Jacobo Romero in the River of Traps, 1979

Finally, Alex asks the obvious and necessary question: “Jacobo, how do you decide to put a lot of water in this place and just a little water in that one?”

The old man pauses, leaning again on his shovel, and gestures downhill to vague places in the field, “Because that water will run together with this one and make too much where it passes the fence over there, and this water can be a lot because it is going by itself more or less to the bottom.”

Jacobo’s words seem more of an incantation than an answer. I am relieved that Alex is also unsatisfied. He presses the question: “But from here, how do you know for sure what each water is going to do?”

“Well you just got to learn, I guess. You got to let the water show you. You can take your time, and sooner or later the water will show.”

  1. Heading to the river, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  2. Jacobo clearing willows, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  3. Preparations for baling hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  4. Putting away Jacobo's hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1980
  5. Jacobo irrigating, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  6. Jacobo Romero, eightieth birthday portrait, El Valle, New Mexico, June 11, 1979
  7. Jacobo and Eloisa at the corral, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  8. After baling hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  9. Jacobo Romero, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  10. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  11. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  12. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  13. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  14. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  15. Jacobo Romero telling stories, vuelta Sáles, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  16. Jacobo irrigating, El Valle, New Mexio, 1979
  17. Jacobo on the El Valle Road, 1979
  18. Jacobo Romero in his barn, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  19. Jacobo and Eliza in
  20. Jacobo feeding the cows in the winter, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  21. Jacobo and Eliza walking home with wild spinach, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  22. Jacobo Romero, Kit Carson National Forest above Pot Creek, New Mexico, 1979
  23. Jacobo's whip, El Valle, New Mexico, 1980
  24. Jacobo's bridge and hay storage at the river, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  25. Jacobo and his great-grandson wait for the hay to be baled, El Valle, New Mexico 1980
  26. Jacobo at his barn and corral, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  27. Putting away the hay, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  28. Jacobo's hay in the old gristmill, El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  29. El Valle, New Mexico, 1979
  30. Baptism, Dixon, New Mexico, 1983
  31. Jacobo Romero in the River of Traps, 1979