Ponce, Puerto Rico

Caryatids: two of them. They support a false balcony overlooking the main entrance to the house of a wealthy industrialist in Ponce. Their ancestors supported the false porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis. Good ideas never die. They are simply recycled: in this case, recycled by the neoclassical architects of the early 20th century. [2009]

Ponce, Puerto Rico

The location is perfect for these beauty queens: Plaza las Delicias. They just add to the 'delights' that grace the landscape in front of the Lions Fountain. Ponce is Puerto Rico's second city, and it used to be more important than San Juan. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Three Morro Castles made sure, for more than a century, that the Caribbean was a Spanish lake. Two were in Cuba and one was in Puerto Rico. Castillo San Felipe del Morro guarded the entrance to San Juan harbor, one of the best in the Antilles. Today, it belongs to the U.S. National Park Service and is listed as a World Heritage Site by the U.N. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Thanks to the National Park Service, we know that "Spain's King Philip hired Field Marshall Juan de Tejada and Buatista Antonelli, a young Italian engineer, to help design a defense plan for the Caribbean." They decided to fortify 10 key sites, including the harbor of San Juan. Immediately, the geographer asks: Where were the other 9? [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Some will celebrate Columbus Day today. Some will celebrate Columbus Day tomorrow. Some will celebrate Columbus Day not at all. Some will celebrate Indigenous People's Day instead. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

What happens when communities get bitten by behemoths? Local restaurants flounder. Burger King is the second largest burger chain in the United States: When it moves in, culinary preferences change. Breaking news: Burger King has acquired Tim Horton's and is moving its headquarters to Canada. Stay tuned. [2009]

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Flag Day is today.
Fly the Stars and Stripes.
Fly them over Houston.
Unfurl them in Detroit.
Hoist them high in Boston,
U.S. territories, too.
For sure in Puerto Rico,
Where lions roar with pride
Especially in Ponce,
Which has a Leon on its side.
Does Old Glory mean Utopia
In the here and now?
Or, is it what were're striving for
as we gaze across the bow?
[2009]

Tibes, Puerto Rico

What do we post-moderns have to learn from the pre-moderns? That we can live compatibly with nature; that we should take from nature only what we need; that the enemy is not nature: it is our fellow human beings. Taino voices from the past teach us these lessons when we visit the Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

The most picturesque cemetery in Old San Juan overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It was named after a popular 17th century saint, Mary Magdalene of Pazzi. Strangely enough, when you get your name attached to a cemetery, you live forever. Today is her feast day. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

It used to be a tradition (rarer these days) to honor the illuminati of history by naming schools after them. In Puerto Rico, they have gone beyond naming. On the campus of the Escuela Graduada Abraham Lincoln in Old San Juan, they have replicated the Lincoln Memorial (sin apología to Daniel Chester French). American citizens all, we are. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

It won't be long til this rock-a-bye baby outgrows the cradle she has made for herself in the treetop. But, she'll continue climbing trees: trees whose branches lead ever upward. May those boughs never break. And, may she forever embrace life, just like the tree of childhood embraced her. [2009]

Ponce, Puerto Rico

For sale by the fire station in the middle of Ponce, they are: pulpy refreshments known as Spanish limes. They are not limes at all, though; rather, they remind you of lychees. They also remind you to appreciate the 'palate of place.' No matter where you go, take your taste buds with you. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Cristóbal was built in 1783, but parts of the fort go back to the 1600s. Here in Puerto Rico, the sentry boxes are called garitas. By whatever name, though, sentry boxes were standard parts of military architecture for centuries and a signature of 'chapter one' in the history of globalization. Their purpose: extramural invigilation, of course. [2009]

Guyama, Puerto Rico

"Our life is frittered away by detail . . . Simplify, simplify, simplify!" So, let's all head for whatever Walden Pond we find in our backyard and celebrate the simple life. Let's make Henry David Thoreau our prophet for the 21st century. [2009]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

What does the name Plaza de Armas tell you about how this space was used in the past? What does the cultural landscape tell you about the role of this same space in the life of contemporary San Juan? Over time, the same urban spaces have given us different urban places. [2009]