A perfect dust print of the sole of my sandals on the rental car's dashboard is my only souvenir from the Spanish mission of San Xavier del Bac. That and the reflections on faith as we watched the queues of people slowly filing past the figure of St. Francis of Assisi - patting its head , some even lifting it stiffly from its pillow. A weathered lady and her companion from the Yukon explained to me that Lenten piety brought the Indians in such large numbers on this hot Sunday afternoon. Tourism and devotion don't mix. 'Voyeur' doesn't begin to cover the range of thoughts and feelings as I sat for a few moments on a well-worn pew watching the supplicants waiting patiently to leave a photograph or make the sign of the cross at the shrine in the alcove beside the elaborately carved sanctuary.
My husband taught me how create an oil painting out of photos in ACDSee, so I've tweaked every photo I took at the Mission into a great masterpiece.I told him he's created a monster.
1 comment:
Wow! Great photos! Brings me back to my youth in the desert. Oh the number of times I visited the Mission. So much to feel there.
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