Gabino Aguirre Segovia

It rained in Cusco yesterday. Lets hope that climate change hasn't brought forward the start of the rainy season. Having said that it's a fine and sunny this morning, so maybe yesterday was a one off. I would hate to think the rain is following me around the world. Surely the heavens have sent me enough rain this year back in Edinburgh to do me a life time.

However perhaps the rain and the heavens brought me a piece of good fortune. I was sheltering under the eaves of a cafe in Plaza San Blas as I waited for my pal Ernesto to show up. As I was standing there watching the rain teaming down and folk running to cover their stalls and disappear for shelter I was joined by this old guy, well as old as me anyway, and we got into conversation as one does, about the weather and climate change and stuff like that. Funny how the weather is always a great way to get to know people, don't you think?

It was looking as if we would be there for some time and no sign of my pal so we introduced ourselves. Turns out that he is a Peruvian artist called Gabino Aguirre Segovia who paints and works with textiles. He told me that he is 80 years old and when I expressed some degree of astonishment he stuck his hand in his pocket and produced his DNI card ( that's his national ID card). He was a warm welcoming guy and happy to converse and tell me about his life and put up with my Spanish.

He has an exhibition starting tomorrow in Salon Contemporaneo de le Municipalidad del Cusco and he has invited me to attend the official opening at 7 o'clock tomorrow night. When the rain eventually stopped he went to his car and brought me back a copy of the catalogue and an invite. I will of course be going along and maybe even buy a painting, which he assures me are "muy economical". I can roll it up and stick in a tube to carry back to UK in my suitcase. I'm sure they will be able to provide such things at the exhibition and I can go back to collect it when it finishes on 29 September, just before I go back to Lima. Well lets see how it goes anyway.

Gabino is one of those older guys whom I find an inspiration as I get on in years myself and look to my retirement in a few months time. I've been lucky to have met a few people like him over the years, to provide inspiration and ideas. So Gabino helps me look forward to the next part of my life, though he doesn't realise it. Let's face it I guess I have far fewer years ahead of me than I have to look back on, so it's incumbent on me to make the most of them and to take all the inspiration I can find to help make the next few years as good as those that have disappeared in the distance. Where do all the years go to anyway?

Bob Dylan has been an inspiration to me ever since him and I were young together, give or take a years or two. Some day soon I will write about how I got to know Mr Dylan as it's a nice wee story, so if I forget someone should remind me. I reckon my relationship with Bob goes back pretty near fifty years, with all it's ups and downs, though mostly ups, and now as we both get on in years and he produces some of his finest work at the age of 70 he is even more of an inspiration. Thank you Bob, and thanks too to the person who first made me listen to him. You know who you are!

I have to leave this post now, but I will write about someone who has inspired me on a personal level over the past few years in Edinburgh in a later posting.

The trip to the womens' collective/micro business was postponed at last minute but will be back on next week. Hence no report on it so far, but more soon I hope.