Dear Sir: I really enjoyed reading “Cowboys Heroes of Yesterday” by Dr. Lorin Swinehart in your December 2013 issue. It brought back many memories and challenged me to remember others of that genre. I guess I didn’t see enough of Straight Arrow or Monte Hale to make an impression, so those names didn’t ring a bell. But in my mind, in addition to those others mentioned in the article, I can
still see Tex Ritter, Johnny Mack Brown, Whip Wilson, Harry Carey, Jr., Tim Holt and Chito, and even Bob Steele and Wallace Beery from older days. Then I was reminded of the Statler Brothers song, “Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?” Today’s world could use heroes like those film cowboys. Thanks for the memories. Donald Williams Tizapán el Alto derlehrer@gmail.com
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ecause yesterday haphap ap-pened the laundry y bag is full. It is not full of clothes or linens. It is me. I am in the sack with a hammmer, a chisel, a saw and some glue. Getting into the washing machine achine is not a simple task from this crouched uched position. It is very dark and it takes some crawling, grasping, groping and groaning to reach the machine. Two hops and I am there. I can feel the washer. Yes, it is in front of me. Waiting. It is time for the water to fill the great abyss and the churning to start. I am going to get cleaned up. I keep my hands over my face so that I am not cut up or damaged by the hammer, the saw, or the chisel. The beating feels good. When the rinse cycle starts I
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El Ojo del Lago / February 2014
am greatly relieved. This cleansing will soon be over. What relief to see in the full length mirror my naked beautiful child. The years are washed away, and the pain hammered silent. The fears and doubts are chiseled and scattered to another world. A child is reborn and loved anew. I hear the laughter from the trees. I swallow the feelings and let them into my bones. My feet dance because my toes are singing.