I don’t know how many of you are familiar with acequias. They are irrigation ditches that were dug by the Spanish colonists when these villages were first settled in the 1600s and 1700s. They are still used today. Ours is a honeycomb system that starts up high on Truchas Peaks. Every year in the spring the people of the village come together to clean out and maintain the “ditches” as they’re called. It is in this way that these ancient channels remain in use (I wrote about the process in a previous post Art Inspires Art).
When the mayordomo (the individual in a village that oversees use of the water) gives permission to do so, local farmers and ranchers open the gates that are holding the water back, allowing irrigation water to flood their fields. It is always such a beautiful sight! The water flows over their land, forming shallow lakes. Sun reflects in its surface and the magpies come out to bathe. For whatever reason, witnessing the first flooding of the spring, moves me more than the rest of the season. I offer the photo above in celebration of that event.
Love to you all,
Jeane
What an amazing story! I’m sure I would also be moved to see this centuries old tradition still being carried on.
It truly is beautiful, Diane. The previous post that goes a little more deeply into it didn’t get put in as a link. Here it is in case you’d like to see it: http://high-road-artist.com/3901/southwest-living/art-inspires-art/
I can’t wait to see the green growth from all the water:) spring is sprung:)
It absolutely is–a thing of spirit, beauty and sustenance. Bill deBuys’ book, River of Traps, tells the story beautifully.