Saw you in the Ojo
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Saw you in the Ojo
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DIRE C TOR Y
Index...
PUBLISHER David Tingen
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Victoria A Schmidt
EDITOR EMERITUS Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez
32 COVER STORY
“Why You Should Get A Cat In The New Year” Don Beaudreau gives us numerous reasons why having a cat in the New Year would be a choice.
Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Reyes Diana Parra Morales Special Events Editor Carol D. Bradley
8 “Why some of our Friends & Neighbors Voted Differently” MICHAEL HOGAN is an historian and author of 25 books including the best-selling Irish Soldiers of Mexico.
Cover by Mario Negrete
10 Tom Nussbaum entertains us with “Love Life of a Princess.”
COLUMNS THIS MONTH
18 Living Life in the Moment/“ FRILUFTSLIV Dr. Lorin Swinhart shares his experience with a group of women enrolled in the Outward Bound program.
6 Editors Page
Theater Critic Michael Warren Book Review Panel Margaret Van Every Margaret Porter Clare Gearhart
22 Herbert Piekow reviews Michael Hogan’s Michael Hogan’s newest book.
Proofreader Sally Asante
Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart
Sales Manager Bruce Fraser Carmene Berner ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9 am - 5 pm Sat. 9 am - 1 pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528 Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago www.chapala.com elojodellago@gmail.com ojodellago@prodigy.net.mx Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: 376 765 3676, Fax 376 765 3528
24 “The Return of the Orchid Man” Janice Kimball follows up on her story printed in the August issue of the Ojo. 38 “Why Didn’t I Think of That!” Steve Griffin Discusses a Conference of the gods of the universes at their every other million year meeting.
12 Front Row Center 14 Vexations and Conundrums 16 Mirror to the Universe 26 Ramblings from the Ranch 28 Lakeside Living
40 “Our Sun God Needs You” Armando Garcia Davilia
36 Mexican Grace
44 “Ismael’s Galerias” by Marty Bojan shares his experiences with purchases of special lamps.
34 Profiling Tepehua
PRINTING: El Debate El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Distributed over the first five days of each month) Certificado de Licitud de Título 3693 Certificado de Licitud de Contenido 3117. Reserva al Título de Derechos de Autor 04-2011-103110024300-102 Control 14301. Permisos otorgados por la Secretaría de Gobernación (EXP. 1/432 “88”/5651 de 2 de junio de 1993) y SEP (Reserva 171.94 control 14301) del 15 de enero de 1994. Distribución: Hidalgo 223 Chapala, Jalisco, México. All contents are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the written consent of El Ojo del Lago. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher or the Editor, nor are we responsible for the claims made by our advertisers. We welcome letters, which should include name, address and telephone number.
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COVER STORY
VOLUME 37 NUMBER 5
El Ojo del Lago / January 2021
Saw you in the Ojo
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COLUMNIST
Editor’s Page By Victoria A. Schmidt
Lessons Learned
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had an abrupt education on the lifestyle of some of the less fortunate families in our neighborhood in one of our first homes in Mexico. Our bedroom window looked out over the top of the wall, which separated our property from our neighbors, and we couldn’t help witnessing this family as they went through their daily routines. The mother started out her day very early—often before daybreak. I imagined she was the first to rise, as many moms do, to get the family ready for their day. She would be outside watering the potted plants (I think she was raising them to sell.) Or she was washing clothes in an outdoor sink, by hand. She would scrub those clothes on a washboard, rinse, and wring and hang them on the line to dry. We couldn’t see their house, only the edge of the building where there was an outdoor sink. As time passed, I began to realize, that she did her dishes in that outdoor sink, and still later, I realized that she was cooking outside as well. The edge of the house that I could see I had always imagined as a bodega. But later I came to the stark realization that the “bodega” was in actuality their home. I think it may have been a one-room structure. Our window didn’t afford us a view of the access to this property, but I believe I discovered it one day when I found a cluttered footpath that lead in the general direction of their property. I know they had at least one child, probably two. I know one was a girl, as I was delighted in hearing a back-yard birthday party complete with giggles, laughter and singing. All were young girls having a deliciously silly time. The father almost always came home after midnight. Whether he worked that late or not, I cannot say, but his ancient pick-up truck
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El Ojo del Lago / January 2021
always rattled in past midnight. I thought about this family often. In the USA, I did not see this level of poverty in my zoned, trimmed, and secured suburban neighborhood. I was not privy to the daily insights of the lives of those who had so little. But here in Mexico our homes were back-toback, and as I did my own laundry, I thought about the mother scrubbing her fingers raw on the rippled washboard. When I cooked, I found myself thinking about her cooking outdoors, and as I washed my dirty dishes inside my spacious kitchen in my thoroughly modern home, I thought about her washing her dishes in the sink outside. When our maid cleaned twice each week, I thought of the mother in our back yard that worked so hard at her house before she left for her job. Was she someone’s maid? Did she clean a house like mine? Where did my own maid live? What was her home like? When I would think about these things, I would experience mixed feelings. I would feel blessed for all that I had, awe at the grace with which this family led their life, guilt at how unfair life can be, helpless in my inability to lend assistance, and shame at the disparities in our lives and grateful for the education given me. We have since moved to a different home at Lakeside, but I carry the lessons I learned from this family with me every day. I think of them in these times of COVID where lockdowns, and no school made their limited income more limited. And as the weather grows colder at night, I think of them shivering through the night. May 2021 be kinder to all of us. Victoria Schmidt
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Why Some of our Friends and Neighbors Voted Differently By Michael Hogan
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voted for Biden as did many other Americans. But more than 71 million voted for Trump. Is it possible that these millions of American were racists, bigots, misogynists, and ignorant followers of an autocrat? If so, we are in deep trouble. If not, then we need to analyze what really happened and why some voters decided the way they did. My conversations with friends and neighbors over the past few days revealed some of the reasons. Economic: The Cares Act, which pumped more than a trillion dollars into the economy, brought many benefits directly to households: $670 billion in small business loans, $350 billion in unemployment benefits and direct spending in hospitals and other providers, $1,200 to individual taxpayers. When a second round
Biden and McConnell
of public subsidies were proposed, Nancy Pelosi felt it was not enough. So, nobody got anything. Trump supporters naturally blamed the Democrats for intransigence. Social Unrest: While the Black Lives Matter was clearly supported by most Americans, it devolved into riots and destruction of property, including minority businesses. Ordinary citizens suffered (including supporters of the movement); certain areas became “no-go zones” for first
responders, endangering lives. Instead of responding firmly that public safety should not be compromised by protests, Biden and other Democrat leaders wavered. When an editorial in the New York Times raised the issue, it was attacked as being racist and the Times fired the editor who approved it. It was clear to many that the safety of our cities had been seriously compromised and mob reprisal had triumphed over free expression. Public Shaming Excesses: While the legal prosecution of Bill Cosby and Jefferey Epstein was widely applauded, the excesses of the Me Too Movement resulted in the shattering of personal lives of people who committed no crimes, whose careers were exemplary, and who made major contributions to American society and culture. Among those we could include Joe Paterno, winning coach of Penn State football, Garrison Keeler, beloved host of Prairie Home Companion, and the progressive Democrat, Senator Al Franken. Many saw these and other examples as the undermining of basic decency and community restraint which protected innocent people from groundless attacks. Ethnic and Racial Categorization: Both the press and pollsters constantly make assumptions that all Hispanics are homogeneous, as well as all African Americans. In fact, there are major differences between Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans, between Hondurans and Puerto Ricans. Those who have businesses tend to vote more conservatively. Those in the healing profession and educators tend to be more liberal. But even among those groups there are differences. Pollsters took none of that into account. Illegal Immigration: There are many Americans who are not racist or anti-immigrant but who nevertheless do not approve of open borders or undocumented migrants flooding into the country. These include union
leaders, ranchers in the western border states, law enforcement personnel, and many Mexican Americans, including the late Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers, who saw the influx as undermining the gains he had made for legal workers. Pollsters also tended to ignore the resentment of legal immigrants who went to the time and expense of obtaining a green card, working legally, learning English, passing a written test, and becoming citizens. Criminal justice and rehabilitation. Neither Harris nor Biden has much of a record in terms of helping former inmates get their lives back together or reducing the disparities in sentencing for African Americans. Trump, on the other hand, helped push though the First Step Act. This reform made our justice system fairer and helps inmates return to society. It also granted judges discretion in sentencing for non-violent crimes, eliminating mandatory terms for drug offenses. Demonization, fear, and selfcensorship. Trump supporters from 2016 had been castigated by the press, called racists and worse by pundits, and unfriended by Facebook acquaintances. Hillary Clinton publicly disparaged them. When the pollsters asked who they would vote for, they were often silent, or said “undecided.” Who could blame them? Self-censorship has never been so prevalent, at least since the McCarthy era. What do we want? If we really want a unified country, we cannot leave it up to the media or the Internet which encourage name-calling and blaming, incivility, and outright contempt on both sides. Nor can we continue to tolerate it by our silence or fear of being disliked. We need to come together. A good example for us to carry forward is the image of Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. McConnell not only was the sole Republican senator who attended the funeral of Biden’s son, but he hugged his adversary in genuine sympathy. They were and have remained friends for more than three decades despite ideological differences. That is what unity looks like. MICHAEL HOGAN is an historian and author of 25 books including the best-selling Irish Soldiers of Mexico. This article first appeared in the November 11, 2020, issue of North American Project and is reprinted here by permission of the author. Michael Hogan
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The Love Life Of A Princess By Tom Nussbaum
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h, that feels good. I love how he rubs my—aahh, I’m in heaven. So good. Oh, now his hand is moving down to my tummy. Oh, he knows just how to do that. I hope he never sto—Yikes! Stop! Whoa! Don’t even think about going down there. Good. He stopped. Dear god, this is so doggone good. I just love him so much. Aahh. He’s so good to me. And now he’s got my hind paw dancing and I can’t control it. He knows just how to treat a do— “Aaron, when are you gonna stop playing with your stupid dog and mow the lawn like I told you?” Damn. It’s the bitch again. The one who always calls me Badog real loud even though my name is Princess. (“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”) “I’m doing it now, Tracie.” (“Jeez, she told me to do it less than ten minutes ago.”) I love how my Alpha doesn’t take his eyes off me when he barks at her. “But before I go outside, Princess, I want kisses. Kisses, girl? Oh, what a
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good girl you are. And when I’m done, we’ll go for a walk.” Walk? Walk? Did he say walk? I love going on walks with him. OK. There he goes. Out to the car house. To get that noisy grass eater. I can’t wait until he comes back. Maybe I’ll hide from the barking bitch under the sleeping table until he’s done. And I can take a nap and dream about when she puts on her red mouth, tall shoes, and flower water, and goes away all day. The house is so quiet then. And he sits down at the clickety-click toy until he barks “Damn computer!” at it. I guess that thing’s name is Damn Computer. And then he stops and pats my . . . back and tickles my . . . um . . . um . . . ears. And . . . and . . . oh, dear, I can’t keep my eyes op . . . “Princess, where are you?” Did I fall asleep? Is he done pushing the grass eater? “Wanna go for a walk, Princess?” Oh, my god. Oh, my god! Get to the door. Hurry! No time for kisses.
