Columns

Not to know what happened before you were born is to be forever a child. This ancient axiom is especially true about momentous historical events which shaped our destiny.

As this Centennial series continues, we hope to relate the critical moments which unfolded as New Mexico emerged from a centuries-old outpost of the Spanish empire, to become the 47th American state.

Without polling the candidates, which I don’t have time to do this week, it’s hard to say what motivated so many Las Vegas citizens to run for so few positions. Seventeen people filed for mayor and two council seats, including an impressive nine for the city’s top job.

Maybe so many jumped in because the city is at a pivotal moment in time, when we could move forward on things such as water projects, or backward on things like political favoritism.

Several years ago, I made a trade: a bicycle I hardly used for a dachshund. Heidi (what else does one name a weenie dog?) had acquired bad manners, gulping her food, piddling on the carpet when chided and scratching and chewing on wooden items.

On the morning of Jan. 6, the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors will host a first-day-of-issue event on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service and its New Mexico Centennial stamp. That we’re kicking off a year of Centennial activities at the History Museum with a stamp-related event delights my historian sensibilities by inviting New Mexico’s citizens to take part in a letter-writing project.