Ceda el paso
Guanajuato on 10 December 2012
Ceda el paso uno por uno. “Yeild. Then everyone take their turn one by one.” (My own liberal translation.)
There are of course streets that carry motor vehicle traffic in Guanajuato in addition to the alleys. Driving in the smaller colonial towns like Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende is actually a rather pleasant experience once one becomes accustomed to the alien experience of it. This is in stark contrast to driving in a city like Mexico City or Guadalajara. There are no traffic lights in all of San Miguel.
It is what I would call a communal effort. Everyone must cooperate or no one will get where they want to go. All the streets are narrow. All the corners are blind. The fact that nobody really cares whether they ever get where they want to go facilitates the effort. I once wrote an essay to explain in some detail what I mean by “communal effort” in this context. I cannot find that essay, which is probably for the best.
On an unrelated matter I often wonder how many people are killed in Mexico every year by falling flower pots. When a home features a rooftop patio, the very edge of the roof is invariably lined with immense flower pots precariously perched there. Perhaps someday I will run across this statistic.
The Solipsist 
9 Responses to “Ceda el paso”
When the grass becomes scarce and flowers are rare, we must get it vertically..yes up there ..lined on the edge of the roof..it is an alternate arrangement for telling those who climb up high…not too push too far 🙂 what if you trip and fall..last call..and those who stand on the ground..would get a thunder sound..yes you weigh a lot I am told, and the flower pot that you would add up to kilograms and a tonne..weight in motion has increased the load..why you stand and watch them fall..step away or go inside..never watch a falling star..it may have certain delight but..will take the light out of your mind..
“Will take the light out of your mind.” What a perfect way to put it.
Speaking in terms of physics, I believe that the roofs of some of these houses are high enough for a flower pot to reach its maximum velocity before crowning a pedestrian on the street below. Perhaps I am wrong in that, but you are certainly correct in this. Mass times velocity equals momentum, and the momentum that some of these pots could generate would put your lights out.
🙂 we learn together
Happy New Year -2013 from me to you :))
have a great time
Better that you should run across the statistic than a falling flower pot.
I think the media has had it’s focus on the wrong target with all the drug related killing, when they should have been looking up at pots.
Yep, Angeline, obviously I have avoided falling flower pots so far. The other thing to avoid is being drenched by an unexpected torrent of water from the roof drains when the cleaning lady is cleaning the rooftop patio on a Monday morning.
Cute! 🙂
Alto! Ceda el paso uno por uno. – Sounds like it could be a dicho, no?
Happy holiday, Steve, however you celebrate – or not – and wherever you are.
Yes, it certainly could be, and I love those things. Always wonderful to see that you have dropped by, Jamie. As soon as I myself figure out where I am I will let you and everyone know. In the meantime happy holidays to you and yours, too.
The yellow is amazing. The composition makes me think of the scene in Streetcar when the Mexican woman appears and says “Muerte”.