Blue and Red Flashing Lights

I walk up on a Friday to the historic plaza. The Corner Café is bustling. It is full and there is soft rock music as always. As soon as I approached my bench a man approaches me and asks if my car was dented by the storm. I said yes and he handed me a business flyer and walked away. I sat down and observed a woman of about 60 years reading a book on a bench. She seemed to be taking advantage of the quiet environment. She is hugging herself seemingly cold. It is sort of chilly.

There is a little girl on the gazebo talking to herself quietly. Maybe she has an imaginary friend. Her dad, who is talking to what seems to be his friends, tells her to be careful on the steps. Her dad is with his wife. They are talking to another family and eventually crack a few laughs. I see a group of what seems to be tourists. I assume this because one of them has an old camera around her neck. They approach the plaza and the woman says “this is so old Wild West, I love it” and then proceeds to take pictures of the plaza. (They are 2 families, husband and wife) The man mentions to the other man “Santa Fe is a lot like this, but bigger. We should stop there next” They walked to the other side of the plaza and crossed the street to the sidewalk to take pictures of the little shops.

What catches my attention next is the flashing of police lights. An officer just stopped a little Toyota. The officer proceeds to walking to the car and does his procedures. While the cop goes back to his car, I watch the constant stream of families leaving the Authentic Outpost restaurant. I walk up to the restaurant to get a closer look at it and I begin to hear Spanish music. The music really gives the restaurant a Mexican feel along with the various Spanish words on the wall. I walk back to the bench, but on the way there I notice the cop and the other car were parked in the church parking lot. As I looked closer I saw the cop walking a young looking man of maybe 22 into his car.  The man was walking sort of slow seemingly drunk and he was under arrest. This is the second time I’ve seen someone get pulled over by the cops here over drunk driving. It might be due to the little cantinas here. The cop is driving away now. A few minutes later to my left I see an elderly woman showing another elderly woman a necklace she bought. I suppose she bought it at the jewelry store by Authentic Outpost. She is saying “It is sort of pricey, but I saw it the other day and I really wanted it so bad!” The other woman said “I think it’s really pretty and worth the price Laura”. They got onto their little SUV and left the plaza. I also decide to leave due to the increasing cold. Before I leave I cross myself in front of the church and then I drive away.