Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe? September 2023

The sun rises later during this time of the year. The clouds in the sky change from orange to pink as we head to the airport. Airline personnel are pleasant, TSA employees less so, some downright hostile. 2 men push in front of me as I am placing my items on the conveyor belt, their rudeness sets my teeth on edge. It is still fairly early in the morning, I am not at my best at that hour. 

As we drove through the forest preserve on the way to the airport I noticed the leaves there were changing color earlier than the ones in our lakeside neighborhood. Over the next weeks I looked forward to the trees entertaining us with a beautiful and vibrant curtain call prior to their winter naps.  

We are on our way to Santa Fe, a bucket list item of mine. For a number of reasons we didn't feel comfortable going abroad this year so decided to stay domestic. Aside from the historic city itself, the oldest state capitol in the country, there several nearby National Monuments as well as the ancient, by U.S. standards, town of Taos. 

I sat by the gate in the terminal hoping that predicated storms would not delay us on our way to our adventure. We soon heard the beautiful words, "Now boarding group 5".

Be Careful What You Wish For

 It used to bother me a little. Corporations, that gave little if any visible support to the gay community 11 months out of the year, would, during the month of June, shamelessly use our hard fought battle for equality and acceptance as a marketing tool. Media would be awash in rainbows. But this year is different. Nary a rainbow to be seen. One major retailer has made the decision to move it's Pride section to secondary locations on their sales floors out of concern for the safety of it's employees and protection of their property. They have reacted, understandably so, to boycotts, personal confrontations and anger. Fear has forced the corporate turtles to take safe haven within their shells. 

How did it get here? Why is an angry and hate filled minority allowed to have an oversized voice in our country today regarding both public and private policy?

Over the last several years I have sometimes thought about how, almost fortunate, I am to be the age I am. I think about how I am watching the second act and somehow comforted that, after intermission, I will not be around or too senile to notice the third. 

Perhaps it will not be as bad as I fear. We saw hate and fear in the 50's turn into the transformative period of the 60's. But this was before social media. Please do not point out the hypocrisy and irony of making this statement on a blog, I am aware of both. When anger, hate and insults can be thrown out from a keyboard protected by the barrier of a glass screen it can sometimes have the effect, not unlike alcohol, of loosening inhibitions. 

In the meantime I live my life in my, tolerant, diverse, deep blue city with it's embarrassing wealth of culture hoping that the younger generations will eventually wake up, rise up, educate themselves and demand and begin to take responsibility for their great future that could be. 

Ode to Mexico

 First there is the food, fresh and plentiful. The breakfast buffet at my hotel included eggs, beans, potatoes, 2 days roasted, one day mashed, one morning fashioned into pancakes as delicate as butterfly wings and mounds of fresh fruit, including papaya, a rare treat. A salad in a restaurant I revisited from a previous trip served me a deep bowl of crisp greens heaped with chicken, there was the side salad one evening of shredded lettuce and seemingly impossibly sweet onions topped with a tangy vinaigrette. Vegetable medleys tasted as if the zucchini, carrots, broccoli and green beans had been plucked from a garden just minutes before being steamed to perfection. There was a breakfast so bountiful, served on the wrap around porch of a historic mansion, that I was unable to finish it, unheard of for me. There were the lovely lunches and breakfasts taken in the lush garden of the hotel in Ajijic , with it's lake view, where a caged scarlet macaw shouts out it's name "Paco" as a calico cat with beautiful markings wanders about the greenery and lounges in the sun.  

There is the architecture, late 19th century facades line the streets of downtown Guadalajara. In the historic Colonia Americana district the mansions display an eclectic mix of colonial, Victorian and baroque influences, sometimes all three in a single building. There are the churches, some centuries old, sprinkled around the city like jewels, waiting to be discovered by chance as you walk the streets. Murals in bright colors fill the walls of the buildings of Ajijic, the ancient stone pyramids of Teuchitlan hold secrets thousands of years old.

And then the people, charming and graceful. The guide to the pyramids and I had a long conversation about tequila as we returned to the city. The patrons at the bar in Ajijic ensured I felt welcome among them. The two students manning the front desk at the Museo de las Artes, sweet, intelligent, slightly flirtatious, with an underlying innocence unique to the young. The, without exception, courteous and smiling wait staff and UBER and taxi drivers. The tiny boy zig zagging across a square playing with a bubble machine I encountered as I returned to my hotel after dinner on my final night in Guadalajara. 

It is a place of history, charm and beauty, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

Mexico 2022 - A Weekend in Ajijic

 It is a small town, it's official population around 11,000, although a resident told me it is probably closer to 16,000, nestled between the shore of Lake Chapala and a verdant mountain range. Brightly painted buildings and muraled walls line narrow cobblestone streets. White and gray doves fly between the trees that fill the town square and congregate on the eaves of the bandshell in it's center. Small shops sell colorful crafts. On one square similar wares are vended from tables. Two venerable churches are located near the town center. One sits directly on the square, the main one is a couple of blocks away. It's bell tower looms over the town. What is not a century old is built to appear as if it was. Most of the sizable expat community is retired. There is little to do there. That seems to be the point, a life of quiet tranquility. 

From my room with it's commodious balcony facing the lake I watch white pelicans glide by. Tiny finches with bright yellow breasts perch on the balcony railing. Men in cowboy hats and jeans ride horses down the road I can see from the balcony, their hoofs clattering on the stone street. At night lights from other small villages and towns on the other side of the lake twinkle. 

