9:45am Villa #6 / Ajijic 64°
Today is writing circle except it started raining a few hours ago, thunder and lightening and then a steady downpour afterword. It just stopped but it's too cool and damp to sit on the terrace where we write at the Lake Chapala Society. I don't have to go every week, I can go every other week if I want. I always enjoy it and am endlessly amazed at the writing that comes out of me in that setting. I've only been three times so far and each time I get a piece that I'm happy to read and share. The first two were about Stephen and what happened to him and to me afterword but last week I got a good, positive one about photography. I should type it out here just to see how long it takes to type one up.
______________________________________________________________________________
The prompt: Imagine looking at something very small ... then see it large and enter that landscape. Where are you?
Things looks very different depending on where you are in the picture. A bug on a flower petal, no bigger than the head of a pin, has a very different view of the world than I do while I observe him. How, I often wonder, did the bug get there? Where did it come from? Why that flower in that location? Is it the same random chance that we meet, as random as passing a stranger on the street? If I wasn't looking so closely, I would never have seen that bug and by the same token, I pass people on the street without seeing them either. What am I missing?
These are the things I ponder as a photographer. I feel like I don't really see anything until I have my camera in my hand. I can't explain how my perceptions shift, almost like I have a special film that comes over my eyes that alters and enhances the light on things. Photography is all about light but it's also all about the willingness to look at the world at the world deeply, drink in every detail, shadow, leaf and reflection.
Life is a lake and the camera is a diving board.
I've played with cameras all my life but didn't get a digital camera until 2011. By the next summer, I had saved up enough money to buy a big girl camera, a Canon Rebel T3, and that same year I planted sunflowers all over my yard for the first time. As they grew, I learned about my camera, experimenting with settings and then uploading the shots into my laptop. I found an editing program online, one that was free and easy to use, and I began to learn how to alter my shots. My mother had died that year in May and having a whole new world of photography to step into was a soothing balm to my grief.
The fun really started when the sunflower blooms began to open up. 21 of the seeds I had planted grew and my front yard became a wonderland of 6 to 10 foot tall sunflowers with heads the size of platters. I went out to photograph them at all hours of the day --- I got morning light with hazy skies, afternoons hot with intense blue skies, and evenings just before sunset, the sun setting through the huge petals and leaves.
And the insects! Turns out that sunflowers need insects to unlock the secrets hidden in their cores. The winged creatures perform a sort of worship service, an ecstatic dance on the face of the flower, around and around starting at the outer edges, working their way into the center. And when they are finished, the look of the sunflower has been transformed as the spiral weaving now become seeds.
The sunflower takes two months to grow from seed to to mature plant. Two crops in a season can be grown easily or even three, as I proved the following year. I had sunflowers growing from April through October that year and I never tired of the process, watching them as they lived their lives through the lens of my camera.
It's been a few years now and I don't take my camera out as often as I did. Seems like that world through the lens was a way to leave my world, the one in my head, and step into Wonderland. Just like Alice found, the trip was confusing and colorful and the ponderings that I came away with took me deeper into life in a way I never imagined. Photography taught me how to see, how to alter reality through editing and choose where to focus my eye. Go ask Alice when she was just small.
____________________________________________________________________________
OK, that's it. 629 words in about 40 minutes straight at writing circle. Now that I've got it captured onto the the computer, I can see where it could be improved and expanded. That kind of writing has value and I should plan to go at least twice a month.
The sun came out at 10:10, just as the circle began their writing. Dang. I guess I'm being told not to let the weather fool me, just go anyway next time. And so I shall. But at least I've been productive this morning and got this piece copied.
That's it for today. Good job!
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Moved Again ...
10:36am Villas del Sol #6 68°
I know, I declared my love for Hotel Perico in my last post and I meant it at the time. And then the rains came and that presented several issues. 1) It got really humid in the unit, especially in the screen room that I used as a living room and office. I was worried about my computers and printer sitting in the humidity, I was pretty sure it wasn't good for them. 2) There was a square skylight in the bedroom and the booming thunder and pounding rain were magnified in that spot like a drum.It was hard to sleep through. Those were the two biggest issues and after that, all the smaller issues got bigger and soon I was wishing for a move.
