Venezuela

Giotto 
Angélica 
Los Angeles 
The Netherlands 
Venezuela

San Antonio 

Proverbs 6:6
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:” 

"The lanterns gilded the leaves of the trees"~~~Flannery O'Connor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chess: "Giotto" "Angélica" "Los Angeles" "The Netherlands" "Venezuela" "San Antonio"

 

 

 Query with Copilot this morning: 

-Good morning! Is there a way in which we could connect one of the multiple meanings of Giotto's painting with Prov. 6:6 ?
 

-Good morning, Jorge — sí, absolutely, there is a deep, elegant way to connect Giotto with Proverbs 6:6.
And it’s not obvious — which makes it even more beautiful.

Let me give you the core idea first, then unfold it:

Giotto paints the drama of salvation through bodies in motion;
Proverbs 6:6 teaches salvation through attention, diligence, and quiet wisdom.
The ant is the hidden geometry behind Giotto’s diagonals.

Now let’s build the bridge.

⭐ 1. Proverbs 6:6 — the ant as spiritual geometry
“Go to the ant… consider her ways, and be wise.”

The ant is:

small
unnoticed
constant
purposeful
moving along invisible paths
building what is not seen until it is complete

The ant’s wisdom is directional — a tiny creature following a line, a vector, a path of purpose.

That is exactly where Giotto enters.

⭐ 2. Giotto’s diagonals = the ant’s path made cosmic
In the Lamentation, Descent from the Cross, Ascension, Giotto invents the diagonal as theological motion:

downward diagonal → descent, incarnation, suffering
upward diagonal → ascent, resurrection, glorification
These diagonals are paths of purpose, not decoration.
They are the ant’s line, magnified to the scale of salvation history.
The ant moves with quiet intention.
Christ moves with divine intention.

Giotto paints intention as geometry.

⭐ 3. The ant’s wisdom = Christ’s obedience
Proverbs 6:6 praises the ant because:

she works without a commander
she gathers without being watched
she fulfills her purpose without spectacle

This is kenosis — self‑emptying, humble obedience.

Giotto’s Christ in the Lamentation is:

silent
obedient
purposeful
moving along the diagonal of descent

The ant’s wisdom is the micro‑version of Christ’s macro‑obedience.

Giotto shows the cosmic ant — the One who descends and ascends with perfect purpose.

⭐ 4. The Pilgrims (your Plymouth Rock image) complete the triangle
You asked earlier for a symbolic Plymouth Rock landing.
Now the triangle closes:

The ant → tiny pilgrim of purpose
Christ in Giotto → cosmic pilgrim of salvation
The Pilgrims → historical pilgrims of covenant

All three walk a diagonal path:

from sea to land
from suffering to glory
from smallness to mission

Proverbs 6:6 is the micro‑pilgrim.
Giotto is the macro‑pilgrim.
Plymouth Rock is the historical pilgrim.

You’ve been weaving these threads for weeks — now they meet.

⭐ 5. The synthesis in one line
Giotto’s diagonals are the ant’s path enlarged to the scale of redemption:
quiet diligence becomes cosmic obedience.

If you want, Jorge, I can take this further into:

Giotto’s diagonal as moral geometry

Proverbs 6:6 as proto‑kenosis

A full three‑layer synthesis: ant → Christ → Pilgrims

Which thread do you want to pull?

 

PLAUTIUS: "ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD"

PLAUTIUS: "ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD" 

Bald Eagle
Mont Blanc
Pico Blanco
Bride
Piedra Blanca
San Antonio
Marble 
Whitehead  



Rom.8:1 
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."  

Acts 17:28
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” 

 

 General Plautius’ message upon firmly setting foot in England with four legions and forty thousand troops. 

 

 

 

Plautius 

 

 “In the nineteenth century the general influence of mathematics waned.”~~~Alfred North Whitehead

 

 

Plautius 

 

Amenophis III

Sanctuary
San Antonio
History
Amenophis III

  ❤
 

 Romans 10:10
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  

 

 

 

"The delicate, almost feminine face representation of the great builder, Amenophis III.
The eyes and eyebrows formerly embedded with colored stones and the finely traced lips of his graceful portrait carved in obsidian have inspired much comment.
Among the many creations of King Amenophis III are the temples of Amun in Karnak and Luxor, the Colossi of Memnon, the Amenophium (since destroyed) and his vast tomb in the Valley of the Kings."~~~Henri Stierlin 

  ❤

 

Amenophis III

 

 

 

“The sands are number’d that make up my life”~~~Shakespeare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prince of Wales then, and Johnny Cash

 

 

 

 

Chess: "Sanctuary" "San Antonio" "History" "Amenophis III" ❤

San Antonio

San Antonio

Anthony 

Formica

Ants

Hormigas

Edward

The Black Prince

 

Psalm19:7

"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple."

