What About Beauty?

My group’s trip to Cochiti Dam left me thinking about beauty. Yes, the reservoir of water is beautiful, but the dam itself is so damn ugly. Gray concrete. A “beach” of gray gravel. No color, no trees, no fun.

I couldn’t help but think about beauty—and the lack of it—and my thoughts led me to the Presa de la Olla. The Presa de la Olla is a gorgeous dam built in the town of Guanajuato, a colonial gem in the highlands of central Mexico, my home for a year.

The dam was built in the 1740s, a time when construction was both functional and beautiful. Today, the reservoir is bordered by a lush green park—a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike. Visitors can participate in a variety of activities there—paddleboating and canoeing; running, walking, and cycling; bird- and wildlife-watching. And every year, hundreds of visitors flock to the dam for the annual Dia de la Apertura de la Presa. A public holiday, the Dia de la Apertura (or “Day of the Opening of the Floodgates”) has its origins in the 18th century, when people gathered to clean the dam. Nowadays, the holiday is purely festive: the park is filled with food stands, a state band plays traditional songs, and people eat, drink, and dance until well past nightfall.

Granted, this is a tradition dating from the 18th century—it seems unlikely that we could expect anything close to this in 21st-century New Mexico. But still, what happened to beauty? And fun? When my group visited Cochiti Dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer official there told us the dam was built for purely functional reasons—that the dam could also be used for recreation was an “afterthought.” Function first, fun much, much later.

And how fun is Cochiti? It’s a blast, as long as you like lying on a bed of gravel on a shadeless concrete beach, burning away under the desert sun. It’s a blast, as long as you own a boat and a truck to tow it with. It’s a blast, as long as you bring all your own food and chairs and tables for that comfy picnic on concrete.

Why is it that the fun in “functional” occurred to them as an afterthought? Humans are animals: we congregate around water. Always have, always will. We like to do things on or near the water: we fish in the water, we ride boats on the water, we swim in the water, we have picnics by the water, we lay in the sun by the water. We are water-seeking, water-loving creatures. Would it be so difficult, so economically unfeasible, to build a few picnic tables and benches? A food stand, maybe? Even a boat rental place? Would it be so outrageous to plan for a little fun?

And would it be so outrageous to plan for a little beauty? Is monochrome gray rock the one and only option? What about those gorgeous earth tones that make New Mexico one of the most beautiful places on the planet? What about beauty? Does it matter anymore?

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For pictures of the Presa de la Olla and the Dia de la Apertura, see:
http://www.travelbymexico.com/guanajuato/atractivos/index.php?nom=kguaaperturapresa