Day of the Dead has passed but the warm colors of the holiday reverberate as the weather gets chillier. I took this photo with Velvia slide film with my Rolleiflex in 2015 and rediscovered it in the bowels of my harddrive as I look for painting inspiration today. Big bunches of flowers dominate the market in Xochimilco, Mexico City--a prelude to the holiday festivities.
inspiration
Camino de Santiago - Day 24 Lovely Leon
I really liked Leon and almost immediately upon leaving knew I'd have to return someday. It felt strange to me to look forward to a bigger city after the small towns of the Meseta and yet only have a few hours there to look around. I had a conversation with a woman I walked with almost every day from Astorga on--Natalie from Denmark, about how hard it can be to turn off tourist mode in your brain and just accept pilgrimage mode. In other words, it's in my nature to want to see everything I can--always on the look out for interesting little museums, wanting to see the historic buildings and wander the streets, reading up on the history or the famous foods of the area. Instead, on this journey, you are always simply passing through. The physical path of the Camino is what you get to know so well and you have to learn to ease your grip on all these interesting places you pass through.