There is a single gay bar, walking distance from my hotel. I go there late Sunday afternoon. The men and women all seem to know one another, as is the norm in smaller towns. 

I rest, relax, shop, read, write and walk the narrow streets. When I mention the quiet to locals they point out that if you want noise Guadalajara is only 45 minutes away.

Mexico 2022 - Vacations Moments of Magic

 For my final evening in Guadalajara I decided I would have dinner in the square in front of the cathedral. I walked past the venerable University of Guadalajara building, the fountain in it's plaza lit a beautiful shade of pale blue. The fountain in Cathedral Square was illuminated in the same hue, while the lights highlighting the trees in the plaza changed colors as did the lights in the arcade of the centuries old building across the square. A duo, a man with a guitar and  woman with a beautiful lower register, performed off to one side of the restaurant as I dined on a delectable breaded shrimp and sipped red wine. The cathedral bells rang out the hour, a sound I had become accustomed to as the church across from my hotel did the same each hour of the day....and night. Cities have a soundscape, some of it frenetic and earjarring but other parts soothing and soul filling. I strolled at a leisurely pace back to my hotel, at one point maneuvering around a tiny boy kicking a soccer ball about with reckless abandon, lost in the delightful innocence of youth, savoring the feel of the city before ordering one last drink from the hotel bar, taking it up to my room and retiring, looking forward to what lay ahead.

Mexico 2022 - The Ball Courts

 Like Mayan societies centuries later the was a ritual of a "game" played in ball courts tied to the movement of the sun across the sky. In the Teuchitlan culture a ball, heavy, perhaps a bit smaller than a modern soccer ball, was moved across the court using only the hips. Were any other part of the body to touch the ball a point would be awarded to the other team. Other points were scored by being able to move the ball into the opposing teams side of the court.

 The remains of two courts are located at the site. The first is what the tour guide described as a practice court. Presumably a place where the skills needed would be taught. It is delineated by an outline of stones on the ground. One could imagine an older generation instructing the younger on the various aspects and moves of the game. 

Then there is the larger main court. There are stepped walls along each side for spectators. This event was used to settle disputes among the members of the society. One could "pick a fight: with another and challenge them to the ritual game. It was believed the winner would be ordained by the gods. 

It was a dangerous ritual. Apparently death, either by dehydration or injury, would occur. The challenge would be to perform from sunup to sundown, Archeologists believe that no rest, water or nourishment was allowed. In modern times one would think it would be difficult to recruit members to your team when the possibility of death could be a result. However, death on the court would be death in a holy place so one's accession to "heaven" would be assured. There is a mound on one end of the court where the partial remains of people were found. It appears that the entire body was not sacrificed but pieces of the body were, for example, the deceased's finger.

Aside from the pyramids and ball courts there is also a marketplace for trade and several high stone mounds, adjacent to one of the ceremonial pyramids, presumably homes of nobles. There was an ingenious agricultural system composed of floating gardens, the nearby lake being 5 times larger than it's current size. From the ruins high above a distinct rise can be seen as one looks down at the small town below indicating the lake's level in ancient times.

I did ask about drug or liquor use among the culture. The guide said that they just don't know. I did find an article stating no evidence about drug use has been discovered but it is known that peyote, for example, was used by other people of the time. It is possible that marihuana or plants containing psycho active properties could have been available and used by the ancient people but that information has been lost to history.

Mexico 2022 - The Round Pyramids

 The Teuchitlan culture worshiped 4 main gods represented by the elements of earth, water, sun and wind, wind being the most revered. The round shape of the pyramids represented wind. 

Our first stop was a small museum where we were treated to a video which gave us an overview of the culture and prepared us for what we would visit. There were an estimated 25,000 to 45,000 inhabitants in the area in ancient times. This was, for the period, an enormous amount of humanity. A young goth kid working at the museum reminded me, once again, of the cultural homogenization of our present world. The ancient culture constructed shaft graves with different levels. The priests, the highest order of the society, were interred at the lowest level so that their journey to the underworld and after life would be easiest. Middle classes were interred at the midpoint, the poor highest up. One could also gain the high burial status of the priests by reaching the age of 52.Obsidian from the dormant volcano nearby provided the people with a trade good, evidenced by shells and other objects, discovered during excavation, only available from distant areas.

Early morning clouds had given way to bright sunshine and hot temperatures as we began our walk up the steep rock road towards the site. Unlike some other sites I have visited on my travels this one is rather rough, it requires a moderate level of fitness to fully appreciate it. Paths are little more than tramped down areas of grass and the heat, at least at this time of year, can be brutal. 

The video we saw before we began our trek was essential to me in helping visualize the site as it was 2000 years ago. The most well preserved of the pyramids is an imposing structure. It was not only a place for religious rituals but also a lunar based calendar, each of it's steps representing a cycle of the moon. Stone platforms surrounding it once held the houses of the priests. Middle class homes stood a little farther off with  the poor relegated to the farthest distance away. 

In 1969 UNESCO came to the area and declared it a world heritage site. Part of the designation required that restoration was only allowed if the structure was at least 70% intact. As the area had been looted of some of it's stones over the centuries by local residents this meant that some original structures could not be reconstructed. Hence, some of the platforms are missing and one of the larger pyramids stands as a grassy hill covered by the local flora. Still, the idea that I was standing on ground where religious rituals and dances took place over 2000 years ago was a deeply humbling experience.