woman with red hat

woman with red hat

and a lone untethered horse

on a steep stone street

Late afternoon in a small pueblo near the Temple of the Sun in the Sacred Valley. The narrow stone-paved street, bisected by a rain gutter, is bordered by adobe brick houses built on rough stone foundations. The woman walking away from me up the hill is wearing the traditional costume of this region of the Andes: a saucer shaped red felt hat that perches on top of her braided hair, a red striped k'eperina tied around her shoulders and a full black wool skirt edged with red. The horse watches her approach and slowly pass by. Suddenly, she turns and looks back, but keeps walking, still looking back over her shoulder, until she moves out of sight.

forged iron, whittled stick

forged iron, whittled stick

joined together to secure

a plain wooden door

The latch on this door in Temple of the Moon pueblo is meant to keep it closed, yet anyone could easily remove the stick to gain entrance. It is a study in contrasts. The stick thrust through the latch is rather flimsy and rough compared with the forged iron. But the simple iron latch, though much stronger and more elegantly designed, is a bit rusted and nicked around the edges. The wooden door is covered with scratches, grooves, stains, and marked by a knot in one of the boards. The simplicity, imperfections and transience create an earthy beauty that the Japanese call wabi sabi.

high on a white wall

high on a white wall

a small window filled with bundles

blocking the view

Windows are usually designed to let light in and allow those inside to see out, though not always those outside to see in. This small window placed high on a white adobe wall seems designed to allow a view of the main street of the pueblo, while disallowing a view inside. However, the pile of bundles would make it difficult for anyone to see out. The entire place feels unusually empty and quiet for an Andean pueblo: no mototaxis, no triciclos, no people, no dogs, not even chickens roaming the street. Perhaps everyone is taking a siesta, or out working in the fields and pastures. Later, we do see two women and then a group of children coming home from school. But even then, silence prevails. Perhaps it is the influence of the temple of the moon on the mountain above the pueblo, a place of deep solitude and silence.

moon temple pueblo

moon temple pueblo –

white crescents cascading down

adobe brick wall

The temple of the moon, on a hill beneath a mountain, is a magical place, and even the little pueblo at the foot of the hill is full of mystery, like this adobe wall beneath a tile roof. Someone has painted some words on the brick wall and over the words, a series of overlapping white crescents, the paint dripping down and nearly obscuring the letters. I can make out "Altalde" below the crescents, but not the letters above. Is this a political slogan? The presidential election is about to take place and the names of candidates and parties are painted on walls everywhere. But if this is a name, did someone purposefully cover it up? The white paint looks like crescent moons, and the temple of the moon on the hillside above is dedicated to the mysterious, changeable feminine aspect. The roof tiles repeat the feminine curves of the crescents. The entire wall looks like an abstract painting, an act of creativity, intensely feminine.

life's little hurdles

life's little hurdles –

climbing over a fence to chase

a pig in the mud

After the bus got stuck in the mud high on the hill, we walked down to the highway to wait for another bus to pick us up. A little pueblo is stretched out on the lower part of the hill. It starts to rain so we take shelter under an overhanging roof. While I am looking over the adobe wall next door at all the laundry getting wet, I spot a black pig trotting under the clothes line. Then a woman climbs over a low fence and chases the pig through the muddy yard. Life in a pueblo is lived out in the open and close to the earth, sometimes literally in the mud.