From the Sudoku files

(on plane ATL->UIO, 5/13/10)

Rose encrusted canyons

fooled into believing

they're clouds

float effortless below.

(And yet above)

a glimmer of turquoise

and sapphire

they already fade to gray.

Missing those rays which

the sun imparts to me yet.

5/19/10

listening to: Maire Brennan, Misty Eyed Adventures; Debussy, Clair de lune; Jesse Cook, La Llorona; Michael Hedges, Aerial Boundaries;

Oh Quito, the city that has captured my imagination and daring. Cuidad viejo was visited today with new friends kind to invite a lonely traveler along. These adventuresome 5 ventured to new heights, climbing rickety ladders to the point of the Basilica. Regard the ants, aren't they industrious? Seen from below this center of worship appears beautiful and average. What do those ants know, they who have never left their mounds? A city stretches to endless unknowns, protected by a virgin semblance in statue form, gleaming in the setting day.

Friends from the school: Claire, Bekah, me, Mami

What would happen to us, far from land, if Pichincha was to decide to rumble? Crumbling flakes evidence aging, and it's not hard to imagine falling down among the workers. Deep breaths for vertigo, whether to assist or dampen it's hard to say. How many died in the realization of this work of art? Remember the ants – resilient, yet small and fragile. Determined.