Rock Walls are So El Paso. These walls have been built rock by rock. If you have even seen one built, it is quite the art. Each rock has to be picked out of a pile to be laid just right so the face is flat. Then comes the cement and repeat. By the time it is built, it will last many, many years. These walls are all over El Paso. I have lived other places and they use wood fences that warp, fade and fall down. Not our rock walls. They stand firm for many years and look good doing it. In some ways, they are a representation of El Paso and their people. We are deeply rooted in this place we call home. Our mountain stands strong and anchors our city. We are a people who last many generations in the same place and this town was built with our bare hands. On a more personal note, these rock walls served as a beacon of hope for a prisoner of war. When I was young, my dad had a friend who was a POW for 7 years during the Vietnam War. I still remember this skeleton of a man showing up at our house. His family lived in El Paso. He told the story of how as a prisoner they very seldom received mail. One day, another prisoner received a photo but didn’t recognize the faces in the photo. When Jim saw the photo, it was a family standing in front of a rock wall. He knew that was his family. Where else do they have rock walls like that?!? He hung on to that photo until his release. If you want to read about a true American hero, look up James F. Bell.