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“That’s a good girl. Now let me put the leash on you.” I don’t know why he ties me up like that. I would never run away from him. I would never leave him. I love him. “OK, girl. Let’s go.” We gotta stop at my pee-place first, Aaron. I really need—Oh no. we’re going in the wrong direction. What am I supposed to do? Oh, good. A flower bed. “Princess! Not in Mr. Morgan’s garden. Those are his prize roses. And he’s not a very ni—” “Hey, Crandall, get your damn dog away from my roses!” “Come on, girl. Let’s go. I hope he didn’t see.” I feel better now. So, where are we going? Huh? Huh? Where are we going? “Wanna meet a pretty lady, Princess? She has a cocker spaniel named Bradley.” Oh, I love cocker spaniels. They are so cute. I wonder what his butt smells like. “We’ll be there in just a few minutes. We turn here, girl. C’mon.” This is exciting. A new place. Not the green run-place or the hard, gray walkplace. I don’t know where we are. But I smell other dogs and I like it. This is fun. He’s taking me somewhere new. I wonder if he ever takes the mean bitch who calls me Badog here. Oh, I hope not because I love him and I want this new place to be
our secret. I want—Why’s he taking off his gold round finger toy and putting it in his pants mouth? “We’re here, Princess. Isn’t this a nice front yard? Up the steps, girl, and onto the porch.” He’s knocking on the wood go-in place. Why doesn’t he just bark? And the go-in is opening. This is exciting. What’ll I see? Who’ll be there? Oh? Who is this bitch? “Hi, Aaron. You’re here. And this beautiful girl must be Princess.” Oh, I like her. Her barks are like music and she called me Princess, not Badog like the other—Hey, why are you giving my Alpha kisses? And why is he petting you? I’m like this close from growling. Don’t you know he’s mine. I love my Alph— Oh good. The kisses stopped. “Would you like to meet my Bradley, Princess? He’s right there on—” On the long sit thing. I see him. And he’s cute. OMD! He’s the cutest cocker spaniel I’ve ever seen. I think I could—Hey, Aaron, why the hell are you petting her again? I’m supposed to be your girl—Well, if that’s how you want it, Aaron, two can play that game. Yeah—So, Bradley, wanna smell my . . . Tom Nussbaum
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COLUMNIST
FRONT ROW CENTER By Michael Warren Lunenburg by Norm Foster Directed by Georgette Richmond
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his comedy was originally scheduled for the fall of 2019, but was cancelled three weeks before opening night. Now it has been successfully revived as a reading under the auspices of Ajijic Readers Theatre (ART). It works very well as a reading because all the action is in the clever and entertaining dialogue. Norm Foster sets up an interesting situation in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. “Iris Ouellette” is an American woman from Maine, and her husband, Robert, has just been killed in a plane crash. Evidently he owned a house in Lunenburg, and she knew nothing about it. What other secrets had he
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hidden? She arrives with her friend “Natalie,” and they soon discover, with the help of friendly neighbor “Charlie,” that Robert had another wife, Jennifer—also killed in the plane crash. And he married Jennifer nine years ago, so that Iris finds out to her dismay that she was his second wife, the “other woman.” As always with Foster, there are some very funny one-liners, mostly in the developing relationship between Natalie and Charlie. Tina Dawn
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Leonard plays Natalie with considerable skill; in fact, it’s her energy that drives the movement of the play. Brian Fuqua is excellent as Charlie, and keeps his balance in a difficult role. It’s difficult because this is not a farce—the characters are real people in a subtle moral situation. Natalie is supposed to be there as emotional support for Iris, a job that she is hopeless at. She spends all her time making advances towards Charlie. They have a lot in common, both divorced with grown-up children they never see. Meanwhile Iris is left on her own to figure things out, which is actually her best therapy. Darlene Sherwood plays Iris well, weepy in the first act, and then becoming her true self in act two. When Iris discovers Jennifer’s journal in the house, we immediately think that there will be revelations. Perhaps Jennifer and Charlie had an affair? After all, they were friendly and she was left alone when Robert went on business to the States. But no, that would be too corny. In this play, Iris finds out that her husband was planning to divorce Jennifer, and then she has to forgive, perhaps even to love her. And Natalie and Charlie have to begin to grow up and find some way to reach their
estranged children. The play ends with Iris placing flowers on Jennifer’s grave. Georgette Richmond directed with discretion, not allowing the one-liners to overwhelm the real sentiment. On the whole, the pace was good, though there were a few unnecessary pauses. Thanks to ART and congratulations to all involved. I look forward to more high quality readings at the Lakeside Little Theatre. Michael Warren
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Worldwide Fighting Championship
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he report is not rosy. The virus appears to be getting the best of mankind. We are still in the early rounds of the global fight. We now know that we have been in this battle for longer than initially thought, back to December of 2019. That sneaky virus was blindsiding us with early punches. Viral antibodies were detected in blood banks long before any of us
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knew there was a Covid19. I am not a virologist, but I am learning that in the world of invisible life, there is great intelligence. How could the virus understand that human beings cannot help themselves, they MUST have contact? The case numbers, hospitalizations and other measurements are all on the rise. The metrics tell us that the virus is locating vectors (transmission paths, hu-
El Ojo del Lago / January 2021
mans exhaling viral particles) with no trouble at all. We went through holidays and watched in horror on T.V. as millions of people traveled through airports to visit family, despite warnings to stay home and skip group celebrations this year. I saw people with masks under their noses, including one airline gate agent. I was horrified. The virus was ecstatic! We are counting days and watching as the case curve shoots up from these exposures. Experts note that case curves are mirroring the curves from the 1918 deadly flu pandemic. 1918 medical care did not have our arsenal of antibiotics and antiviral drugs, yet the curves indicate case spikes are still the same. Case numbers shoot upward following a holiday, proving that people have gathered. My husband and I have been super careful nine months now, since we learned that we are older and more vulnerable. We wanted to go somewhere we could drive to, somewhere safe. We searched the internet to find a spot. Everywhere we considered a possible escape site turned rapidly into the newest “hot spot” for cases. You can’t outrun the virus. I heard it even showed up on a remote island where only twelve people lived, apparently hitchhiking on the supplies delivery boat. We had to find a way to accept this situation, keep our physical and mental health in as good a shape as possible. I made a list of Pros and Cons of the pandemic. The number of Pros was surprising. I do not wear makeup every day, saving tons of time to do other things. We measure our health with new gadgets so that we have a baseline of readings. We are thrilled when our pulse and oxygen levels are good. Celebrate a day of good health! Our diet has improved, as we eat greens constantly. We have zero appointments, which is amazingly relaxing. And we have maintained our weight
by halving our serving portions. My husband drops down and does situps while watching the news, and he is developing a six pack! We sleep regular hours because there is not much else to do. Score points for the humans. The Cons list was rather lengthy. We want to hug people other than just one another. (I would hug the mailman if I could, probably scaring the hell out of him.) We have both become somewhat germ phobic and agoraphobic, but these are not medical diagnoses, just our own observations. We show the symptoms, such as “cooling” our mail for days to avoid live viral particles before opening it. My husband calls this “seasoning it.” We are embracing “pod” protections. Mixing households is violating pods. A new vocabulary for virus avoidance is born. Almost no one we know has kept themselves to one pod. I am pretty sure we have been gossiped about as being overly paranoid, but we are following what the expert doctors say to do. We do not fly. I miss my eighty-seven-year-old mother immensely but cannot risk viral transference. A vaccine is the referee who will call this match a TKO against COVID-19. Vaccines are developed. Getting them will take months. More months of sacrifice and quarantine. Ugh! And then there is that human need for contact, guaranteeing that even very bright people “must see our grandchildren.” We all need a coach in our corner, whispering for us to “Hang in there, we almost have the virus cornered.” All of this makes me wish there were such a thing as a “Psychological Shower.” I need one right now to wash away the dissonance of human behavior witnessed during Katina Pontikes this fight.
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COLUMNIST
Mirror To The Universe —Create Great Art By Rob Mohr “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.” —Ludwig van Beethoven
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iving at Lakeside, the urge to create art with paint, words, or music is often overpowering. Excited, artists begin their creative endeavors without basic understandings of what the arts entail and demand. The results are often frustration and failure. Music, true abstract art, works, as Beethoven understood, between our sensual engagement with life and our unconscious dreaming which informs our spiritual life. When an artist is in touch with their sensual and spiritual dimensions, they are set free from analytical calculations. Merging unconscious dreaming and sensual inputs enables a healthy creative process. Writers like Stephen King and Robert Olen Butler write by “dream-
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storming.” They isolate themselves with “focus” music to create a dream state where they engage with their characters and their story. The result is holistic characters and sensual life unfolding unrestrained by their rational brain. Butler wrote, “Art does not come from ideas . . . or the mind. Art comes from the place where you dream.” Dream content carries essential messages. The instinctive and sensual parts of the human mind take over. Literature best occurs when a writer connects with creation’s universal consciousness, and human emotions stored within the unconscious mind. Combined, these forces encompass sensual truth and essential details about
El Ojo del Lago / January 2021
the characters. A successful creative artist “leaves self” and engages with the energy at play in the non-physical (spiritual) realms of the cosmos. They trust their sensual awareness and their entanglement with universal consciousness. Contemporary physicists have discovered the cosmos exists in two parts, material and the larger, energyand information-driven nonmaterial. The artist’s mind and body connected to universal consciousness in the creative agent. This truth is essential in understanding that art in large part comes out of the artist’s unconscious, and the vastness of the universe, to create an expanded reality within a world informed by the senses and challenges humans face. David Bohm (1917–1992), a theoretical physicist, opened the door into the nonmaterial universe and universal consciousness (a universal mind) that connects with, and informs the human mind and heart. Such integration of forces uncovers why doing art in a dream state expands exponentially the power of everything we write, paint, musically compose, or create. (See Ojo, May, 2020, Creativity and Consciousness.) A writer’s characters emerge from this milieu of consciousness, but they
are not the writer, nor are the writer’s intentions theirs. A character’s world exists within their unique spiritual and emotional being. The artist is an observer. The writer’s intuition uncovers the fine points of what their characters are doing and thinking. In every understandable way a character’s existence, longings, and reality are as real (more perhaps) as writer’s real-time life. Painters and sculptures engage their art through a creative process which forms its own reality. Uninterrupted focus is essential. The resulting objects reflect the process in which the essential work is non-analytical discovery of emotions and dreams of deep-seated human realities. Just as with writers, a tight analytical process negates this unconscious flow. Painters Edvard Munch (Desperation), George Tooker (Anxiety), Egon Schiele (Aggression), and other artists who lived within the process, successfully uncovered powerful emotions and understandings of life. Paste link: - https://s.docworkspace. com/d/AOlDh2PitJsioL75x6adFA Consequential art always uncovers fundamental understanding of the human condition. Art sees everything. The artist shares the energy imparted to the canvas or through their characters’ lives. In all epoch making art, new worlds come into existence. The essence of our humanity is revealed. People, who contemplate a painting, read a story or poem, listen to music, or watch plays, are profoundly impacted as they are drawn into these “new worlds” the artists have created. Writers, go to w w w. ro b e r to l e n butler.com and scroll down to his Inside Creative Writing videos, which demonstrate “dreamstate” writing. Rob Mohr
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“FRILUFTSLIV”
Space From Other People And Living In The Moment By Dr. Lorin Swinehart
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he world today is sick to its thin blood for lack of elemental things, for fire before the hands, for water welling from the earth, for air, for the dear earth itself underfoot.” Henry Beston The Outermost House A short time ago, there was a program on Public Television depicting the experiences of the first Outward Bound class ever to consist entirely of a group of young women. The year was 1965, and it was insisted at the time, mostly by men, that women could not endure lengthy periods of hardship in the wilderness.
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However, this class of determined young persons triumphed far above society’s limited expectations. The Outward Bound adventure became a life changing experience for them. As they learned basic survival skills, canoed across wilderness lakes and rivers, suffered the hardships of the portage and the trail, it was said on several occasions that they found themselves “living in the moment”. I recently encountered a Norwegian word “friluftsliv”, that essentially means space from other people, mostly space in nature. On many occasions, I have been blessed to have lived in the moment, nearly always when submerged in the natural
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world, more specifically, when I have gone solo, removed as far as possible from the sound of the human voice and all other noise, all the fluff and nonsense of the manmade world. On those all too rare occasions, I have experienced friluftsliv. The outdoor writer Robert Ruark once observed, “The world is filled with fine fragmentary thoughts killed at birth by the interruptions of damned fools.” Indeed, the deepest of thoughts and reflections can be blasted to perdition by the cacophony of the human voice. A short time ago, on a scintillating autumn day, I spent several hours in one of my favorite places, Garbry’s Big Woods Preserve, a county nature park about seven miles east of my wife LaVon’s hometown of Piqua, Ohio. Garbry’s Woods consists of 172 acres of timber, wetland and briar patch. I have strode across those briar covered acres on numerous occasions, ever aware that such places were the favorite lair of Brer Rabbit and others of his long eared trickster species. Like the ancient Greeks who sought the wisdom of Zeus by harkening to his voice as it wafted in the wind among the upper branches of a grove of sacred oaks at Dodona, I craved time with nature and with nature’s Creator. As on many occasions over the years, I had the place to myself. The only voices I overheard at first were those of several angry blue jays squabbling among the branches of a maple tree. I am clueless as to the nature of their dispute, probably territorial. Mark Twain advised that no other animal can cuss quite as enthusiastically as a blue jay, an observation that I concur with. I paused to listen to their sharp, angry cries for some time, wondering if I should attempt to mediate before they set to work with their rapier beaks and caused lasting damage. While pausing beneath the canopy of a favorite stand of stately pop-
lars, I was startled to see a small flight of turkey buzzards gliding in my direction and circling in greedy expectation low overhead. “Not yet, Guys,” I called to them. They sailed off but returned several times, as though to check and be certain that my demise still lay somewhere in the future. Having one’s earthly remains devoured by coyotes and turkey buzzards doesn’t seem like the worst of fates, much like Tibetan sky burial. Someone might as well derive some good from a person’s mortal remains. Otherwise, it seems such a waste. I spent most of my time beneath that grove of talkative poplars, as Zypherus, God of the West Wind, buffeted the branches with gust after gust. There are few sounds more musical than that of wind among the treetops. Only wind among the stalks of an autumn cornfield come close. Many Native American peoples sensed the presence of spirits in all things, even rocks. St. Thomas Aquinus posited that all living things have souls, and the fourteenth century mystic Meister Eckert preached that God is in all things and that all things are in God. Such thoughts resonated deeply on that windy, tumultuous autumn day. Following a trail into the woods, I was pleased to see that the walnut trees had been busily strewing their gifts across the leafy floor. The Ojibwe refer to trees as the Standing People. Walnuts and all other nuts continue to be considered gifts of the Standing People. I always bring some small thing home from the woods. This time, it was a rounded prickly outer shell containing a gift from the buckeye tree. A few days later, it “hatched”, providing me with two large buckeyes, shimmering in their shiny mahogany coats. My grandfather always said that carrying a buckeye in one’s pocket would fend off rheumatism. I have always carried one. At the age of 78, I have never yet had rheumatism. Perhaps the folk wisdom of those who have gone before us should be taken more seriously. I left the woods refreshed in mind, body and soul, as I always do. The buckeyes in my pocket will serve as valued souvenirs, much like worry beads, from yet another all too short period of silence, solitude and simplicity. Lorin Swinehart
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Nezahualcoyotl By David Ellison
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ezahualcoyotl was born about a century before Cortés’ conquest, the heir-apparent to the city-state of Texcoco, on the eastern side of the lake by the same name. However, when he was fifteen, he witnessed his father, the king, murdered by an invading tribe, and spent the next decade in precarious exile (saved on more than one occasion by one of his subjects offering to die in his stead—he was that beloved). A decade later, leading a coalition he’d formed of more than 100,000 soldiers, Nezahualcoyotl defeated the invaders and claimed his rightful throne. Soon, he enabled Texcoco to co-rule most of central Mexico as part of the Triple Alliance (led by the Aztecs of Tenochtitlán). Nezahualcoyotl ushered in the Golden Age of Texcoco, making it into what one historian called “The Athens of the Western World.” He surrounded himself with gifted philosophers, artists, sculptors, architects, poets and musicians, although he may have been the greatest of them all. He was most famous for instituting an exemplary code of law, which he enforced strictly (executing even four of his sons for having relations with his concubines) and which included governmental separation of powers.
