Oaxaca-The Year After: October 2021

The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

"Waiting for the electrician...

Or someone like him".... was the title of a very funny and weird album by The Firesign Theater. However, in this case, he actually arrived to tackle the nagging electrical problems this house has had for years. First, he popped off the outside meters and among the dirt and debris, were two of the largest scorpions I'd seen thus far. After dispatching the insects, he proceeded to chisel out all the old stuff.

Because everything here is built with cement, it was quite a job and took hours. He was a bit of a perfectionist and the old funky fuse boxes were eventually replaced with beautiful circuit breakers.

The meters were installed in new housings. Now, I have to wait ninety days until I can repaint, but wow, what a great worker... and he lives just down the street,,, and he's a plumber, too.

I won't say how much it all cost, but try to imagine how much it would have cost in El Norte and divide by ten or twenty.

Saturday, October 2, 2021

It was a very good year....

"When I was seventy...." Yes, real lyrics and real life. It was a good rainy season, still going. OK, life continues to be strange and challenging, but still, there is a bountiful harvest.

The milpas, traditional garden plots, are lush and fruitful.

These harvests will last through the coming dry season when green will just be a memory... and distant dream.

Friday, October 1, 2021

In and Out.....

No, not the burger place, but how my weekly shopping goes at the nearby tianque, street market, that pops up every Friday.

I'm in and out in less than fifteen minutes. And I can get pretty much everything I need for a week of healthy eating. Today, meat, produce, tamales, and dessert, all of really good quality as you can see.