Southwest Sierra #125 – A River Named Gracias, Part 1 of 3

Alleghany December 12, 2025 - Three weeks of unusual weather marked the period from Thanksgiving through today. A change is expected early next week, but to date, Hope House hasn’t experienced the first killing frost of fall. In the 50 years since my family moved to the nearby Ruby Mine, we’ve never seen anything like this! The Valley has been fogged in with highs in the mid-40s, while Alleghany enjoys clear skies with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s. A few rose bushes in Alleghany are still blooming. This reminds me of the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and today is her feast day. The story of how I learned of the miracle of Guadalupe is one of my favorite life experiences, and so I’ve decided to share it.

As previously mentioned, I started work at the office of the Sixteen to One Mine during the first week of January 1996. One of my first tasks was to take down the Christmas cards hanging on the walls. One card struck me as unique, and I couldn’t toss it in the trash. There happened to be a gold-framed picture the same size as the card near my desk. I stuck the Christmas card in the frame, admired it, then gradually forgot about it. Something happened sixteen years later that made me pull the card from the frame to learn more.

It began with a vivid morning dream: I was in Mexico, standing on the bank of a river. A Mexican man stood on the bank of the river next to me. He was explaining to me that the name of the river was a word that meant “gratitude as abundant as the grass on the earth.” I remember thinking to myself in the dream that the word sounded like “grass” and that this would help me remember the name of the river. I dove into the water and swam downstream gracefully. I was swept along swiftly, filled with joy and gratitude. I woke up happy.

That morning at work, I was surprised when a Mexican man, whom I’d never met before, but who looked and spoke exactly like the man in the dream, arrived at the office to meet Mike Miller! His name was Francisco Lovato. Mike and Francisco went up to Mike’s office to talk; then left to go down to the Mine. That afternoon, I went to the museum to do some work. To be continued next week.