Thursday, November 20, 2014

Luminaria

Luminaria, in Mexican culture, has to do with lighting up the way. 
Usually it is something simple, like candles in lunch paper sacks, along the sidewalk to a holiday party.
But, San Antonio goes out big for our city´s Luminaria event, held 2 week-ends ago.

They say 300,000 people show up downtown to see it. 
But it sure did not seem crowded to us. 

Artist must present works made of light. It takes a lot of work and preparation.

So, the light crews get to work early :

And even the musicians dress up their act with lights, 
as they prepare to perform for the whole city.

Several artists painted murals on walls which were accentuated by the projected lights. 
Many filled whole building's wall!


Some were more attractive than others.

And some were down right scary.
(Maybe it was because it was right after Halloween.)


They also had projected whimsical light scenes 
which create an opportunity for everyone, from young to old, to pose.


And some of the works are serious indeed. Like this one. 
I don´t know what the artist intended, but I call it
¨The consequence of conquest¨. Wouldn´t you agree?
It´s a diorama, less than 12 inches tall.
Tiny pebbles placed along the stucco wall have been painted to each look like a skull!
And look how the tiny statues pose a shadow TOWARDS you, instead of towards the wall! Wow!
This was my favorite of them all the works!

But the audience brought in a sense of the current times. 
Like that person using a phone to take the snapshot above...  
or …..was she merely texting a friend?

Well, I am distressed to report that texting was indeed the activity for some….
despite what was happening around them.


Meanwhile, in a building close-by, players faces were illuminated by lights from a room-full of pinball machines.



I must say, though, that I liked the riverwalk the best.

That's where musicians played under the bridges, 
and let us enjoy their more classic art!

If you think you'd like this, just come down to San Antonio's Luminaria this time next year! You'll enjoy it.



Monday, November 17, 2014

Lots of hungry mouths

Went to the zoo today
and there were lots of these guys around.


 



















Seems like EVERYONE wanted a handout!




No matter where I walked around the pool, 
the whole group followed me!

But, to their credit, I must say that it was the day after a cold front. 




And by Texas standards, 50+ degrees is just too cold
for people to go outside.
So, I am sure these poor fellows felt deprived, 
having no visitors buying food for them. 





I think you will agree, though...






                                                                                             they are so ugly that they are cute. 
They sure know how to use that to their advantage.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

South Texas Pow Wow

Made it to the 4th Annual Championship Pow Wow in San Antonio this past weekend.

I was concerned because many friends I worked with in Texas claimed to be Native Americans,
form Oklahoma. But, their mannerisms, speech, and dress could pass for full blooded Scandinavians.

These guys, though, fit more of what I expected after living in NM and AK.


But quite exquisite outfits they wore! More silk than I expected.
Guess 'cause it was a championship event.


No. These are not the simple outfits of the Carancahuas and Lipan I read about as a kid,
along the Texas Gulf Coast.

What really surprised me, though, was the number of young & middle agers,
closely watching the dance steps of the elders.


And the proud look of the mothers, as their daughters joined them in the dance.


Like this moms, getting her daughters ready for the event.


But, do you know what impressed me the most?

It's when right before the dance, one of the young adults pulls out her iPad…….
and gets so immersed in what she is looking at.


A last-minute review of the dance steps?

Well, I assume it's the new being used for preserving the old.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Missing out on the sunsets

I noticed this the other day, as I rode home on my bike, near the end of rush hour.

And wondered if the drivers appreciated the colors in front of them, as they waited at the stop light.

But, as soon as the light turned green,

the race home was on!

No, I think they missed that sunset.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

We passed many cow trailers on our travels….


At the top of Monarch Pass, we stopped next to one, 
to let the engine cool down.


I got out to stretch my knee and saw they all seemed to be looking at me.



And suddenly I thought:

this might the these guy's last trailer trip.



Sunday, August 31, 2014

Computer problems

My computer had serious problems in May/June.
So, the pics of the return trip from Florida and explanation of the different State Parks along the way disappeared.
Fortunately I have finally recovered them.
But, it seems too long ago to send out blogs about that.
Instead, we will move to the present, and send out more recent stuff.

Camp Rio is over...

Camp Rio is over but the memories will remain for a long time. All the preparations were worth the effort when we saw the smiles and faces of amazement during the week. Here are a few of the hundreds of photos taken by Carlos, our resident photographer.

After arriving at at the cabin, the new Hogwarts students rode the Hogwarts Express along with their Owls.


New Witches and Wizards arrive at Hogwarts

The Sorting Hat was then ready to place the students into their respective Houses.  We only had Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw selected.  There were no Sytherins this session.

The Sorting Hat was busy

Each new Muggle student brought their own Owl and an Owlery to keep it safe during the day.

Every Owl needs an Owlery

A Prefect was selected each day based on the previous day's participation and behavior.

A new Prefect of the Day

Since there had been problems with "He Who Shall Not Be Named" supporters in Diagon Alley, a representative of Ollivander's Wand Shop came to help with Wand Selection.

The wand selects the Wizard

Six different classes were held each day as students followed their schedules.  These included: Charms, History of Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Magic of Imagery (eg. Photography) and Quiddich teams.

Magic of Imagery  (B&W photography) Class

At the end of the week, after daily practices, the Quiddich World Cup Games were held.  

The final Quiddich game

There was also a special time for practicing ant-Dementor spells (via a piƱata).

Practicing anti-Dementor Spells

Group photos were taken, with the students' wands and gowns.

2014 Hogwarts Students

There was a copy of the Daily Prophet each day with numerous articles about the previous day's events and other Wizarding activities.

Daily Prophet
It was a week to remember and the students didn't want it to end.

Spectro Vision Glasses on students