I found a place quite by accident. I kept seeing a sign, Condo for Rent, in front of a place in Ajijic, just west of town, right next to the Casa del Waffle, and finally one day I impulsively turned in and decided to check it out. Well! As I drove through the arched and gated entrance, I felt like I was driving onto Maui! The driveway was smooth and there was a gorgeous if aging pool area on the left with a view of the mountains behind. Palm trees. Very tropical looking. All very clean and neat. I parked my car and walked up the drive looking for someone to help me and along comes a Mexican man who spoke pretty good English and he grabbed the key and took me to see the place that was available.
He showed me a little house with one bedroom, furnished comfortably, and explained that the rent of $700 included everything except electric. I told him I had a cat and he was fine with that. Then I asked if any other units were available and he pointed to one behind a little bit, up off the driveway, and said that one would be available soon, the woman was moving out over the weekend. I thanked him and went back to Hotel Perico to think it over. I made a list of pros and cons the next morning and even though it was a close call, the benefits to moving outweighed the affordability of staying put. In addition to everything else, I can walk to places from here. I can walk clear to the lake from here, if I want to.Also, if I want to sign a year's lease, the rent goes down to $620 mo. I can afford that.
So on July 14, a Friday, I began packing up to move and by the end of that day, I had almost everything moved to the new place. Rocky and I spent the first night here that night and he went to the far side of the bed and wouldn't look at me. He was mad! I guess I should have told him we were moving. Next time I will.
I went back the next day, Saturday, just to pack the remainder and take a shower and eat breakfast. Then Sunday I spent the day unpacking and organizing and by the end of the day I was all set. I love that I can completely move from start to finish in three days! I continue to tweak the organization here but I'm comfortable and this is a good place. I've been going to the pool and getting to know the neighbors. Time will tell if I feel like staying here longer then my short lease to the end of October. There's another neighborhood I like but this complex has a lot to offer and I feel safe and cared for here. If I needed help, I would get it right away.
So that's where I am so far in this Mexico journey. Rocky is doing fine. I take him out in his cage with me on Mondays while the housekeeper is here. Last week we went down to the restaurant at the end of Colon right on the Malecon and that was good. Yesterday we went to Cafe Negro and somehow his cage fell off the chair I had him on and landed on its top down a few stairs. Holy Cow! I imagined the cage door popping open and Rocky dashing out and into traffic and my heart almost stopped. But he was fine, none the worse for wear. I ordered a new cage, one with wheels, it will arrive next week. In the meantime, a gal on FB gave me a rolling cage that can also be a backpack. It was dirty but free, so I cleaned it up and I took Rocky to the pool for a visit with the neighbors for a while. He did just fine. I think he likes to go and see new things. I think he's getting bored around here, nothing to do and no friends to lay around with.
Right now, he's sitting behind me on the back of the couch looking out the window. We got up late --- I read too long last night and didn't get the light off until after 1am. But what the hell, it's my life and I'm free and clear to do whatever I want to do! So far in my Mexico adventure, I haven't done anything productive but I have calmed down and settled in pretty well. Except for the bombs (Mexican fireworks) that go off at random times and for festivals I know nothing about, this is an ideal place and I'm not at all sure I could do better.
OK, that's it for today. I actually started this post a few days ago and then walked away. I still have lots to do for my other blog but am finding it easy to do nothing around here. Or very little. Today I have to wash my hair right after breakfast and then there's a party this evening before Karaoke. Tomorrow I start a water aerobics class and Thursday is Writing to a Prompt at 10am. Friday is the writers group meeting at 10am and I have to pick up my Residente Temporal card at INM before 1pm. So I have a full life here with plenty to do and yet plenty of time relax and read and rest. I'm not thinking very much these days, which might be just what I needed.
