Tag Archives: Cinco de Mayo

The Road to Diamond, Day 158: Small Service Bookends

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 5, 2025, Wellington, KS- Cinco de Mayo was marked at Mama Fina’s, in Plains, Kansas. The unofficial holiday has nothing to do with the United States, per se, but does commemorate the victory of the Mexican people over French invaders, in 1862, at the Battle of Puebla. It is said that we just love a good excuse to party-which seems to be human nature, and doesn’t hurt anything, unless carried to excess. Serafina produces both mild and spicy Mexican fare. Her smothered burrito is of the former variety, but filled the bill for the evening. A local high school student was the server, and spoke of her experiences at the small county-wide school. She also shared that she prefers watching Netflix to being on her phone-as a live action “Peter Rabbit”, featuring a kung fu Peter, was on the wide screen-with its video off.

Earlier in the day, I drove from Socorro to Mountainaire, NM, and found a small deli- cafe, nestled inside B Street Market, the town’s grocery store. The proprietor served up a fine breakfast sandwich. While I was waiting, a lady came in and asked me whether there was any hot food available-so I pointed her in the cafe’s direction. Ten minutes later, there was another satisfied local customer for the deli-cafe.

The day rolled out nicely, and connection with a Zoom call, over the phone and Bluetooth, proceeded, intermittently but basically well, as I rolled through the High Plains of eastern New Mexico and the upper Texas Panhandle, on the way to Dalhart, Guymon and Liberal (KS). Covering four states in a day, even driving fairly straight roads, is a good effort.

Kansas is often treeless, but seldom featureless. The glaciers of the last Great Ice Age did not spare this area, especially in the region known as Flint Hills. The red soil evokes some of the lower hills of Sedona.

Red Hills of western Kansas (above and below)

I rolled in to Wellington, around 10 pm and chose Travelodge, looking ahead to tomorrow’s breakfast, as a Penny’s Diner branch was next door. This is one of those properties where two separate hotels are managed by one desk, so I went to the Baymont office to register. Back across the street, i found a man looking in the window of the former Travelodge office, and scratching his head. I called to him to go over across the street, and ended up repeating the instruction in Spanish. He was happy to have his confusion resolved to say the least.

It was a fine thing, to be able to offer small services, in morning and evening.

Fluidity

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 6, 2023- There was hardly a thought in my head, yesterday, about Cinco de Mayo. All energy was on the dried pine needles-raking them up and bagging them, at least around the perimeter of Bellemont Baha’i School’s kitchen and the old Green Cabin, which is a central gathering place for study, during the sessions that are held in June and July. Others will take up the task of raking and bagging, today, around the rest of the property-and we will be in Firewise mode.

My schedule, over the next 2.5 months, is in a fluid state right now. This morning was taken up with manning a booth at another Firewise event, this one in the village of Dewey, which is one half of the town of Dewey-Humboldt, northeast of Prescott Valley. Then, there was the breakdown of Prescott Farmer’s Market, a staple activity when I am in Home Base. This evening, a delightful duo played covers of hits from the 1960s to the 2010s-and nailed every one, at Rafter Eleven.

Checking my messages, I find that the schedule for the next 2.5 months is largely in a state of flux. Tomorrow will be a standard Sunday- Post 6 breakfast, Baha’i Zoom call and laundry getting done. Then, the carved-in-stone ends. Extended family will be here on Monday, and we will do whatever meets their interest. They will be off, exploring the southwest and southern California, thereafter-and aside from possibly joining them on Tuesday, my plans will find me elsewhere. The train to Los Angeles departs Flagstaff at 8:38 p.m., Wednesday night, and a northern California, Reno-Carson City, and Pacific Northwest journey of indeterminate length will be off and running.

The Bellemont camp manager duties, for which I cleared June and July, are in even more of a state of flux. The dates of each camp have shifted, three times, in the last two days. Discussions about cost, and the vagaries of weather, will affect the scheduling even further. I sense that the dust will settle soon, and there will be plenty to do down here, on days when I am not camp bound.

