San Pedro Chapel
Carol Cribbet-Bell

Perched on high ground above the neighborhood sits San Pedro Chapel. It is almost lost from the road but the road and the houses are not lost to this chapel. It feels like the earth surrounding it - hard, tough, and fill of stories. The two niches, one on each side of the doors are empty, but the doors face north and are full of the mountains and desert when they open, yawning a welcome to the community below. The chapel has worn, red scored concrete floors and windows east and west that must surely capture ,miraculous colors at sunrise and sunset. The noises of people speaking sound crisp and clear inside this structure, and it is easy to imagine the long ago people of El Fuerte singing and offering prayers. These early desert folk with brown skin cracked from their labors in the sun feel shadowed in the chips and cracks of the chapel walls. The passages of life felt here echo with images of San Isidro Day, baptisms, weddings, and La Virgin de Guadalupe. This place is a reminder of things past and changing times connecting us to the dreams and hopes of a different era. There is a quality here that draws one to it. This is the site of the first photograph I took of the neighborhood when I was walking. I was surprised when the film was developed and the chapel appeared so far away in the picture. It was almost hidden among the ocotillo and the creosote. I remembered it as being larger and closer to me on that day and I felt tricked by the photographic image I held in my hand. Perhaps that is the magic of San Pedro Chapel, like the desert that protects it; this place is easy to underestimate from a distance. But the chapel is full of mystery, raw beauty, and the stories of those who passed this way before.

Acknowledgments

1. Sandra Florence. I used the idea of dreams and the passage "passed this way before." I decided to use the dream idea as a connection to other people as we all have dreams and aspirations. I was touched by the expression of having passed this way before because this chapel has seen so much history and so many people. It is an intriguing thought as to who might have actually stood where you are standing now. I used this passage as the ending for my writing.

2. Bill Plapp. I used "reminded of things past" and the idea of a changing neighborhood and times. I was struck by this idea from Bill because there is so much old and new in this neighborhood that change is truly an active concept here.

3. Penny Spicer. I used the word yawning as it referred to the chapel doors when they opened. It is a very strong image and personification of this chapel's point of view.

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