Lucha Libre In Petticoats

Women have entered the fray in El Alto, Bolivia. 

Called the Flying Cholitas, these indigenous ladies eschew the masks of male wrestlers in favor of their traditional bowler hats and multi-layered, multi-colored skirts.

These photos come from Daniele Tamagni. The image below captures cholitas descending Illumani, another example of these womens' unwillingness to have their boundaries defined by others.

A Small Step In Every Direction

That is how I do right now...

Can't see the way for the weeds, so I am nosing about. A fun and creative process. 

It's the decisions that are tough. And I feel them gathering on the horizon. 

Which paths to lean into and which to abandon. When to gather myself and where to commit. 

18 Years Old...

Watch out.

Kyemah McEntyre in a prom dress of her own design.

And in an homage she made to beautiful black women.

A lady worth keeping an eye on.

Dark Thoughts

Are tapered sweatpants the wave of the future?

Without the Spice Girls would there be no Adele?

Los Californios

I've spent the year so far traveling throughout California, both north and south of the border. 

On the US side, there's my family in the Bay Area. Elsewhere there's this...

On the Mexican side, there's my family in Bahía Coyote. Elsewhere there's this...

Oh my, but I am in love with the vaqueros of the Baja Peninsula! For years I have visited their remote ranchos on foot, but I have always wanted to return with Trudi Angel, who has cultivated relationships with the Californios in the cordillera on muleback for more than thirty years. 

I was finally able to swing it this time around and it was magic: 

Palm oases silhouetted against the stars, lively conversations, baby goats and scruffy burros, bells echoing off canyon walls, serenades and dancing around the campfire, tequila and Tecate in the evenings, empanadas and café in the mornings, cave art from civilizations past, and mucho cariño all around. 

I swoon for these authentic cowboy cultures the world over.

In Baja, the younger generations want to remain rancheros. Their ability to do so is a question of finances. Most ranches make the majority of their money selling goat cheese. Taking tourists on pack trips can supplement a family's income, but names only come up so often on a guide list of more than 100 vaqueros and most tourists stick to the coasts on the peninsula. 

That said, this culture has proven adaptable, creative, hard working, and resilient in a land without water for the past 300 plus years.   

¡Ojalá que sobreviva!

Pum'kin

I've joining the ranks (615,000 strong) of Pumpkin followers. 

That belly! Those hands! That face!

What's not to love?  

This rescued raccoon in the Bahamas makes my eyes happy. 

The Year of Living Dangerously

No matter how I try to deny it, 2016 is making its claim in my head as being the Year of Living Dangerously. 

So here we go! Into the great unknown... 

Which brings me to my love of these travel posters from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

This last one reminds me of Hubert Reeves' observation: