Truffle Blog

A number of years ago, I spent some time visiting the ancient ruins of the Yucatan Peninsula in Southeast Mexico.  There is really nothing ruined about them.  And when I become that ancient, I hope to look as wonderful.  I walked through Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Izamal, Tulum and a half dozen other sites which seem to be as plentiful as gas stations upon their green landscape, yet most of them still remain enshrouded in a blanket of jungle vines, trees, and thick underbrush.  At Chichen Itza, I was particularly struck by the grandeur for which a picture cannot do justice.  Climbing up the steps of the pyramid, there is a moment where I thought, I am glad that no one is here to coax me down from my perilous and willingly precarious assent.  Rising above the surrounding jungle floor, the vistas become an endless 360 degree feast as the rich primary colors of blue skies taper into the lush eternal green.
 
Looking down at my own feet and completely ignoring my fear of heights, I stand close enough to let my toes get a good downward look as well and being so close to the edge of a very steep precipice, I find that I could not be more firmly planted on an immovable structure. I study these amazingly massive hewn rocks in precision cut form, not indigenous to the region and I wonder how many people over the course of so many millennia before; have stood in awe on this very same square foot of space and beheld what I behold.
 
It is unclear whether the Gods constructed it for man or man constructed it for the Gods, but whichever way that one went, they certainly outdid themselves.  This is not the only special place where titans of old created the monolithic footstools of their domain.  It is not far to another place similar in stature and permanence where what remains beyond its magnificent stonework lingers the echoes of five thousand years of the pondering and wondering and the awestruck, of dreams and the dreamers. These were the dreams for an era and what are left behind have become our enjoyment and our security and our reverence to the forbearers, whoe’er they were. So add to these, Teotihuacan, Palenque, Macchu Picchu, and Luxor and many yet to be uncovered.  All of these sights, unique one from the next, and yet strikingly comparable and overwhelming. Each one commanding a very profound and silent respect.
 
All that one can see upon first inspection of these timeless juggernauts are seemingly the coarse and brawny outward dominance created with the broad brush of an army of architects and engineers or maybe neither.  Maybe it was just an endless and mindless labor pool applied to the cause because there was nothing else on their calendars to do during their mortal sojourn. Their work seems rough.  So their purpose comes into question and their accuracy immediately discounted until proven intentional. They decided to not leave us any blueprints for the quick answer.
 
But now sitting upon the top step of my first world renowned pyramid- The Temple of Kukulcan: Ku means God, kul means feathered, and can with an accent means serpent – if you speak Mayan. Or the feathered serpent God.  For an untracked amount of time, but certainly long enough to improve my suntan on both sides of my head, I aligned my eyes with neighboring structures and edges and shadows. So while my head was being used as a sundial for someone else, I was using my thumb and right eye, with my lazy eye shut, to scope out the exacting geometries before me. Straight ahead lay a massive cenote, an open well with a thousand endless springs. I gazed at the neighboring Temple of the Warriors off to my right, and the so called Ball Court off to my left and to my left flank was the closest thing to a modern solar observatory but this one made of stone. My first pseudo observatory experience was at age twelve as a boy scout visiting in Chicago there on the edge of Lake Michigan near the Ancient History Museum at the Planetarium.  At that time, I thought “what a cool and original design for a building”. Now, sitting on Chichen Itza, ten years hence, I quickly understood which building design was the “original”. 
 
Now the questions start flooding my reason; Was the intent made to be one of precision in this work and what might have been their purpose.  There is a masterful connection to the extraterrestrial or at least to the solar system, even more advanced than modern day as their “Mayan” calendar is still acclaimed to be more accurate.  And what of their structures: though its foundation is set askew, the four portals of the “Caracol” planetarium dome are exacting with a compass rose directionally quartered.  I looked at the order of the warriors as they are called and Chac Mol who was seated above them as if Chac had stewardship over them. And what of the Ball Court to my left where in the elongated court at several tens of yards, maybe 70 yards, there is perfect acoustics that reach only the throne at the opposite end. Wanting to have my own fun, I asked someone to whisper to me while positioned and standing at the other end of the court.  I stood where a king or a soccer coach might be seated on a throne.  Just a whisper worked.  And those between us could not pick up the audible. Talk about calling in a play on fourth down and ten yards to go with two seconds left on the clock!
 
And then there is the temple of Kukulcan itself where I still remain perched. A purposeful serpentine shadow is cast upon the steps that truly creates the form of a serpent stretching down the full length of the steps and connects to the stonework of a serpents head that is mounted on each side of the steps at the base. But the shadow only shows up by the Suns position in the sky just one day each year.  It happens at noon day on April 6.  I would call that amazing solar precision. All of the pyramids around the world have this type of astounding detail juxtaposed against their largess and coarseness.
 
Something analogous would be a random gigantic raincloud passing overhead but releasing purposefully a selected set of raindrops that are precisely aimed to hit only me on the forehead.  All I can say to the raincloud is: “you’re just lucky old cloud that I have a big forehead – but nice shot anyway”.  There is little on this planet that is more architecturally mysterious, and yet has such far reaching influence in our modern day existence.  We find their shapes in our buildings everywhere. Just look up and see for yourself. We salute the titans of the ages and honor them by carrying on their legacy. Thank goodness we didn’t have to make chocolate in such grand scale but we still must make it with discriminating precision and taste, and supporting their original thought to use both the broad brush and also the fine finishing touch.  So here is chocolate celebrating the ages with precise computer numerical control designs using five planes and a common vertex to four.  Here is to all natural and few ingredients with ganache flavors that are carefully architected.