From Taos Mío/ My Taos, a collection of short stories written by fifth-grade students from the Ranchos de Taos Elementary School in Taos, New Mexico

Saying: Haz bien y no mires a quién

(Do good just for the sake of it)

Spring had come to Taos. So many wonderful things to look for! Hiking on the trails, whitewater rafting on the Rio Grande, and eating fresh fruit from Abuela Zenaida’s garden…

But before all that, the acequia that watered Abuela Zenaida’s property had to be cleaned. Abuela was a parciante, which means she was one of the many Taoseños whose land was irrigated by the acequia.

Acequias are irrigation ditches that belong to a whole community, not just one individual. The acequia that passed through Abuela Zenaida’s land was Acequia Madre del Rio Pueblo. It also passed through several neighbors’ properties so cleaning it was a joint effort. The cleaning consisted on getting rid of old tree branches, pieces of wood, sand and debris that had accumulated during the winter.

Once the acequia was clean, water could flow freely throughout the parciantes’ properties and irrigate them in the spring and the summer. Unfortunately, it had gotten harder and harder to find people willing to participate in the acequia cleaning. Everybody was too busy, or too tired from work.

Acequia managers, or mayordomos, are in charge of the cleaning operation. And this spring, Señor Valerio, Juanita’s father, was the mayordomo for the Acequia Madre del Rio Pueblo. Señor Valerio was a neighbor of Abuela Zenaida and they shared the same acequia.

One Saturday morning, early in April, Carmela went to visit Juanita. They were planning to go to the Plaza with Juanita’s mother and later eat at Michael’s Kitchen. Carmela was happily anticipating a breakfast of huevos rancheros or perhaps an omelet extraordinaire—cheese, ham, bell peppers and onion, all smothered with green salsa. Yummy! Her mouth was watering just to think about it. She hoped that Juanita, who usually took a long time getting dressed, was ready to go.

Indeed, Juanita was ready when Carmela arrived to her house. But she was wearing work clothes—a ragged t-shirt and pants with holes. Certainly not what you would wear on a Saturday morning to go to a restaurant. She was holding a small shovel.

“But, girl!” Carmela exclaimed. “Are you going to take a shovel to Michael’s Kitchen?”

Juanita shook her head so eagerly that her dark curls bounced wildly.

“Sorry, but we aren’t going there,” she answered. “We have to help clean our acequia. It’s such a mess! My parents started early today, but they still need all the help they can get so I am lending them a hand. And you can too!”

Hardly the fun morning Carmela had anticipated! As she considered what to say, Juanita added,

“We can have breakfast together before we start. See, my mom made burrito de chicharron!”

Now that was a compromise. Carmela followed her friend to the kitchen, where she ate a big burrito with crunchy chicharron. Once her belly was full, she went outside, grabbed a small shovel too and began to help Juanita’s parents to clean the acequia.

 By two o’clock, they had finished cleaning. Señor Valerio sent for sandwiches to La Manzanita and everybody ate. When Carmela came home, she was happy to report that she had worked hard all day long.

“Well done, mija,” her mother said. “It’s so nice that you spent a whole Saturday helping your friends! “

“Haz el bien y no mires a quién,” Carmela replied, quoting one of Abuela Zenaida’s favorite sayings.

A few days later, Carmela and her parents went to Abuela Zenaida to help her clean the acequia. After all, Carmela had already some experience with that task. When they arrived, who do you think they found already there, shovel in hand and big smiles on their faces?

Yes, Juanita’s parents, and Juanita herself, who had come to help!