remembering the alamo

Was it Bernadette Peters who sang Time Heals Everything?

Last week I was flying from Cancun to Guadalajara on Volaris -- a newish Mexican airline that may be my new favorite with spiffy flight equipment and efficient flight attendants).  I usually glance through the in-flight magazines to see what type of fluffy fare is being served up to readers.

I particularly like the Mexican magazines.  My ability to read Spanish is far better than my aural comprehension.  And I often discover something new.

I certainly did on Saturday.  Take a close look at that photograph.

If you didn't know the context, it looks like any cliché photograph in a travel magazine.  Closely-cropped subject in vibrant colors.

But the context matters.  This is a Mexican airline.  That is the Alamo.  And the article extols the touristic possibilities of a trip north.

Somewhere, that old scoundrel Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, or just plain Santa Anna, as most of us know him in history, must be weeping.  He thought he had put down the insurrection of the Texas Independence crowd with his victory at The Alamo -- only to be caught with his troops down at San Jacinto.  (I need to write a post about Santa Anna one of these days.  A man who styled himself as the "Napoleon of the West," when he was closer to being the Nixon of Mexico.)

But Mexico is getting much better at bearing the weight of ts history.  Mexican history once stood in the way of national progress.  In these days of NAFTA, its history now informs its future.

To a point.  I am certain there are still some soul mates of The Original Comeback Kid who, when seeing how the wounds of The Alamo have been healed, would turn down the lights, pour a tall glass of tequila, and repeatedly play torch songs.

We can join them, at least, with the music.