Although he promoted religious freedom, Nezahualcoyotl came to believe in one “unknown, unknowable lord of everywhere.” He built an empty temple to honor this god, and worshipped him/her, not with the traditional human sacrifice, but with incense and fasting. Nezahualcoyotl died leaving behind as many as 110 children, and poetry which we continue to enjoy today—a window into his worldview and soul. I love the song of the mockingbird, Bird of four hundred voices. I love the color of jade and the enervating scent of the flowers. But I love most my brother, man. Dance and celebrate the mighty God. Let us enjoy this glory because human life is fleeting. Perhaps in vain we come to live, to sprout on the Earth. Let us at least leave flowers. Let’s at least leave songs. Today, streets and a city in the state of Mexico bear Nezahualcoyotl’s name, and his visage graces the 100 peso note. This is a selection from my bookin-progress, Niños Héroes: The Fascinating Stories Behind Mexican Street Names. I just retired in January after 36 years in education. My partner and I live in La Cristina. We volunteer at Lucky Dog and SOS Chapala Dog Rescue. David Ellison
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Living is no Laughing Matter A book review by Herbert W. Piekow
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he complete title of Dr. Michael Hogan’s 27th book is, Living is no Laughing Matter: A Primer on Existential Optimism. Certainly in the best of times living takes courage, commitment, and a bit of whimsy to live a full life. No one can avoid stress, but we can all learn to live with whatever curves life presents. Dr. Hogan’s most widely read book, The Irish Soldiers of Mexico, which Hogan points out in this latest book almost never got published. But thirty years later The Irish Soldiers has gone through multiple printings, inspired an MGM movie and several documentaries, as well as helped build political, social, and economic ties between Mexico and Ireland. His current book, while not historical, may influence the way a reader approaches challenges in life. Hogan points out that everything in life is connected and that, just like when an airline steward instructs passengers, “In case of emergency you are to place your mask on your own face before helping others . . .,” this is the same in life. You cannot help others unless you first help yourself. Living is no Laughing Matter is divided into short chapters which makes absorption of philosophical points easy to understand and assimilate and discuss. The title is borrowed from the poem “On Living” by Turkish Nobel Peace Prize winner Nâzim Hikmet, who spent years in prison for his political views. Hogan, like Hikmet, knows the depth of despair and great loss. In this short book Hogan shares his personal anguish at the death of his 27-year-old son while Hogan was in his second year of teaching at the American School in Guadalajara. Distraught, Hogan turned in his resignation. The administrator, who understood Hogan’s loss of faith and his despair, said, “ . . . you are a very good teacher . . . but you could be a great teacher if you could begin to see your son in the eyes of every child you teach.” These challenging words motivated Dr. Hogan and the results are shown in the accomplishments of so many students who, over the past 32 years, have graduated from the American School and gone on to some of the world’s best universities. Hogan is not just a great and motivational teacher and writer, he is a humble philosopher who shares his understanding of life through his latest book by frequently quoting the likes of Franz Kafka. “Everything you love will likely be lost . . . But in the end, love will return in
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a different way.” In these 132 pages Hogan writes about the necessity of living life with hope, with optimism and an active imagination. “In choosing to be fully ourselves, we outwit the universe.” Hogan relays the stories of several survivors of Nazi camps where millions of people perished and yet, often by fate as well as attitude, others survived. Part of his personal philosophy is, “There is tremendous freedom of being in charge of one´s life.” His small 132-page book is divided into 20 separate themes that can serve as contemplative bedside readings or as independent philosophical challenges to better understand ourselves and possibly others. One of my favorite lines is, “It is a shame that daydreaming is discouraged in schools . . . adults as well as children need this.” Living is no Laughing Matter: A Primer on Existential Optimism by Dr. Michael Hogan is available through Amazon, both in Kindle and paperback formats. Or contact Dr. Hogan directly through www.drmichaelhogan.com One may read the book quickly, or take your time and digest the 20 separate topics. Whatever you decide, you will probably end up purchasing other copies for children, grandchildren and friends because of the pertinent philosophical thoughts that either affirm your own unexpressed views of life, or how to change your approach concerning life. Like what happened when Dr. Hogan began to see his son in the eyes of the students he taught. Herbert W. Piekow
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Return Of The Orchid Salesman By Janice Kimball
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he man had once stood in the woman’s Chapala garden offensively shaking handfuls of wild orchid plants before her as if they were rattles. After moving her live-in gallery to West Ajijic twelve years later, she encountered him again. He was dodging between the cars pulling into and out of parking spots in front of Farmacia Guadalajara. She learned later that he had been prohibited from selling his orchids on public streets and in the plaza because the local government had been under pressure to enforce the law prohibiting the sale of wild flora. I suppose it was because the parking lot was private property that law en-
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forcement turned a blind eye on the orchid salesman who had become old and decrepit before his time. The woman tried not to look at him as she pulled into the pharmacy’s parking lot, but it was impossible to avoid his relentless presence. Her gaze became fixated on the clump of silky lavender orchid blooms clamped together between slabs of bark and entwined with coarse wire biting into the flesh of their bulbar roots. All she had wanted to do was use the ATM, and now her day ruined! How dare he take those orchids snatched from the wild and sell them like chattel on the street? On her next visit to the ATM, how-
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ever, she took a more in-depth look at the salesman and wondered if indeed his plight was not equal to, if not more than, that of the illegal orchids. Since she had seen him when he was in his prime hawking orchids on the byways of Chapala, he had become unpalatable and unbathed, legs wobbling beneath him like rubber. His eyes now stared off into nowhere, as if covered by faded film. He arrives each day propped up on one arm by his fresh scrubbed portly wife. She looks strangely displaced perched on the curb on the other side of the parking lot, reminiscent of a Midwestern farmwoman in her scalloped straw hat, imported from China, bedecked with artificial posies. “How many years has that man been selling wild orchids at Lakeside?” she asked the store manager. “Forever, or at least before I was born. That’s all he knows. He was once a respected man. That was before the law against selling orchids made him a criminal. Now shame lingers in his footprints,” he sadly replied. A year went by before the woman, who lived in her weaving studios in West Ajijic, realized that the orchid salesman and his wife passed by her place on the walk from where they lived in San Juan Cosalá on the way
to Farmacia Guadalajara. After that, she began getting up early to watch them shuffle past her place, he clutching onto a bundle or two of orchids to sell, and she holding onto her hat with one hand and steering him so he didn’t wander into the street with the other. From her second floor veranda the woman focused the lens of her camera to get an intimate shot. However, that felt as wrong to her as the snatching of wild orchids, so she put the camera away. She missed the couple, a prelude to her day when they no longer trekked by her place on the way to Ajijic. “Do you know what happened to the orchid salesman and his wife?” she asked her gardener who seemed to know everything. He paused from his task of clipping off spent flowers in her rose garden. “We remain the same, Jefita, but the passage of time changes everything, and we can’t stop it,” he replied. It was months later, around midday, the gates of the front gallery folded back to open it onto the street, when the orchid salesman wandered in. He was alone. He seemed confused and desolate, but, as usual, was clutching a clump of orchids. “Can I be of help to you?” the woman kindly asked. After circling the room and bumping into a rack of fiber art, barely keeping his balance, almost incoherent, he mumbled, “Is this Farmacia Guadalajara?” “No,” she replied. “The farmacia is about two kilometers up the road.” It couldn’t be said that the woman made a bad decision in buying the orchid salesman’s clump of illicit orchids so he could return home, as it turned out that his wife had died. Anyway, that is how the woman with the best flora intent became a collector of the widower’s forJanice Kimball bidden orchids.
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COLUMNIST
RAMBLINGS FROM THE RANCH
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uring difficult times organizations throughout the world suffer greatly as they continue trying to raise operating money without the ability to create events or do personal outreach. As many Lakeside residents know The Ranch has held some spectacular gatherings in the past that were fun, different and raised a significant amount of money. From the evening lake cruise to the intimate backyard concerts, the giant yard sale to the cowboy hoedown, but now, like many, we are unable to tout our accomplishments in person. The fundraisers have come to a halt, but the services The Ranch provides for abandoned and abused dogs has increased for over 100 dogs at any given time. Furthermore, The Ranch continues its program of sending dogs to the U.S. where they are quickly adopted. Fortunately, The Ranch has come up with new and exciting ways to continue our community involvement and rely on our many dog-loving donors to participate in our fundraising efforts. The Ranch is now offering our Sponsor a Dog program. For only $30 USD, $600 MX or $36 Canadian Dollars you can be a monthly sponsor. The really fun part is that you can pick out your very own dog! And for another mere 100 pesos, you can name the dog of your choice. Perhaps after a beloved
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pet, fondly remembered loved one or a birthday surprise for a friend. Your sponsorship helps pay for your dog’s food and any medical care to keep them happy and healthy as they await their forever home. Simply go to The Ranch website at theranchchapala.com, click on the button at the top and scroll down to Sponsor a Dog to seek out your favorite perro – or maybe pick out two! Of course, adopting or fostering our dogs is encouraged as well. There is certainly no shortage of dogs waiting to be placed in a loving home. However, if you are unable to take a dog into your household this is a wonderful way to support the ongoing work at The Ranch. The staff thanks you in advance and the dogs wag their tails in appreciation. For other ways to volunteer or donate please go to theranchchapala.com or email us at adoptaranchdog@outlook.com
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Carol D. Bradley
Email: cdbradleymex@gmail.com Phone: 33-2506-7525 “What makes people good communicators is, in essence, an ability not to be fazed by the more problematic or offbeat aspects of their own characters.” Alain de Botton Our local arts and theatre community continues to struggle under the state mandated Covid-19 protocols. Many are under serious strain, not knowing what their futures hold. The Lake Chapala Community Orchestra held a Facebook live streaming Christmas concert. The Ajijic Writers Group meets on Zoom (contact VictoriaASchmidt@gmail.com to get on the list). Artists, actors, producers, restaurateurs, musicians and all their support staff are holding on, waiting for the fog to lift. There appears to be hope on the far horizon. Stay safe and vigilant, friends. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. The Lake Chapala Society hosts Open Circle every Sunday at 10AM, a popular community gathering in Ajijic, to enjoy a diverse range of presentations. For more information and to make reservations, see their website: opencircleajijic.org. In order to follow State of Jalisco safety precautions, attendance will be limited to 80 persons, reservations required, use of mask is mandatory and temperature checks on entry. During this period, we recommend bringing your own coffee or bottled water, and please remove containers upon departure. Open Circle video Consent. As a service to our audience and presenters, Open Circle will video-record presentations and upload them on the LCS YouTube channel. JANUARY 3 - Open Circle presentations for January 2021: The Great Pause Presented by John Stokdijk John Stokdijk will share his thoughts about the coronavirus crisis as a spiritual experience. What insights can be gained? What lessons can be learned? How are we to live now? John will share some of his exciting new discoveries during this extremely disruptive pandemic. His presentation will be a continuation of the spiritual journey he shared at Open Circle in 2015, accessible by clicking here: Secular Spirituality. John and his wife Pat moved to Lakeside in 2012. John Stokdijk Locally he is best known for launching the Ajijic Book Club in 2016. ABC has continued to meet and thrive utilizing Zoom. In addition to reading, John enjoys tending his garden and exercising on his treadmill. He and Pat have remained mostly in quarantine supported by local shopping and delivery services. JANUARY 10 - Why Do We Do That? Presented by Sandy Britton We humans have a lot of strange behaviors— some that we share with other animals, some we don’t; some that science can explain, some that it can’t; some that are voluntary, some involuntary. For instance, why do we laugh? Gossip? Talk to ourselves? Why does every human culture have some form of music? Join Sandy at Open Circle to explore the quirkier side of human behavior. Sandy Britton is from northern California where Sandy Britton
she raised a family with husband Phil and had a career in Information Technology. She enjoys exploring aspects of what makes us human, and sharing the more interesting discoveries with Open Circle audiences. JANUARY 17 - Inside Wood Presented by David Bryen What is it that shines through wood and smites the heart? Wood’s exquisite patterns, fragrances, textures, and musical tones are locked inside until human activity releases them. Not unlike human life, a wound is often required to reveal the character and splendor of wood. A craftsman hears the sawn tree as it sounds its invitation: “Stay awhile… you too have come into the world to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine” (Mary Oliver). To open wood is to discover the Beauty that feeds the soul and summons us back to the home inside ourselves. David Bryen This presentation reflects David Bryen’s fall into wonder with wood’s beauty. A retired psychotherapist, writer, craftsman, builder, and long-term collector and admirer of exotic hardwoods, he will explore the hidden marvels in wood and compare their extraction to the unfolding drama of the human soul. JANUARY 24 - Inside Out Aging Presented by Kat Miller The truth is—if we are fortunate, we will have the opportunity to grow “old,” experiencing along the way inevitable losses and increasing limitations as well as progressive refinement of what is essential. With aging we can see our life as from a great altitude as a sort of landscape with all its diverse parts connected. From here we can harvest wisdom, acknowledge resilience, and discover peace, compassion and gratitude at the heart of our lives. Join Kat for some ageist repudiation and to learn more about how we can cherish the beauty of life, not despite its perishability but precisely because of it. Kat Miller has an MA in Spiritual Psychology and Kat Miller is a counselor here in Ajijic and abroad. She currently plays with photography and writing as ways to express her perception of today’s topic. JANUARY 31 - This Is (was) 2020 Presented by Yann Kostic With a global GDP 2020 forecast for the US economy to shrink by 3.6% and 7.4% in the Euro Zone, how can the stock market be sitting at all-time highs? For the recovery in 2021, the forecast is at 4% growth for the US, 5.6% for the euro Zone and close to 10% for China. What could go wrong? Well, the vaccination’s real effectiveness, its production, distribution and acceptance are risks to consider. Also to take into consideration are the likely major financial disruptions due to ever-growing assets overvaluation, mounting unsustainable debts and the inevitable change from policy easing to tightening (although this will take some time). In 2021, the January effect will be most interesting since the Georgia senate race will determine the size of the stimulus and the market will be sensitive to that. This presentation, Yann will connect the dots, explore recovery expectations and navigate the most plausible scenarios without forgetting the ever-deepening chasm between the US political parties. Yann Kostic M.B.A. is an independent Investment Advisor and the president of Atlantis Assets Management. He has made the Open Circle financial presentation for the past 4 years. Bare Stage and BRAVO! Theatres are proud to present: This Workshop will be conducted via Zoom. The following schedule is for 2 Groups (6 persons max in each group). (8 hours in group and 1 hour of one-on-one). 9 hours of instruction in total. Fee: $2500 pesos (There is a $300 peso cancellation fee).
