Abe Observes
Abe Villarreal is the Dean of Student Success at Cochise College. He enjoys writing about people, pastimes, and the small things in life.
A place with a name worth visiting
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 23 October 2023 23 October 2023
By Abe Villarreal
I’m lucky to have friends who bring me small souvenirs from their trips to faraway places. On the side of my metal office shelf cling several magnets that tell stories of adventures throughout the world.
I need more adventures throughout the world. I think we all do. Adventures to places we can’t pronounce. Like Tlaquepaque, a city in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. I haven’t been there, but I'd like to just based on the little magnet on the top shelf in the shape of an adobe plate with two colorful breads inside. It must be a good and delicious place to visit.
The word Tlaquepaque refers to a “place on knolls of clay land.” I like a place named after what it is known or what it does best. I read that there is glass blowing and other wonderful creations made there. Bread too. That’s my favorite part.
Christmas nougats and other things that are worth the wait
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 15 October 2023 15 October 2023
By Abe Villarreal
It's October, and I just ate a peppermint Christmas candy nougat. The kind that is roughly shaped like a rock but tastes chewy and soft. It's white with red stripes and a green Christmas tree shape in the center.
When you unwrap it, some stays on the wrapper, and each one feels like it has been shaped by the hands of whoever held it before you. It's October and I like skipping the candy corn for these Christmas nougats.
Seasonal things are always extra special. Like kites and campfires. They are always done and best enjoyed at certain times of the year. Some seasonal things can only be enjoyed for one or two months at a time before they are gone until the same time next year. These kinds of seasonal things are my favorite.
Simple, everyday conversations are still worth it
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 09 October 2023 09 October 2023
By Abe Villarreal
Maybe I was born in the wrong generation, but I still like to talk to people. People I know and people I don't know. Talk to someone when placing an order. Talk to someone when picking up my groceries. Talk to someone when paying for my morning coffee. Talk to someone when I need help.
I know I'm better off asking the butcher for the finest cut of meat, rather than reading a review online or clicking a picture on an app. The butcher knows what's best for me.
A phone friend that knows everything you know
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 03 October 2023 03 October 2023
By Abe Villarreal
Last night I spoke to an old friend and former colleague. It was one of those conversations where I picked up the phone, she answered, and the very first statements went something like this:
"I just read that Joe passed away." "That's too bad." "Do you know how he passed?" "No, he must have been sick recently." "Did you hear about Jenny getting the award?" "I did." "It was expected."
And each time one of us spoke, it was one of those back and forth exchanges. I shared something, then she shared something. We never asked how each of us was doing or about our personal lives. You don't feel you need to when you speak to someone that feels like a neighbor, even if she lives in a different state.
A biscuit recipe and a Bible are all you need
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 06 September 2023 06 September 2023
By Abe Villarreal
A few readers responded to my last column with suggestions. One was to watch Brenda Gantt on Facebook. Ms. Gantt is a classic Southerner. A 74-year-old grandmother who puts on her own cooking shows.
They aren't professionally produced shows with perfect lighting and an enthusiastic audience. It’s just Ms. Gantt with a smartphone. A smartphone that she sometimes has trouble using. She posts something almost daily. Gravy, fried green tomatoes, sweet tea, and more than any item – biscuits. She loves to make biscuits.
Old hymns are old, but still meant for today
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 22 August 2023 22 August 2023
By Abe Villarreal
I never thought I would like old hymns as much as I like them these days. When I say old hymns, I mean the kind of songs that people sing in church that sound like they've been around since before grandma and grandpa were around.
When I started singing them, I couldn't get past the thous and the thys. They seemed to be everywhere, at the end of verses and between words when you least expected them. I'd ask myself why we would sing in a language that doesn't exist, that only existed for a short period, in a faraway place.
The more I sang them, the more I learned. The more I learned, the more I fell in love with them. Not the thous and the thys, but all the other words. What I learned in one of the hymns is that I had to get out of the way, and just listen. "I surrender all… I surrender all…"
Life changing moments are different for all of us
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 15 August 2023 15 August 2023
By Abe Villarreal
In the blink of an eye, or the flash of a light, things change. You don't realize it until later, much later. The full impact of a life changing moment takes time to cement itself. To let itself be known.
That was probably true for a friend who went from walking to sitting still. From freely moving, to moving with the help of a machine. Today, he lives in two positions. Sitting down and lying down. He gets around, but not the way we do. He needs a lot of help. He was someone different from the person I know today. That changed in one day.
I wonder what happens when life changes for us this way? When we go from being free to being broken down. We all rely on others, even if we think we don't. Life is full of connecting dots. When they are connected, life works better. When we can't reach the next dot, we become still.
Choosing to surrender is choosing freedom
- Category: Abe Observes Abe Observes
- Published: 31 July 2023 31 July 2023
By Abe Villarreal
I've been reading about surrendering lately. It's something that's hard to do. Thinking about it makes us feel like failures, like we are not in control. Maybe that's the point.
Americans aren't supposed to surrender. Growing up, we read in our textbooks that we went to war. Many wars, and that we always won. There was no such thing as surrender for our founding fathers or our military leaders. That's not the American way.
But I feel like surrendering. Throughout our lives, we carry good and bad. We live with the decisions that we make. Sometimes they feel very heavy. We are weighed down by our feelings, our past actions. Those things we need to surrender.