Okay, I know I’ve been complaining about the heat.
A LOT.
And I have been complaining that I’m not feeling creative.
A LOT.
I know these two problems are related.
And I know I have no right to be complaining at all considering we’re only eleven short miles from the most beautiful beaches to grace the California coast.
But I swear this heat has drained all the creativity from my body. (or maybe it’s just the threat of the rolling blackouts – yikes!)
So I thought that maybe I would take out my camera and play. I am not what you would call a real photographer, but, as you know, I love my camera (with all my heart – sigh) and randomly taking a bunch of pictures always jump-starts my creative engine.
So, we’re at the beach where it was way too hot out of the water and too cold in it. (and yes, Carrie, mi vida, I totally admit that I’m a big whiner-baby because, after all, we do at least have a beach and all that, and I really am extremely grateful for it, but that’s not important right now. )
I thought I’d take my longer lens and tripod to the beach and just have some photographic fun.
The boys just drop their stuff on the sand and go. No matter that the water is pretty icy. It is water and there are waves and they are boys. End of discussion.
So, Lucy and I set up our chairs and umbrella and tripod and camera and I’m shooting some wonderful boys-in-the-water-type action shots and being all stealth and everything.
Or. . .
at least I thought they weren’t aware of me and my camera.
I just (heart) him. =D
Oye, Chica,In Cuba today, you would not be able to complain about the heat, because everyone, except the nomenklatura, is stuck in the same boat, i.e., no air conditioner, maybe not even a rickety ole Chinese fan –or even if they did have one, there are those periodic “apagones,” so no one would pay any attention to you.
In Cuba today, you would not be able to “feel” the least bit creative, because you know as well as I that if you did… you’d go to jail, or worse. At the very least, you’d get four years, for “peligrosidad,” –and I have to admit that I think you are truly “peligrosa.” So be REAL glad you live in “Kah…li…foh…nia!” as your Governator puts it.
And you know quite WELL what would happen to you if you chose to complain about anything in Cuba… in any setting where a “chivato” might hear you!
And what do you think are the chances of you, a regular, “salt-of-the-earth” type, would have to find *and acquire* a working camera?
And do you know how difficult it would be to find a “camello” that would take you to a beach where THEY allow actual Cubans to swim in it? …and then find your way back home before you pass out from hunger or thirst…?
So count your blessings, Chica!
Your Honorary Gordito (and Land-Locked in Maryland!) Cuban friend,
Julio
P.S. You have NO idea how much mirth and happiness your dispatches bring, day in and day out, to this Cultural Exile in the wilds of Maryland. Muchas gracias and keep it up!
What a stud muffin! HAHAHAHA- Guess who?
I like the word “apagones” 😉
Amy,You might like the word “apagones,” but believe me, you would not like having to live through one of them… much less one night after night after night after night, after night, as they have to in Cuba nowadays.
Because apagones are a royal pain in the a**!
I know because in the 17 (seventeen!) years that I have lived in Maryland, I have had to live through a miserable *two* apagones when the remnants of a hurricane blew through the area a couple of years ago and knocked out our power grid. And it was *damned* inconvenient. The first one was for about 10 days, the second one for about three. My wife and I had to run over to a neighbor’s house (one whose power never failed) with about a hundred pounds of frozen meat, which the neighbor magnanimously stored in her freezer until our power was restored.
Imagine that situation happening in Cuba… well, never mind. I don’t think there’s ONE person in Cuba, outside of the official nomenklatura, who would have a hundred pounds of meat in his/her freezer.
But they do have to contend with the daily “apagones.”
So God bless America!
Julio
Julio, mi amigo -SNAP!
Thanks so much for reminding me of all we have to be grateful for here in the U.S.A.
I formally and publicly apologize for complaining. It was just the heat that made me cranky. =D
SNAP!?Marta, did you just take a picture of me?
I know computers are getting increasingly more sophisticated each day, so I imagine the day will come when one can do just that.
In any case, as a photographer, I’d never get upset with anyone wanting my picture.
Of course you are fully forgiven, particularly after posting about that gorgeous dulce de leche. My late mother used to make it just like that. Was “Nela” a brand of leche condensada back in the old days in Cuba? It seems to ring a bell.
In any case, tonight I’m stopping at a local Hispanic grocery (there ain’t many of them here in Maryland!) to purchase some cans of leche condensada and make dulce de leche, because I won’t be able to sleep soundly until I have some.
Bon apetit!
Julio