Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico

Sometimes vacations are about relaxation and lazy days and other times, it is an opportunity to test out another side of ourselves. I went to Oaxaca, Mexico with National Geographic to test out who I am as a photographer. It was quite a journey, we went on 1 - 3 photo shoots each day and had edit and critic sessions with two N.G. photographers. This meant downloading pictures each day and culling through them to select the best 25 from the days shoots before showing them to the instructor so they could critic and select the best 4 -8 for the day. Each student's selected images were then shown to the group with comments by the instructor's about what made the image good, what could have been done differently, and in some cases how they might be used in a magazine spread. We were given two rules, no cropping and shooting in manual mode.

I chose the Oaxaca trip because I am intrigued by Day of the Dead celebrations. I have heard and read about this special day that falls at the same time as Halloween and I wanted to experience it first hand. Day of the Dead combines native beliefs with the Catholic All Saints Day. They believe that the dead come back one day a year, and the living celebrate that moment with a special altar in the home and a night in the cemetery. The days leading up to the Day of the Dead are full of preparation and celebration.

In Oaxaca, sand sculptures are created in the Zocalo with skeletons, angels, and skulls.


Bands play, people dance, and children dress up in costumes -- usually skeleton costumes, but as the Halloween traditions creep South of the border, pumpkin costumes appear more often.


We spent the days leading up to Day of the Dead visiting communities and families to see and experience life in Oaxaca. We visited the Zapotec Ruins at MonteAlban and the ruins of Mitla, We went to and animal market in Zaachila, and the markets of Octolan, Mitla, and Oaxaca.













As we headed into the Day of the Dead experience, we were all glad to have practiced shooting in in a variety of settings. We were heading into the unknown, shooting at night with candlelight and flash as our only light sources. I was a nervous wreck for the first time that week. I am not much for flash photography and I wasn't sure I understood anything that we had been taught about flash photography. My camera and flash are supposed to be able to work remotely from each other, but I couldn't figure it out. This would have allowed me to move the flash so that it would be less direct and provide added light without the high contrast. In the end, I managed to get some cool images in the cemeteries. Maybe it was all the spirits because it is not my new understanding of the use of the flash.

From the mescal cheer:



To the quiet family moment just before dawn:



If you would like to see more images from the trip, Check out my flickr page.

Salsa Challenge

Well, I challenged myself to create a new recipe for salsa. Then I went to a competition at the Discover Sycamore Farmers Market. There were five contestants and three prizes. I did not win a prize. What does that mean? Jesus Romero kindly said that everyone had wonderful salsa and that people like different tastes. A couple of people told me that they liked mine and it should have won. I guess the most important thing is that I had fun and I like what I make.

I did and I tried something new.

I share my recipe with you here. If you don't like it, throw it out and don't make it again. If you like it; I am glad. It is the best time of year to make Pico de gallo in the Midwest.

Roasted Peppers Pico de gallo

6-8 Roma tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 Serrano pepper
1 Hungarian hot pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
The juice of 1 small lime

Blue corn chips or any tortilla chips you like.

Start the grill. When hot, put peppers on the grill with a pair of tongs. Allow them to brown and turn them on all sides until well grilled. Take them off the grill and put them in a paper bag. Close the bag. Inside at a cutting board dump out the peppers. Wearing a pair of plastic gloves, cut open the peppers remove the seeds, and stems. Then allow to cool completely. They are small, they don't take very long.

Chop the tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Combine in a bowl. Cop the cooled peppers and add to the mix. Add the cocoa powder, salt and lime juice. Mix it all together.

Scoop into a nice serving dish and it is ready to serve with the chips.

Playing with Poetry Magnets

Imagine Why. Experimentation is free.
A glorious latex angel masterpiece
shimmers raw purple and green.
The colors dazzle the canvas of life.
Water opens a miasma of electric harmony.

Squirrel's Lament

Squirrel climbs the pole
Slips and slides
Reaches his goal
The bird feeder
closes at his weight.

Happy Earth Day and National Poetry Month

A couple little diddies about Spring

Little Robin Red-Breast
Sitting in the tree
Waiting for your breakfast
A worm and cup of tea

Throw off your jacket
Gentle Breezes, sun is shining
Birds abound with song

Bald Eagles

I have been watching a live camera feed of the Norfolk Virginia Botanical Garden's of and Eagle nest. The eagle pair hatched three eaglets in late March. We have been sneaking peaks of the eagles since last week when the link was emailed by a friend.

Right now one of the parent is feeding fish to the three eaglets. Just a little bit ago, both adults were in the nest. This parent is breaking off pieces of the fish and feeding it to the eaglets. Every once in a while, he (the male is smaller than the female) takes his own bite.

As I sat watching the father feed his brood and himself, I thought about how important it is to take care of yourself even as you take care of others. If he gave all of the food to his babies, he would not have the energy to care for his young. A reminder that we need to take care of our needs and give ourselves the food and moments that we need to keep up our energy.

The mother and father also share the duties, so they remind us to work together.

Honu 'Ea - Hawksbill Turtle

I drew a card from my Hawaiian Oracle Card deck - Animal Spirit Guides from the Land of Light by Rima A. Morrell, PhD (http://www.hunalight.com/)after coming home from our vacation in Hawaii; Three days after visiting Lawai International Center.(http://www.lawaicenter.org/).

The card was Hawksbill turtle. The message "Like Honu 'Ea your are reaching your potential. You have the ability to see beneath the surface of the sea and understand that nothing is solid unless your thinking makes it so. He Honu ka 'aina he mea pane'e wale. 'Land is like a turtle; it moves on.' At most we can pass land onto our heirs, but we can take nothing with us when we leave the earth except the qualities our soul has grown. So, why not concentrate on these?"

The shingon shrines at Lawai Center sit on the back of Hawksbill turtle. My trip was all about moving forward and growing my soul. What a wonderful gift to receive this card. A reminder in the face of going back to work and dealing with more winter weather.