Art Trujillo, after battling cancer and some memory issues, passed away on May 8th, 2024. This obituary is here.

So, there will be no more entries to this collection of his work, but I plan to keep it available, both as a memorial to dad, but also as a record of his life and his efforts to document the time and place he lived in.

You’ll likely notice some odd characters in the text. Not sure why that is happening but I’ll fix it if time allows. If you knew him personally, you’d know that he’d be unhappy with typos!

Happy reading,

Adam Trujillo

Do you ever run into people whom you like instantly? It happens often in our case.

We met Tony and Elizabeth Riome last Tuesday morning. They are from Scotland, both former air traffic controllers in Norway. It was our daughter-in-law, Connie Trujillo, who took the first step at New Mexico Hospitality 101. As she left the El Fidel Monday, Connie noticed an elderly couple toting suitcases. They were asking the waiter if, where and whether they could hire a taxi.

A taxi in Las Vegas? Connie instead offered the couple a ride to their hotel.

The new arrivals, in their 70s and married 53 years, had been making their way on foot to 816 Grand Ave., the block that contains the Trujillo Insurance Agency, a bar, a laundromat and a car wash. And why were they walking in that direction, north of the railway station?

Amtrak had stopped to load and unload passengers. Having used the internet to plan their trip, Tony and Elizabeth assumed that the Holiday Inn Express, where they’d booked reservations, would be just a couple of blocks north.

But were they ever mistaken! Continue reading →

Three of us were at La Kocina de Raphael earlier this month when we observed a ritual I’d not seen in 30 years.

My son Stan, with his wife Lisbeth, with daughter Ellen Vestergaard, 7 months, joined me at the restaurant for lunch. In a nearby booth, behind Ellen, were three women who were causing my granddaughter to turn her head to see them. Ellen enjoyed the sights.

As the women got ready to leave, they asked questions as to the baby’s sex, age, name. Then the oldest placed her thumb on Ellen’s forehead, going from top to bottom, then from left to right. Continue reading →