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| DOWAGER DUCHESS AND SON, WHEN I WAS 5. (LITTLE BROTHER ON THE WAY) |
As far as I know, there was no holiday yesterday. But, even so, there were two processions in our neighborhood.
As we were about to sit down for dinner around 10:15 last night, I heard drums and brass instruments (very brassy sounding brass instruments). I ran out to one of the side balconies and looked up toward the Plaza de San Lorenzo to find a good-sized procession approaching. I couldn't see the size of the paso (float), but a large number of costaleros were well ahead of the procession having finished their shift and in need of a beer. It would have to be a substantial paso because at a glance I counted more than a dozen tired costaleros.
The paso took quite some time to finally get here. They stopped and started several times. I don't know why. The style of this float was different from what I've seen. No Mary, no Jesus, but instead what appeared from three floors up to be a king sitting in front of a tree. I doubt the tree was an aspen although it continually quaked as the entire thing was carried on the shoulders of the costaleros. I've been unable to find where this procession originated, where it was heading, who they were carrying, the reason for the tree, or what was special about 12 May. At least I no longer feel forsaken. Two processions in one day.
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| COSTALEROS AFTER THEIR SHIFT, HEADING OFF FOR A BEER. (POOR-QUALITY PHOTO, SO I TRIED FOR ARTSY.) |
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| I LOVE THE CLOTHES. |
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| MAYBE A GOOD DESIGN FOR SAN GERALDO, IN THE SHADE OF A TREE. |
MOTHER'S DAY LUNCH
My allergies are still acting up and, with temps hovering in the high 90s (mid-30s C), the air-conditioned house is much more pleasant for us both. We went out for breakfast, but San Geraldo (the artiste) prepared a simple salad lunch at home.
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| SO MUCH PRETTIER THAN PEANUT BUTTER ON RICE CRACKERS. (OR EVEN WHAT I WOULD DO WITH THESE SAME INGREDIENTS.) |
I'm continually amazed, not only by the number of processions, but the fact that they maneuver through those small streets with such ease.
ReplyDeleteEvery day is like a party!
Bob:
ReplyDeleteThe practice with empty, uncovered pasos. It takes a lot of care, practice, and strength. The processions we'll see through the summer go on in brutal heat. And they volunteer to do it!
I'm amazed by how easy it is to get used to a party every day. I felt a void in my life after a week with no procession or marching band. So glad they're back!
The salad looks delicious - and beautiful. Does San Geraldo do house calls? I would love to hire him, so I can eat something other than cottage cheese for lunch.
ReplyDeleteJo:
DeleteSorry! If it weren't for Jerry I would probably never have anything other than peanut butter and rice crackers for lunch. (We can't get cottage cheese here.)
Maybe it's celebrating the harvest of the Seville oranges! But there are religious men in robes...m-m-m...
ReplyDeleteMaybe the costaleros get 'time off' in purgatory by volunteering as they do. Do they still recognize purgatory in Spain? Just thinking back a bit.....
Never a dull moment Mitchell! Has its pluses I am sure!
Jim:
DeleteThanks to SOONKS, I now know that it was a Divina Pastora, the Virgin Mary with a lamb next to her. I was too far up and it was too dark for me to notice the lamb until SOONKS gave me a link to a good picture! As far as I know, Catholics in Spain still believe in purgatory, but that would be getting in way too deep for my taste. Now if there were a Paso to Purgatory, I might show some interest!
the salad looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteUr-spo:
DeleteIt was!
Hi Mitchell.
ReplyDeleteI do not see very well the image they convey, but I'd say it's "La Divina Pastora", a title of Mary, as a pastor of souls.
Now begins the era of "Las Glorias de Sevilla" are processions of Mary, Joyful and Glorious, one of my favorites is "The Divine Nurse"
(La Divina Enfermera)
Did you have visited the Cruces de Mayo? San Gerardo is that you love flowers and plants, should not fail to see them
Here in the UK, we still have our central heating on, now running for the eighth consecutive month. We manage to do without it for four months if we can stand the chilly mornings - so the heat you have is sounding good to me at the moment - I am desperate for some warmth in the sun.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have processions passing under your window - it looks magical, almost unreal. Here the most exciting thing we see is the odd gaggle of old tractors heading for a country show - a different world !!
The salad looks lovely, quite delicious. Have you made that chocolate prune cake yet ??!!
Jean:
DeleteWow. A tractor procession would be fascinating to see (and it would make for great photos).
The salad was delicious. As to the prune cake, if by "you" you mean "Jerry," then no. I haven't asked him to make it yet. (The idea of baking when it's 100F outside is not very enticing.) If by "you," you mean "me," there's not a chance... even if this temporary hell were to freeze over. That's called cooking!
I knew I had photos of them.
ReplyDeleteLa Divina Pastora de Triana
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soonks/1312797518/in/set-72157620363617080
La Divina Enfermera
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soonks/1311922627/in/set-72157620363617080/
Soonks:
DeleteThank you SO MUCH for this. I hadn't even noticed the lamb (sheep) until I saw your pictures and then looked again at mine. If I had gone downstairs to take my pictures I would have known what I was looking at!
And thank you also so much for the previous comment with other information.
I didn't know about the Cruces de Mayo. That must be what I saw Saturday earlier in the day. It was a paso from chapel of the Tobacco Factory and only carried a cross. I will try to see them all this month.
¡Mil gracias!
I love the photo of you and your mom leaning on that car. (What kind is it? I'm thinking it's a Mercury or Buick) I also love that you call her the Dowager Duchess! I hope you had a nice visit with her yesterday.
ReplyDeleteMs. Sparrow:
DeleteIf you've got the time, check out this blog post when I officially introduced The Dowager Duchess: http://mitchellismoving.blogspot.com.es/2011/08/hurricane-irene-and-dowager-duchess.html... And this one where I told more about her: http://mitchellismoving.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/cyber-dowager-duchess.html. My weekly Skype visits with my mother and brother are wonderful.
That car was a Chevy Desoto. I think it was a '56 or '57. I loved it and slept in the back window when we would go to drive-in movies. (I outgrew the window before my father traded in the car for a station wagon when I was 6.)
It is crazy how many processions and parades you have in your town. What a great way to live. I think we do it all wrong in the U.S. I can't think of the last time I saw a parade for no known reason.
ReplyDeleteJenners:
DeleteThanks to SOONKS (see further up in comments), I now know that May is peppered with processions known as the Cruces de Mayo (the Crosses of May), which explains that first procession earlier Saturday with just a cross on the paso. So there are more of those coming this month and I'll have to go track them down.