Child meets dog

Friendship, so important to us as humans. We sometimes forget how important "social capital" has always been in a civilized society. We communicate through our computer and leave out the social interaction that cements real friendship.
These series of pictures captured two strangers meeting for the first time. Lily, my grand daughter was playing outside my mom's house. Yuri, my mom's dog had not been allowed near Lily because my mom didn't know how she would react to little children.
This was the first time Lily and Yuri had been close. Lily was immediately attracted to Yuri. She loves dogs and her first spoken word was, "dog". Yuri was worried about being told, "No!", by me when she got near Lily. She kept an eye on me to see how I was going to react.


Sensing that Yuri was uncomfortable, Lily sat down. Yuri did the same, a non-verbal indication that neither was a danger. They watched each other, lily smiled, a human signal of friendship, and Yuri lowered her ears and wagged her tail, a dogs signal of friendship. Neither one made any attempt at touching and they remained distant from each other.
Lily made the first move at getting close to Yuri. She inched forward looking directly into Yuri's eyes. She never blinked or looked any where else. Yuri remained in the same spot, neither moving forward nor moving back.



Yuri sniffed the air in front of Lily's face. I think Lily was also using her sense of smell to get to know Yuri. Yuri would flick her tongue out but making no contact with Lily. They studied each other for a few minutes. Lily stayed almost at eye level with Yuri.





The studying continued for a few minutes. Their noses almost touching. Both showing no signs of aggression and neither trying to show dominance.




More of this continued with Lily's focus going from Yuri's eyes to Yuri's nose. So far Yuri had made no attempt to get nearer to Lily. Yuri was still very aware that I was near. She relaxed a little and allowed her hind legs to stretch out. Her body relaxed.



Yuri now comfortable with Lily and being aware that I am not going to make her move away from Lily, inches forward. She examines the drool on Lily's chin and decides not to try and lick it. I am still too close and she is not going to undo all the trust she has gained so far.



A loud car driving down the street gets their attention. Yuri's ears are starting to go back to their normal position, which is straight up, always scanning , just like her nose.
Yuri has moved in very close now. Trust had been established, and they could sit close and not have to look at each other. When there is no trust you have to keep a constant eye on the other person or animal. It is part of the survival instinct we all have.

Now they were on friendly terms. Both relaxed and comfortable with being close. This was just the beginning of what Yuri hoped would be a long friendship filled with trust and sharing.
Yes, she could almost taste all the cookies, Popsicles, candy, milk, and other goodies that Lily would be sharing in the future.
Interaction, it is the only way to establish trust and through trust we establish cooperation and through cooperation we are able to create great things and then enjoy those things with our friends, two legged or four legged.

Places and People

I walked down to the area where the vendors were located from a sidewalk high above the flea market. Items for sale were scattered among the different tents, tables and blankets. Buyers, sellers and on-lookers mingled, talked and examined used items. Items which were no longer useful to one person were just what the other one was looking for. It was a nice cool day, overcast, a typical winter day in a Eagle Pass. I have visited many flea markets, each one with its on magical interaction of people. So many different people... old, young, poor, not so poor,...everyone there for a reason. Maybe to buy something they can't afford new, something unusual, something small, a collectible, or the ever affordable imported electronic gadget.

There is always something to look at, something to remember, something to take with you. A bargain, a memory or a photograph.

I walked away with this photo that day. I will print and frame it one day. It will hang on a wall with my other favorite photos.

Old man, old man, how have the years come to pass? What have your eyes seen? Which bridges have you crossed? What plans did you make? Which decades do you remember best? What do you carry in your heart?

We never spoke. He was an impressive figure. Standing straight. His head held high, displaying his wears for all prospective customers to inspect. A man still working at providing for himself, his family. Undefeated by the never ending struggle to exist, survive, to be autonomous.

I want to have those same qualities when I reach the eve of my life time. I want to stand tall, head high, eyes focused on tomorrow but aware of today and proud of the past.

He walked away, searching for a better spot, for more people, for a willing buyer. Somewhere there would be someone looking for what he was selling. Flea markets, a miniature model of our economic system and an example of our social dependence on each other.

Sun light, faith and an open window

I was walking in a old church in Chimayo, New Mexico. The inside was dark and cool. The altar was lit by 100 candles, bathed in their amber glow. A single window invited the sunlight in. It was far removed from the beautiful hand carved, hand painted altar. I know a lot of love, care, faith and hard work was invested on that altar, but it's beauty could not compare with the warm illumination coming from the sun. It spoke of life, warmth, sight, and hope. The altar was man's attempt to recreate our perception of God and what his son, Jesus, stood for. The miracles, the humanity, and compassion that Christianity stands for were there on the altar. But that small ray of sunlight coming through that lone window was God's own image. It was translucent, all encompassing, life giving, a beacon to the sky. I took pictures of all the carved wooden saints, the ceramic figures, the long suffering crucifix, and the beautifully crafted altar. But my favorite photo was of the window and the silent sunlight coming through.
This was a beautiful church and even simple in a cluttered kind of way.
I have been in churches that are so big, metallic and technological that they have more in common with entertainment that with a house of faith. I have seen some churches that are so antiseptic, so industially effective, that they look like robot churches. And in the end, the buildings and how they look have nothing to do with the faith that the church goer have. They church may reflect the taste of the pastor, priest or minister who runs the church, but the faith of the person who sits and pray in that church is individual and a reflection of their inner heart.
Faith like sunlight is all encompassing, translucent, life giving and a beacon to heaven. We need to keep a window to our heart open so God can enter and illuminate the inside of our hearts.

Back Together again

After years of living apart and only seeing each other as visitors, I invited my brother, Rogelio, to vacation with us during the summer of 2006. Dora, my sister, regularly travels with us. She gets along great with my wife, Elfie. Dora and I have gotten along since we were young. Rogelio and I had some minor disagreements while growing up. We were very different and still are.

Anyways, My wife, Dora and I had decided that we wanted to travel to Colorado by way of New Mexico without any plans. We were going to meander our way up and visit whatever caught our fancy. I called Rogelio, whom we always called, Roge, and told him about our plans. I asked him if he wanted to come along. To my surprise he said, Yes.

We were starting our trip on a Sunday and I flew in from Boston the Thursday before, Dora flew in from Florida the Friday before and Roge flew in from Las Vegas that Saturday and had to drive to Waco. We left Waco early in the morning. It was a beautiful day.

We did meander through New Mexico. It took us four days to get to Colorado. We had a great time. We got to spend a lot of time getting to know each other again. The driving in between stops was spent talking about growing up, our family, our parents, and so many other thing. We all had memories about Eagle Pass and the discussions helped to fill in gaps on some of those memories. Gaps created by the passage of so many years.

We found out that we still had the same differences. We argued about where we were going, how we were going to get there and what we were going to do once we got there. Then we would laugh because we sounded just like we did 30 or 40 years ago. We found that we still enjoyed each others company. Mom and Dad would have been proud of how well we got along, most of the time. We had an added perspective with my wife there. She would point out some of our differences and settle some of our arguments. She also provided Dora with some female support, something that Dora didn't have when we were growing up. Back then, if we were going to play any games it always ended up being boy games - army, wrestling, cowboys and Indians, and our toys were trucks, soldiers, guns, swords, etc.
We ended up spending seven days together. They were seven priceless days. We recaptured all the love, laughter, closeness, and joy that we had as kids. We took this picture because fighting with each other was part of growing up. We did it as kids, we don't have to do it as grown-ups. Maybe this year we can travel together again, if our schedules can be coordinated this time.