Good Neighbors

Naco is just this side of becoming a ghost town. Shuttered one floor buildings stand as if there could have been a time when pedestrians existed here. Well of course there were. And renegades. I wish the people who lived in Arizona's Naco today weren't shoved up against a poor, rickedty fence only to be dominated by the metal frontera fence finished earlier this year. Guess the mesh wasn't enough. Stunning in its audacity. As it turns out, most of the residents of these bordertowns in the United States are Hispanic. So too, en el otro lado. Not exactly clear how a fence is necessary for this town's residents. And it's not a little unsettling to feel like what's left of a home now feels like a prison. Well, on the other side (two blocks in the other direction) of this small town is a golf course and every April, folks play volleyball over the fence spawning feel-good international articles. Some people are "making the best of it". (December 1, 2017)