This ornate theater was almost 100 years in its construction. The steps and portico serve as a community
gathering space and impromtu performance space for jugglers, singers, and musicians.
If you look carefully you will that one of the statues on top representing the arts looks very much like
our Statue of Liberty.
Here is the traditional view:
And the artsy fartsy view:
Buses with big comfy seats, HD TV and Movies, internet and free snacks. Oh did I mention the clean antimassacars placed on each seat before each trip. This is the way to travel, for a little more than half of what the same distance would cost at home, on a much less classy ride.
Took a break from watching The Darkest Hour - a stupid guy movie about aliens in Moscow. Not a great story, but the dialogue was so simple I could understand most of it in Spanish.. And when the bang bang
shoot em up got too boring, there were high desert scenes like this
Carved deep out of a mountain valley, one enters and leaves the city by tunnels.
The thing that makes Guanjuato such a fun place to wander around in are the juxtapositions of colors and narrow angles. Much of the city is carved out of canyon walls so the wide calle in the flat areas, become spare pathways, often in deep shadow, but still filled with color.
On an early morning errand that required a walk across town, a determined morning glory caught my eye.
It had climbed up a rickety fence around a trash strew vacant lot. There were only a few blossoms left, but the dried remains lit by the climbing sun added a little grace to forlorn scene.
As the sun descends, it create a warm glow and shadow box theater in a rooftop garden.
Acacia trees, originally from East Africa, do well here in the high desert of San Miguel and its environs. Every part of the tree can be used. It's gum is used by both wild animals and candy manufacturers, it can be used for firewood and charcoal, and its thorns are nature's original toothpick. These live next to the green fields of Rancho La Trinidad.
Just outside of town, down a dusty road lined with trees hiding layers of gray grit, is an oasis of green - Rancho La Trinidad. Here rows of organically grown chard, lettuce, fennel, brocoli bask in rich soil and late afternoon watering. What a relief to smell the aromoa of green things growing and air with moisture, if only for a few moments.
In addition to all those familiar greens, there is a sun shaded hoop house where nopal paddles are lined up in tidy rows like good little soldiers, busily growing juicy babies for Saturday's market.
Did you notice the pick up truck in this tableau?
The squealing sound of a fan belt that needs tightening is a frequent player in the symphony of street noise here. It seemed odd to me that it was such a common problem until one day I watched a taxi with bald tires trying to get some traction on bald stones...duh... That is the source of the squealing noise.
The street surface is equally hard on bicycles and the bike stall in the market is a busy place.
On the Sunday before Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the Jardin, becomes a world of colorful flowers and confetti eggs... Vendors surround the town's central plaza with bags of cascaras for children and adults, to smash on one another's heads. And there is a feast of lovely paper flowers, planted in the gardens...and if you shop early you can bring some home with you.
Carnaval Egg Bonking from Deborah Ehrens on Vimeo.
And the morning after:
All the sidewalks in San Miguel are narrow and often share the space with telephone poles and other necessities of modern life. Often one has to walk in the road because there simply isn't room for a person to pass on either side of the pole. And when the street is hilly there is all kinds of non standard stone work for driveways and steps. Up the block from our house, is one of the most unique accomodations I have seen.
I came to San Miguel with lots of projects to work on. While most of them are still on the list, it has been a very productive time studying the work of photographers and artists who inspire me to try new things. The other day, while working on some abstract images I realized I needed a better understanding of color theory. That got me looking at the color wheel. The next time I went out with my camera, all I saw was color wheel opposites....
Shadows, plaids and adobe walls create a moment of artful randomness, as this elderly couple makes their way across the street in the early morning light.