That brings me to thoughts of autumn. September will see another train trip, this time through the Midwest and Northeast, in time for Mom’s next milestone birthday. Back through the upper South and Texas will follow. Then, there is the still possible journey to Southeast Asia-dependent on a head’s up from the agency through which I sponsor a teenager in that part of the world. This, if it happens, will come in mid-October.

Fluidity is a given, in just about anyone’s life, and leads to more of joy and personal growth than anything else. Whatever transpires, I am sure it will be of interest to some. Stay tuned.

The Tumble

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Social, Striving

May 5, 2022- Hiking Buddy and I observed Cinco de Mayo by dining at Prescott’s sole Indian restaurant: Tai Mahal. The place has a good-sized dining room and a fair amount of South Asian decor. Its dishes trend towards North Indian, which is fine, as I favour dishes like tandoori and tikka masala. I also like vindaloo, from the west central city of Goa, so maybe next time…. We were among the first diners this evening, and for a while, it looked like the stampede to Mexican eateries, on this unofficial north of the border “holiday”, would impact Taj’s evening. Not so, though, as by the time we were ready to leave, the dining room was packed. Such is the allure of a quality establishment with a menu that is one-of-a-kind for the area.

Cinco de Mayo is a distant mirror of Ukraine’s struggle against a much larger foe. On May 5, 1862, the Mexican Army defeated the French Imperial Army, at Puebla. After some months, the French reoccupied Puebla and went on to occupy Ciudad Mexico. This only lasted three years, however, as once the American Civil War ended, President Andrew Johnson sent materiel aid to Mexico, and the resurgent Mexicans drove the French out. The French puppet Emperor, an Austrian named Maximilian, and his Mexican turncoat supporters, were captured and executed. We have no way of knowing how the present conflict will end, but esprit de corps goes a very long way towards building momentum. The mighty can tumble, as the United States itself has found.

After any tumble, however, comes humility and rebuilding. We’ve seen that with the spikes and crashes in the financial markets, in recent days. It’s the nature of wealth, however, to rebound and grow again-and if no artificial blocks come about, more people are brought into the aura of prosperity.

The same is true of peace. It will come back and be rebuilt, very likely on a more solid footing. All falls are stopped by a solid barrier, at some point.

The Road to 65, Mile 158: El Cinco

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Posted by on in Social

May 5, 2015, Chino Valley-  A restaurant on the south end of town burned today.  I’m not about to speculate, as to the cause.  I just know that the few times I ate there, the meal was satisfying and the service folksy and prompt.  My work here was on the north side, and consisted of four hours with a group of fourth-graders, who had been left behind from a reading reward field trip.  They bought the story that their teacher was at a long meeting, rather than at the field trip that was attended by some of their classmates.

This is Teacher Appreciation Day, so community members supervised the kids in the lunchroom, and at recess.  We enjoyed a vegetarian Mexican lunch, provided by other community members, and cupcakes prepared by an office worker.  All was magnifico!

I checked on the status of my hapless acquaintance, who had been jailed on Friday, and was told he had been released today.  So far, he has not contacted me, and I will leave it at that.  The sheriff’s clerk said I am under no obligation to seek him out, in any event.

We did make headway, in a plan I am helping to establish, to connect a local hotel food service with a kitchen that serves meals to homeless people, four days a week.  Someone made the astute observation that the kitchen has a staff member who could pick up the food from the hotel.  I will work that detail out, tomorrow, either after, or in lieu of, going to my day job.  Another person has also stepped forward to help with this.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the routing of French soldiers in Mexico, on May 5, 1862. It is a minor holiday in Mexico, but is widely celebrated in the Southwestern U.S.  I note that it is also an excuse for people to indulge in midweek partying.  Camaraderie, though, is a good thing.

These random notes on the day may be tied together with a neat word bow:  Love is a productive struggle.  This is a message written on the bulletin board of the teacher whose classroom I covered today.