When visiting Mexico back in 1947 or so, Cappy and I were driving along a "road", when the springs broke on the axle of our car. Cappy decided we would make camp that night right where we were! He gathered wood for a bonfire and made a pit out of rocks to radiate the heat and cook our meal. He layed the meat directly on the rocks to cook it and was in the process of putting up a tent with our bedding when lo and behold! what should appear but a strangely dressed and ominous looking bunch of people! They just stood around and stared at us for a while, until Cappy asked them what they wanted in Spanish. They told him something or other and then moved on. I asked Cappy who they were, after calming down a bit, and he told me they were Tarahumara Indians. I had never seen any before. They wore breechcloths and not much else except a headband with feathers. Quite startling for my first encounter with this people. They moved on, then Cappy told me about them. They are a nomadic people and just wandered about in the Northern Mexican Sierra Madre mountains. Needless to say, I got no sleep that night, and slept in the car with little Bob. The next morning, finally, a horseman came along and asked Cappy what was wrong. Cappy told the Samaritan that our car had broken down on our way to town. Our new friend suggested to look around for some haywire to try and attach the spring back to the axle and that his father owned a garage in the next little town about 3 miles down the road. He had a face you could trust, and did not let us down. He attached the car to his horse and towed the car to town with it! What a sight! His father fixed the car and we went on to our destination. We were happy to have found a new friend and also to find out the Indians were peaceful and were not going to attack. It would have been hard to circle the wagons with just a car--and a broken down car at that! Happy Thanksgiving to all and I hope this story has made us all realize that no matter how much trouble we think we have, God is always there to help us out.
