Monday, March 21, 2011

3:05 a.m.


i returned from cuba at three o'clock sunday morning so i am still fuzzy and discombobulated
but in the nicest way!

i haven't sorted the experience out for myself especially as it connects to my teenage reading of the life and work of che guevara whose presence hovered in so many different ways in the course of my visit and whose ideals i realized have settled somewhere in the background of
the cerebral megalopolis that describes my understanding of the surface features of this world.


i re-read his second book "the motorcycle diaries" while i was there. his image is all over the place but in forms as disparate as images on high-end t-shirts worn by handsome man-models to photo essays gathered into glossy expensive books and then the reprinted speeches and essays that he delivered
with enough passion to change a nation sitting side-by-side with glossy retro postcards of havana.


i took a lot of photographs - there's one above in the header photo - a tiny space that was so entirely quiet in a realm of rich reds and oranges and yellows.
certainly the experience of sun and deep warmth and then the colours - especially the range of greens - and birdsong, the ocean wind, the cerulean blue waves, and the so thoroughly human music are swirling
inside and around me even now.

thankyou all so much for the generous and thoughtful comments i got to read in response to
the words and pictures i left behind.

among the incredible wealth of fortune that i experience each day,
the sharing of this space with all of you is among the more unexpected and rewarding features of my life.





17 comments:

Elisabeth said...

Oh Steven, Cuba. What an experience. Lucky you.

Dan Gurney said...

I look forward to reading more about your reflections on the trip.

Reya Mellicker said...

Welcome home!

Fantastic pictures and post today, Steven. Wow.

I'm so curious to hear more about your trip.

ellen abbott said...

yes, welcome home. I think Cuba is still a no-no for us here.

aguja said...

I have not read The Motrocycle Diaries, but I saw the film. Such an adventure and such dedication to purpose.

Share Cuba with us, Steve.

Linda Sue said...

COOL! I have an opportunity to travel to Trinidad in December- still have not decided if I will go, rather awkward timing. So curious to hear your experience and the why's of your trip. Your header nearly put my eye out!!!(In a good way)

Tess Kincaid said...

Welcome back! Hope you're suntanned and rested, my friend. You've been missed. x

steven said...

elisabeth - that was something i as entirely aware of while i was knowing i was going, while i was travelling, while i was there and then very especially, on my return. how lucky i am. steven

steven said...

dan, i've got some thinking to do for sure. i hovered in-between worlds while thoroughly immersed in a fantasy. steven

steven said...

thankyou reya!! i've been lost in a sudden surfeit of vitamin d and then also music of such a rich and human kind that it took my breath and my heart and then my mind away. steven

steven said...

ellen cuba is a no-go zone for americans - still. howveer i read before i left that obama was making arrangements for a reinstatement of the tourist relationship that america used to enjoy with cuba. steven

steven said...

aguja - i haven't seen the film but i think i will and take my sixteen year old manboy son with me. i'll do what i can with the rich tatse of cuba that i experienced. but there'll be so much i didn't experience that really would find a home here had i known it was there. steven

steven said...

linda sue - travel. you travel so much in your inner world that it's a good thing to throw it on top of the sleeping outer world - especially of the caribbean. go. steven

steven said...

tess hey thankyou. i have a really nice tan. a sidebar in some ways but i like to feel the sun's warmth and especially to let the colours and the sounds and the tastes that are part of the caribbean, fill me up as i work through the canadian wintertime. steven

* said...

Que suerte que tienes por viajar a un pais tan especial. (Hablas espanol, me imagino?)

Cuba is a place of my dreams, I may never find myself there but in words, pictures, imaginings. Although I am planning my 3rd trip to Uruguay...

steven said...

terresa - uruguay! wow! i have a feeling that obama will lift restrictions on cuba - at least for tourism and then maybe for more as time goes by. it's a very beautiful place. in many ways. i'm still trying to put together an approach to sharing it here so i hope people are patient!!! steven

Jo said...

Goodness! So much to catch up on. The photos are glorious, and I can't wait to here more about the outer journey and how it affects your inner journey.