Mexico: hardware

A gorgeous city bursting with colonial-era buildings like Puebla, Mexico is a treasure trove for those easily swayed by the charms of metalwork. You don't have to spend much time looking at this blog to know that I am solidly among that number. During my month in Puebla, I caressed many door knockers...put my eye up to ancient keyholes... and held the weight of some very fine padlocks.

Mexico: ancient power at Teotihuacan

Central Mexico is full of powerful ancient sites with amazing ruins. And even though these are remains of peoples long dead, there is life here...it is a place pulsing with life. The pyramids at Teotihuacan took my breath away with their energy and their enormous size.

Teotihuacan as a city, thrived for 800 years. The home of a highly cultured, evolved population, not unlike New York City, for example. One wonders if NYC will last as long as Teotihuacan...

The society of Teotihuacan folded many years before the Europeans came to Mexico. Greece fell, and so did Rome. The British used to be the ultimate world power. History tells the stories of societies that rose to power then eventually fell and were conquered or simply disappeared.Looking at myself, complete with touristy sunhat and a happy smile...I wonder about the tourists that will visit our ruins...

Dreamy: la casa de Frida

To step into Frida Kahlo's blue house was moving. Her studio, kitchen, dining-room and bedroom are intact from the years she and Diego Rivera lived and worked there. It's the house she grew up in, the space she endured a long recovery from a horrible accident and the place she painted many pieces I have loved for years. Photos are not allowed inside the house, but the garden is open for capturing images...it's very peaceful and lovely.The garden with an open door to her bedroom...The window to her studio is open...I was just another pilgrim, satisfying a quest to see for a moment through Frida's eyes...inside the house I spent the most time in her studio. Brushes, paints, drawing materials, easel...her objects and tools for art making are there, intact. I looked at my own face in the mirror she used for so many self-portraits and saw myself through new eyes...

Mexico: signs

Mexico is full of signs, if you want to see them...

Sometimes the message is obvious, sometimes you have to forget what you know and just look...

everything has a meaning, a purpose, a place in the world...from some perspective...

Mexico: petitions to the universe

I visited many beautiful churches in central Mexico this summer...they are lovely, quiet and powerful places to meditate. Or petition a saint, if needed. For love, or a good job...the saints are compassionate and take all kinds of humble requests. You write your petition on a satin ribbon and pray...And the universe listens...