"Lo Que Recuerdo...o Como Lo Recuerdo"

Written by Leonel Lorta, Jr.

"...my cousin Raul Garcia made us all aware of your site. I will be checking back...thank you. We hale from the Ambrocio & Simona Garcia side of the family.
We are also trying to keep interst going with our family website. Below is something I posted to our site just to generate interest of our younger family members.
It's important to share what we remember; even as insignificant as we might think it might be. Hopefully this will generate the interest of others to post their snippets of recuerdos."

The long drive to Mexico....
Making our way to Mexico always involved driving out ..... no one ever flew; at least not back then. So it was expected that you would spend a few days on the road and that you visited family along the way. For us that meant that we would see the DeHoyos in Arizona and the Garcias in Texas. But getting there was interesting.... We'd load up the truck or station wagon as those seemed to be the vehicles of choice. The back of the vehicle would be filled with 3 kids, homemade quilts, pillows, food, a big box or two of clothing that we are bringing to our family in Mexico and presents wrapped in Christmas foil paper. There would also be some extra passenger; at least on the way back home. This person was our sitter for the season because back then; both of my parents were working. I think there was a dog on one of those trips too but that part's fuzzy and that could have just been a local trip. Driving out depending on the season would mean driving in the snow with snow chains and the fear that someone would crash into you because you just couldn't see a thing or you just prayed that the car didn't overheat in that scorching summer heat. It was a great adventure. We saw family going south and on our way back north. We did this for many years as kids and then we just stopped. I guess we got older and I guess that it just became inconvenient but for a while if we weren't traveling south the rest of the clan was traveling north. Then many years passed with just very infrequent visits from the occasional traveler. It's great to see that we're close once again.

La Gallina (Santa Rosa, which was the real name of the ranch)
I wish I could remember the activities that took place there. I wish I could say that there was a real tie for me to this place but I was too young. My grandfather Ambrosio was killed 5 years before I was even born. My grandmother Simona didn't last much longer after his death either (2 years). My recollection only goes back to visits when no one from the family lived there anymore; everyone had moved on or died. Those "unknowns" there were probably there because they still were working los solares. The buildings were in poor shape and everything of interest or value had long been sold or taken. My attempts to find something to take would never transpire and yet these days I would settle for an old beat up door, an old fragment of crockery, something anything that would bond me to this special place called La Gallina where my family lived, flourished and one day would leave in favor of Los Estados Unidos.

Dia De Los Muertos or not
As a kid we would go into Piedras Negras and my parents would buy Coronas for OUR dearly departed grandparents. These things were beautifully ornate and colorful floral creations. We'd make our selection and purchase and then put them in the back of the truck or the station wagon and drive back to Jimenez. On the way into town we'd stop off first at the cemetery and place these offerings on the plots. We did this often enough in our younger years that it just seemed normal and comfortable. If you've never been to a real Catholic Mexican cemetery; you're in for a visual treat...with all the crosses, flowers, mementos and everything's is crowded and very very surreal. You should go say hello.

The General Store
My mom was and is good friends with Irma Perez who owned the General store on the main carretera of Jimenez. It was a combination grocery store, post office and I believe was one of the only place in town that had a phone. Corrale mijo was a common sound when the phone would ring and you were asked to go chase someone down a block or two away. Since Jimenez was the midpoint between Acuna and Piedras Negras it became the official Camion depot and rest stop. Los camiones would stop there in the morning and in the afternoon; one on route from Acuna to Piedra Negras and the other in the opposite direction. I remember ladies with their ollas filled with hot tamales and tacos and the eager passenger ready to buy.

My grandfather (Inocencio, on my father's side)
He was a wonderful kind man that always had time for us kids. He was of average height and a bit on the round side. He always wore tan kakis and a pair of brown cloth chino shoes and he had a full head of shortly cropped white hair. He was the local butcher and had his carneceria across the street from the General store on the main carretera. I remember him butchering cattle, sheep, goat and pigs. Not only did he sell these cuts but he also sold chicharones and chorizo that he himself made.

Las Cantinas
I remember there being a cantina three or four blacks away from my mom's house in Jimenez. It could have even been closer. In those days you walked everywhere so distance really didn't have meaning. Anyway, we were always told to stay away from there because they were always full of borrachos that at any moment would stumble out of the cantina and plow you down or worse yet if they were on their horse and if you weren't paying attention; they'd either fall on you or trample you down. Things were exciting as a young kid and you could find humor in just about anything. You could even make a game of following your dad's tracks. Yea dad used to wear this pair of cowboy boots that had a very distinguishable design in the heal of his boot. If you're familiar with the dusty dirt streets of Jimenez well then you know how easy it is to leave a track that any child can follow to find you at the Cantina.

El Rio Grande
Jimenez is a powdery dust bowl in the summer months and swimming in El Rio Grande was always a welcomed experience. It's not that often that we here in the states one can swim in a river without freezing to death but in Mexico and back then; it was and still is a common occurrence. We still didn't have running water and what you needed for drinking or bathing was coming out of a noria. By the way water from a noria is refreshingly cold with the slight taste of clay or earth. Anyway... we would make our way out to the Rio with a towel in hand and find the usual secluded spot; strip down and jump right in. It was a welcomed treat especially in the hot summer months where by the end of the day as a kid you were sporting that ash dust look all over your face, hair and cloths.

La Sequia
If you weren't swimming in the Rio; you were probably swimming in la sequia. This wasn't necessarily our first choice because these man made irrigation ways ran near or through peoples property and folks would always be out there washing their cloths on the side of la sequia. We as kids we would be jumping around and muddying up the water making it difficult for them to do their wash. It was still fun and if we got shushed away or if a stone was thrown at us; we would just move on down to our next spot. What is it with those sweet old ladies pinching your cheeks one minute and throwing a rock at you the next? I guess it was just their endearing way and in these small towns where just about everyone knew who you and your family were. The biggest drawback at la sequia are the mosquitoes and they know who the out of towners are. We taste better and we're the ones running around town with a billion and one bites all over our bodies and that's when mi Abuela Clofitas would pull out the "Pomada"

Pomada
What is this stuff? Every Abuela has their special jar of this. They put pomada on bites, cuts, scrapes, bruises, sprains.... I bet you could even fry eggs in this stuff. Whatever it's made of; it works but it sure doesn't smell good. Probably keeps mosquitoes away too.

The Outhouse
At my grandparents Inocencio and Clofitas the outhouse was at the top of the hill and well away from their adobe home; like most usually are. Getting to the outhouse in the daytime was fine cause you could stick to the well worn path up the hill. The hill was covered thorny mesquite, indigenous shrubs and loose rock. By night it was spooky because of course you couldn't see much farther than the 4 foot glow coming from your kerosene lamp. You were lucky if (1) you remembered to bring the TP and (2) you didn't get pricked to death on the wild shrubbery going up and back. Key learning.... go early by daylight or learn to hold it all night.

Best regards,
Leonel Lorta, Jr.