been sometimes in May. In fact, the nights are cool. Charles will come and figure out the computer problem. I WILL WIN the battle with the pigeons. Life is good!