Not the blue of a heart before forgetting.
The blue of the sky above Colima Volcano,
no other clouds in it except one puff
of earth’s hot breath becoming visible
in the cool morning air.
Like blue caught in icicles.
Give me that blue.
A personal note of interest. The water in my house is heated by this volcano!
For dVerse Poets Quadrille Challenge: Sky
For the Friday Fun Challenge: Distant.
Cruising the Volcano
I have been so busy getting ready for my three-month move to the beach that I didn’t even consider that I’d be driving past Colima—one of the most active volcanoes in North America. I had read about the recent lava flow down the south side, the ash warnings with evacuation suggested in certain areas, and unusual activity in the months leading up to now, but my concentration today was mainly on Morrie, my surprise companion on this trip to La Manzanilla.
Long story short, my house sitter had to cancel on short notice. No house sitter—no one to live with Morrie and Diego. The result was that a friend took Diego while I brought Morrie to the beach with me. Other than his time in the animal hospital when he broke his leg two years ago and a handful of times someone let him slip out of the gate and he took off like a bat out of hell, this is only his second time away from his own yard as well as his first time away from Diego.
Today’s six-hour journey in the car must have been like a trip to a foreign planet to him. For hours, he seemed to be searching the surrounding world as we passed it by. I looked over at one point and Colima Volcano was sending up a huge balloon cloud behind him. It was a gorgeous shot. Unfortunately, there was no place to pull off and a big truck coming up fast behind. By the time I got to a pull-off spot, this is the view that presented itself:
I barely noticed the volcano in the background as the towers dominated, and it had ceased venting.
Now, here is Morrie interspersed with the scenery we were passing. Luckily, Colima vented again a few times, but not nearly at the magnitude it had that first time I viewed it.
Again, click on first photo to enlarge them all.
This late afternoon and evening, Morrie had his first introduction to the beach. It is a tale in itself, but I need sleep right now more than you need a longer story; so, perhaps tomorrow I will tell it along with at least one other that had a surreal quality to it.
The “Freeways” of Mexico are anything but free. Yes, there are free roads, but they are generally twisty, two-lane and frequently not too safe. In Mexico, what we think of as freeways are actually toll (or cuota – pronounced “quota”) roads. They are not cheap, but they are multi-laned, divided, well-maintained and generally safe, although this trip presented one unique potential danger not often found in the U.S. unless you happen to live in the northwest.
Click on the first photo and then the arrows to enlarge photos and see the story told in their captions.
http://ceenphotography.com/2016/04/05/cees-fun-foto-challenge-freeways-expressways-highways/
The ABC’s of Approaching a Volcano
Just keep following the milk truck to Lala land!
And you just might be presented with a little surprise. This is Colima Volcano venting and her sister mountain just over her left shoulder. They call them fire and ice…one has snow on it, the other venting hot volcanic matter!
Signs of Life: Smoke Signals (Under the Volcano)
Kids, don’t do this at home, but the rush of life lately has caused me to break some general rules of sane behavior. Let me preface my confession by saying the past three weeks have been crazy as I’ve been trying to balance life with construction projects, art exhibitions, doggie problems and packing to leave for two months at the beach. As a result, I’ve missed several of Cee’s photo prompts–which I try to never do.
So, jump ahead to yesterday (which sounds like an oxymoron, and I guess it is.) I finally have the car loaded to the ceiling with art supplies, kitchen gadgets, groceries, clothes and boxes of retablos for an art walk I’m participating in at the beach. My house and canines are left in the accomplished hands of Maggie, my house sitter. True, I forgot to fill up the car, check fluids and check on why the “maintenance” light has been on for the past month, but at least the guy at the first Pemex station I come upon notices that all of my tires are 10 lbs. under the prescribed pressure and has filled my power steering fluid up to the prescribed level–even though the warning on my car says to use only Honda power steering fluid. Where outside of Guadalajara would I find Honda power steering fluid? It’s probably just like that warning to only use genuine HP laser cartridges in my color printer (at $100 a pop times four as compared to the $10 generic ones). At any rate, I’m off and thinking about prompts missed when I suddenly catch my first sight of Colima volcano!!!
That’s it…that little breast-shaped mountain to the left of the far right tree on the horizon.
I do pull off the road whenever I can, but also start snapping shots through the windshield as I drive.
No, I’m not focusing by taking my eyes off the road. I’m glancing up, putting the camera more or less where my eyes are and snapping shot after shot. I’m holding the camera out the window and shooting.
235 shots in about an hour’s period as I approach the volcano, pass it and OMG!!! As I look into the rear view mirror, I notice that THE VOLCANO IS ACTUALLY VENTING!
At the end of the day, after 5 hours of driving, I reach my destination, immediately run into someone I know, find my rental agent out of her office, make a call but no answer. I sit in the car, air conditioner running. (Yes, it is hot at the beach) and review my photos in my camera. Thanks to the Lala truck that drove in front of me for a good distance, I’ll be able to use my photos for both the ABC prompt and last week’s “Compose Yourself” prompt, but I think I’ll put those pictures in another posting. I think the venting of a volcano as one drives by is excitement enough for this post, don’t you?
I call Juani from Juani Rentas again and finally get her. She’ll be here in 5 minutes. I shift to a parking spot opening up across the street from Casa Gaviotas––my home away from home for the next two months. I unload the car with the help of Israel, across the street, put my frozen stuff in the fridge, duck over to Daniel’s for a fast tequila toast to the sunset and set off for a music jam night at my friend Carol’s house. Home at 10:30 to finally have a better look at my volcano shots, and here a few of them are. By the time you see my “Compose Yourself” and “ABC” posts, your trip to here will seem as long as mine has been, perhaps. Sorry Ann, sorry Audrey–two friends who always advise less is more, but who would I be if I took their advice? Certainly not me!!!
I’ve shown you what I did this week. Now, here are my answers to the weekly wrapup questions:
http://ceenphotography.com/2016/01/16/cees-weekly-wrap-up-january-16-2016-and-wpc-alphabet/
(My alphabet pictures will be in another post.)
Since my learning style is experiential and this trip has certainly been a experience in excess photography, I’m posting it on the Daily Prompt page as well! https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/learning-style/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 