“You never take a bad photo in San Miguel” is a quote I heard from Bill, a new friend, the other day. Guess he never looked at some of mine. Out of focus. Blurry from too slow a shutter speed. Over or under exposure; etc.. All that considered, I will say the sunsets are spectacular. I feel like if I take enough photos, maybe one will turn out good. Maybe not great enough for a magazine, but OK for me and my mind’s eye.
So far the total image count is around 12,000. About 10% of those I have posted to the Picasa web albums. I have been fortunate enough to modify photos enough to still maintain some idea of what I saw and make file review speedy. For those 1,200 web photos, only about 30 megabytes uploaded – for me, that is great.
Speaking of great; another great breakfast. Many mornings, I asked for huevos – eggs. Sometimes I ask to help out with deciding just what ingredients go into the “creation. This morning it was huevos – Anjelica, named after Anjelica and family I added the photo of She is show with husband, Jose Luis and 2 children; Fernandina Louise and Angel. The next few photos show what goes on during feeding time. I just loved to see the new bread rising, getting ready for tomorrows servings. Those 3 loaves will last a few days. Later in the day, I got to smell the bread baking. Absolutely heavenly.
As I left the house, saw a dead baby snowy egret that had fallen from the many nests above. The birds migrated to the little park next to us from the lake about 3 miles away. Heard they came here because of the reduction of trees in that location. People were filling their needs, all but forgetting that God’s little creatures need the trees too.
Carol was just coming back from last-minute shopping. She bought herself a nice jade bracelet. Our conversation was shortened from all the horn honking. Seems like an ambulance had a engine-start problem while going uphill on a one way street. Glad they were not responding to an emergency :-)
From there, spotted this building a few times with several Star of David symbols. Decided to have a more detailed look. Found about 40 different animal carving to include; a pig, rabbit monkeys, rams and other assorted exotics. I could not find anyone who could offer a “reasonable” explanation as to what and why.
A few doors down, a “papiel” paper goods store and met a new friend; Horacio. Found out he is also a tour guide and said he has some trip that are not offered thru the Instituto Allende, we usually deal with. After 30+ minutes of discussing archeology, world history, languages and art, thought we needed to let him be about shop business :-)
From there, more meandering. First to Casa Maxwell shop. The Maxwell family came from US about 50 years ago, well before the mass migration from the north of the past 25 years. The Maxwell family was very interested in helping the local indigenous artisans sell their wares at a fair trade price. This effort continues yet today. We bought a few small items. Have started to run out of space in our luggage.
Next, across the street to La Europea – a wine store. Heard we could find some local Mexican wines. Most places only carry the Chilean or maybe some California vintages. Had some later in the day. Very good. Not too sweet for Carol and not too dry for me. Thinking of wine made me think – food, time to eat the second and last meal of the day.
On to El Pegaso, our regular stop. Checked out the many delicacies we have had during the past four weeks. Do we try something new or? Carol got her usual enchilada. Me, always take the special of the day. Today a sopa pozole – soup with meat and veggies. To that you add shredded lettuce, onions, radishes, oregano and dried chili peppers. Very good for our last meal there, since they are not open on Sunday – time for family they say. We get hugs from the staff:; Cesar, Fernanado, Bennie, Javier and Hugo. We will miss their greeting whenever we stop or even pass by. A smile and friendly wave go a long way.
A few more stops along the way to Casa Liza. Darla shop for maybe a nice pair of earrings? Maybe the Hell’s Angels “art” shop close to where we are at? We stop to say goodbye to Juan and Guadalupe our “sommeliers. Wave to Aldena as Casa Café where we might get café Americano with some sweet treat. I think, also need a drink to take back to room. So see Regina at snack shop just a few feet form Casa Liza.
Wow, here a month and have added about 80 names of new friends. How lucky we are.
Just after getting to room, hear the church bells ring the special “code” - 2 short rings and 30 rapid-fire rings. This signals that mass with start in 10 minutes. We walk up the steps stairs to find we are also part of a wedding! The interior is filled – only 80 seats, so pick the bench just outside the door. What a perfect spot. We are right in line with bride & groom and the altar. Everybody was dressed so nice. Later in the evening we could tell the celebration was in full swing. The fireworks that have been silent most of the week gets our attention. This is followed by a showers of brightly colored sparks dripping from the sky.
As with most days, another beautiful sunset. Maybe not the best photo, but still the best vision before closing eyes for the night.
View all photos @
Todays @ http://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/Day30Of32SMA#
Days 1 to 22 @ http://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/SMASemanaSanta20102?pli=1#
Days 23 to 33 @ http://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/SMASemanaSanta2010#
Adios – don Mariano
