You may know it as the Day of the Dead in Mexico. In Guatemala November 1st is called All Saints Day. Families flock to cemeteries to decorate graves and visit their ancestors, but the wonderful surprise about this special day is the kites. Guatemaltecas create colorful kites, tiny and gigantic, artistic or whimsical or with sociallyContinue reading “Kites”
Tag Archives: Photography
Chefchaouen in blue
The bus from Tangier to Chefchaouen (2018), also called Chaouen, takes about two and a half hours. Nestled in the Rif Mountains, it’s been called one of the most beautiful towns in Morocco. It’s also been called a typical Berber village, and is sometimes known as the “Blue Pearl.” Founded in the 1400s as aContinue reading “Chefchaouen in blue”
Tangier
My son and I took the ferry to Tangier, Morocco, in 2018. The taxi driver drove us from the port to the medina. I had booked a hotel inside the medina. He unloaded our bags and another young man stepped out of a door on the side of the medina wall to meet us. TheContinue reading “Tangier”
Essaouira
On a day trip to Essaouira (pronounced ‘S-where-a), on the Atlantic coast, we followed a two-lane road over dry land, for the 2-1/2 hour trip from Marrakech to the sea. It’s not called desert, according to Fouad, my driver, recommended by the riad where I stayed, because the southeastern border of the country is in theContinue reading “Essaouira”
Marrakech
While teaching in Prague for two years, I took the opportunity to travel to places that would have been much more of a journey from my home in Colorado. In 2008, my travels took me to Marrakech, Morocco. Rather than explore the more modern city, I stayed in the medina. The taxi brought me to theContinue reading “Marrakech”
Picking favourites
A fellow blogger and travel photographer, recently posted her favorite three photographs (the title above has the British spelling, as does her post). It was Sarah’s entry into a Lens Artists Challenge on her Travel With Me website. I usually don’t participate in these popular themed challenges, reluctant to spend hours looking through gigabytes ofContinue reading “Picking favourites”
Ode to a tree
My home is perched on the side of a mountain, at the edge of town. In an earlier essay (Thoughts for the new year), after a devastating fire near Boulder, I wrote about fire danger in my mountain neighborhood. There are a few houses above mine, but only a few. The landscape and a rockyContinue reading “Ode to a tree”
Salmon Lake
In June, I joined my brother and other family members at a rented cottage a few hours north of Toronto in densely forested Ontario. A steep dirt path through pines, maples, and naturally lined by ferns, not landscaped, led down to the lakeside. The water was cold at first, but felt comfortable after a minuteContinue reading “Salmon Lake”
The cottage
From Toronto, we drove north and a bit east for almost three hours, the last stretch on winding dirt roads. We were headed to a rented cottage on Salmon Lake, in a quiet, rural, forested pocket of Ontario. Where I live, in Colorado, there are small mountain houses we call cabins. So I pictured aContinue reading “The cottage”
Canadian respite
My flight was mid-morning. I live an hour and a half from the airport, planned for another half hour to park and take the shuttle to the terminal, and, of course, it’s best to arrive two to three hours in advance of an international flight. So I left in full darkness. A bright crescent moonContinue reading “Canadian respite”