April 11, 2013

33 of 65

It’s a Small World

It is a small world, and Santa Fe, New Mexico is someplace near its center.

That is a good thing; we have always loved that part of the country.

In 1979, Cathy and I spent a long weekend in Santa Fe to attend the Opera.  I guess we were cultured in those days.  One morning we stopped at the French Pastry Shop, which is on the Plaza right next to the La Fonda Hotel.  As we entered, a woman named Jan Chadwick who worked in Denver with one of my clients was walking out.  I said, “Hi.  This is a surprise.  I guess it is a small world.”

We moved to the mountains in the summer of 1993.  Our son Michael had just completed 3^rd Grade and our daughter Suzanne had made it through 1^st Grade.  The next fall they started attending Clear Creek County schools.  When Spring Break came in 1994, we loaded the family in the car to enjoy a few days in Santa Fe.  The Town of Walsenburg, Colorado is about 200 miles from Idaho Springs – about half way to Santa Fe.  It has a pleasant city park, so we stopped for lunch.

While Cathy and I got the food and drinks prepared at a picnic table, Michael and Suzanne let off some energy at a playground a short distance away.  When lunch was ready, I went to the playground to let the kids know it was time to eat.  We started back toward the picnic table as another car stopped on the street and two children exited and ran toward the playground.  As they passed us, one yelled, “Hi, Michael.”

“Hi Michael?” I said.  “Hi, Michael?”

Suzanne spoke up, saying in a matter of fact tone, “Oh, that’s Andrew.  He’s in my class.”

We introduced ourselves to Andrew’s parents, who lived close to us, but who were headed to Arizona to watch the Colorado Rockies’ spring training.

“It’s a small world, isn’t it,” someone noted.

 Our family returned to Santa Fe for Spring Break in 1995.  Taking a different route, we stopped for lunch in San Luis, Colorado – again, a little bit over half way.  After lunch, we walked to the stations of the cross, which are the major attraction for tourists in a part of the state that is otherwise only high desert farm country.  Like the traditional stations found in most Catholic churches, these are 14 artistic representations of Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion.  They are not in a church, though.  They are placed along a three-quarter mile trail leading to a mesa 300 feet above the town.  The representations are extraordinary, nearly life sized bronze statues created by a local artist named Huberto Maestas.

A number of other travelers were marveling at the art work and the view from the mesa top.  As we turned from looking at one of the early stations, a voice above us said hello.  We looked up and saw Pam and Cory Wong.  Cory was the local forest ranger at the Idaho Springs ranger station.  Their children also attended school with ours.  The Wongs were on their way to visit relatives in Northern New Mexico.

“Wow, it really is a small world,” we said.