Return to Mexico

Tomorrow we fly to Mexico again, this time to the land of the Iguana...
Puerto Vallarta.

The film version of Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams has always been one of my favorite stories. Google will give you all sorts of reviews of the play and the film, masterpieces both .


Guanajuato
photo by Dar

Unlike Streetcar, Iguana offers hope. The kind, wise words of Hannah Jelkes give defrocked priest Shannon calm, and bring him back from the end of his rope-- literally-- to the realization that Maxine Faulk is his perfect mate. Maxine, likewise at the end of her rope, realizes that Shannon, not Pepe and Pedro, is what she needs. It's quite a love story in the midst of a tempest of gringo tourists. The story shows how marvelous Mexico is as well, a place with real humanity and values lost to much of the U.S. It is Tennessee Williams (and director John Huston) at his best.

PV is no longer the outpost it was when the film was made. Yet it still offers Mexico's unique qualities...

for an enjoyable account of Puerto Vallarta, read:

Even the whales are gay down Mexico way

(click)


Swimmingly,

Jameson

Katydids in Cloudland

As the sun sets on Cloudland Canyon, the sound of the Katydids conquers the air and pulses through the forest.
Not the sound of missiles and bombs, not the chatter of mid-Eastern potentates, not the bombast of politicians, not the cries of the civilians lost in the crossfire, not the horns of angry drivers, not the noise of the dying world,
just the Katydids.


Our cabin was our sanctuary this past weekend. Our nieces played with their puppy, Geisha. The girls told stories of their week in Atlanta at camp. As they slept, we drank Pedron Tequila with their parents and talked of our upcoming journey to Puerto Vallarta. On day two, Starr arrived, we dined at the Canyon Grill, and drank champagne.

During that halcyon weekend, we hiked down to the base of the two waterfalls. We talked well into the night as we sat in the rocking chairs on the screen porch. We saw deer, including a speckled Bambi roadside. Meanwhile, we all listened to the Katydids.

Cloudland Canyon
photo by Jameson

Next stop: Night of the Iguana.


Trails,

Jameson

Veto of Science

Our president has finally decided to use his veto power. What a wonderful humanitarian and Christian act to stop stem cell research. We know how much Bush cares about life from his war in Iraq that has brought tens of thousands of deaths. We know how much he cares about humanity from his allowing torture to take place. Perhaps he will next show his compassion for life by casting a veto of an increase of the minimum wage, if the Republicans in Congress can take time away from passing more tax cuts for the life-loving CEOs who fund their campaigns.


Jess protests.
news photo
from Aljazeera







Then, maybe he'll veto Global Warming and Evolution.

Photo from
The Nation

Be afraid.

Jameson

Sun Worship

Sunning myself poolside this weekend, I recalled the revelation I had at Delphi on my first of several visits to that sacred site, namely, that the Sun, rising over the hills above the temple of Apollo and lighting the space in an ever moving arc is Apollo, Sun God.

Sun over the Aegean Sea
Photo by Jameson

To me, belief in the Sun God is far more comprehensible than belief in an invisible, bodiless projection of such raw, negative emotions as jealousy, possessive insecurity, and fear. Forget the Being-In-and-For-Itself. Give me a God I can feel, whose warmth bathes my naked body in a glow.

If you need more convincing, read D. H. Lawrence's The Woman Who Rode Away. Or, if you won't read the original, there is some good commentary (By Joyce Carol Oates).

Epicurus was right, however, that such gods have no use for humans.
The Sun-God might well be concerned for Earth, follower of the Sun, suffering the blight of that bacteria, that filthy mite and scurge-- humanity, a cancer on the Earth's skin. But the Sun God would no more care about those individual mites than we would care about the dust mites under our bed: nuisances to be rid of as soon as possible.

So praying is pointless. Worship Tawa, Ra, Aten, Apollo, HUITZILOPOCHTLI...

By basking in his warmth, using his gift of energy wisely, and by seeing the Light.

We shall pay him homage on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta in two weeks.

Temple of Athena,

Delphi
Photo by Jameson

Bask! While this summer lasts.

Jameson

Cape Cod Contentment

View from Lands End Inn
photo by Jameson




What better place than Provincetown to celebrate the 4th of July.

Not only is P'Town the landing site of the Mayflower Pilgrims, it is also the beacon of freedom in this nation today. Same-sex couples there, married and single, hold hands among a populace that celebrates the rainbow of creative difference. Art thrives. Theatre thrives. Clean air from the sea clears the head.



For a little history read:

The Pilgrim Monument

The Inn where we enjoyed living in two rooms:
first, the Sunset Room; second, The Moroccan Tower:
Lands End Inn

Proud Display:
Old Glory
photo by Jameson

Get to know radical P'town:

Read P'Town's The Edge

4th of July Parade
Photo by Jameson




Happy Dune Trails

Jameson