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A cynic might say there are more murals, statues and pictures wearing masks in San Miguel de Allende than actual people.
I wouldn’t know.
Lately, the only people I hang out with are murals, statues, and pictures. And they all seem to be wearing masks.
Which is why I prefer their company to that of people who will not wear masks. They even look smarter than people without masks.
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These days, we walk around Parque Juarez.
No, not walk around in Parque Juarez.
Just, walk around. The perimeter.
We circle the park, as you would circle a fishbowl.
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Well, this is the inspiration for M.C. Escher-cise — and it kind of looks like our house. Kind of. But you can see the concept and how it might work, right? Except for the optical illusions. Escher’s houses have lots of optical illusions — like infinite staircases — and mine sort of doesn’t.
You know, stuck here inside as we are, during these days of self-isolation, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to exercise.
A lot of thought.
You might say, thinking about exercise is inescapable. Seriously, I can’t get away from it.
Everywhere I look, there is Rose … exercising. She takes long walks or runs just before sunrise. She comes home and rolls out her yoga mat for one, two, even three different sessions with cream-and-sugar-voiced online instructors. Continue reading
Look below for the annotated version with links dipped in fresh hot chocolate for the good homebody feeling:
Really good reads:
#1 “Fuck the Bread. The Bread is over.” By Sabrina Orah Mark, Paris Review, May 7, 2020. “In February, as a plague enters America, I am a finalist for a job I am not offered.
“I am brought to campus for a three-day interview. I am shown the library I’ll never have access to, and introduced to students I’ll never teach. I shake hands with faculty I’ll never see again. I describe in great detail the course on fairy tales I’ll never offer.” Continue reading
FARM-TO-TABLE LINKS & ANNOTATIONS, RAISED HUMANELY IN DIGITAL INCUBATOR:
#1 Dog walks are meant for podcasts. Longer walks mean even MORE podcasts:
a) Fresh Air: Chef Tom Colicchio talks about what it will take for restaurants to survive.
b) NYT The Daily: Arrival of the murder hornets and The Chinese Lab theory.
c) NPR Up First: Unemployment numbers.
d) NYT Sugar Calling: Cheryl Strayed talks with Alice Walker. “Whatever we have, we have to work with it.” (Strayed’s weekly podcast has hosted writers Amy Tan, Judy Blume, Pico Iyer, Margaret Attwood, and George Saunders.
#2 VISIT: The talk with Alice Walker sent me to her website. Filled with commentaries and poems and nods to essays of others. The first two lines of her poem “True Success” really got me: Continue reading
The classic view of the iconic Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel from Calle Aldama in San Miguel de Allende. All was quiet on Saturday morning of a holiday weekend
When I opened my computer this morning, I was presented as a very long list of quotations, mostly by famous people, extolling the virtue of patience.
Patience.
I stopped reading midway through the list and scrolled to the bottom to see how long the list was. “No time for this, “I thought. “I’ll get back to it later.”
Now I can’t find it.
No matter. There are plenty more where that came from. Continue reading
FRESHLY ANNOTATED WITH LOTS OF HOT LINKS!
#1 DREAMS COME TRUE: Buonforno’s coffee & pastry shop is one of our favorite places in San Miguel de Allende. Easily the best coffee and croissants you’ll find anywhere in town. And the breads! Exceptional. But the owners and staff are what put this shop over the top. It was understandable but sad when they closed.
This morning when I woke up, there on the stool beside my bed was a plate with a Buonforno almond croissant, a pistachio cinnamon bun, and a cup of their coffee.
How could this be? Continue reading
Can there be any symbol of resiliency more endearing that a single strand of climbing cactus with a full bloom up where the air and light are free? This one on Calle 28 de Abril Norte in Colonia San Antonio makes me smile whenever I pass by.
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What do we need? HOPE!
When do we need it? NOW!
Who are we going to get it from? NOT FACEBOOK!
Then from who? (Or “whom” or “what”?) WINE!
OK! But are there any other vehicles of hope,
ones that we can remember in the morning?
Jesus, you people …
OK, let’s try song and poetry Continue reading
#1 Emotional tempo upon awakening: Andante con moto.
#2 MOTIVATION: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor Op. 57 (“Appassionata”) played by Claudio Arrau in Berlin 1970. Blissful 26-minute journey.
#3 MEDITATION: Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor retooled for flute by Jean-Claude Veilhan and performed by Helene Schulthess inside the 800-year-old Swiss church of St. Peter in Mistail. Schulthess uses the church’s impenetrable walls and echoes to create beguiling depth for the nearly 10-minute composition.
It reminds me (only slightly, but just enough) of Paul Horn’s “Inside” (1969), A jazz flutist, Horn took his instrument and some recording equipment inside the Taj Mahal and used the building’s echoey acoustics as his backup band. Continue reading
A man and his wife and their dog go for a walk.
There is no punchline.
Stepping outside feels alien enough
Without turning it into something else.
San Miguel is pared to its essentials Continue reading
Musings, Magic, San Miguel and More 