Lillies and Firecrackers

And the lilly is emitting its sweet aroma while I’m playing piano pieces from my past, and soaking in the perfume of the “huelen de noche” flower as outside the last of the rain drips off the roof into the plants in the garden and the dogs bark and the children outside scream with delight at their games and I know it will not last, that this world will perish but I’m loving it just the same and then suddenly out of nowhere the cohetes start up, but this time they keep on going down the street; they start here and then continue down the block and then the church bells begin and the fireworks and I have no idea why, today is the seventh of July, not the fourth, but anyway the fourth means nothing here, but this is Mexico where the unexpected always happens....and the bells don’t stop, they ring and ring and the cohetes explode una y otra vez and I’m just a gringa sitting here with my laptop computer listening to the outside world in total ignorance and not really minding it.

Everything brings a smile to my face in this place, everything, And so I run outside and ask a little girl what is happening and she tells me they have just declared San Miguel Patrimonio Mundial, UNESCO’s World Heritage list. So San Miguel will be receiving financial and technical support that UNESCO provides to all World Heritage sites.

¡¡¡FELICIDADES, SAN MIGUEL!!!

So the fireworks are exploding and filling the sky with their colors and the bells of the Parroquia are chiming and there is an energy in the air that the rain can’t spoil, in fact, it may just add to the merriment, the rivers of water still streaming down the streets like tears of joy.

Well, San Miguel, there will be no more bulls running your streets. You must now live up to this honor.

¡Felicidades, una y otra vez!

Soy Lorena.
6/8/08