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Register online via mymytickets@gmail.com and roswilshere@gmail.com. Payment will be arranged individually. CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED – SLOTS WILL GO QUICKLY SO, DON’T WAIT! This workshop is being given in support of Bare Stage and The BRAVO! Theatres. Proceeds will be donated to the two theatres. Group A on Tuesdays – January 12th – February 2nd (11 am – 1 pm)
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+ Private Coaching (1/2 hour each) – Tuesday, February 9th and 16th (times TBA) Group B on Thursdays – January 14th – February 4th (11 am – 1 pm) + Private Coaching (1/2 hour each) – Thursday, February 11th and 18th (times TBA) In her over 35-year career in the professional theatre and film world, Bernadette Jones brings a wealth of experience directing, coaching and teaching actors. At Concordia University, where she graduated in Drama and English (Montreal 1978) she studied several acting techniques from traditional to modern. Her post-graduate work included study in Los Angeles with the famed Michael Shurtleff, where she soon became his protégée and good friend until his death. Bernadette and many actors she has directed have been nominated for major awards and have landed many a principle role in theatre and film. Since residing Lakeside, Bernadette has directed many highly praised productions at The BRAVO! Theatre and at Bare Stage Theatre Mexico. She is known to be “an actor’s director” stemming from her vast experience as a teacher. Many of the local actors who have worked with Bernadette, have commented that her direction felt more like a “master class” in acting. The culmination of this Monologue Workshop will be a live ‘Showcase’ performance when it is safe to gather as a group once again, the Showcase may be at either The BRAVO! Theatre or Bare Stage Theatre.
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Why You Should Get A Cat In The New Year (The Tao of Cat) By Don Beaudreau wbeaudreau@aol.com
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was a “dog person” before moving to Mexico and the thought of living with a cat of any age (my age or the cat’s), but particularly a feline just beginning its romp through life was not an educational experience I desired upon retirement… But along came Miss Kitty to educate me. Even to the point of my realizing that what I just told you showed how wrong I was about feline matters. For in truth, I have not lived with the cat. The cat has lived with me. She is the “Jefa” in our relationship. The boss. Yes, let me be very clear. The cat calls the shots in our household. She lives where she wants: on the freshly washed pillows, in the sink when she requests running water (none of this lay-around water in a dish for her), and even on top of the Ojo del Lago before I have had a chance to read it! Some might call it “eminent domain,” “squatters’ rights,” “manifest destiny,” “raison d’être,” “God’s will.” I call it The Tao of Cat. It’s being what you are supposed to be. Truly, this ancient Chinese philosophy which speaks of that which cannot be named but which is the origin of all things, the motivating power behind what nature does – describes Miss Kitty’s philosophy, if a cat can be thought of as having a philosophy. In
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other words, Miss Kitty just is. And she is anywhere she naturally wants to be. And she does what her little cat body informs her she must do. She is neither good nor bad. Even when she upsets my penchant for a clean kitchen countertop by lounging on top of it with her latest triumph from the little woods across the street: a poor mousie or birdie or froggy struggling in her death grip! It is then I erroneously call her “Bad Kitty,” although she is not bad. That is merely my limited human perspective peeking through my particular human vale of tears. No! She is not really bad. Nor really good. She is more like “Abstract Kitty.” Or “Miss Kitty from Nowhere and Anywhere and Going Back to Both.” ***** Undoubtedly, The Tao of Cat is a poetic statement about the meaning of life itself. That is why, even though I read a book on how to converse with one’s particular kitty, I question what the author dared to explain. For example, does the position of Miss Kitty’s tail: up, down, in-between, wagging, at a standstill, really tell me who she is and what she is thinking? Is her purring, her jumping, her hissing, her meowing, her clawing…are these activities explainable? Is the author doing a disservice to
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my darling and to the Tao? “The Tao described in words is not the real Tao” says the guy who started the concept. So to try to make sense of Miss Kitty is to try to make sense of the universe. Would it not be better just to leave her and it alone? The reality, of course, is that my feline lover could care less about cat experts and their opinions. She would much rather romp with a toad. Or torture it. But then, “torture” is merely a relative word, depending on whether or not you look at this action in regard to a non-human experience as a Taoist thing (meaning beyond judgment), or as a belief in good and evil as posited by various religions and philosophies. It is Miss Kitty’s primitive brain, one which connects with the primitive brain of all sentient or one-time sentient creatures, which makes her do what she does when she pounces on Mr. Toady. After all, who am I, a mere mortal, to pass judgment on such an act? And when she suddenly performs her frenzied gymnastics, casting her petite self here and there in a most unseemly way, who am I to pronounce it kitty’s “demon dance”? She is only unleashing millions of years of animalistic fervor. Then she is not just Miss Kitty, but the first animal who ever thrashed over the veldt, pounded through the rain forest, lobbed itself over the mountain crevice. She is the huntress on the kill. She is nature being nature. She is the veldt, the rain forest, the mountain crevice. She is the full moon, the wild wave, the howling wind. She also is more scholar than the scholar pouring over books or surfing the net. Her curiosity is legendary. There she is scrambling after a blowing leaf. Giving the eye to an unwary bird. Clawing a piece of string to test its strength. Skittering after noises in the middle of the night. Going out on a limb to see what’s at the end of it. Sitting in your lap, and helping you read your novel. Staring at you from a rooftop position as she surveys her domain. In all these things, she is seeking the meaning of the universe. ***** Now, The Tao of Cat philosophy might say that because she is part of the nameless and formless void of all voids; neither connected with time as we know it nor with emotion, she has no feelings for other beings. That would be a false assumption. Of course Miss Kitty has feelings! She rubs up against me when she wants something, doesn’t she? But it’s funny, because I do think it is more than that. She is, in a way, the very heart of the universe. You see, the other day, an errant
Lakeside driver nearly ran over me while I was on my morning walk. The details of my near-death experience are not the point, although the irony of nearly dying while attempting to stay fit was almost a laughable reality. At any rate, I was feeling pretty emotional about the whole affair of cheating death and winning the battle. At least for that day. So why do you think Miss Kitty was right there waiting for me when I got home and opened the door? Right there, not wanting to go out. Not wanting something to eat. But right there, nevertheless. Rubbing my leg, purring. Was she telling me that everything was all right? Was it sympathy she was showing? Or was I only projecting my evaluation on to her? My need to have some other soul relating to my soul, where a rub on the leg could speak volumes of sympathetic concern, bonding us to each other for a brief instant of eternity, making us connect in this at times seemingly chaotic, pointless universe? Why she had to touch me in that moment will never truly be known to me, of course. I cannot see into her mind; she cannot see into mine. But I felt at the moment of our contact, that she somehow knew I needed her love; I needed her understanding. And so, shall I not give those gifts to her when she needs them? Indeed, before the cat – that is to say, our cat – came into my life, I had a much more manageable existence. No cat food to dish out, no doors to open at the queen’s demand, no being awakened in terror by her middle-ofthe-night nosedive into the bed. But oh! How predictable, how uninteresting and how less loving my existence was before The Tao of Cat appeared; before Miss Kitty looked at me with those zillion-year-old eyes and saw right through me and my little pretensions to the other side of the galaxy! Oh, she is our own little font of timeless wisdom on matters big and imponderable, and I only can wish for you a cat of your own to help guide you along the path toward meaning and purpose. There are lots of them “out there” at Lakeside (dogs, too)! So might you consider sharing your life with one (or more) of them? Start 2021 with a new animal friend! Existence for you both in this starry, starry universe will take on new meaning and purpose, that’s for sure! Take it from a former “dog lover” (mostly) who now shares his home with one human spouse, one bird, six dogs, and two cats! Indeed, each one of us is a “rescued animal” who together, have created a diversified Lakeside family!
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COLUMNIST
PROFILING TEPEHUA By Moonyeen King President of the Board for Tepehua
moonie1935@yahoo.com
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s the world struggles against water scarcity, the UN estimates in 2050 there will be 9.7 billion people. 52% will live in water-stressed regions MIT researchers (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) predict, water scarcity being a natural and a human made phenomenon. WIKIPEDIA: “The essence of global scarcity is the geographic and temporal mismatch between fresh water demand and availability. The increasing population, improving living standards, changing consumption patterns and expansion of irrigated agriculture are the main sources of global demand.” On top of this there are altered weather patterns, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases and waste, causes that can be predicted, avoided and mitigated. Lakeside has its own way of mitigating. Certainly not solving the problem long term, but trying to avoid preventable deaths from water-borne diseases with the use of potable water, coping with the polluted water of wells built in the wrong place. Tests in the past have shown that out of the eight wells around Chapala six are polluted. Tepehua Community Center has recently opened its own water distribution station. It works under a controlled price system to keep the cost of water low. The reverse osmosis operation is capable of turning out 300 garafones per day. In the little village of Tlachichilco, a similar operation is controlled by the village women. In both these villages the cost of the machinery and labour was a donation from Rotary International, who for many years have been trying to solve the predicted water shortage globally. According to a source, the well in Chalpicote that also serviced Agua Caliente and La Zapotera, was moved from the bottom of the hill to the top by local Government to avoid the water runoff bringing metals and human and animal waste into the well. The lack of trust in local Government caused peo-
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ple to still buy potable water at prices they really couldn’t afford. For some it was medicines or water, even food or water. The village of Ojo de Agua just recently received 57 water filters, plus a 50 minute training session on their use and cleaning, by the Chapala Sunrise Club, who also put in two large water holding tanks some time back with constant testing of the water. San Pedro has its own well, and the dubious distinction of having the highest death rate from water-borne causes. They are now getting their potable water from Tepehua distribution station. Taking water from the lake, to this author´s knowledge, is still prohibited, except for LaZapotera which is under the jurisdiction of Poncitlan. They were given permission to use lake water which is potable once filtered. The statement “this is not a long term solution” reflects the fact these programs are not helping the scarcity of water in the world. With reverse osmosis there is a lot of waste water. Unless we invest in more water treatment plants or desalination plants, the situation will become tragic and the cause of mass migration around the world. 2020 has been a challenge Lakeside, balancing the need for potable water, food, medical, employment and all the hidden problems. Most of us got through it with help from Churches, Rotary Clubs who are always on hand for a crisis, and our front-line workers (doctors and nurses), especially nurses whose selfless attitude is remarkable. The number who caught Covid has never been counted. So little is known about the brave work of the Brigadista’s in the village of San Pedro...a group of young first responders, who take on the job of nursing, testing, food and water distribution and many other things. Lakeside is not short of heroes. Let’s hope 2021 will be a year of recovery instead of more of the same. Give our heroes the support they need to finish the job.
