another belated birthday greeting

Harvey Fergusson, the grandson of influential Albuquerque businessman Franz Huning, was born in the old Spanish hacienda at 1801 Central Avenue NW on January 28, 1890. This novelist's best-known works include Rio Grande, Wolf Song, Grant of Kingdom and The Conquest of Don Pedro.

some sort of miracle

So, I was walking from the library to my truck this evening, when I observed a young Hispanic woman get off the bus carrying an infant in one arm and dragging a toddler behind her with the other. They were in front of me- walking in the same direction. I maintained my pace, as I was in time to make it across the Fifth Street before the light changed to yellow. I wasn't sure they were going to be so fortunate.

Somehow, they made it.

As I got closer and closer behind them, I could hear the mother quietly scolding the toddler... "We could have had a warm ride if you hadn't kept falling down," "Stop it!" and "C'mon, use your feet!" are some prime examples. The little girl was whimpering and crying. Admittedly, my eyes also had tears in them, but that was due to the cold.

Just as I began to pass them on the grass to their right, the little girl stopped and pointing to a statue of Jesus on the outside of a church asked, "Is that God?"

Taking a break from her scolding, the mother replied, "Yes."

They took a few more steps before the toddler noticed something that looked like a TV or cb radio antenna on the roof of the church. Puzzled, she asked, "Is that God too?"

The mother said, "No," then told her to stop dragging her feet and again pulled her along by the hood of her plastic parka - this time behind me.

The moral of this story? I believe I’ll leave that open to your interpretation.



This is a photo of the actual statue mentioned above. People familiar with downtown Albuquerque will realize immediately that this photo was taken a number of years ago, before someone snapped off one of Jesus’ thumbs.