eyes like my heart

went a wee bit up the mountain to Huyapan today to visit a local family. the husband roasts coffee and makes chocolate, yet has a degree in economics from a radical university. lady and he had a conversation in spanish, which i partially understood. he says the world economy right now is like 1929 just before the crash – everything is tied to speculation, nothing is tied to productivity. we sat in their courtyard and ate soup. i drank too much fresh coffee, while lady drank part of a beer and 2 large potent mezcals. she’s decided in future one mezcal is better than 2. she started feeling bad before we took the bus back to town.

the bus back had a religious shrine in the front window, and a lad who hung out the open front door looking for possible passengers as we tore down the highway. bus stops anywhere you want to get on or off – just wave.

lady’s in bed now – with aches, fever, stomach pains, so it’s not the alcohol. the crummy part of love is when your loved one hurts and you can’t fix it. i know jackshoot about fevers. what does one do when sick folk won’t fit in the freezer?

gave her some aspirin, put her to bed, hugged her to sleep because she had the chills. wait for time and sleep to re-ravel her nicked sleeve of care.

she’s tossing, in restless sleep. i should go to bed and soothe her but i’ve 3 cups of fresh ground strong made late afternoon coffee in me, and i am wired.

(next morning – lady’s fever has flown, but she still feels weak – 2 aspirins and 11 hours sleep seem to have turned time, tithes, and tide.)

in Huyapan we saw a burro, a kid goat, hummingbirds, an eagle – what a large, majestic bird it is. great views up and down the Sierre Madres – blue sky, sun, trees, flowers, cactus. a grand vastness, yet peaceful all around. look off and see one mountain end, there’s another beyond it, and more beyond that, each a wee bit bluer, hazier – the clouds beyond the last mountain range echo mountain shapes as the setting sun paints the underclouds red and orange. gorgeous.

saw 4 wedding parades with brass instrument and drum bands marching through town – each wedding has a 5 day marriage celebration. one group had 12 foot tall bride and groom puppets at the head of the procession – at one point the puppets faced each other and bumped their bodies in sexual pantomime.

drove by the ex-governor’s house, which is on a hill and manned by 50 caliber machine guns.

saw banana trees, pomegranate, mandarin, orange, lime, pistachio, apple – more trees i can’t remember. i get a thrill seeing food trees. it’s like walking through fairy tales.

and flowering trees – here in oaxaca, huge spreading trees are totally covered in large red or orange or white flowers rising up to the sky. they make my soul soar, my eyes sing. this is the prettiest place we’ve been.

our six weeks here we’ve dipped down to 4,000 feet above sea level to see one temple, and up to 6,200 feet to see more. most times we’re at 5,200 – one mile above the sea. so high it seems i could look out over the oceans, encircle the earth with my eyes like my heart.