THE VIEW FROM EL MORRO

Much to our national disgrace, the current administration continues to fail Puerto Rico when it comes to recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria. Six months after 15% of Puerto Riquenos - who are American citizens - don't have power.

Meanwhile the administration had fallen over backwards to help when Texas was hit a month earlier.

It's humiliating and wrong. We used to be better than this.

This is the view from El Morro.

COLORFUL STREETS OF SAN JUAN

The colorful streets of Viejo San Juan, Old San Juan, are a wonderful area to wander and gather wool. It's a slightly hilly area, and the sidewalks are uneven, but it's a pleasant stroll with a lot of things to grab the casual observer's attention. The buildings are decorated in muted and pastel colors, giving an ambiance to this very beautiful destination.

San Juan, like all areas of Puerto Rico, was devastated by hurricane Maria last Summer.

If so moved, you can help with the rebuilding of this most wonderful of American destinations.

TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN?

Puerto Rico has been in the news of late for all of the wrong reasons.

This wonderful outpost of America in the Caribbean has been having fanatical problems, which were capped off in dramatic fashion by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria on September 20th of this year. In one night this paradise was virtually knocked back to the 19th century as power failed throughout the island, bringing additional suffering to the 3.4 million American citizens who live there.

President Trump's response in support of our fellow citizens was less than underwhelming, despite his own publicity to the contrary. It was yet another embarrassing moment for the new president, though he has yet to seem to understand that in any functional way.

A month before he was riding to the state of Texas on a proverbial white charger, playing the hero and showing what a great guy he is. As long as you vote the way he wants you to, that is.

What happened to our brethren in Puerto Rico is unacceptable, and black eye for all of us as a nation and a republic. Too many of my countrymen cannot understand that.

And for that we are all the lesser.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln

VIEJO SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - SIDE STREET

One of the most charming "Old Towns" in the United States and territories is Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico. The area is both historic and modern at the same time, with cafes and boutiques sharing the streets with old-style hotels and residences.

It's a vibrant and lovely place, full of alleys and one lane roads to explore and experience. 

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - SCULPTURE BALLAJA

The inscription in Spanish reads:

"Conjunto Escultorico

Alegorico al rescate del barrio de Ballajá por el pueblo
Puertorriqueño

La mujer representa el barrio. El manto que la curre
es el "olvido."

El hombre viejo, dotado de las garras y del craneo del
Ave de Rapiña, que intenta ocultarla, representa todas
aquellas fuerzas que de algun modo han mantenido
cubierta, tras el olvido, a Ballajá.

El hombre joven simboliza el nuevo espiritu de una
generacion de Puertorriqueños afanados en rescatar
su pasado del olvido y asi afirmar el valor de su

identidad."

English (rough) Translation:

"Sculpturally this ensemble is allegorical to the rescue of the district of Ballajá by the Puerto Rican people. 

The woman represents the district. The cloak represents the "forgotten." 

The old man, equipped with claws and skull of a bird of prey, trying to hide it, represents all those forces that somehow have kept cover, after the forgotten Ballajá. 

The young man symbolizes the new spirit of a generation of Puerto Ricans struggling to rescue this past from oblivion and therefore affirm the value of their identity."

(This angle makes the woman a little difficult to pick out. She is kneeling at on the lower left, her hair draping down as she seems to be holding the younger man aloft.)

EL YUNQUE NAT'L PARK, PUERTO RICO -- SMALL WORLD

I am sure my niece or nephew-in-law, both of whom are highly educated biologists, could tell you a little about the particular fungi/moss/whatever it is that is growing on this tree, but as a photographer I can assure you it is a beautiful and vibrant collection of life forms, all living in harmony together in their own little world of interdependence.

We could learn a lot from lichen.

(And if there are any learned biologists out there, please feel free to weigh in with my blessing.)

THE DAILY ESCAPE: THE THINGS WE MISS

A quiet side street in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A cat saunters on his (her?) merry way, intent on its own agenda.

THE DAILY ESCAPE: THE EL YUNQUE RAIN FOREST

Yokahu Observation Tower, deep in the El Yunque National Forest -- the only tropical rainforest in the National Park system. The views are spectacular if the weather is clear.

Pic of the Day: Leaving Fort San Felipe del Morro

The end of the day, a light Caribbean blush to the sky as visitors walk back into Old Town San Juan after a day amidst the ruins of Fort San Felipe del Morro, the giant citadel that has defended Puerto Rico's capital city from marauders and pirates since the 16th century.

Pic of the Day: Benched

Some transport hubs are fancier and more comfortable than others. This is the waiting area for the Bahia San Juan ferry in Puerto Rico. The ferry, like the terminal, was basic and functional.