Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe - Cute kids version

Yesterday was Virgin of Guadalupe Day throughout Mexico and celebrations and ceremonies abounded. 

I know that there is a huge religious element involved, but the heathen in me focused on the children who showed up to have their pictures taken in front of the Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at the north end of Llano Park.   For a good synopsis of the day check out this post at Casa Colibri.

The scene was filled with parents, grandparents, their very young kids, often infants, and maybe twenty photographers who had stalls set up to depict various settings of the Virgin. 

These were sweet setups with cameras, props, computers and printers all ready to crank out almost instant prints.  They did a brisk business.

The boys were dressed as little Juan Diegos and the girls wore various traditional regional outfits or trajes.

 This shot looks fine, but...

The real comedy was that the burro was only interested in eating the greens on his back and the boy kept trying to stop him with very little success. 

There were a few cute kids there... like a never-ending stream of them.

I guess this is what they were after, the money shot.

Which brings me to my favorite shot of the day.  This woman was handling the printing at one of the stalls and was obviously pregnant. 

I love the Virgin overlooking her, no doubt giving her, Her blessing.

World Politicians Confab in Etla

Oops, my mistake... it was the annual meeting of Payasos Unidos Por Oaxaca(PUPO) a real bunch of clowns in my opinion.

Yes, just in front of my market in nearby Etla, the clown cars arrived and out of them came a wonderful collection of characters.

Wonderful makeup and faces.

Clowns have a different role or status here in Mexico.  Maybe it is kinda like wrestlers, but they occupy a special niche in the social fabric.  And they are everywhere.

Because it was in Etla, it was a more intimate event than in the city last year.

At times, there seemed to be more clowns than spectators.  Just checking with my broker.

A good time was had by all.

 I love this kid and his Working Class Hero shirt.  Like several of the others, there seems to be a sweet and very shy person beneath the makeup.

There was a fine selection of clown accessories and outfits for sale.  I Love Nerds!

I was tempted, but passed on these fine shoes even though they were my size.

As I said, payasos have a special place in Mexican culture and it was re-enforced by the fact that many of them were driving tricked out hot cars

And had equally hot wives.

It was great to see people overtly being clowns rather than the clowns who we see every day, but try to hide it.

Get yer motor runnin'.... and pay those bills

As I was paying my electricity bill at one of the nearby drive thru machines, I noticed that the guards and the gardener all had their cell phones out and were taking pictures of the guy at the machine next to mine.  I looked and could see why.  So, of course, I joined in.

We all agreed it was one mean mother of a bike.  Hard to see, but there is a real ribcage encasing the gas tank.

And its rider completed the picture perfectly. 

I talked to him for a bit and he was quite friendly no matter how scary he looked. 

He was from one of the Etlas, so he is a local bad ass.

Fantastic... like Darth Vader at the ATM or sumpin'

This shot is through my windshield and from a long way back as he made a quick getaway.

Signs of Hope in Tlacolula

It was a relatively quiet market day in Tlacolula.  It is always such a nice place to visit and drink in the many sights, smells and flavors, a real mental palette cleanser.  Ahhhh.....  and there is always Hope, you know, Esperanza, out favorite dancer who also happens to work in our favorite barbacoa  place.

 

Her smiling face has graced these pages many, many times and you can see why.

There were other signs of hope, too. 

See Ma, piece o' cake.  Note the glitter on the nose

Just doin' my part

It looks like the dry season is here to stay and everything is changing as plants and people get used to no rain.  In the lot next door there are tons of bees and butterflies taking advantage of the late blooming zinnias and cilantro. 

We know that these are important insects in our inter-connected world, so I always plant things that attract them and that they seem to enjoy.  Look at how fat those zinnia centers are filled with seeds.

I mean, the butterflies and the grasshoppers were making love like it was going out of style.  Tsk, tsk... take your mind out of the gutter.  There was no inter-species weird stuff goin' on, just butterfly on butterfly and grasshopper on grasshopper... until the human poked his nosy nose in there.  "Can we have a little privacy here?"

Considering it has only been a couple of months, this little lot is showing a lot of potential.  I hand water all the trees and perrennials and they seem to be adapting fine.

 

Of course, it all makes me think about how happy they will be when it rains again, but that could be May or June, so for now, we just deal.  I will let lots of these, the flowers and herbs, go to seed and naturally do their thing when the rains return.  Plus, it is easy and it works.

Details, details, details

As always, the street art comes and goes in an ever-changing series of visual treats and statements.  This shot is a not so subtle tip of the hat to my new found respect for marmotas, the large globes that are so common here.

 Everything changes when you get up close and personal.

 Wonderful details emerge.

Soon to be be gone but not forgotten, painted over or peeled off by the weather.

It's more of an art

Remember these shots of the men installing decorative tiles in the walls of a little cafe from last month?  Well, here are the finished versions with additional painting around the perimeter.

What beautiful work!

Art in the Park

The zocalo is always good for people watching and people watching people watchers. This portrait artist had a few people watching him work.

 A great and distinctive face.

I dunno if the artist successfully captured his subject's cragginess.

Update: The power of Photoshop