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COLUMNIST
Mexican Grace This is a regular feature column inspired stories that manifest “Mexican Grace.” El Ojo is looking for more anecdotes that relate the many encounters, initiated by expats or locals, that exemplify the special forms of mutual giving and receiving that define the Mexican Grace that brought us to this unique paradise--and that keep us here. Please email articles of up to 900 words, with a Title and your name at the top to both victoriaAschmidt@gmail.com and loretta.downs@gmail.com. Photos are welcome.
The Art of Generosity By Loretta Downs loretta.downs@gmail.com
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f there is one lesson to be learned from 2020 it is the lesson of impermanence. Everything changes. Sometimes in a minute. Sometimes for the better, like my decision to leave my lifelong home of Chicago and move to Ajiijc permanently.
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On the other hand, the list of sorrowful and even tragic changes is too long to list. Each of us has experienced many of those changes for ourselves and also for our loved ones. Some of us have been crippled by anxiety over the future. Some of us are feeling de-
El Ojo del Lago / January 2021
pressed by isolation and worry. Some of us are enjoying a quieter life inside our homes. Some of us are developing new skills, with technology, to increase ways and opportunities to communicate with each other sharing time on the phone, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger, WhatsApp, what else? Some of us have taken in new pets, and even grandchildren. Some of us are walking more, cooking more, reading more, taking care of ourselves more. Some of us are wanting to do more for our community, this community, but don’t know how. The other day I walked through the Ajijic plaza where I witnessed a young man in tattered clothes eating out of the trash can a few feet from me. The sight stopped me in my tracks. He moved discarded food from the trash to a large bucket, with spaghetti on the top. I watched him open an avocado, survey it, then take a bite out of it. My mind flooded with questions, “How can he eat garbage? What brought him to this place at this time? What happened to this poor man?” He looked at me. He was handsome underneath the dirt on his face. He had parents and maybe a family somewhere. He could be one of mine, given different circumstances. He could even be me in another time. My heart ached for him. I had 50 pesos in my pocket to buy a coffee. I added 50 more and handed it to him, looking him in the eye. His “Gracias, Señora,” was spoken softly, humbly, maybe with some shame. “Que le vaya bien,” I offered in return, and walked away thinking it was not enough. But there is so much need here, what can I do? Many of us suffer from not knowing what to do to help those in need, especially when there is need all around. This great need reminds me of the story of the starfish* often told at hospice trainings. A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of
starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched this with amusement. They had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Child, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!” The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference for that one!” The old man looked at the child inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the child in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. There is no ocean here, nor starfish, but we do have people, many in need of the basics for survival. The Foundation for Lake Chapala Charities (https:// lakechapalacharities.org) provides a list of local human and animal not-forprofit charities in need of money, especially in this moment, with all of their fundraisers cancelled. Our community hub, The Lake Chapala Society, is one of them. The week before I left Chicago I bought one red pepper with a Grown in Mexico label. It cost $1.79 plus tax. Here, that’s the cost of a kilo, fresh from a local farm. A large thin-crust cheeseand-pepperoni pizza with four servings was $22. Delivery and tip brought the total to $32, or 640 pesos. Everything is relative. Spiritual author Wayne Dyer wrote, “Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune in to.” We can exercise generosity face-to-face by increasing tips at every opportunity. We can give our housekeepers and gardeners a little extra now and then. We can buy from street vendors whether we need it or not, especially children. We can consider how much we save by not taking vacations, not eating out as much, not spending as much as we did when life was what it was in 2019. There is no better way to easily create peace of mind and heart than exercising generosity, because generosity flows out of gratitude. Studies on gratitude have proven that feeling grateful improves happiness and health. And that’s a change worth making. *https://www. thestarfishchange. Loretta Downs org/starfish-tale
Saw you in the Ojo 37
Why Didn’t I Think Of That! By Steve Griffin
T
he gods of the universe were having their every other million year conference to discuss how things were going in their respective universes. As usual, their conversations got around to the topic of causality and their appropriate roles as the greatest powers and more or less determining energies in their universes. They were not physical beings and something even more refined than pure mental energy. It taxed even their enormous capabilities to have a presence outside their areas of existence, and it was very draining to exchange feelings with the other powerful vi-
38
ral like presences. Hence the rareness of these meetings. To maximize the opportunity, all thoughts, ideas, feeling and perceptions existed simultaneously in a complex code that every computer ever invented by humans, or ever to be invented by humans, could not have deciphered in an eternity. “Just sit back and let it happen, like billiard balls careening and colliding, acting and reacting at random. There need be no plan, no purpose, no goals. I’m not sure any of us is powerful enough to fully control what happens in our areas anyway, so why try? From what I’ve observed, those of you who
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have tried, failed miserably, especially those of you who imagined living, and thus mortal, entities.” “You could be right, I’ve certainly tried many times but there have always been too many unforeseen accidents, co-incidents, and unexplained occurrences.” “You seem to have forgotten one of the inter-universal truths we all are bound by, “Shit Happens.” “Right. I’ve given up hoping to have life forms achieve the level of harmony I hope for. My universe now is back to the original primordial soup we all started with. It’s been like that since our last meeting. I’m beginning to get a little bored. Maybe I’ll stir the pot a bit, see if I can influence something to happen.” He, or she, was interrupted (although all communication was simultaneous). “By making something happen I suppose you mean a movement toward sentience, consciousness, toward what we have agreed to refer to as life. Most of us have given up on that idea. My own universe is totally lifeless, but observe how beautifully efficient it is, a delight of inter moving parts in eternal harmony, without a single thought to suggest it needs to be more.” “Point of order. You violated another of the inter-universal laws: ”Nothing is Eternal” The mirror universes were engaged in their ongoing disputes about which was the universe being mirrored, getting as close to emotional as they were capable. Another thought focused, “You lifers so over rate that quality. I empathized once with a highly intelligent life form that had somehow evolved in a far corner I wasn’t paying much attention to. It was horrible, the terrible thirst to know what is unknowable, and worst of all, the overwhelming knowledge of mortality. I could sense the rot of my own matter.” Yet another added, “I agree, what we refer to as life seems only to create
chaos and pain, in violation of another of our laws, “The Goal Is Always Peace, Harmony and Perfection.” “But don’t you have a grudging admiration for that spark, that force that rises out of the formless, the primordial soup, one of you said, to try to understand, even somewhat control?” “No I don’t admire that. It’s pathetic. We don’t try to understand everything, and in that one little planet in your rather undistinguished universe, earth, I believe it’s called. Look what a mess those life forms with the oversized brains have caused. What have they accomplished but to try to create answers for the unknown, the unknowable, religions I believe they call their answer systems, and these only serve them to hate and kill those of their species who have alternate answer systems. I can’t believe you tolerate it, even if it only exists in one tiny speck of your universe.” Another had spoken, “Don’t worry, it won’t last much longer. Look how in every few hundreds of time specks they call centuries, another species appears, dominates, and in a blink of an eye, disappears. Who could have imagined those furry little mammals, scurrying around under the feet of those huge lizards, would have risen to the top of the food chain there. In their defense I’ll say, I do enjoy much of the music they’ve created. Many of us do.” “You’re right of course, but I thought that with their intellectual capacity, their ability to reason, they would of necessity, have created a virtual paradise, however temporal. Their sun is dying quickly you know, and besides, I can’t see the future anymore than you can.” “What I don’t understand is why your program for them didn’t include just a bit more compassion, a bit more wisdom, a bit more common sense, a bit more empathy for their other life forms. Then they would have created the peaceful harmony we all strive for.” “You’re right. I just didn’t think of that.”
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Our Sun God Needs You By Armondo Garcia-Davila
B
oom, boo-booboom. Boom, boo-boo-boom. Who could be drumming late at night out in the middle of nowhere? Hernando Francisco Cortez wondered. He closed his laptop, walked to the front door and looked out, but all he could see were the tall forest trees that surrounded the cabin. Boom, boo-boo-boom. Boom, boo-boo-boom. They didn’t sound like drums from a rock band or wooden drums with animal hide like he’d seen at Indian powwows. These sounded even more primal. Hernando showered and readied for bed. He looked at the clock on the nightstand; bright red numbers read 11:00 p.m. He tried sleeping but the curious drumming continued. Boom, boo-boo-boom. Boom, boo-booboom. He counted his breaths to occupy his mind and help him drift off— inhale, exhale, one, inhale, exhale, two. He usually fell asleep before reaching one hundred when he tried this sleeping exercise but when he reached a hundred, it hadn’t worked so he started a second count. Boom, boo-boo-boom. Boom, booboo-boom. Overcome by curiosity, he rose from bed. Hernando was on a month-long time-out to get away from his problems and figured he’d make up sleep in the morning. He added layers of cloth-
ing to protect him from the chill of late December, grabbed a flashlight on a shelf by the door, and stepped out. Hernando had taken the getaway after his wife, Sandra, told him to leave. She said that she had put up with his verbal abuse for years, but when she learned that that he was having affairs with his students at the junior college where he taught, that it was “the last straw.” He went into a rage and knocked her to the floor. His family lawyer arranged an out-of-court settlement for him to avoid doing jail time. It vexed Sandra terribly that Hernando’s mother’s waggling tongue rumored that her son’s outbursts were due to Sandra not being attentive enough to him. It also irked her that Hernando’s parents were constantly spending a lot of money on him: paying for him to have liposuction, gifted him gold chains to wear around his neck, Rolex watches, Italian suits. When Hernando earned a master’s degree in ancient Mexican history, they rewarded him with a Humvee. Sandra called it “a pollution machine that only added to global warming.” “It’s all a hoax,” Hernando replied. When meeting someone, he never let the opportunity escape to inform them of his higher education. “Professor Hernando Francisco Cortez,” he’d
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Continued from page 40 say. If a woman, he’d bow, kiss her hand, and finish with, “At your service.” Hernando especially enjoyed how his young female students looked on him with admiration and with what ease he could bend them to his will. His father earned a fortune importing curios from Mexico. Sandra once asked how he could make so much trading in such items and were there other goods that he brought in on his private airstrip tucked away on the far reaches of his 100,000-acre ranch. “Don’t ever ask about my family’s business!” Hernando raged. “Never!” Thereafter, Sandra kept her suspicions to herself. His parents paid for him to take a vacation after the separation. He had picked out a secluded cabin located in the mountains surrounding Mazamitla in Jalisco, Mexico. Hernando entered the dark forest made darker by the canopy of trees that blocked moonlight. Boom, booboo-boom. Boom, boo-boo-boom. He pointed the flashlight to his front. The deeper he walked into the forest, the clearer became the sound of drumming. A golden luminescence appeared up ahead. He switched off the flashlight and stealthily made his way toward the aura of light, wondering who would be out on such a cold night. Could it be a pagan ritual involving naked girls? Hernando came upon a clearing in the forest, ducked behind a tree, and peered around the trunk. At least twenty men and women with bronze-colored skin danced around a raging fire, flames reaching high over their heads. All had long shining black hair that hung covering their backs, all dressed in garments of a coarse cotton, tied in a knot at the shoulder and draped down to their ankles. They wore sandals with high backs covering the heels of the feet. Hernando recognized their clothing. It was from the ancient Aztecs. The group looked up into the night
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sky, arms raised, taking a small step, followed by a skip, and then a hop—small step, skip, hop. Four men pounding heavy wooden clubs against a waisthigh brightly painted hollowe- out log set the cadence. Next to the drummers sat an immense stone that had been chiseled into a round sort of tabletop the color of dry blood. The stone was covered with hieroglyphs that looked familiar, but they were too far away for Hernando to try and read. He shuddered when it came to him that the flat stone was an altar used by the Aztecs for human sacrifice. Aztec jaguar and eagle warriors captured men of neighboring tribes prior to festivals and took them to Tenochtitlan, the empire capital, where they held them captive until the day of the festival when they would be sacrificed to their gods. A priest, using an obsidian knife, made an incision across the victim’s chest under the rib cage, reached in, and cut out his heart. The last image that the man had before losing consciousness was that of his own heart held in the air pulsating blood. A gray bearded man wearing an emperor’s headdress embedded with precious stones and a fan of blue-green feathers as long as a man’s arm stood next to the altar. Hernando recognized the feathers of the quetzal bird native to Mexican jungles. They were considered as valuable as gold among Mexican tribes. Hernando stared in a fearful awestruck daze, wondering what they could be doing. He then realized that it was the winter solstice, the bottom of the year when the Aztecs beseeched their god of the sun, Huitzilopochtli, to return with his life-giving sunlight for growing maize to sustain the empire for another year. Boom, boo-boo-boom. Boom, booboo … Drummers ceased pounding, dancers around the fire stopped and lowered their arms. All turned to face Hernando. His blood ran cold. He turned to run but behind him stood two bronze-skinned men, one wearing the hide of a jaguar, the other clad in eagle feathers. Each held a warrior shield and a macuahuitl, a club made from oak with obsidian disks chipped into shards sharper than razors embedded on either side. Hernando knew of these weapons. They were heavy, solid, and sharp and lethal enough to decapitate a horse. The gray bearded man looked into Hernando’s eyes and spoke calmly. “Temini Hernando, Huitzilopochtli moneki teuatl.” Hernando had learned Nahuatl, language of the Aztecs—“Brother Hernando, Huitzilopochtli, our sun god needs you.”
