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An indigenous woman in
Otavalo, Ecuador
In
Otavalo,
Ecuador, we stood next to this woman while waiting for a parade of children
to pass. Her wealth is displayed by the rows of hand-blown gold glass beads that
she wears around her neck. It's obvious that she takes care of herself, and that
she is quite clean. Wearing no spectacles, her eyes pierce through the distance
looking for her grandchild. Centuries of proud Quechua lineage show on her face.
I see such dignity and
strength there in her personage.
Another Ecuadoriana,
sitting on the curb
Another
Ecuadoriana, we saw this woman on our way back from a short hike through
her town. She
was just as intrigued by us strangers in her midst as we were with her ready
emotional warmth. She has the same traditional hand-blown gold beads around her
neck, as well as red coral beads around her wrists. Women collect these over
their lifetimes as a hedge against destitution. When times get tough, a woman
can always sell a strand or two to feed her family.
She wears the native
Quechuan fedora, white eyelet blouse, woolen poncho and navy wool skirt.
How often do we ever simply
sit down on the sidewalk to rest our weary bones?
Billy and "The Rainbow
Lady"
In our
California seaside
town, this woman was known as the Rainbow Lady. Anyone local recognized her
zest for living, appreciated her love of wearing many colors at once and enjoyed
her fearless free-style dancing while waving a long scarf about. Rumor had it
that she was an ex-alcoholic who turned her life around. No wonder she was so
happy!
Here, we are on the
Capitola Wharf at a Fourth of July Jazz celebration. How can you look at her and
not smile?
Adventurous Alleen
We met Alleen on a
Windjammer barefoot cruise 20 years ago. She asked us to do her the favor of
placing a pitcher of martinis with Santa Barbara jalapeno olives in our
refrigerator to keep cold for Happy Hour! We merrily obliged, and received a
daily martini at sunset for a reward!
Decades previously, she and
her husband were traveling through Mexico when he unexpectedly died. Terrified
and alone, she placed her husband's body in the passenger seat and drove all the
way home to California.
Independent, courageous and fun, she has been an inspiration all these years.
Weary and worn woman
Every time I see this
woman, I have the same sentiments.
Fatigue, worry and
resignation are etched in the series of lines on her face. One can tell that
this was not an occasional experience, but a lifetime of struggle. Were her
battles for survival? Due to illness? Did her children die? Did her husband
abandon her?
Through it all, she has
endured and persevered.
Sweet, aged, Thai woman
There is a sweetness and
gentleness about this woman from
Thailand that I
enjoy. One cannot live the amount of years she has and not see sorrow of some
sort.
Still, life has been good
to her. She has her own teeth and I see an acceptance, humor and openness in her
eyes.
Vietnamese woman
observing closely
This woman from
Ha Noi, Vietnam strikes me as though nothing misses her gaze. Observant,
perhaps even calculating, there is a quick intelligence in her eyes. She could
be the family's matriarch. Certainly, she is nobody's fool.
Creative woman
concentrating
I love this photo!
The woman pictured here
reminds me of me when I am engrossed in a project. I'm right in the middle of it
and my "stuff" is all over me! I especially like the whimsical curl of bamboo
hanging from her hair.
She seems very content and
focused. Stripping pieces of bamboo, she is preparing them for weaving.
Woman street vendor
Another contented and
color-full woman. Preparing her fresh vegetables for sale, she bundles them with
plastic string.
Photos such as this one and
the one previous, remind me of how having a purpose adds to the satisfaction we
feel in life.
How many times have I seen
my Grandmother or Mother be focused on a project such as this?
Chapala street sweeper
This Mexican woman was the
street sweeper just down from where we lived in
Chapala, Mexico.
When I would go to the morning market, or to catch the bus into the neighboring
town of Ajijic to buy fresh fish, I would pass this woman happily sweeping the
leaves from the sidewalks and street. She took her job very seriously.
"Buenos dias!" I would
chirp to her. Being shy, she was surprised for weeks that I, a Gringo stranger,
would speak to her. At first she would only nod her hello, but eventually she
greeted me back in a very high-pitched voice:
"Buenos dias!"
Thereafter, we always
looked for one another.
Older woman smoking a
cheroot
We hired a driver to go to
a
hill tribe
market just north of Chiang Mai, Thailand. On the way out from the market,
Billy approached this woman at her home to ask if he could take her photo. She
was quite deaf, but she didn't mind, and Billy took several. She is selling some
sort of seeds and candles while enjoying her morning smoke.
This woman's face evokes
emotion from me because I see humor, love and wisdom there. Many hill tribe
women smoke these hand-rolled cheroots of native tobacco.
