Some beautiful photos from a friend

My new friend Ed Simmen recently sent me some excellent photos, taken really early in the morning by his friend.

The volcano that you see is Iztaccihuatl (The Sleeping Woman), and the moon right next to it is really powerful.

I'm sure that Niagara Falls or even Lake Erie could inspire awe, but for me, these volcanoes looming over my existence here has given me a more acute sense of the power of the Earth; the reason that the volcanoes have legends associated with them.

The legend in it's most basic form:
Iztaccíhuatl was an Aztec princess, and Popocatépetl an Aztec warrior who fought for her father. Izta (her unofficial nickname according to me) fell in love with Popo (the actual nickname), but Popo was sent by Izta's father to fight in Oaxaca before they could get married. When he was about to leave, Popo promised Izta that they would get married, hoping to return alive from battle.

While she patiently but anxiously awaited her lover's return, Izta received the news that Popo had died in the war, and in her unbearable grief, she committed suicide and laid down for her final rest.  

When Popo returned in triumph, expecting to see his future wife, the discovery of her death prompted him to wait there and watch her, paralyzed with grief. After a while, he became rock, and now remains there, beside his would-be wife, watching her.

Of course there are tons of versions, but this one is the most popular. Other ones say that Popo is waiting for her to wake up, others that he committed suicide too, others that he is angry, and for that reason a volcano, and there are others that are completely different. Foor a really good breakdown, check this page out, it's got a nice explanation, and some good external links.




This is yet another example of context being changed; the power of perspective. I was always the one relatively unimpressed by Niagara Falls, that "it's just a bunch of water going over a cliff", until my dad started telling me all the legends and history associated with them. Even so, a person seeing them for the first time will undoubtedly be more amazed than I.

However, driving through the insanely curvy highways between México City and Puebla upon my arrival, I was utterly in shock. I had never been in mountains before, and the power of rock sticking up so far from the Earth, shaping the lives of all the people that had lived there since ancient times really moved me.

It's the exact same situation with the water/river/falls of Niagara Falls, but because it was a different sort of marvel in a different context, I was exponentially more impressed.

My family explained the legend to me, but I was probably asleep, and didn't really remember it, but the power of the nature really stuck with me.

GET OUT AND CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE!

Much love y'all, keep the peace.