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.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Solar Eclipse?

No, just one of the sunflowers in the garden.  Here's another.
Lots of bees, but not many butterflies.
Some hummingbirds, too.  The place is a bird paradise.
Recently, folks have stopped by and been amazed by how beautiful the place looks.  Months, now years, of back breaking work and my zen nature... and of course, my neuroses.
Gardening here is a learning experience.  Here we have six months with barely a drop of rain and then torrential downpours almost daily.  Well, that is how it has been recently.  The ground is super-saturated.  And then there is the variety and quality of soils.  I have serious clay here and the water does not drain. And the place is large.  I have put in beds or gardens everywhere.  I have gone crazy adding sand and compost, mulching everything and then letting nature take its course.  It is working.
This area was the site of a huge pile of brush which had been amassed over the last three years.  It was one huge fire and the entire area was pure ash.  I dug the ashes in and added sand and covered it with many inches of mulch.  I had chopped up thousand of pieces of corriso, the bamboo like stuff, so I had tons of mulch.  I have been amazed that things are growing in it, but the zinnias are tall and beautiful.  Some of the sunflowers are three meters tall!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful. I hope you are happy, healthy and loving your life in Mexico!

Unknown said...

Beautiful. I hope you are happy, healthy and loving your life in Mexico!

Lani said...

It's nice to see the results of all your back breaking work.
However, I was wondering, since you have photographed many events with beautiful flowers . . . Do all the flower growers have to put in that much effort or are there surrounding areas that are not clay or are naturally more fertile?

Christopher Stowens said...

Gracias, Susan. You guys should come for a visit some year.

Lani, I think there is always back-breaking work involved especially with the lack of any machines to help. The main problem I have is that the soil they used for fill when they constructed this place is horrible stuff, white chalky clay. If you go ten feet, it becomes concrete rubble that they swept up from somewhere, another ten feet and it is beautiful and so on.

The folks that grow all the flowers here are just very good at it. They know all the secrets.... and they have good soil, enough water and the right conditions. After that... it's all easy.