In my short time in Española, I have seen the good and the bad, talked to kind folks who at the same time say someone deserved to die, watched hundreds gather to wholesomely celebrate at the Plaza, followed violent criminals who renewed their license to kill, enjoyed special local restaurants, read harrowing figures of systemic domestic abuse, laughed with aspirational young students, tracked an ever-growing list of corrupt local politicians, listened to other politicians express their wholehearted love for the people they serve, and noted the irony of Los Alamos spending government money on golf course ponds while Chama had absolutely no water to speak of, all the while driving throughout Northern New Mexico to chase stories with the windows down, taking in the breathtaking views that are like no other in the world.
Standing out to me the most is the belief and love that people have and share with and through one another, despite the world of conflict that is Rio Arriba County. And that value of community was never clearer to me than when I covered the Rio Arriba County Fair last week.
A small robot, WALL-E, engineered to turn away from red light, a girl who shared the wonderful story of how she fell in love with her chickens, a haras of stallions etched perfectly onto a quilt, a delectable batch of homemade cookies, poetry, paintings and wood carvings. Young pet owners hugging bunnies close to their hearts and giving bellyrubs to their dogs, animal trainers caring for their cattle and piglets and lambs and foals and kits and kids for countless hours preparing them for the livestock show. And bleachers packed shoulder to shoulder with parents, friends, mentors, feed suppliers and other local business owners to show support for the hard work of our young, our future.
I have never seen anything like the Rio Arriba County Fair, a modest venue host to spectacular shows of professionalism, talent, dedication, smarts and spirit. I could see the love and the joy, and the people I spoke to not only expressed to me their appreciation for the tradition of the county fair, but also their appreciation of my being there to cover it. It was a confluence of the great people and culture that defines our home.
At the show, I spoke to the Beef Superintendent Alex Law, a tall and slender young man with round brown eyes beneath his beige cowboy hat. He explained to me with full emotion what the fair means to him.
“There’s a lot of really talented kids. We don’t even know how many hours they put in. A lot of these kids don’t just do animals. They play sports. Most of them make very, very good grades in school. If you really think about that…”
Alex paused for a moment to collect himself.
“If you really think about that, it puts one right here.” He clutched his chest. “It puts one in your heart. I don’t even know how to say it.”
I think Alex said it best, because I also don’t know how to say it. It is so easy to get caught up in the bad that surrounds us, making headlines every week. Yet somehow, some way, events such as the county fair remind us of the goodness that always exists if we choose to value the things that matter: hard work, big dreams, one another.
Ned Newton is wrapping up his summer internship with the SUN this week, before returning to Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he’ll receive a BA in journalism next May.