Descansos :: More Images

DANNYEL PASSETO
1972-2002
BOCA RATON.

I learned that he left behind a twin sister, a brother & two griving parents. He liked Arizona Ice Tea (as do I) & he is very much loved by his family. Live flowers indicate that this memorial is being maintained by loved ones.
BOCA RATON
Somebody takes care of this marker with live flowers. The day I took this picture, the lawn maintenance crew was trimming back some overgrown weeds off the marker. The lawn mowers are buzzing by; the edge trimmers are whipping stubborn, overgrown weeds out of existance and the traffic is whirling by. In the mist of all this noise and urban chaos, I experienced a moment on peace, gratitude & solice.

As everything buzzing by, I see the lawn maintance guy all of a sudden slow his pace down. He put down the weed eater and got down on his kness. He reached and pulled the weeds around this memorial out by hand. One-by-one each weed and overgrown blade of grass was pulled. By the time I went to reach for the camera, the moment passed. He got up, did the sign of the cross over his chest, bowed down and in that instant, the whirlling of the weed cutter started up again.

Life passing by in a blaring instant did not allow me to capture this moment - except in my memory.

That is how life goes by! In the moment we stop to analyze it, it is gone! Life is to short so live every moment as if it was the only that mattered.

From photographing these Descansos, I will capture the moment and I will reflect on what it means to me. I am even thinking of documenting all of this - yuo never know - this could be my thesis for a masters!! Or at the very least a documentary study of roadside memorials in South Florida.

Descansos :: Anonymous Memorial

ANONYMOUS
A stainless steel cross finely crafted and lovingly devoted. Made so that it will never wear away, never fade away...

...like the public memories of the crash.
THE EDGE
The edge between light and shadow is lovingly marked so that no one can ever forget. The message of love, loss & remembrance is boldly stated for everyone to know that someone crossed over right here.

What you resist - persists.

No more roadblocks! I realized what has been stopping me from completing my Descansos project.

The previous post is a story from the Bronx - a memory that popped up. I realize now that in blocking out negative events from my past, I have inadvertently blocked out the positive memories as well.

"What you resist - persists"

So I came to understand that it is this past that kept creeping up on me and I was constantly resisting it. This project has confronted me with my past. I was not going to be the next victim on the side of the road - which is the premise for the Descansos project.

Roadblock on the Side of the Road

Here I am! I have to make another Wednesday call to my SELP coach. I don't know what to say to him. I am stuck in my descansos project & he is going to tell me "Not again!" The program started on Dec 3rd and here I am a month later & I am still in the same place. What is my roadblock? What is stopping me from doing my work for this project.

First off I do like my project & I am inspired by it, but it is in my speaking to others that I run into troubles. I seem to be bringing with me sadness & negativity. Typical reaction is "Why would I want to do a SAD project?" "Why don't you choose another project?"

I am not clear on my direction/intentions for this project & it shows. I am a fraud & it shows! In the Advanced course I distinguished my act that I lived by to be "I can't do it so leave me alone!" This declaration seems to be back in full force & they see it! But worse of all I am letting it stop me - I cannot do that I need to get past this.

Approaching the Gateway

I don't want to put thoughts into your mind. Yes, the realist in me would say that this is just camera failure - leave it at that. But why now? Why for images of the descansos?

Sorry can't help myself - what are these people doing in the middle of the road!? This image looks like white lighters are waiting for me at the gateway. Welcoming me to another world.

Just look at the larger image I you will see what I mean.

What is yet to Come

This is a third image, I'm posting, of my first attempt to photograph the descanso.

As I explained, I can take pictures just fine. I have done it before, actually the pictures I took just hours before were fine. But now that I am trying to document the descansos - the pictures are, all of a sudden, not coming out well.

Anyway, the images I did get are very surreal & almost mystic. This image looks like a group of people heading up the road off into the sunset. What is yet to come is only available ahead of the roadway.

Waiting Around

Another picture that ended up differently than intended. This was after taking the image of the "descanso" marker. On my way back home I took some images of the road. Again it was broad daylight (look at the lightpost - no lights on) but the image is dark & ominous. The sky was a bright blue & the clouds were white with a bright red glow from the setting sun. The impression that I got from this image is of a group of people just waiting around. Almost like drifting souls looking for direction & guidance. Off to the left comes the white lighters that will guide them further.

I cannot understand what happened (I know - camera failure) but the images are quite eerie & mystically wonderful.

The Guardians

"-- The Guardians"

I started documenting my Descansos project & ran into some - for a lack of a better word - strangeness. I was taking a picture of a "descanso" - a place of rest along our journey of life. I got this strange feeling that I was invading somebody's privacy.

I took this picture in broad daylight as the sun was beginning to set. No special filters/effects, just the camera acting strange. The sky was a beautiful red, but as you can see the camera decided on a different image. I was focusing on the "Drive Safely" marker. The setup was perfect. The marker was in the foreground with a lone rail car left on the rail tracks & some tall trees in the background. Beyond that were some beautiful red clouds in the sky & a power pole on the right.