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Ismael’s Galerias By Martin A. Bojan
E
very Sunday, here in Chapala, one can expect a festive holiday. It’s not always what’s expected, but rather, the unexpected that most often moves a person from one point to another. And so it was that Sunday afternoon. Crowds everywhere. People, dressed in their finest. And so a friend and I searched for a quiet restaurant, somewhere aside from the hustle and bustle, and soon found Marie Adonna’s Restaurante y Bararosa. We sat outdoors and enjoyed the sights and sounds. Although a relatively quiet place, it wasn’t until the crowds dispersed that I noticed, across from where we sat, an unadorned shop. An old wooden door and a somewhat foreboding sign, “Ismael Galerias, Pinturas, Scultures, y Libros.” Everywhere, music playing, people singing, and children laughing, and all the while this old shop silently beckoned, and so I was sure I would visit, after we dined. There was something, something . . . I felt this draw, this inexplicable need. After we dined, we bid each other goodbye and I alone entered the curio. I rummaged through its darkened corridors filled with artifacts. A plate covered with teeth, a bone from some animal, or maybe a human femur? A skull, with two holes bored in it, and another, once split like a melon, glued together. A five-foot-tall, hand-carved wooden statue of the Archangel San Miguel slaying the devil and a lifesized Montezuma in full battle array. Looking for some kind of payback? And so I enveloped myself fully in this place of shadow and light. Where brightness should have reigned, darkness ruled. There on a shelf, almost completely hidden behind some old soda bottles, a vintage Polaroid camera, and some figurines, a dusty dull, earthen oil lamp caught my eye and piqued my curiosity. I asked the old Mexican, tending shop,” Are you Ismael?” He laughed and so I laughed with him. Rome. “No,
no, he’s not here, Wednesdays only.” “Cuanta cuesta este lampa?” It was a very modest price. I remembered seeing a lamp just like it a week or so ago on a visit to Guadalajara. It was in a picture of The Last Supper. I took a picture of it. I searched my phone, and there it was, prominently displayed, sitting in front of Jesus. As best as I could see, in that darkened corridor, they appeared to be the same. I paid the price. In terribly broken Spanish, I attempted to learn something of the lamp. The best he could tell me, it had been in the shop for as long as he had been working there. That was twenty-plus years. He had no idea of any details regarding its acquisition but, rather, was somewhat surprised at my curiosity. He told me that in all the years, no one had ever showed any interest whatsoever in it, and for that reason, it was relegated to the very back of the shop. I thanked him and left. Back home, in the comfort and privacy of my study, I began to inspect it. What, on a lark, did I purchase? Because of the darkness in Ismael’s Galerias, I could hardly see it, much less make out anything more than its apparent shape and size. Who knows what lurks in the depths of grandma’s cellar, or what has managed to survive the extreme heat and cold in her attic? I began to gently peel away the newspaper it was wrapped in. Then, with magnifier in hand, and a bright reading lamp, I saw a name, or maybe an admonition in Arabic, or maybe Hebraic letters, scrolled across its base. Although totally indecipherable to me, I thought, with enough research, its decipher would be available. As I rotated it, I clearly saw what appeared, numerals I/III. One of three? Were only three made, a trilogy? Steps on a ladder, stages of life? Questions only begot more questions. What was I thinking? Determined to light it, but unable to find any oil, I set it aside till the next evening. Then I thought I would continue to play twenty questions
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Continued from page 44 and enjoy a new bottle of brandy I had acquired. I had yet to taste it, but thought it had distinct possibilities of being something special. I returned home, after work, eager to continue my detection and speculation. It had occurred that I might put some oil from my old lamp into the new one. When I attempted to siphon it, to my dismay, I only had a thimble’s amount left, but it was enough. Slowly sipping brandy, while working on one of my more challenging poems, I eventually fell asleep, the lamp still burning, would burn itself out. The next morning, while dressing, I glanced over, and to my utter amazement, the lamp was still lit! Was there some oil in it at the time I purchased it? I was sure it was empty. So strange, I decided to allow it to burn itself out while I would be away. The day found me out and about on my usual come and go. Thoughts of the lamp continued to surface. Even if there was some oil in it, how could it have burned throughout the night? And so becoming more and more preoccupied as the day progressed, I left work early and raced home to find it . . . still lit! The Jewish people celebrate the festival of lights. In ancient times, a lamp, with oil enough for one day, magically burnt for an entire week. A story? A miracle? And yet, sitting before me, strange, beyond anything science could ever account for, and not knowing what to do or say, I did nothing. I joked to myself, wouldn’t it be better if I had filled my car with gasoline, and it never required another fillup? That would surely be a miracle! Days passed into weeks, and to my utter amazement, it continued to burn! One morning I found myself at the open-air tianguis, a street market in Ajijic. There, once a week, vendors sell local food, ware, and jewelry. I’ve walked through it many times, and have noticed one or two old curio shops. There, they sold old tools, pictures, statues, and coins. They offered old rusted sewing machines and typewriters from bygone eras. Even though in Spanish, the old books were probably my favorites. Scanning all the diverse offerings, my eyes were drawn to a statue, a bust of what appeared to be a Spanish explorer from the 15th or 16th century. Sharing his marble base, a globe of the world. I would have loved that statue sitting upon my desk, but its price was well over and above my meager budget. Continuing to browse, I noticed hidden between some books, heavylooking brass bells, and pictures of Frida Kahlo, well camouflaged, an old
earthen oil lamp. I asked the vendor, if I could see it. After fumfering about, “Not there,” I said. Pointing vigorously, “There, behind the . . . !” Finally, he saw it. “You want to see this?” He reached down, picked it up, and without any enthusiasm, offered it to me. There in my hand, I quickly perused it. I was astonished! I was holding the same lamp that was burning in my apartment, the second of three. I quickly paid the small price he required. I didn’t walk, I ran home with my prize. There, once again, in the privacy of my study, and with quite a bit more respect this time than last, I took to examine it. I confirmed that I wasn’t dreaming. It did have the markings, ll/lll! There was something else I noticed while examining it: it was incongruously heavy for its size and shape. I hadn’t noticed it about the first lamp, once it was lit, I hadn’t moved or touched it since. To my even greater surprise, as I further examined it, when held it in a certain way, felt weightless! The second in the trilogy? A coincidence? It couldn’t be purely by chance . . . I quipped, was somebody trying to tell me something? By this time, I had purchased a bottle of lamp oil and so proceeded to fire it up. Once again, I added a small thimbleful of oil and watched it burn. I could have sat in front of it, but thinking about the proverbial pot, I decided to leave and attend to some still unperformed errands. I would return in a few hours, and surely this lamp will have burnt itself out. Several hours later, I returned, and there it was, burning as bright as can be! This lamp, surely as great a miracle as the first, nevertheless, immediately became problematic. Not only did it shine bright, but caused the first lamp to shine even brighter. Now, I have to admit, when I explained that I lived in an apartment and that it had a study, I unwittingly might have given the wrong impression. My apartment was a very small studio. That means without fanfare, one minuscule room. My “study” was the kitchen table and a chair, on one side of my bed, and a one-burner stove on the other. The one sink was in the bathroom. Shaving each morning was a logistic nightmare of biblical proportions. Although I tried several times, the first few days, the lamps could not be shut off. I was never able to sleep with as much as a night light on. Two bright lights was next to impossible. I had to rig a dark blanket across the room, and, well, actually that and an industrial strength night mask was the only way I could sleep. My one window in the apartment faced the street, and the lamps shone brightly all night. That
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The Ojo Crossword
ACROSS 1 Poisonous snake 4 Small bunch of flowers 9 Ward off 14 Scarf 15 Slice 16 Houston denizen 17 Internal Revenue Service 18 Higher 19 Turn over 20 Decipher 22 Not yours 24 Style 25 Blacken 27 Pitcher 31 Currency of Guinea 32 Tight at the top, flaring at the bottom (2 wds.) 33 Flightless bird 34 Detestation 36 Eagle’s nest 38 Infirm from old age 40 Nun 42 Ancient Game 43 Frizzy 44 Eastern state 45 Pretend 47 Artist Chagall 51 Belt 53 Asian nation 54 Brand of sandwich cookie 55 European monetary unit 57 Medicinal drinks 59 Couches 62 Country house 65 Stood opposite 66 Giant in ‘Princess Bride’ 67 Senior 68 Building addition 69 Tic tac’s competitor 70 Courts 71 Artful
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 23 25 26 28 29 30 32 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 45 46 48 49 50 52 56 57 58 59 60 61 63 64
Programming language Sharp spade What you smoke Representative Frost Berlin dweller Render Semiconscious Indian dwelling Hatchet Truck Finis White vegetables Wrath Hint That man “as you __” Native ruler Regret Afflict Asunder (prefix) Beg Earlier form of a word Popular stadium Snaky fish Signal Lodge Discs Killed in action Evergreen tree Weathered Gets up Call back a product Not cheap Hub Avails Formal “you” Canoe propellers Pocket Less than two Former president of U.S. Wing Central daylight time
DOWN 1 Waits 2 Resentfully
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Continued from page 46 in and of itself caused some minor distractions. Friends became curious, and wanted to know what I was doing up all night. One convinced himself that I was mixing drugs, something he was fond of calling Christal meth. Months passed and still I held on to my secret. By this time, it was far from a novelty. Didn’t everyone have two ancient oil lamps that burned without fuel? And of course, there were the perks. Make that perk. My electric bill virtually evaporated to naught. And so I held my secret. After all, I convinced myself, charity begins at home. Eventually, I was able to sleep, and everything fell into place. And so, life went on. All was good, except for the fact I couldn’t help but notice some inexplicable changes in me. At first, they were imperceptible. I have always been a creature of habit. When I’d walk to market, I’d always take the same route, and now I began to take others. When I realized the change, I became determined to go back to the old. But try as I may, I felt compelled to stay on the new ones. My appreciation for music was also changing. My favorites were jazz, hiphop and rap. If some other genre was playing, I’d immediately switch the channel. Now, I found, I no longer had that need. In fact, now I’d sit and listen, and even felt compelled to listen to classical, baroque, and even chamber music. Another thing so markedly changed with the coming of the lamps, I am almost loathe, if not shamed, to mention my clothes closet, small as it was, was always full of items I had not worn most in years, and yet I kept them. I wore the same few year after year on a regular basis. Now, I found myself wearing only those I hadn’t. But of all these changes, undoubtedly, the one most profound was the way I was being treated by others. For absolutely no apparent reason, people seemed to be drawn to me. The usual
perfunctory hellos and goodbyes, even by strangers, became noticeably warmer. People seemed to want to stop and chat with me. There was, inexplicitly, a closeness formed by me, and virtually everyone who I came into contact with. My social calendar, which was parched dry prior to my coming into possession of the lamps, began to overflow. One day, several months later, I was walking home from a new friend’s house. I was on a totally unfamiliar street, walking toward the new route I had felt compelled of late to take. I was about to pass what appeared to be an abandoned house behind a tumbled-down fence. The windows were broken and the door, what was left of it, hung by a hinge to what once passed for a door frame. I felt an undeniable compulsion to enter. I had no reason to, and yet there I stood. Gazing lovingly, I was beckoned to, and so I did. “Hello, anyone home?” If there was someone there, I don’t know how I would have answered, had I been asked, “Who are you, and what do you want?” I entered, treading lightly. The dirt floor was overgrown with foliage and so I was mindful of spiders and possible scorpions who might have made this place their home. I proceeded from one room to the next. I entered the last room, and to my absolute amazement, there, sitting upon a broken-down dilapidated stool, was an earthen oil lamp! There it was, what appeared to be the third lamp! I stood transfixed, frozen in place. When, finally able to move, I simply walked forward, picked it up, and put it in the shoulder-bag I was carrying. I turned around and quickly walked out. I rushed back home. What was unfolding from that first afternoon at Ismael Galerias? A full year had passed, and here I was, about to place the third lamp with its brethren. But, for what reason, to what end? I was led to these lamps, and now, whatever was or was not going to happen, I was merely a courier. I placed the third lamp beside the first two. The trilogy, complete. To my absolute astonishment, the lamp lit by itself! My apartment, now bright beyond bright, began to shake and vibrate! I felt myself violently tossed and turned. I lost all sense of direction, and then consciousness. When I came to, I found myself in an earthen room with a number of bearded men sitting about a long table. There, ancient and yet strangely new, an empty chair, and there He stood! He beckoned me to sit. In front of Him, the table sparsely adorned with the simplest of offerings, and my three lamps! I sat, and He smiled!
