A Persistence of Blue
Saturday, December 13, 2025
 | Borda Garden - 3 December 2025
When I visited the Borda Garden in Cuernavaca in the State of Morelos,
Mexico for the second time in my lifethis past December 3 I was overwhelmed by
its architecture that featured the colours white and red. Had its architect
been the renowned but now dead Luís Barragán the architecture would have been
as simple but in very bright shades of yellow and green. The blue and whites
made my visit a restful one while I was at the same time taking many pictures. In my walk I noticed a blue water bottle. I never really photograph
objects as I am a portrait photographer. But I knew that I had to take the
photograph.
There is something about Mexico that always puts me in pleasant but
uncertain and surprising territory. This was one of them. A Persistence of Enthusiasm You can't go home again - Borda Garden
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Hope & Glory
Friday, December 12, 2025
 | | Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin' 12 December 2025 |
On an otherwise rainy and
grey day seeing Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ doing its best to open I instantly
remembered the words hope and glory. They are a title of film about war-time
Britain by film director John Boorman whom I photographed.
 | | John Boorman |
His portrait which breaks
all the rules of good portraiture is still one of my best. Somehow the bloom
and the portrait go hand in hand in bringing a bright spot to the day.
Will this be the last rose
of the year? I just might be surprised. There is that hope.
A Persistence of Enthusiasm
Thursday, December 11, 2025
 | | Pedro Meyer - 1 December 2025 - Coyoacán, México |
Pedro Meyer
Two Poets Laureate
Today I had a longish chat on the phone with George Bowering, Canada’s
first Poet Laureate. It is not only enough for him to be a poet as he wrote the
lyrics Eat Your Brain for a proto punk band Gary Cramer and the Works.
Currently the man who was 90 on December 1st is finishing his latest
book A Barefoot Gringo. Bowering speaks decent Spanish and loves Mexico. Eat Your Brain
I wrote about Mexican photographer Pedro Meyer who is 91 a few days ago
in this blog. I went to Mexico on December 1st just to photograph
him.
These two men have inspired me not to give up my enthusiasm for taking
photographs, scanning my plants and writing my blogs (6747 to date). For a
while I thought that living with my two cats, feeding them, taking Niño for a
walk was enough to distract me for the loss of my Rosemary five years ago. It
simply was not enough. My new enthusiasm generated by the influence of these
two men will help a tad. I think about the fact that I am waiting to die.
Perhaps I will not think about that as much now.
El Hotel Génova
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
 | | Hotel Geneve |
En mi larga vida me he quedado en muchos hoteles diferentes. Uno de los
más interesantes y lujosos es el Geneve (o Génova) en la Ciudad de México
(CDMX). Estuve allí el 4 y el 5 de diciembre.
In my long life I have
stayed in many hotels around the world. One of the most interesting and
luxurious is the Geneve in Mexico City in its Zona Rosa. I was there the 4th
and 5th of December this year.
El primer Poeta Laureado canadiense, George Bowering, que ama México y
siempre se queda en el Geneve me advirtió de un bar en el hotel dedicado al
teléfono. Y en el restaurante las paredes están decoradas con enredaderas y
plantas más jaulas con gorriones.
The first Poet Laureate of
Canada, George Bowering, who loves Mexico told me of a bar at the Geneve
decorated with all manner of telephones. He mentioned the restaurant which is decorated
with walls of plants, vines and canaries in cages.
La entrada al hotel es un museo de objetos y fotos de gente famosa que
se ha quedado como Mario Vargas Llosa.
The entrance to the hotel
is a museum of showcases with objects and photographs of famous people who have
stayed there like Mario Vargas Llosa.
My room was beautiful but
I was not tempted to turn on the TV. Had Rosemary been around she would have
certainly turned it on. My bed was a triple! The staff of the hotel was
efficient and friendly (and good looking!).
My cuarto era hermoso pero nunca quise prender la televisión. My
Rosemary, viva, definitivamente sí la hubiese Los empleados del hotel eran eficientes y amistosos.¡ Además eran unos
cromos! Un dato curioso y romántico sobre un brassiere de mi mujer en la cama del hotel.  | | With buddy Steve Sanford |
8 & 9 - Nevermore
Tuesday, December 09, 2025
 | | Niña above and Niño below |
Anniversaries are terrible
when they involve the death of a loved one.
After a bit more than a
month, when I met my Rosemary, we were married on February 8 1968 in Coyoacán, Mexico.
Rosemary died on December 9, 2020. Those dates have been in my soul and it
would have been impossible for me to forget them and not to write about them
today.
While “nunca más” is a
translation of nevermore, the use of that word by Edgar Alan Poe makes the word in English
that much more damning for me. I live in a jar full of memories that can never
be experienced in reality again. Going up and down the stairs of my Kits house
and seeing all those family photographs and more in my bedroom, living room and
dining room is an exquisite but sad experience.
I have no idea how my
daughters are remembering today. I look at Niño and Niña, two cats Rosemary and
I rescued from the SPCA 7 years ago, and I realize that she loved and petted
both of them when they were on our bed with us. They constantly remind me of her absent presence.
While I have written about
this incident before, I cannot but repeat it. We were in the living room waiting
for the funeral people to show up. Rosemary was upstairs on our bed. I thought,
“Alex you are a photographer. You have to take that photograph.” I went up and
there was my dead wife with Niña asleep on her chest. I took that photograph.
Nobody in my family will ever see it. That photograph will be in my memory
until oblivion takes it away.
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