I call this one "The Guardians" because it looks like a group looking over the marker that is glowing below from the flash. The whole background is pitch black & the pole looks like a cross. The camera was set at auto iso, so it should have taken the image very clearly (as were the previous images I took hours before of a mundane object).

I do not know what happened or why but it is as if I was not meant to get these pictures. I took about (20) & they are all distorted in one way or another. I will post several more just because they are strangely beautiful.

Descansos - Roadside Rest Stops

Every day, I drive I-95 in Palm Beach & Broward Counties. Each day I am drawn to the "Drive Safely" signs along the side of the road. The signs are more & more dotting the edge of the highway & more frequently are being decorated with flowers, wreaths, even photographs. These signs - these 'descansos' (Spanish for 'place of rest') along the highway calls to me and draws my attention. Along many highways, modern day 'descansos' stand as symbols for life, death, remembrance and celebration. These nondescript "Drive Safely" signs are shrines to not only express the loss of a loved one who died in a vehicular accident, but to draw our attention to the tragedy that occurred.

In the early pioneer days, the American settlers used descansos to mark the sites where pioneers, killed in Indian ambushes, lost their lives in their journey. The descansos were created to remind people to pray for the deceased. In today's secular society, there is still a strong need to mark the place where the loss occurred.

Mostly because these are tragic deaths, yank out of this earth and not a natural death, where closure can occur. I consider them the resting spots along the journey of life where the individual stopped and rested. In the state of Florida, the only allowed marker is the "Drive Safely" sign. The signs are only placed if the friends/families request & pays to have this sign erected by the state - AND - they are temporary. They are only kept for 1 year.

These markers are erected as a private need to commemorate the actual place of loss. But obviously, these signs are a public manifestation of life - a piece of folklore - commemorative art - to serve as a reminder to us not to forget that this person lived a life of significance. The family needs to let us know of whose life was lost. Only we did not get a chance to know their significance.

For this reason, I am embarking on a project of documenting the "descansos." This project is a way to express my daily journey and the things that impact my daily experience. For years I drove by these marker only knowing that my life was safe & secure & that the state was reminding us to just- "Drive Safely." I never wondered why they were there or why they were randomly scattered along the roadway. Till one day! I was stuck in traffic - an accident ahead had us crawling like turtles following the dashed lines towards my home. I never noticed that just under the "Drive Safely" logo was somebody's name with a starting & ending dates. I'm saddened to say - I never took the time to notice that - somebody died here.

For months all I did was wonder - until one day. I was drawn to a memorial that had (4) markers on the same spot. Each had the names of each individual on the markers, but the most impacting thing was that they were also decorated with lots of flowers. I had to stop to see. Each had pictures and notes attached - I dare not read - but whose unspoken words touched my soul. I can no longer just drive by these markers, I need to know.

Little did I know that life is what was calling me thru those signs. Every fiber of these shrines talks of life. Life lost, lives left behind, life's journey. I need to celebrate life! To commemorate their life and to honor the life of their families left with this memory.

This project is not intended to rehash the accident or how it happened, but to express to society what we have lost, what we have allowed to happen and the need to acknowledge who is left behind. The mothers and fathers; the wives and girlfriend; the sons and daughters; the aunts and uncles; the grandparents and grandchildren. I want to celebrate the legacy that they leave behind. For this reason this project is a two fold effort to celebrate life.

First, to actually document the markers. The markers only exist for a period of one year & then are removed. Also here in South Florida, I-95 construction is constantly changing the landscape & the markers are disappearing from the roadside. Second, to have the State of Florida acknowledge & create a unified memorial. A place where each individual is remembered and expressed in context with society. I want to have a place where each and every life will not be forgotten about. A place where each individual's significance can be known to the public - but also a place where the loss will be seen in the larger context.

In this country there are over 50,000 travel-related deaths annually. This is the equivalent to the loss of a fully loaded 747 crashing every other day. Can you imagine that number! OK, how about this - it is almost equals the total number of America soldiers killed in the Vietnam War (58,177 per Official US DoD, 1964-73). These numbers are not acceptable!

The context of a society where the daily grind has made us too preoccupied with the logistics of life, rather than actually living life to the fullest. We have become careless; our carelessness & lack of awareness, while driving, allows these tragedies to occur. Driving while intoxicated is the largest. Now driving while on the cell phone is also obvious, but would you believe that something as mundane as putting on makeup can account for 14%; How about grooming your hair - that's 16%; OK would you believe eating while driving is a WHOPPING 66%. The California DMV put it in third place. So driving drunk is not the only real killer. This statistic can no longer continue unnoticed.

My project is intended to educate myself and others - but - most importantly as a celebration of life. A celebration for what they were & who they left behind.
LIFE - Love it for what it is and live it to the fullest!