ABSTRACT
It’s a Friday in mid-October. As usual, the sun is shining and the sky is a clear and striking blue-a jewel-like intensity that occurs only in New Mexico. There is no school today because it is the first weekend of the county fair and longstanding rural tradition, I quickly learned, holds that everyone is expected to participate in the Fair Day Parade. At 9 a.m. the streets are already packed, the temperature is already up, and people are vying for seats under the shade of the awnings fronting the many small shops along the parade route. My daughter, decked out in an old-fashioned dress and straw hat, is riding on her school’s “School in the Past and the Future” float. Everyone in town seems to be there; it’s a time to strut Havens’ stuff. Military veterans are out in full uniform. The high school band plays, accompanied by cheerleaders and dance team members performing their routines. Despite the heat, Future Farmers of America club members march wearing their regulation dark blue corduroy jackets, complete with insignias. Miss Teen-Age New Mexico candidates, the local chile queen, the adult literacy project, the gymnastics team, church service clubs-whether they are marching or riding, everyone is smiling and waving gaily. In small towns all over America, whether it is for the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, or Fair Day, all the stops are pulled out for such parades and Havens is no exception. Sirens blare from the long and impressive line of official safety and law enforcement vehicles as they pass through the town’s only traffic signal on the main drag: fire engines, ambulances, the state police, the Havens police, the sheriff, and, as usual, the green and white Border Patrol trucks. It’s a real community celebration.
