Vancouver - 10 May 2026

 

Rosa 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' 10 May 2026

When Rosemary and I married in the lovely neighbourhood of Coyoacán on 8 February 1967 we were not quite ready to adjust to a married life in Mexico City. My mother helped us get a little house in Arboledas, Estado de Mexico. It was there where we were faced with situations I had never encountered before.

Such was the atmospheric pollution of greater Mexico City that clouds were never white they were yellowish. When it rained the sulphur dioxide in the air mixed with the water to produce sulphurous acid. This meant that I usually watered my car so that the rain water would not corrode the car paint.

Once a year I would remove the gasoline tank of my WV Beetle and I would clean the gunk inside with paint thinner. Even though I had installed an extra gasoline filter in my car, that sludge managed to get through.

Such was the bumper tailgating of traffic in the Periférico Freeway that I installed a switch in my car that would turn on my brake lights without my pressing the brakes.

When I went to my teaching position at the Jesuit University Universidad Iberoamericana I was stopped once a year by the same policeman who with a smile would say, “ Profesor Alex you were … I will have to give you a ticket.” So I would bribe him.

All the above disappeared like magic when Rosemary brought us (our two daughters) to Vancouver in 1975.

Thanks to Rosemary I was able to live a financially good life in photography and I learned to garden.

But best of all (in a way) when I go on my daily bike rides to Jericho Beach I stop at West Point Grey Road park to take the same photograph of the cityscape and I glory at all those clouds that do not have a hint of yellow. I tell my Mexico friends my delight in being able to drink our tap water.

And here (and again thanks to Rosemary) is today’s scan of one of her favourite roses, the English Rose Rosa ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’. The bloom is 5 inches wide and extremely fragrant.