I know, I declared my love for Hotel Perico in my last post and I meant it at the time. And then the rains came and that presented several issues. 1) It got really humid in the unit, especially in the screen room that I used as a living room and office. I was worried about my computers and printer sitting in the humidity, I was pretty sure it wasn't good for them. 2) There was a square skylight in the bedroom and the booming thunder and pounding rain were magnified in that spot like a drum.It was hard to sleep through. Those were the two biggest issues and after that, all the smaller issues got bigger and soon I was wishing for a move.
I found a place quite by accident. I kept seeing a sign, Condo for Rent, in front of a place in Ajijic, just west of town, right next to the Casa del Waffle, and finally one day I impulsively turned in and decided to check it out. Well! As I drove through the arched and gated entrance, I felt like I was driving onto Maui! The driveway was smooth and there was a gorgeous if aging pool area on the left with a view of the mountains behind. Palm trees. Very tropical looking. All very clean and neat. I parked my car and walked up the drive looking for someone to help me and along comes a Mexican man who spoke pretty good English and he grabbed the key and took me to see the place that was available.
He showed me a little house with one bedroom, furnished comfortably, and explained that the rent of $700 included everything except electric. I told him I had a cat and he was fine with that. Then I asked if any other units were available and he pointed to one behind a little bit, up off the driveway, and said that one would be available soon, the woman was moving out over the weekend. I thanked him and went back to Hotel Perico to think it over. I made a list of pros and cons the next morning and even though it was a close call, the benefits to moving outweighed the affordability of staying put. In addition to everything else, I can walk to places from here. I can walk clear to the lake from here, if I want to.Also, if I want to sign a year's lease, the rent goes down to $620 mo. I can afford that.
So on July 14, a Friday, I began packing up to move and by the end of that day, I had almost everything moved to the new place. Rocky and I spent the first night here that night and he went to the far side of the bed and wouldn't look at me. He was mad! I guess I should have told him we were moving. Next time I will.
I went back the next day, Saturday, just to pack the remainder and take a shower and eat breakfast. Then Sunday I spent the day unpacking and organizing and by the end of the day I was all set. I love that I can completely move from start to finish in three days! I continue to tweak the organization here but I'm comfortable and this is a good place. I've been going to the pool and getting to know the neighbors. Time will tell if I feel like staying here longer then my short lease to the end of October. There's another neighborhood I like but this complex has a lot to offer and I feel safe and cared for here. If I needed help, I would get it right away.
So that's where I am so far in this Mexico journey. Rocky is doing fine. I take him out in his cage with me on Mondays while the housekeeper is here. Last week we went down to the restaurant at the end of Colon right on the Malecon and that was good. Yesterday we went to Cafe Negro and somehow his cage fell off the chair I had him on and landed on its top down a few stairs. Holy Cow! I imagined the cage door popping open and Rocky dashing out and into traffic and my heart almost stopped. But he was fine, none the worse for wear. I ordered a new cage, one with wheels, it will arrive next week. In the meantime, a gal on FB gave me a rolling cage that can also be a backpack. It was dirty but free, so I cleaned it up and I took Rocky to the pool for a visit with the neighbors for a while. He did just fine. I think he likes to go and see new things. I think he's getting bored around here, nothing to do and no friends to lay around with.
Right now, he's sitting behind me on the back of the couch looking out the window. We got up late --- I read too long last night and didn't get the light off until after 1am. But what the hell, it's my life and I'm free and clear to do whatever I want to do! So far in my Mexico adventure, I haven't done anything productive but I have calmed down and settled in pretty well. Except for the bombs (Mexican fireworks) that go off at random times and for festivals I know nothing about, this is an ideal place and I'm not at all sure I could do better.
OK, that's it for today. I actually started this post a few days ago and then walked away. I still have lots to do for my other blog but am finding it easy to do nothing around here. Or very little. Today I have to wash my hair right after breakfast and then there's a party this evening before Karaoke. Tomorrow I start a water aerobics class and Thursday is Writing to a Prompt at 10am. Friday is the writers group meeting at 10am and I have to pick up my Residente Temporal card at INM before 1pm. So I have a full life here with plenty to do and yet plenty of time relax and read and rest. I'm not thinking very much these days, which might be just what I needed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)