Everybody is experiencing varying degrees of winter, some harsher than others this year. In northern climes there is a touch of schadenfreude in the air as southern spots like New Orleans try to figure out how to move snow off their streets and sidewalks and in Washington DC, the presidential inauguration was moved inside because it was too cold.
Right now I’m sitting in front of a fireplace shivering but in another hour or so I’ll be down to shorts and T-shirt. That’s just the way winter goes in San Miguel de Allende. Temperatures sink and soar on a whim.
In another week we’ll begin the celebration of Candelaria, which sort of pushes Spring to the forefront. The celebration is part religious and part commercial. Candelaria marks Candlemas, the 40th day after the birth of Christ.
But Feria de Candelaria 2025 also is the launch of Spring in the Central Mexico highlands and Spring is all about rebirth, growth, fresh planting, blooms, and new starts. And all of that begins in the garden.
Normally the festival is held a few blocks from us at the comfortably forested Parque Juarez and we end up hauling home all sorts of plants and bags of fresh soil. This year Feria de Candelaria is on the other side of the city. Fair enough. Spread the wealth
Ground Zero for all of that will be one of our newer, more-open parks, Parque Zeferino Gutiérrez (named after the amateur architect who designed the iconic Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel) will be filled with florists, gardeners, farmers, vendors, and more selling flowers, cacti, gnomes, plants, trees, and all sorts of flora.
This will go on for a couple of weeks if not longer, from January 31 to February 16. People with wheelbarrows follow homeowners around as they buy soil, pots, plants, and trees for their homes. Taxi drivers struggle to fit purchases and people into their cabs. For photographers, it is a visual feast of color and composition.
Meanwhile, for a mid-winter treat, I thought I’d leave you with these images from my daily dog walk in Colonia San Antonio and Centro. Six years ago, not long after we arrived in San Miguel, I shot a similar set of photos on the theme of “I know why the caged flowers sing”
The sight of flower boxes and pots behind the window bars seemed strange then.
Not so, anymore.
Musings, Magic, San Miguel and More 
My initial attitude each year is I only need one or two plants but somehow I come home with many, many more.
I am thrilled this year it is at the new park which is handicap accessible. It has been really hard in the past to get pushed around Juarez Park in my wheelchair
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Beautiful photos and writing as usual. However, not everyone is feeling the chills of Winter! Its Summer down ehheeyah, Mate. Ha. “What we are all experiencing as a whole is a major 2025 shift in just about everything.” I say, I say, I say. Love you both. Keep writing and feeding our minds the beautiful juice of life.
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