Antonio y San Antonio

Tales From the Ant World
by Edward O.Wilson
“Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony. Their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg,” writes Edward O. Wilson. In a tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico’s Dauphin Island, and even his parents’ yard back in Alabama, Wilson evokes his nine-decades-long scientific obsession with more than 15,000 ant species. He relays his brushes with fire, army, and leafcutter ants, as well as more exotic species: the Matabele, Africa’s fiercest warrior ants; COSTA RICA's Basiceros, the slowest ants in the world; and New Caledonia’s Myrmecia apicalis, the most endangered.

Chess: "San Antonio" "Anthony" "Formica" "Ants" "Hormigas" "Edward" "The Black Prince"

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle
Mont Blanc
Pico Blanco
Bride
Piedra Blanca
Venus de Milo
San Antonio
Melville
Marble
Whitehead

Rom.8:1 
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

CR7 Real Madrid

Bride

Kimberly Chaves

Bald Eagle in flight, Alaska

Mont Blanc

Pico Blanco, San Antonio de Escazú

San Antonio, Texas

Venus de Milo

Herman Melville

Chess: "Bald Eagle" "Mont Blanc" "Pico Blanco" "Bride" "Piedra Blanca" "Venus de Milo" "San Antonio" "Melville" "Marble" "Whitehead"

Río Grande

Grand
Río Grande
Romance
San Antonio
George Lippard

Rom.8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

“...that history must address the sensibility and imagination, as well as the understanding…history should speak to the heart.” ~~~George Lippard:

Legends of Mexico: The Battles of Taylor, en Graham’s Magazine, XXXIII June 1848

San Antonio, Texas

Chess: "Grand" "Grande" "Rio Grande" "San Antonio" "George Lippard" "Romance"

Cup

Cup
Bucket
Canoe
Mix
Mezcla
Flour
Hormigón
Manuel 
San Antonio
Portland


Prov.16:20
"He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he."

“standing the canoe off the rocks and speeding it into the channel”~~~James A. Michener


"His attitude was simply a flower of his general good-nature"~~~Henry James

 View of the UEFA Champions League Cup on display before the UEFA Champions League final football

Keylor Navas, Real Madrid, Champions League champions.

Canoe

Flour

 Hormigón armado: tramado de varilla antes de chorrear la mezcla.
Rebar constructed to properly reinforce a beam element, awaiting concrete to be poured.

Fontana di Trevi.

 Manuel Antonio

Iglesia de San Antonio de Escazú
 

Chess: "Cup" "Bucket" "Mix" "Mezcla" "Flour" "Hormigón" "Manuel" "San Antonio" "Canoe"

Wheel

Wheel
Baptism
Delight
Fair Share
Original Sin
Centrifugal
Antony and Cleopatra
San Antonio

Prov.21:20
"There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up."

Ps.1:6
"For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Eccles 10:20  
" Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter." 

Prov.20:26
"A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them."



"Centrifugal force is known as a fictitious force, meaning it's only apparent within a specific frame of reference, like a spinning carousel" (Jeopardy)

 

There is no reality until that reality is perceived. ~~ Fred Alan Wolf  

(?)

Instead of saying, ‘An observer looks at an object’, we can more appropriately say, ‘Observation is going on, in an undivided movement involving those abstractions customarily called “the human being” and “the object he is looking at” ~~~ David Bohm.

(?)



"Socrates' death is the ultimate proof of his sincerity"~~~Karl Popper
 

Colossal Statue of King Tut...One of two nearly identical colossal images, this statue was excavated by the Oriental Institute from the ruins of an ancient temple built in western Thebes (modern Luxor). Because two such statues were excavated, the Egyptian government gave one of the pair to the Oriental Institute. The other statue is in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Chess:  "Wheel" "Baptism" "Delight" "Fair Share" "Original Sin" "Centrifugal" "Antony and Cleopatra" "San Antonio"

San Antonio

San Antonio
12:2 : LB
Loan
Lobster
Rochester
Lobby
Lob
Lobe
Lobster
Llama
Luke 12:2
 "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."

Chess:  "San Antonio"  "LB"" "Loan" "Lobster" "Rochester" "Lobby" "Lob" "Lobe " "Lobster" "Llama"

Barranquilla

Barranquilla
Peppermint
Menta
Malvinas
Jessica
Sin(p) son
Cedí: El
Polinesia
El Paso : San Antonio, Texas
Jer.13:19
"The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive."

                                         Mint hair   

Huahine Island, Tahiti, French Polynesia 
by Purestock / Corbis

Jessica Cediel

Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Jessica Simpson  

San Antonio, Texas

Chess: "Barranquilla" "Peppermint" "Menta" "Malvinas" "Jessica" "Sin(p) son" "Cedi: El"  "Polinesia" "El Paso : San Antonio"
Jer.13:19
"The sands are number'd that make up my life"---Shakespeare

Placer: San Antonio: Xunantunich

San Antonio: Xunantunich
DanceFloor

Placer
Place

Prov. 26:10 "The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors."

