MeXscape

I finally took some time off around the New Year. I didn't do any work, but that doesn't mean I stayed away from my computer. I used some of my time to work on a project that has been in my mind. I thought it would be fun to do a series of images that merge the wonderful people around me with this incredible environment. I think it turned out pretty well. Well enough, in fact, that I am doing my first picture blog.

We have both been pretty strung out lately. We are both just getting over lingering chest colds that still leave us a little winded. They were probably brought on, or at least significantly exacerbated, by stress. We have just been so busy. There is always too much work to do. We've fallen into a rut: work, eat, sleep, repeat. I think it happens to all of us. You just get so caught up in day-to-day life that you forget to live. Sunday, we cried uncle.

Subtitled “Stuck”

The Monday before last, the cleaning lady was coming for our “move-in” cleaning. She is terrified of dogs, so we decided to pack them up and take them somewhere. We had been wanting to take them to the beach, so we opened up the map to look for a location that appeared suitably isolated.

Martha Armenta, the president and driving force behind Conrehabit, has initiated an unprecedented and incredibly bold outreach program to fundamentally transform certain cultural aspects of daily life in some of the more remote villages in the mountains of Sinaloa. Working proactively to educate the villagers, both young and old, to the virtues of living with nature as opposed to seeing the natural world as something that needs to be dominated, feared and exploited; she is making surprisingly quick progress.

When I volunteered my time to help Conrehabit expand their reality, I really had no idea what I was getting into, nor any clue as to where it would lead. Now, with more than 9 months into this relationship with nature, I am truly overwhelmed by the shear volume of encounter and adventure I have experienced in such a short time, everything from Bramadors to very big snakes.