Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Tuesday April 10, 2018 Bones/Art

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Tuesday April 10, 2018

The morning started out off-beat when my first appointment of the day got cancelled at the last minute. In a way that was OK because it gave me time to get other things done before wandering out.

I left the house around 1:30 to get to the SRI office to turn in my puny IVA receipts. I guess I didn't do much in March, or spend much money on my own.. There was zero line-up so I was out within 2 minutes.

I was on Buzzer so I went into El Centro and found the closest parking spot possible to my next appointment, and then needed to stop for lunch. Of course, that is when the rain started.

I went into the Canadian-run La Cuchara Magica (The magic Spoon) and ordered a pound of Dry Ribs off the menu. I hadn't had that in many years so I was looking forward to it. However, they had added a strange spice, maybe cumin, and that ruined them. Even liberal doses of salt and pepper couldn't kill that awful taste. Normally their food is really very good.

I am getting worried about my mushy brain of late because I began to doubt that I was showing up for the right Cuenca Camera Club meeting. I double-checked my emails and, sure enough, I had prepared for the wrong meeting. Regardless, I was there for the regular monthly meeting along with a few brave souls who challenged the wet streets. Before the meeting in the Cuenca Museum building right across from the restaurant the security guards opened up a corner room for us to check out. VP Jack Twiggs explained that when they renovated this huge building a few years back, the excavations uncovered a gravesite with human skeletons throughout the whole site. This room was left, partially showing the excavations and some of the bones found. I believe that they just covered over the rest... Now this is less than a block from the main square where they once had the hanging platform.....??

The Camera Club meeting was informative, showing a few of our photographs and then having a biography with books of pictures from renowned Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yousuf_Karsh).. It was explained that his most famous photograph of Winston Churchill scowling occurred after a misunderstanding. The photo session had been arranged with Mr. Karsh but nobody told Churchill, who was recalcitrant and offered to pose for only one minute, and stood there chewing on his ever-present cigar. Karsh waited, offered an ashtray which was rebuffed, then, at the last second, reached up and removed the cigar from Churchill's mouth... Hence the big scowl... Great story!

Jack and Roger are looking for help in running meetings and I would have offered but I am leaving soon and I don't even have a laptop to use, so if anybody else wants to join in and help out, feel free to contact me.

It was still raining after the meeting so I wandered over to Parque Calderon for a bit, took the photo of the Cathedral reflected on the wet sidewalk and checked out the exhibit in the Governor's office. That was a pretty poor offering so I went a block east to City Hall. There is normally a pretty decent exhibit in that building and I was not disappointed. An artist by the name of Henry Rodas has several of his paintings of horses on display so I hope you like my version of his work.

Tonight an Ecuadorian lady called to make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to see the house... Crossing my fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes for this one... Wouldn't it be nice to sell it before I fly out May 4th..??!!

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

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