Herbie loves Mexico: 3

Yesterday after picking Little S up at school I drove to the neighborhood where we had hoped to rent a house over a year ago. It's a lovely spot high on a hill with views overlooking the city. We were smitten by a little house there last May, but it just wasn't meant to be and we were a little sad about it. It isn't healthy to dwell on a thing that doesn't work out, we all know this, but I did regret that we didn't get to rent that little hillside house and I would have so enjoyed the panoramic views from the upstairs rooms. It was a lovely home built with nature in mind.

Seb and I often return to this little hillside neighborhood to take pictures and study the city from another perspective or just simply take in the view. It's another place in the city where you can disconnect from life, plugging in "self" and absorbing the nature that surrounds you. I have been really yearning for this lately and I try to get bits and pieces of it when I can, where I can. I am looking forward to getting back to my home and the lake and the mountains where I can get it in large enough doses to quench my thirst for it.

Yesterday it was important for me to bring Little S with me and let him do some of the same reconnecting by running around in circles and studying the bees in the wildflowers growing all around us. He loved it and released some of his boundless energy (where does he get all this energy--he barely eats anything!). We only stayed about 20 minutes, no more and then drove around the housing development where there is nothing but new construction and a good chance of finding a Herbie since it's often a working class car that a lot of construction workers and young Mexicans drive. We had two or three successes in finding some, one beautiful silver babe parked high on the hill with the panorama of the entire city sitting behind her. I threw my rented Chevy into park and grabbed my camera, heart surging in excitement, only to see the owner saunter over to his car keys in hand. Not today my friend, damn! I considered asking him for the picture anyway but I don't take pictures very well under pressure and it probably would have been a blurry shot or a badly composed one. I think I need to work on that because I'm missing capturing some beautiful moments and I love photography with people in it. In this case I thought he might think I was nuts because we were the only other people up there besides construction workers and it was probably already a little odd to see us photographing bees on the flowers by the ridge. So we carried on through the posh finished part of the neighborhood and I got a picture of a lovely red cutie that was about as adorable as a car can get. I love the wheels!

And later on a side street I spied another red one parked near a yellow gate and blue wall, primary colors 'a la Piet Mondrian , particularly with the vertical lines in the gate. It's funny how your perspective changes the more you take pictures. Someone stood there watching me shooting this picture with a puzzled look on his face and I thought, "does he not see the colors?" because it was even prettier in person.

Finally my photo of the day was found, this lovely gray guy hidden in the foliage and parked in such a funny way that it looked as if he had chosen the spot himself and was coyly hiding from his owner so he wouldn't be asked to drive anywhere. (oh dear now I'm beginning to believe Herbie can communicate, okay loony lady time)

I took about 57 photos which is an average for me given the fact that I will shoot at least five pictures or more of the cars I find, and of course in looking for Herbie I always find other photos that I like. The flower project is still fresh in my mind. I still take lots of flower photos because some projects just get into your blood and then you continue to be passionate about them even though everyone around you is saying "enough with the flower pictures!" but it's just natural to obsess about something for a while. I know lots of people guilty of being consumed by a project and you know what? It's a beautiful thing because it means you are inspired by life.