Sunny Sunday in Xochimilco

24″ x 30″
Oil on canvas

It was a beautiful perfect sunny Sunday when Miguel took me to the “Floating Gardens” in Mexico City, Mexico. Poor Miguel got drafted to take me that day. He and I were the only passengers on the boat. The boats are really small barges poled through the Canals like Gondolas. Miguel sat there trying hard to pretend that he did not know this crazy Gringa as she climbed around like a monkey taking pictures. Xochimilco is in danger of losing their designation as a World Heritage Site, because of pollution and the encroachment of illegal squatters. Bacterial pollution caused by raw sewage and other human waste is rampant. Invasion of non-native species of fish, plants and other aquatic animals have displaced native species. It is sad to think canals the Aztec created for agriculture which are pre-Hispanic will disappear within 50 years.