A New Year... A New Calendar

Every year I have a custom calendar made which features photos that I have taken on my travels.  Each year has had a different theme.  Over the years I have done calendars with photos of Mexico, Spain, Ohio, Switzerland, and Austria.  For 2024 the theme was Mexican art, the year before that paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art, and before that photos of parks and gardens that I had visited in different countries.

The theme of the 2025 calendar is Mexican archaeology.

The photograph on the cover of the calendar is of the Pyramid of the Magician in the Mayan city of Uxmal in Yucatán.

January's photo is of the Great Pyramid of Cholula.  In terms of volume, it is the largest pyramid in the world.  Although not as tall as the Egyptian pyramid of Khufu at Giza, its base is nearly twice as large.  It was constructed in six stages between the 3rd century B.C. to the 9th century A.D., and it was dedicated to the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl.  Although Cholula remains inhabited to this day, the pyramid was eventually abandoned.  By the time the Spanish arrived it was overgrown and looked like a large hill.  In the late 16th century, the Spanish built a church on top of the pyramid.   The pyramid holds personal memories for me.  Fifty years ago, I studied at the University of the Americas in Cholula, and on more than one occasion I would climb the pyramid, sit up there, enjoy the view, and do my class reading.

To all of my readers, best wishes for a happy New Year of 2025!