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

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Through a past darkly........

  

As I said a couple of days ago, how wonderful it is to be back in Oaxaca.  As we all know, and as all those tourists filling the streets are telling us, this is a unique and magical place.  I'm calmed by knowing this place has ten thousand years of history.  It's been up, been down, been rich, been poor,  and all that history tells me that's just where we are.  This calms me down quite a bit.

I'm riding on the wave of relief I feel after leaving all the stress and chaos in El Norte and thinking about how to stay afloat on these trouble seas.... which maes me smile and recall a favorite quote from SongChol, one of my main guys...

"Let's not spend our lives fighting over trivia.  To do so reduces us to a state of being even more worthless than spray on a vast ocean.  Let's concentrate on the ocean rather than the foam."

This place feeds my soul.


Friday, March 21, 2025

Stranger from a strange land...

 

It's good to be back in Oaxaca.  Even though I've been down here for almost twenty years, I still think of Boston as home and maybe I always will... or maybe not.  But, as I say, it feels so good to be in Oaxaca.  My time up north was fine and productive, but wow, the stress levels up there are off the charts.  It's hard to describe the sense of relief I felt just seeing the front of mi casa.  Two days later I feel so much lighter in spirit.  Maybe it's just because the Hannaford market in Waltham didn't have this out front.  And the food is better here, too.
Anyhow, onward...