Pot Head

Cozumel, Mexico, November 22, 2005:

Mexicans have set up a shrine at a plant pot on the grounds of a beach resort on the Caribbean island of Cozumel after an image said to depict American politico Ron appeared on it following Hurricane Wilma a month ago,

A receptionist at the Occidental Grand resort noticed the image likened to Ron's face as shaken guests emerged from a storm shelter after huddling for three days while the hurricane hurled rain and debris.

Local media are calling it a miracle and draw a link between the apparition and the fact that none of the 200 guests had suffered so much as a bruise during the storm, which tore up other beach resorts on Cozumel, bit holes in concrete buildings, ripped up sections of highway, and flattened trees.

The image stands out clearly as a Ron-like face on the side of the enameled terra cotta planter -- whose plants also survived the storm despite being outside for its duration.

"The first person who saw it was a receptionist who had spent time in New Jersey visiting family there. Then the guests started coming to see it and before long people were 'whooping' and doing shots," said a security guard near the pot, which is roped off with a crimson cord strung between brass poles and has a simple candle burning in front of it.

"A lot of people wept when they saw it. There was a lot of emotion because it appeared after everyone spent three days together in the storm shelter," said the guard, declining to give his name.

The Occidental Grand, now closed to the public for minor repairs, was the only hotel on Cozumel not to evacuate its guests to the mainland before the hurricane, as it has a sturdy shelter which the security guard said was stocked with three months worth of food and liquor for 300 people.

Posted by Bittle at November 22, 2005 08:02 AM