Yucatecan Still Lifes: Ticul, Tecoh, Tekit

I took three days right after Christmas and drove around southern Yucatán, an area that I don't know well. I plan to write more about that trip, but meanwhile am posting a few extra pictures that I took along the way.

Ticul, Yucatàn: hat on a pew. I spent a night in Ticul, famous for clay pottery and a rustic red limestone that is very popular for finish work in construction in Mexico. In the morning after breakfast I walked across the street to the church, which was pretty much empty except for two very old men praying in one of the chapels. Apparently one left his Panama near the entrance as he came in.

Niche in the church, Tecoh. I stopped in the pueblo of Tecoh my first morning, after a couple of hours on the road, to take a short rest break. I walked through the church, took a couple of pictures including this one, and afterward stumbled upon a wonderful bakery, Panaderia Mayapàn, where I bought a bagfull of orejas and polvorones. I crossed the street and sat on a bench in the beautifully-tended garden of the main square, eating the delicious cookies.

Christmas tree in the chapel, Hacienda San Antonio Xpakay. I stopped by to visit Jonathan Harrington at his hacienda near Tekit. He has a tiny Christmas tree (on the small table) in the old chapel there.

Spare room, Hacienda San Antonio Xpakay. This is one of the rooms of the old casona on the hacienda, which Jonathan uses as a catch-all for storage of tools and materials. The roof caved in long ago, and when Jonathan bought the place, he built a new roof structure with trees from the land. A couple years back, I bought four of the old ceiling beams, which had rotted on the ends but were still solid in the middle. I trimmed them down to solid wood and they now form part of a structure in my patio in Merida.

Floor detail, Hacienda San Antonio Xpakay.