Hola amigos
I’m in Huichihuayan, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Last few weeks, I’ve been camping next cozy lagoons and visiting spectacular waterfalls in the jungles of Central Mexico.
Met more great folks since I last wrote. A guy called Pablo and his friends joined me on the road one day near Rayón. Channel Three news also showed up that afternoon for pics. Had a wonderful entrance into the town of Rayón. Stayed a few days, ate sheep tacos, participated in a night bicycle ride and visited the local Jesus monument at the highest point in the area in Cardenas, a nearby town.
Walked on to Tamasopo and walked under tall falls and swam in deep natural springs. Crystal clear water, lush green banks. I met tourists from Houston and Oklahoma visiting family from Zacatecas and Tampico in Huasteca. Great place for a vacation. Just an 800 peso or 40 dollar flight from Mexico City 🙂
I walked on from Tamasopo through fields of sugarcane. Enormous fields, kilometers long covering a wide valley. Was walking through a small village called Casa Blanca and was invited to a graduation party. Met a very strong worded lady named Mary who came at me with words about the political situation … you can come here, why can’t we go there? I don’t know, situation sucks. Mary’s husband and several cousins live in the US. She can’t go, she says. They played music and I danced with several young girls to Mexican pop music while they streamed Facebook live videos to their relatives in the US. They asked me to say on camera that we’re all one family, no racism no discrimination. I was good with that. They let me camp in a house under construction that night.
Camped by a river near Ciudad Valles the following day. Got some things in the city and I met some guys the next afternoon in town. We drank beer and ate fried fish in the afternoon and I stayed at their place that night. Friendly dudes. Good beer and chat.
I was interviewed in Ciudad Valles the following morning. A reporter Gabriel asked questions about what I’m doing and why. I said I’m from Georgia, walking to Guatemala. Camping and staying with people. People are friendly. Food is great. Huasteca Potosina is paradise! And I have no physical destination.
For the next week, I camped at rivers and lagoons in the Aquismon region, home to tall waterfalls and cool mountain springs. Met ladies who spoke Tenek, the native language of the region. It was nice to hear an old language.
The article written in Ciudad Valles seems to have gathered attention. Met dozens of people who stopped on the road to take pictures. People offered food water and good conversation. It’s been a great inspiration to meet many friendly people on the trail. Gratitude
Camped on a hill one night on the way to sótano de las golondrinas, a cave, home to millions of tropical birds. I slept on top of a water cistern above a village in the woods. When I pulled my cart onto the path near the cistern, it flipped and fractured one of the arms on the cart. I hitched a ride to see the birds in the early morning. Spectacular natural phenomenon.
Walked down the hill and stayed with a family near Huichihuyan, the next town. Javier and Francisca and fam were very friendly, made excellent tostadas loaded with toppings, I ate homemade ice cream and handmade enchiladas in the morning. Amazing food. Wonderful people. They sold ice cream and handmade clothes and crafts to tourists on the busy road. It rains all year here. The road was filled with nurseries with budding tropical fruit trees and fresh juice stands. Mango starfruit lychee goiaba maricuya bananas… and several other fruits.
Made it to Huichihuyán town when the arm separated from the cart completely. Wondering if I even need the cart now.
I’m almost to Xilitla another beautifully lush town, I hear, off the main road about 15km uphill. Plan to walk there with a backpack and some gear to repair the handle.
I’m feeling good, healthy, feeling a bit estranged at times. The way I see the world seems different than how many people see the world. It’s all good, we’re all on our own soul path.
In studies’ news, I’ve been getting into chemistry. It seems chemistry is as arbitrary as quantum mechanics.
Periodic table of elements.. it’s just one shape to display the building blocks of nature and their properties.
According to Wikipedia, “Edward Mazurs collected an estimated 700 different published versions of the periodic table… (in shapes such as) other rectangles, a circle, cube, cylinder, building, spiral… prism, pyramid, sphere, or triangle.”
A display, an art piece, an illustration of the tools in a chemists workshop.
Elements then combine to form compounds. It seems how elements bond together is based on cell theory. Of which there are multiple and contradicting theories. On Wikipedia, “Most … calculations in… chemistry use either valence bond theory or molecular orbital theory as a starting point … or density functional theory.”
It seems science hasn’t yet reached agreement on how a cell is constructed and how it interacts with the outside world.
Also on Wikipedia, “…Because atoms and molecules are three-dimensional, it is difficult to use a single method to indicate orbitals and bonds.”
It seems chemistry and quantum mechanics is based not only on a single equation, but a single theory or image, which describes the construction of cells and how they interact with the world.
I think we need more art to describe science. More pictures, more diagrams. Here’s a brief sketch of what cells may look like.. to offer something to speak to. https://imgur.com/a/4hyTUVB.
I don’t know if there is a right answer as to the nature of our world. If there is, how would we know?
Okay, enough for now. All is good, I’m about to walk up this mountain and look at rivers.
See ya next time!
Brian