Cadence

The people who remain as guardians at the Mausoleum of Moulay Isma’il, the ruler of Morocco from 1672 to 1727, spend their working days within this gorgeous environment. Many of the funerary courtyards and chambers feature the radiating geometric patterns of the zellij tilework typical of Moroccan architecture.

This man was on a work break and I was struck by how the miraculous cadence of tile on the floor and his wide-stripe clothing united in visual harmony. And then there were those shoes that seemed so whimsical to me. The gently upturned toes brought a smile to my face on that day and every time I saw them in India or in Northern Africa. I suppose it was because they reminded me of my childhood and my love for stories involving travel to adventurous, faraway places. Even when I was sure those places and stories were fantasies; they were where I always wanted to live or visit.

The cadence of the patterns and colors—the repeating diamond shapes and the camaraderie of brown, green and mustard yellow—make up a mosaic you can get lost in. It’s mesmerizing and brings to my mind the intricacy I see in flowers, insects, and birds. Look closely and you will recognize there’s architecture in miniature things that is utterly extraordinary; just as there is in this grand, ornate setting.

And so it is that the wonder of nature, the wonder of intricate stonework, the wonder of the labor that created them—one organic, the other man-made—is infinitely fascinating to me. And then those slippers, so practical and removed from his feet. They bring me momentarily back to earth, then light up my imagination like sparklers against a nighttime sky.