Saints of Todos Santos

On a recent trip to Mexico, I was driving around the town of Todos Santos (Baja California Sur).  As I was driving around sightseeing and re-aquainting myself with the town, I made a wrong turn.

That wrong turn was a “blessing” … as I drove down the road there was a long sidewalk wall that had been painted with various saints.  I believe the artwork was painted by school age children.  Anyway, I had to take photos!  So, I left my friend in the car (it was 90+ degrees outside), walked over and started taking pictures of each individual saint.

It was a treacherous undertaking as the road was curvy and the sidewalk wound around a blind curve… but I am happy with the results!

Virgen de Ocotlan

Saint Marguerite de Youville

Saint Sophia

Sta. Catarina

La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

San Rafael

La Virgen de Guadalupe

St. James

Lake Cuyamaca, CA

October 18, 2009… I took off on my motorcycle and took the following pictures of Lake Cuyamaca.

The lake is in San Diego County, if you look on a map for Julian (famous for it’s apples) the lake is right next to it. There is a small restaurant and right next door there is a bait & tackle shop.

If you were to drive up from Pine Valley, you would cross the Sunrise Highway through Mount Laguna which is beautiful!

Old Sturbridge Village

Old Sturbridge Village is the largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast. It is a replica of  rural 1830s New England. A school, bank, pottery shop as well as homes, meetinghouses, a country store, sawmill and blacksmithery are just some of the 40+ original buildings brought from towns throughout New England to the museum site… where they are restored so that authentically costumed staff can carry out the daily activities of the community.

I walked all over the village, listened to the blacksmith, and spent some quiet time in the church. I arrived late afternoon Thanksgiving weekend and had the Village to myself. While inside the old covered bridge I was able to photograph the light on the floor as it peaked through the cracks in the walls as I narrowly missed being runover by the horse drawn carriage.

OSV is truly a fantastic place to visit.

Old Sturbridge Village Church

Colored leaves

The floor of the covered bridge

View from Old Sturbridge Village Church

Opposite of negative

Old Sturbridge Village Church

Shadow of the tree.

Old Sturbridge Village Church

My Shadow

Big Blue Sky with a Bare Tree

Light shining thru an old lantern

Light peaks thru the covered bridge

Store window

 

Link: www.osv.org

Doors From Around the World

I am fascinated by doors… as I have traveled around the world I seem to find myself in front of them, photographing them and wondering what is on the other side of them.

Sturbridge Village, MA, USA

Athens, Greece

San Luis Rey Mission, Oceanside, CA, USA

Milan, Italy

Todos Santos, Baja, Mexico

Sturbridge Village, MA, USA

San Luis Rey Mission, Oceanside, CA USA

Cigar Store Indians

Cigar store Indians are a form of American Folk Art dating back to the 1800s. With so many immigrants that couldn’t read English, it was common to use visual trade signs such as a carving instead of written signs to bridge the language barrier. Cigar store Indians (aka wooden Indians) were commonly placed on the walk in front of tobacconist shops to direct illiterate customers to the shop. Other businesses used trade signs too… a barber pole for a barber shop, a key for a locksmith, a pair of scissors for a tailor or three gold balls for a pawn shop. Said to be the most popular, the Indian was chosen for a tobacco shop because Indians introduced tobacco to early explorers of the Americas.

Cigar store Indians are usually made of wood, are three dimensional and are as large as life-sized. Due to a variety of reasons… sidewalk-obstruction laws, higher manufacturing costs, tobacco advertising restrictions and increased racial sensitivity… the cigar store indian has become an advertising antiquity.

Panguitch, Utah

Panguitch, Utah

Mt. Carmel, Utah

Mt. Carmel, Utah

Panguitch, Utah

Oatman, AZ

Oatman, AZ

Oatman, AZ

Oatman, AZ

Oatman, AZ