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Pag: 21
* GRILLS Pag: 13
* HARDWARE STORES - CASA INARQ Tel: 376 766-5397 Pag: 43 - FERRETERIA Y TLAPALERIA GALVEZ Tel: 376 766-0880, 387 763-0341 Pag: 54
* HEARING AIDS
Pag: 42
Pag: 45
* MOVERS - BEST MEXICO MOVERS US/CANADA: (915) 235-1951 US Cell: (520) 940-0481 - LAKE CHAPALA MOVING Tel: 376 766-5008 - STROM-WHITE MOVERS Tel: 376 766-6153
Pag: 14 Pag: 03 Pag: 13
* MUSIC / THEATRE / EVENTS - D.J. HOWARD Tel: 376 766-3044
Pag: 47
- RAINBOW NOTARY & NUPTIALS Tel: 904-333-7311
Pag: 43
* OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT
- BLUE ANGEL SOLUTIONS Tel: 376 766-0547 Pag: 34 - HEALTH INSURANCE Pag: 25 Tel: 376 766-0395, 1-888-449-7799 - HECHT INSURANCE Tel: 376 109-1694 Pag: 41 - LAKESIDE INSURANCE - EDGAR CEDEÑO Cell: 33-3106-6982, Tel: 33-1594-7897 Pag: 24 - PARKER INSURANCE SERVICES Pag: 13 Tel: 376 765-5287, 376 765-4070 - PROTEXPLAN U.S. Toll Free 1-800-608-5743 Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6730 Pag: 22 - TIOCORP Pag: 16 Tel: 376 766-4828, 376 766-3978
* LEGAL SERVICES - FELIPE GONZÁLEZ-Atorney at law Tel: 33-1862-6230, 33-1073-8553 - SOLBES & SOLBES Tel: 331-520-5529, Cell: 333-676-6245
- DERMIKA Pag: 13 Tel: 376 766-2500 - DR. BEN - CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON Cell: 333-105-0402 Pag: 19 - DR. FRANCISCO J. REYES ESQUIVEL PhD Surgical Oncologist 376-766-2500, Cell: 331-110-7351 Pag: 20 - DR. PALOMA SOTO-Human Genetics Tel: 376-766-2928, Cell: 33-1760-9723 Pag: 47 - DRA. CLAUDIA LILIA CAMACHO CHOZAOphthalmologist Tel: 33-3403-3857 Pag: 15 - PLASTICA LIFT Pag: 39 Tel: 376 108-0595, 376 688-1820 - SCLEROTHERAPY-Dra. Patricia Estela Jimenez del Toro Cell: 333-808-2833 Pag: 43 - SKYMED Cell: 333-661-3402 Pag: 37
* NOTARY SERVICES
* INSURANCE
- MAQUINARIA Y HERRAMIENTAS PROFESIONALES Tel: 387-763-1232, Cell: 33-1892-2142
Pag: 42
* PAINT - QUIROZ-Impermeabilizantes Tel: 376 766-2311 - QUIROZ-Pinturas Tel: 376 766-2311
Pag: 08 Pag: 30
* PHARMACIES - FARMACIA MASKARAS Tel: 376 766-3539 - FARMEX Tel: 376 765-5004
Pag: 26 Pag: 33
Pag: 39
* REAL ESTATE
Pag: 31
- ALIX WILSON Cell: 331-265-5078, Office: 376-766-2612 Pag: 27 - AJIJIC HOME INSPECTIONS Tel: 33-3904-9573 Pag: 47 - AJIJIC REAL ESTATE Tel: 37 6766-2077 Pag: 17 - BAUERHOUSE PROPERTIES Tel: 33-3038-1803 Pag: 12 - BETTINA BERING Cell. 33-1210-7723 Pag: 23 - BEV COFELL Cell: 33-1193-1673 Pag: 38 - CIELOVISTA Tel: 33-2002-2400 Pag: 05 - COLDWELL BANKER CHAPALA REALTY Tel: 376 765-3676, 376 765-2877 Fax: 765-3528 Pag: 56 Tel: 376 766-1152, 376 766-3369
* LIGHTING Pag: 44
* MALL / OUTLET - CENTRO LAGUNA Tel: 376 766-5514
* FUMIGATION Pag: 08
Pag: 30
* GOLF
- L&D CENTER Tel: 376 766-1064
* FISH MARKET - COSTALEGRE Tel: 376 108-1087, 33-1173-6144
Pag: 16
- M.D. CARLOS ALONSO FLORES VALDOVINOS Tel: 376 766-5126, 376 766-4435 Pag: 11
- COMFORT SOLUTIONS Pag: 26 Tel: 33-1228-5377 - GENERAL HOME SERVICES - Amancio Ramos Jr. Cell: 331-520-3054 Pag: 12 - ROBERTO MILLAN - ARCHITECT Tel: 376-766-3771, Cell: 331-340-3758 Pag: 35 - SIKA Pag: 32 Tel: 376 766-5959 - WARWICK CONSTRUCTION Pag: 46 Tel: 376 108-8754, Cell. 331-135-0763
- STEREN Tels. 376 766-0599, 376 766-0630
- GARDEN CENTER Tel: 376 765-5973 - RAINFOREST Cell: 331-241-9773, Tel: 376 766-4534
- NAPOLEON Tel: 376 766-6153
* COMMUNICATIONS
- LAKESIDE - CompuShop + Repair Tel: 33-2340-7501 / 376 668-1354
* GARDENING
- ATLAS COUNTRY CLUB Tel: 33-3689-2620
* COACHING
- ISHOPNMAIL Tel: 376 766-1933 - MACDONALD SERVICES Tel: 415-121-9266
Pag: 37
- AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS Pag: 24 Tel: 376 766-4973, Cell: 332-213-8933
* ELECTRONICS/ TECHNOLOGY
* BEER & LIQUOR STORES - BETO’S WINE & LIQUOR Cell: 333-507-3024
* GARAGE DOORS OPENERS
DENTISTS
* BED & BREAKFAST - CASA TRES LEONES Cell: 331-350-6764
Pag: 41
* CLEANING SERVICES
* BEAUTY - CHRISTINE’S Tel: 376 106-0864, 376 766-6140 - EDITH’S SALON Cell: 33-1310-9372 - NEW LOOK STUDIO Tel: 376 766-6000, 33-3950-9990 - NEW MOON Tel: 33-1841-3928
- UOU Tel: 33-3149-4536, 376-106-1618
* CANOPIES - LONAS MEXICO Tel: 376 766-0045, Cell: 33-3956-4852
* FURNITURE
Pag: 24
* CONSTRUCTION
* BAKERY
- INTERCAM Tel: 376 766-5978, 376 766-4055 - MULTIVA Tel: 376 766-2499
DIRECTORY
* CONSIGNMENT SHOP
* AUTOMOTIVE
- COLIBRI GARDEN Tel: 376-765-4412, Cell: 333-156-9382
directory.chapala.com
* BOUTIQUE / CUSTOM SEWING
- EL OJO DEL LAGO Tel. 376 765-3676
- ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Tel: 376 766-5961
EMERGENCY NUMBERS EMERGENCY HOTLINE 911 CRUZ ROJA 376 765-2308, 376 765-2553 FIRE DEPARTMENT 376 766-3615 POLICE Ajijic 376 766-1760 Chapala 376 765-4444 La Floresta 376 766-5555
Pag: 29
* MEDICAL SERVICES - ALTA RETINA - Dr. Rigoberto Rios León Ophthalmic Surgeon Pag: 10 Tel: 376 688-1122, 376 688-1343
- CONTINENTAL REALTY Tel: 376 766-1994 - CUMBRES Tel: 33-2002-2400 - FOR SALE BY OWNER Tel: +1 720-984-2721, +52 33-1395-9062 - FOR SALE BY OWNER Cell: 33-1433-3599 - JUDIT RAJHATHY Cell: 331-395-9849 - LAKE CHAPALA REAL ESTATE Tel: 376 766-4530/40 - RADISSON BLU
Pag: 33 Pag: 05 Pag: 47 Pag: 36 Pag: 19
* SATELLITES/ T.V.
Pag: 55
- AJIJIC ELECTRONICS S.A. DE C.V. Tel: 376 766-1117, 376 766-3371 - SHAW SATELLITE SERVICES Tel: 33-1402-4223
Ajijic Resort, Spa & Residences
Tel: 376 766-4525, Cell: 332-255-5972 Pag: 02 - RAUL GONZALEZ Cell: 33-1437-0925 Pag: 03, 35 - SANTANA RENTALS AND REAL ESTATE Tel: 315-351-5167, 315-108-3425 Pag: 45 - VISTA ALEGRE Tel: 33-2002-2400 Pag: 05
* RENTALS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT - COLDWELLBANKER CHAPALA REALTY Pag: 46 Tel: 376 766-1152 - EAGER REALTY Tel: 333-137-8447, 376 766-1917 Pag: 20 - FOR RENT Pag: 46 Cell: 333-667-6554 - FOR RENT Pag: 48 Cell: 33-1115-6584 - SANTANA RENTALS AND REAL ESTATE Tel: 315-351-5167, 315-108-3425 Pag: 45 - VILLAS DEL SOL Pag: 47 Tel: 376 766-1152
* RESTAURANTS / CAFES /BAR - AJIJIC TANGO Tel: 376 766-2458 - GO BISTRO Cell: 33-3502-6555 - LA TAVERNA Tel: 376-766-2848 - MAGNOLIAS-Indian Cuisine Tel: 376-688-4771 - MOM’S DELI & RESTAURANT Tel: 376 765-5719 - YVES Tel: 376 766-3565 - ZARANDEADO PERO FELIZ
Pag: 54
Pag: 33 Pag: 25 Pag: 22
Pag: 43 Pag: 20
- PROGRAMA PRO NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS DEL LAGO A.C. Pag: 41 - LOS NIÑOS DE CHAPALA Y AJIJIC Pag: 51 Tel: 376 765-7032
* SPA / MASSAGE - GANESHA SPA Tel: 376 766-5653, Cell: 331-385-9839 - TOTAL BODY CARE Tel: 376 766-3379
Pag: 39 Pag: 18
* STAINED GLASS - AIMAR-Stained Glass Cell: 33-1741-3515
Pag: 38
* TAXI / TRANSPORTATION - OMAR MEDINA Cell: 33-1281-2818 - TAXI-Arturo Fernandez Cell: 333-954-3813
* TREE SERVICE
Pag: 26
- CHAPALA TREE SERVICE Tel: 376 762-0602, Cell: 33-1411-0242
Pag: 38
Pag: 31
* SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Pag: 06
Pag: 44 Pag: 45
Pag: 44
* TOURS
Pag: 03 Pag: 24 Pag: 45
* RETIREMENT/REST/NURSING HOMES - ALICIA’S CONVALESCENT Tel: 376 766-1194, 376 766-2999 - CASA LA VIDA REAL Cell: 33-2174-1180, 33-1629-9219
- CASA ANASTASIA - Care Home Tel: 376 765-5680 - CASA NOSTRA-Nursing Home Tel: 376 765-3824, 376765-4187 - NURSING HOME LAKE CHAPALA S.C. Tel: 376 766-0404 - VIDA BELLA SEÑIOR RESIDENCE Tel: 376-765-4000
Pag: 18
- CHARTER CLUB TOURS Tel: 376-766-1777
Pag: 07
* WATER - TECNO AQUA Tel: 376 766-3731, 376 688-1038
Pag: 40
Pag: 41
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CARS (7) FOR SALE: VW Jetta CL Mexican low kms Jalisco Plated 2015 $. 99. Automatic.... only. 100. Kms... 4. Cilinder, cold. A/c., stereo, usb, am the owner all paid drives like new cell. 333 034 6557 here in Ajijic. $.99, thousand. Pesos. No trades cero cambios. WANTED: I am looking for a good used suv or car. Value up to 150,000 pesos. email or call with details 333 238 1803. FOR SALE: Jeep CJ5 1976, Rebuilt motor, trans, and transfer case. New brakes holley demon carb new suspension y mucho mucho mas. $150,000 pesos. Send PM. FOR SALE: 2005 Nissan Platina Excellent condition, new brakes and rotors, new motor mounts, new ac electronics, new alarm system, new rh mirror, new water pump, all new belts. 58,000 pesos. Cell: 332 821 3531 in Chula Vista. FOR SALE: custom golf carts. E-mail ryan@sccarts.ca WANTED: SUV Wanted. Want to buy a clean, solid car for a working Mom who travels with two babies in car seats. We’d prefer a small SUV, but any really good car would do. PLEASE, no lemons! This hard-working woman drives every day from Guadalajara. The vehicle she has broke down on the Chapala Highway near the El Salto exit.... and we absolutely don’t want that danger to happen ever again! Please call my cell if you have a vehicle for sale: 331-722-3408 WANTED: Mexican plated Travel Trailer or RV. Used with a good price. Well worn is ok if price is ok. I can not see the reply. Email: LanaCoffman@yahoo.com
COMPUTERS FOR SALE: I have two Netgear Routers for sale. #1 is a Wireless N300 Modem Router DGN 2200. Built-in DSL modem -
ADSL2+ modem and router combined create complete gateway for DSL Internet connection. Fast downloads and online gaming - Provides Wireless-N speed for simultaneous downloads. Share Internet connection - Allows Internet broadband sharing and the freedom of wireless Internet usage. Shared storage - ReadySHARE provides fast and easy shared access to an external USB storage device. Easy setup - Smart Wizard CD with graphical installation guide and multi-language support. Asking 500 pesos. #2 is a Netgear AC1450 Smart WiFi Router. The NETGEAR AC1450 Smart WiFi Router with 802.11ac dual band Gigabit delivers next generation Gigabit WiFi speeds. It allows you to connect more devices throughout your home and is perfect for online gaming and video streaming. Compatible with next generation WiFi devices and backward compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n devices, it enables HD streaming throughout your home. With up to 450+975 Mbps† speed and simultaneous dual band WiFi technology, the AC1450 avoids wireless interference, ensuring top WiFi speeds and reliable connections. In addition, Beamforming+ technology boosts speed, reliability and range of WiFi connections. This technology also provides the best connectivity for dual band wireless devices like iPad® and iPhone5®. The dual-core 800 MHz processor delivers high-performance connectivity, while the USB 3.0 port provides up to 10X faster USB hard drive access. Asking 1200 pesos. Phone 376-765-2698. WANTED: Looking to buy Spanish laptop in good condition, Our #4 Oaxaca student will need a laptop soon so I’m looking to buy her a MS based Spanish language laptop. Two to three years old, 14 inch screen or larger. If you have one you want
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to sell please let me know.