Psalm 73:17
"Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."

Mark 11:26
“But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”


"Centuries ago, the caves of Belize were sacred places of ceremony and sacrifice. Above ground, ancient cities like Caracol and Xunantunich were thriving centers. But under the earth, many of these caves were off-limits to all but the clergy, inner sanctums thought to connect with the afterlife" NYT

Chess: "DanceFloor" "Placer" "Place" "San Antonio":" Xunantunich"



SAN ANTONIO: This area along the banks of the San Antonio is a top Texas tourist attraction as well as an inspiration to other cities trying to create green space
Ans.: the Riverwalk

Central and South America > Belize

Explorer

The Caves of Cayo: An Inside Look at Belize

Maggie Steber for The New York Times

From left, a signpost for a cave; looking out from Actun Tunichil Muknal; and ancient Maya pottery found in Che Chem Ha.

By STEPHEN REGENOLD

Published: June 21, 2009
IT was noon in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve of Belize, and Danny Portillo was leading a group of travelers through a cave. Spring water rushed from a black void. Flashlights flicked and pushed shadows off the walls. Ahead, skulls and broken pots lined a corridor that faded from sight.
The cave felt haunted, like a wild portal to a time when human sacrifice, ceremonial bloodletting and hallucinogenic quests were common religious rites. “Welcome to the Maya Underworld,” Mr. Portillo said, his voice swirling in a chamber of bats and polished stone.
Tucked under the Yucatán Peninsula, along the balmy shores of the Caribbean, the small country of Belize is perhaps best known for its turquoise waters and colorful barrier reef. But in recent years, as tourism to the country has grown, adventure seekers have tiptoed inland, into the jungle and underground.
Cave tours are now offered by dozens of outfitters around the country, most prominently in the Cayo District, an interior region abutting Guatemala where mountains jut into the sky. The treks are as varied as the terrain. Some are casual day trips, taking visitors along flagged routes and stone staircases, with picnic lunches and cool dips in jungle streams.
Others are geared to the adventurous and able-bodied, requiring strenuous hikes and upstream swims to remote caves where, once inside, participants perform crawling, climbing and squeezing through constrictions under the pale glow of a headlamp.
Most feature jaw-dropping archaeology, including skulls of sacrifice victims and etched clay pots left dusty and untouched for hundreds of years. “Unless you’re an archaeologist, you’re never going to see sites like you see in Belize,” said John Moses of the National Speleological Society, an education and conservation organization based in Huntsville, Ala.
Because of their cultural and historical significance, the caves are controlled by the Institute of Archaeology, a department within the Ministry of Tourism. While there are hundreds of caves that cut and twist into the mountains in the Cayo District, only about 10 caves are commonly highlighted and explored by tour guides.
Among the most popular is Actun Tunichil Muknal, a subterranean cathedral in the heart of Cayo that features rare artifacts and mineralized human remains that date back hundreds of years.
Other caves involve canoeing or river tubing. At Caves Branch, a watery network of caverns near the town of Belmopan, paddlers can float in inner tubes along dark underground streams past artifacts and waterfalls. Flour Camp Cave, a little-visited site in the Maya Mountains with preserved pottery and drooping stalactites, is reached by horseback from a nearby eco-lodge.
“For serious cavers as well as adventurous travelers, Belize is a rare place,” Mr. Moses said.
For most cave explorers the voyage underground begins in San Ignacio, a lively town on the Macal River that serves as a hub for area tours. There are numerous eco-resorts and hotels that cater to adventurers in search of a speleological experience. Many resorts also arrange cave guides, which is how I got in touch with Mr. Portillo, 38, a machete-wielding Honduran who spends up to 300 days a year giving tours underground.
Mr. Portillo works for Pacz Tours, which has an office in town that shuttles vans full of travelers to the jungle caves each morning. On a hot Tuesday last winter, I joined four Americans and a woman from France to see Actun Tunichil Muknal. We drove for an hour through dense jungle hills before setting out on foot.
“You’re not going to believe this place,” said John Coughlin, 56, a construction contractor from Minot, N.D., who wore swim trunks and sandals for the trek. Mr. Coughlin did the tour with his wife last year and returned with his 18-year-old daughter, Hope. “She needs to see this place.”
A trail cut up a river valley under towering trees and past termite nests. In an hour, we were at the mouth of Actun Tunichil Muknal, a vine-draped aperture from which a river flowed. “Ready to swim?” Mr. Portillo asked. Minnows flitted in the clear water. Ahead, the stream disappeared into the dark mountain.