Although I think this woman
is "ancient", Billy, being the contrarian that he is, tells me she is just 19,
and that is what smoking will do to us!
Broom vendor (smoking a
cheroot!)
A broom vendor takes a
smoke break also. I love the personal freedom that these older women display.
Why not wear a shower cap to keep one's hair free from the pervasive soot of
traffic? They have lived too many years to waste time on impracticalities.
The broom handles are made
from bamboo, and the sweeping section is built from native grasses. The two
items are woven together at the connection point.
This is "my"
Jessie-Girl.
A young twenty-something
when WWII broke out, Jessie recounts how she loved to go dancing in the evenings
and would dance for hours on end. Soldiers went to these dance halls while on
leave, and in fact, that is where Jessie met her husband.
One look across the dance
floor at Jessie, and her soon-to-be husband was smitten with her. He approached
her, asking her to dance, and said "You're the girl I'm going to marry."
Jessie never wanted to be a
War Bride. She had dreams of learning to fly a plane!
Brilliant, funny, and
engaged in Life, she will always be a role model for me.
Haddie is in her late
80's.
Every day we'd see her at
our favorite beach in
Naples,
Florida, bent over collecting seashells for the flowers she makes from them.
This was her morning exercise, as she would walk the 2 kilometers both ways from
the home she and her husband built long before Naples was chic.
I collect seashells too,
placing them in my embroideries and mixed media pieces. So we all became
friends, and Haddie invited us to her home. She told us stories of floods and
hurricanes that she survived over the years.
Time after time she
impressed onto us that our attitudes towards life were a choice. She was
warm hearted and open, showing little skepticism or fear.
Haddie is one astounding
woman.
(Notice the carpet of
seashells behind her!)
Concerned or upset
indigenous woman
This ancient was rushing
purposefully with something urgent on her mind.
Obviously, there is concern
on her face, and it is personal.
Notice the amazing mass of
hair she has swept on top of her head, and her earring which stretches her lobe.
This extending of the ear lobe is quite common in
hill tribe
women.
When I see this photo, I
wonder "What was it that was concerning her?"
I will never know!
Vietnamese fisherwoman
It's 5 o'clock in the
morning in Hoi An,
Vietnam.
We hired
Em, our boat
paddler, to take us out onto the Thu Bon river to see the daybreak action of
fishermen. Em glided us closely to other small boats so she could speak to the
owners and ask of their predawn catch.
How many decades has this
woman accompanied her husband in this way? How many seasons has she witnessed? I
am most impressed by her beautiful pants and lovely headscarf! Is the color on
her lips from some berry she ate?
Beach vendor
We met this vendor while on
a beach in Vietnam.
Billy and I were getting
excellent foot massages by a young woman while a second young woman vendor came
up to harass us. This second vendor wanted us to give her money "since we had so
much". Her life was hard she said, and even though she had items to sell, she
wanted our money without us buying one. She cussed at us in Vietnamese when we
balked at her attitude, and shamed the woman who was giving us the foot massage.
The ancient woman here in
this photo came up and smiled her warmth knowingly. Wanting to share the shade
of our umbrella for a while, she simply observed the scenario without saying a
word.
The contrasting
personalities in this series of events indelibly marked it in my memory.
Lisu hill tribe woman
selling her wares
It's an early morning
market up north in Thailand. We hired a driver to get us there in time to see
the hill tribe wares for sale. This woman is selling her hand-stitched collars,
traditional women's wear of the Lisu tribe.
She was quite lively and
friendly towards us gaping Farangs.
She is chewing betelnut, a
natural stimulant quite commonly used by the natives. Although in conventional
dress, she has made a practical exception in wearing the large wristwatch on her
left hand.
Lao woman giving the
respectful "wai" gesture to us
Billy and I were taking an
early morning walk through the town of
Luang Prabang,
Laos, when I suddenly had the internal pull to look across the street. Under
the trees shading her front porch was this tiny woman, and I could just barely
see her in between the foliage. Something about this woman struck me, and I
whispered to Billy: "There! Across the street! You must get her photo."
We approached shyly,
reverently, and gave her the traditional wai greeting, which she is returning to
us, here.
Her twenty-something
granddaughter was making these little finger-imprinted rice flour rolls that you
see in front of her, drying on the woven bamboo rack.
Because we were so
respectful, and gave the venerated greeting, there was no suspicion. To me, this
woman represents "Peace In The Heart". There is something staggering about her
simple beauty.
Most of these women I will
never see again. Yet their countenances have impressed my psyche. When I see
their photos, I am freshly reminded of their wisdom and brilliant radiance of
their personage.
What's Your Number? - How much money
do you need to retire?
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