“Bob,” many of you ask me, “are the flowers in San Miguel really that beautiful? And are there really that many?”
I try to manage expectations.
“Yes,” I say. “There are that many flowers. And, yes, they are that beautiful.”
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.
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Today, I realized that I’ve been looking at the flowers all wrong.
The ones that have filled the wood aisles of Parque Juarez for the annual Candelaria Festival. Nearly every pathway is filled with flowers, succulents, cacti, saplings, herbs, seeds, soils, exotics, and verdant things indescribable by a casual traveler like me.
This isn’t my first Candelaria, bucko.
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Late last night as the light drizzle kissed the courtyard foliage, a lone Calla Lily peeked its chaliced bloom through the broad green leaves.
It has been dormant for some time, so this was a delightful surprise as has been this late season rain.
The beaded drops upon the velvety white bloom were irresistible. As dark as the night happened to be, I had to risk taking a shot. It seems to have worked out okay.
I read that the Calla Lily in Mexico is associated with death and funerals and in Greek and Roman times with festivities. How appropriate as we approach Dia de Muertos. The flower’s symbolism serves our times and culture well.
Some of the literature says that the cactus known as Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) blooms only once or twice a year but if that is the case, we may need to rewrite the book.
Our Queen just does not want to leave center stage.
That is the endearing attraction of this ivory bloom: It opens up one night in a spectacular display and with the morning’s light, all that remains is a drooping shallow resemblance of its formerly glorious self.
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“Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden — in all the places.” — The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
It is easy to get lost in a garden,
No matter how small it might be.
There you are, sitting in full possession of your mind
Ready to conjure great things that will soon become
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Lilies in bloom, Colonia San Antonio, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Because, after this week, you deserve something beautiful.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Drink in the colors and shapes.
Fall into the petals and let your imagination
Slide down the slopes,
Through the anthers and filaments,
A pollen forest of serenity.
Shimmy up the style,
Sit atop the style,
You kins and queens of your own world.
Once again, breathe in, breathe out.
With lilies about, peace grows
In the heart’s garden.
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Did I go too far? This Calla lily is in bloom just outside the kitchen door.
It stops me in my tracks every morning when I enter for breakfast. It has been in full bloom for nearly a week now and shows no signs of fading. A hardy one, for sure.
The original photograph, taken Wednesday, Nov. 2, is a bit flatter and duller than this. I’ll post it below. I blame it on the ambient light and the limits of the iPhone camera. And my own limitations as a photographer.
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The Night-Blooming Cereus is putting on quite a show in our Colonia San Antonio courtyard tonight.
One night only, folks. By morning these beauties will be withered old crones, bereft of the intoxicating scent currently filling our home.
Rose spotted the — what shall we call it? — the chrysalis of the Cereus earlier this afternoon. Raul our gardener was just as excited to see them — there are two. We missed the blooming of several of the cactus flowers earlier.
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Musings, Magic, San Miguel and More 