PETS & SUPPLIES WANTED: I need 2 soft sides, airline approved, pet carriers if anyone has one of two to sell.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: Seiko 5 SNK 809,stainless steel,analog,automatic wristwatch,not even a month old.Hour,minute,second hands and english/spanish Day and date $4500.00 pesos, leave message if interested. WANTED: DVD OF THE WEST WING. 1988jeopardychampion@gmail.com FOR SALE: 2019 26” x 4” fat tire electric bicycle. 36 volt battery, 500 watt motor. 7 speed shimano gear shifter, dual disc brakes, attachable carry rack and bag. 2 rear view mirrors. Excellent condition. $18,000mx. Make appointment to see it. 3315311110 FOR SALE: Here is a super heavy duty dolly (hand truck) that we just brought down from the U.S. It has 4-ply pneumatic tires to cushion the load over rough terrain and a strong, durable carbon steel frame. It has a “D” handle to facilitate 1-hand operation. 800 lb (approx. 365 kilo) capacity. Likenew condition! Works perfectly. Excellent for moving or just moving lots of boxes. $2,000 Pesos (firm/non-negotiable). Please CALL 3O3-828-7876 (US Phone #) between 8am8pm You can also text the above number on whatsapp. (If you are reading this, it’s still available) FOR SALE: Magic bullet with 2 blades, 3 serving cups and juicer attachment. 950 pesos. 376-766-4032 FOR SALE: Skilsaw .This is older than god, and heavy. It works GREAT. Why? Because it’s made in the U.S.A. Why am I getting rid of it? At near 82, my days of using it are way past. Lots of blades to go with it. It’s in Chapala Haciendas #2 I’m selling it, not giving it away. Please PM me. FOR SALE: Nearly NEW Top-Of-TheLine Air Purifier - Two Units Available. Improve air quality in your home or office with a professional quality Healthway Deluxe Air Purifier. Want to clear the smell of cigarette smoke, household stale air, or reduce pet odors? Does anyone in your household suffer from allergies, pollen/chemical sensitivities, hay fever, or asthma? Originally cost $1,500 US ($60,000 Pesos) and worth every penny!! You will not find a better air purifier ANYWHERE! Almost new, in service for only two months. Great deal at $16,000 Pesos EACH. We have two units available. $30,000 Pesos for both. Please CALL 3O3828-7876 (US Phone #) between 8am-8pm (If you are reading this, it’s still available) FOR SALE: Propane gas hoses. 4 foot hose from BBQ to Propane gas tank 200 pesos. 8 foot hose that attaches to a propane tap. 250 pesos 376-766-4032 FOR SALE: Sliding shower glass doors with frame 55 inches wide X 73 inches high 2400 pesos 376-766-4032 FOR SALE: Can be put in trunk of a car by a man, (40 pounds) Excellent condition. My husband’s handicapped outran his abil-
ity to operate chair. $1800 USD. mansfieldmex@gmail.com FOR SALE: I have a backup camera that attaches to the rear license plate bolts and a LCD monitor that clips to the rear view mirror. All new never installed. Asking 400 pesos. email peteredwards052@gmail.com FOR SALE: I have a Yamaha RX-V363 HD receiver for sale. No longer need. Work great. Click link to get full info of product. https://www.cnet.com/products/yamaharx-v363-black/ asking 7000 pesos. Tel. 376765-2698 FOR SALE: Dyson Cyclone V-10 Vaccun Cleaner Fantastic cleaner for all surfaces. Comes with a ton of attatchments and wall mounted re-charging dock. The only reason we’re selling it is we hired a new house keeper and she prefers a broom! We paid $17,0pp pesos and the asking price is $6000 pesos...firm! More information, call Rick at 331-4423930. FOR SALE: Yard Sale! Covid free and pet free home, by appointment only. Masks required. Sony flat screen tv, about 40 inches, Cream leather recliner, Dining room table, with six chairs, Many objects d’art, Samsung Smartphone, Much more....call or text (703)864-4474, anytime after Noon only. Phone is on “do not disturb” between midnight and noon. FOR SALE: Portable Scanner with Auto Feed Docking Station. Color or Black & White. Copies JPEG or PDF. Max 1200 dpi. Comes with a 16 GB Micro S.D. Card. Like new and only used several times. Works like NEW. Asking 2,000.00 Pesos. Call, 376-765-2698 WANTED: Looking for complete bed in good condition. Double, Queen or King. Moving into house in Chapala Haciendas. Need bed, frame, box spring and mattress. FOR SALE: SALE OR TRADE. THE PRACTICE T.V. SERIES. I would like Season 7 on DVD of The West Wing. 1988jeopardychampion@gmail.com FOR SALE: I have a singer sewing machine for sale. It has cams and works well but is an older model which is heavy because all the parts are metal I would like 1000 pesos for it .Please call S Wilson 376766-3537 or jdandsw@gmail.com FOR SALE: 2 burner Charbroil gas bbq brought down from the States. Works well. $3,700 pesos. 376-106-2204. FOR SALE: 21 inch IMac. One year and one month old. Two keyboards one wireless in Spanish never used the other Macally English connected by usb. 17500 mxn or I will accept U. S. dollars. Priced reduced 15000 mxn. FOR SALE: Men Lift, hold Clubs. Nockoff, Trailer made ping Driver - King CobraTight lyes-. Right Hand Ladyes Golf Club, Full set. Gordon Brown 763-5314. Best off Have lock. FOR SALE: Walkers. I have 6. Two basic 500 pesos, two with front wheels 750, two with wheels and seats 1500. I live in Roca Azul. cell 331-406-5253. 5 left. FOR SALE: Shaw 600 receiver with remote and power cord. $1500 pesos. Shaw
800 receiver with remote and power cord. 3000 pesos. Shaw 630 receiver (this one records) with remote and power cord. 3000 pesos. All receivers are free and clear to be activated. 376-766-4032. FOR SALE: Palos de golf surtidos, Taylor made driver 10.5 matrix ozik felx m con cubierta original $1,980, 1 Jet speed taylor made 10.5 ajustable flex r/49 gramos matrix $2,150, 1 Taylor made sldr 460 fade draw 10.5 speeder 57 flex r 57 gramos fujikura , 1 Ttaylor made rbz flex r 65 gramos, 1 bolsa de palos de golf completa. *Todo se encuentra en excelentes condiciones *aceptamos ofertas, para más informes 3314317368 mikenan@prodigy.net.mx FOR SALE: We have many brands of golf balls for sale in excellent condition only used once by pros. They include TITLEIST LADY ROCKET BALLS TOP FLIGHT PRO V 1 DISTANCE and many more brands. They are all priced well below market value. Don’t wait please email ssnnkenn7@aol. com (Ask for SUZI) Phone 376-766-4456 Cell 3318245205. FOR SALE: Turquoise Atlantic 4 wheel spinner suitcase pull up handle, All zippers work 550 pesos. Red Destination small and light carry on suitcase. 2 wheels, pull handle and all zippers work. 300 pesos 376-7664032.
FOR SALE: 3G Women’s Bicycle like new, Newport 7 speed with fenders, bell, mirror, special seat, front forward position pedals (easier on the knees) Shimano Revoshift gears (easy to use hand gears), hand brakes, wide tires for the cobblestones, basket with liner, helmet and heavy duty lock, color purple and As GOOD As NEW. Top quality bike, beautiful ride. It is just too risky for me to be riding here. Paid about $875 in States. Asking $575 US. Please call only if you are willing and able to appreciate the quality of this bike. Call. Allison 376 766 3398 or email: Allielakechapala@gmail.com FOR SALE: Bike like new . Bike Schwinn M used only a couple of times. More info or photos 3317913211. WANTED: Bike for Tall Man. A Mtn bike in any condition for myself. I am 6’5”. I’d take a look at bikes that are sized as L,XL or with a 19” plus frame size. Been to the 3 shops in Ajijic on the carretera and am still looking. Thanks in advance. Please drop me a line at other.br@gmail.com if you have something. FOR SALE: Lasko’s No.CC23150 3D Motion Heat Ceramic Heater features power controlled louvers plus side-to-side oscillation to create 3D heat waves. Ceramic heat offers 1500 watts of quick, comforting warmth with fan powered delivery for quick
warmth. Ceramic element provides added safety with self-regulated automatic overheat protection. Exterior stays cool to the touch. ETL listed. Used less than one year. Complete with remote. Asking 800.00 pesos. Contact: peteredwards@052@gmail. com or 376-765-2698. FOR SALE: I have a full set of 664 Epson Ink Refills. Never opened. Sells on Amazon for 730.00 pesos. Yours for only 500.00 pesos. email at peteredwards052@ gmail.com or call 376-765-2698 FOR SALE: Topper 3” full size matrimonial bed GOOD condition...original over 1000 USD please call for more info - YOU pick it up = no car, no room to hide it. I got new matress! Cindy 3339036113. FOR SALE: Twin bed mattress topper. still in the factory wrapping. Never used. Purchase locally $145.00, for sale $100.00. Cell. 332 821 3531 WANTED: Mens bicycle, Looking for a mans bicycle large enough for a 6’ 200 lb male. FOR SALE: Swissmex Cosmos 15 Ltr garden sprayer for sale. Used but in working order 150 pesos. 766-4389 FOR SALE: SLIK-800G Camera Tripod. Lightweight aluminum, compact, adjustable, 3 way panning head, 3 section legs, centre column radial brace. Very good condition,
$15 USD. Email: rjmc444@gmail.com FOR SALE: New “Lifetime” double composter brand; deluxe, new, still in the box. 10,000 pesos. Please contact Ed at 376-765-3147 if interested. FOR SALE: Bosch stackable washer/ dryer only $8,500p. Call John 331 575-6663 FOR SALE: 2 lamps for sale with no shades. $400 pesos each Now $300 each. Please PM if interested. FOR SALE: Entertainment Center A 20in Vizio TV $400 pesos and 19in Sylvania TV $300 pesos(not smart) No remotes, Model VX20L HDTV, Model LC195SLX, Please PM for viewing FOR SALE: Original Prada Shoes, size 24.5 Mexican, Only 1 time was used, price $3,000 pesos. Call to Alma 331-005-3109 FOR SALE: Individual Brass Headboard, Price $2,200.00 pesos. Call to Alma 331-005-3109.
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El Ojo del Lago / January 2021