It’s 6.00 am and I’ve been up working for the past hour.

The news from home is the first thing  I look for when I open the computer… I can’t even focus yet and I smile as I remember telling secrets to 3 year old Tilly over Skype last night. We both got up close to the camera and whispered across 1000’s of miles. Our secrets just for each other.

The sounds of a waking village blanketed by the dawn light is intoxicating. 

Chickens, burros, turkeys, dogs  join in chorus and just as you settle into the feeling of superior wholeness a barrage of fire crackers pierce the air.

OK, so now everyone is up. The animals even more vociferous in their forced start to the day.

I can smell the smoke of the comal and our host Magda, her large  scarf wrapped around her to keep out the morning chill is working silently preparing the fresh maize tortillas that she made earlier, kneading them dexterously with her hands

The nature of being a traveler is a sense of unreality on waking each day… Where am I today, what are the tasks to be?

Well it will be a little different today.

I stood for half an hour on a hill waiting for the sunrise yesterday. It was freezing cold and I stood like a statue, camera in hand waiting for the clouds to part… But it alluded me and I was forced back down the hill to film other segments of our documentary.

Thick, strong coffee, eggs and salsa wrapped in tortillas is on the menu before we begin our real work.

My Video buddy Sheri and I spent most of the morning finishing our video. I watched in awe as a gray compound ground in a mortar and pestle transformed into brilliant red cochineal dye.

 

A cream silk garment boiled in dark blue indigo came out of the pot a delicious green and turned a vivid blue before our eyes.

I don't speak Spanish and with the help of friends we managed to complete an interview with the family who are the subjects of our small documentary.

The day ended with a lot of brain power being used fueled by coffee and home made chocolate and a magnificent sunset.