La Huerta

Church
Originally uploaded by BillieS.

Today three of us headed out of town to La Huerta which is off the highway to Guanajuato. You make a sharp turn and descend on a rough dirt road just above the Laja River. At one time there were railroad tracks and when you enter a long narrow tunnel you can feel the ghosts of the old trains. Back out in the light and past an old railroad station now sitting without a roof and suddenly you are back on a paved road of sorts. We followed the road further up into the mountains until we came to the village of La Huerta.

By now you are probably asking why are you going to La Huerta. Well you don't really need a reason for an adventure but two of us had never been there. However, there was a reason. Casa Linda, a new charity in San Miguel, has started building one room houses for some Mexicans out in the campos who are living in basically what amounts to lean-to structures....I can't call them houses. Casa Linda has found a way to use materials at hand to build these new houses for about a $1,000 each. I can't stop thinking about what a difference it can make in a child's life to have a real house to live it.



While we were there we walked up the hill to see a huge old tree. The roots were gnarled along the top of the ground to the drip line of tree...a tenacious hold on life.

It is the dry season now and while there are still springs trickling from the hillsides it is very dusty and brown. I will go back to this town once the rainy season starts because I'm sure the mountains will be green and beautiful. But even more important, maybe in some way I can help build a house for someone who desperately needs it.