R you kidding me

Here in seafood country, we have a saying: "Oysters 'R' in season" - to remind us that fresh oysters are plentiful in all months except those without an R in them - May, June, July, and August. 

Come September 1, we'll all be in an oyster stew!

But R is an important letter in many words and it should never be left out. F'rinstance, in New Mexico, which many people think is a foreign place to begin with, there is an enchanting city called Albuquerque.

And as hard as it is to spell now, think of how it used to be! The city's website will tell you,  there used to be another R in there. The website informs us that it was King Philip, the King of Spain, who granted permission in 1706 for some colonists to start a community down on the banks of the old Rio Grande river.

By way of thanks, the governor of the colony, Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, wrote an email to the Duke of Alburquerque in Spain to tell him he had a burgeoning city named in his honor: La Villa de Alburquerque. No one is even sure where they got that tongue-twisting name, but one school of thought says it's from the Latin "alba quercus," meaning "the white oak."

Later on, the first R was dropped because so many fifth graders couldn't get Alburquerque right on tests, and neither could their parents and half of the city officials, so they decided to go with "Albuquerque." 

But not even that simplified spelling was within reach of the highway sign shop, where the New Mexico Dept of Transportation proudly put up a new sign showing drivers the road to "Albuqueque."

The sign was placed on Route 66 and I-40.

Kimberly Gallegos, a department spokesperson said it didn't take long for people to call and email about the error. “I do not recall this happening before,” Gallegos said. “But I honestly think this was just a simple mistake.”

And she said a corrected sign went up already, so all is well in Albuwhatever.