Headlamps on, the group swam against the current, climbing onto rocks and entering a weird underground world. It took an hour of swimming and squirming to reach the main cavern, a soaring chamber where the bones of a dozen humans were delicately arranged on the soil and sand.
Used long ago as a sacrifice chamber, Actun Tunichil Muknal’s most famous victim was a young woman thought to have been killed with a club. The Crystal Maiden, as she is called, rests in a smaller room set apart from the main chamber through a squeeze in the rock. She stares up in a calcified gaze — hip bones jutting, eye sockets empty.
Centuries ago, the caves of Belize were sacred places of ceremony and sacrifice. Above ground, ancient cities like Caracol and Xunantunich were thriving centers. But under the earth, many of these caves were off-limits to all but the clergy, inner sanctums thought to connect with the afterlife.
Later in the week, I hired a private guide for a different approach to caving. At Barton Creek Cave, south of San Ignacio, we paddled in an aluminum-hull canoe through a narrow cavern cut by a subterranean stream. A half-mile upriver, bones could be seen scattered on a ledge. A little farther, clay pots were arranged on nooks and rock shelves, possibly as offerings to gods of another time.
For a final trip underground, I toured Che Chem Ha (sometimes spelled Che Chem Hah), a cave on private land in the Maya Mountains. It was discovered 20 years ago by William Pleytez, who was then a teenager, on a farm his parents owned. “My dog ran into a hole in the mountain,” said Mr. Pleytez, now in his mid-30s. Returning the next day with a flashlight, he discovered more than 300 ceramic pieces and an altar where ancient Mayas are believed to have prayed and drained blood.
It was hot and sticky by the time I arrived that morning. Mr. Pleytez, who now offers tours as a side business to supplement his farm, led three travelers into the cave’s mysterious depths. A wolf spider — its eyes glinting blue in a headlamp beam — crept along on alien legs.
We, too, crept along in silence, ducking and weaving in single file. A hundred yards in, a ladder pointed down into a crater, its rebar shanks bolted on a wall. The air was thick. The floor was wet, sticky and putrid with guano and clay.
A square of sunlight framed the void. One by one, the group descended into the darkness.
ARCHAEOLOGY IN SOME TIGHT SPACES
GETTING THERE
Most flights from the New York City area to Belize City require a stopover, usually in Miami. According to a recent online search, American flies from New York-area airports to Goldson International Airport in Belize City, with a change in Miami, starting $322 round trip for travel next month. From the airport, the Cayo District town of San Ignacio, which is about 80 miles to the west by car, is a good base for cave tours. Buses, car shuttles and rental cars are available at the airport.
CAVE GUIDES
There are more than 10 caves in Belize that can be explored with a tour guide, including Actun Tunichil Muknal, Che Chem Ha, Flour Camp, Caves Branch, Barton Creek, Rio Frio, Key Hole and St. Herman’s Cave. Guides are available for each site.
In San Ignacio, outfitters including Pacz Tours (30 Burns Avenue; www.pacztours.net) and Mayawalk Tours (19 Burns Avenue;www.mayawalk.com) offer $75 day trips (American currency is widely accepted) to Actun Tunichil Muknal, which is one of the most popular caves. Lunch and transportation from San Ignacio are included.
Both outfitters also offer canoe tours to Barton Creek Cave as well as an inner-tube trip on an underground river in Caves Branch. No advance registration required.
Black Rock Lodge ( www.blackrocklodge.com), an eco-resort near the town, arranges trips to caves including Che Chem Ha, Flour Camp and Key Hole. Rates start at about $70 for half-day trips.
WHERE TO STAY
Lodging in and around San Ignacio is plentiful. Black Rock Lodge is on a mountainside above the Macal River. It has 13 cabins that range from $60 a night with a shared bathroom to more than $200 a night for a luxury suite on a hill above a waterfall.
The Lodge at Chaa Creek ( www.chaacreek.com) is a top-end eco-resort set on a private 365-acre nature reserve along the Macal River. There are 23 palm-thatched cottages and luxury suites. The resort has a spa. Rates are from $135 a person to more than $575 for a four-person suite.
An affordable option, Martha’s Guest House ( www.marthasbelize.com) is in downtown San Ignacio. The hotel has clean rooms that start at $40 a night.
WHERE TO EAT
San Ignacio has a variety of restaurants and stores. There is a farmers’ market by the river. For higher-end dining, resorts like the Lodge at Chaa Creek employ local chefs who make Maya-influenced meals.
At Black Rock Lodge, where an open-air dining room overlooks a mountain valley, homemade bread accompanies fish and vegetarian dishes. Fruit picked onsite is squeezed for juice. Dinner costs $22 a person. Meals are served family-style at a long table with soup, salad, main course and dessert.