El Ojo Del Lago - January 2020 by El Ojo del Lago

Saw you in the Ojo

 DIRE C TOR Y  PUBLISHER Richard Tingen

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alejandro Grattan-Domínguez Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Associate Publisher David Tingen Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Reyes Diana Parra Morales

Index...

FEATURE ARTICLES

COVER STORY

Neil McKinnon writes about a “loud complainer” who if we’re lucky we’ll never have the misfortune to meet.

8 Cover by Shutter Stock

Special Events Editor Carol D. Bradley

10 BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE The late Sandy Olson writes one of the few good things about being confined to a bed in a hospital room.

Associate Editor Victoria Schmidt Art Critic / Contributing Editor Rob Mohr

16 POETRY

Theater Critic Michael Warren

Pag. 38 LAKESIDE LIVING

BRIDGE BY LAKE

24 WORD-PLAY

RAMBLING RANCH

Paul Titterton remembers words and phrases he grew up using as a teenager. Ah, for the

LIFE ASKEW

good old days. Sales Manager Bruce Fraser Carmene Berner Office Secretary Rocio Madrigal 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

32 PERSONAL GROWTH

Dr. Daniel Acuff tells us how we can make it happen. Hint: It goes far beyond simply making New Year’s Resolutions.

75 ALL ABOUT METABOLISM Health Expert Ross McDonald expounds on something everyone experiences but does not know much about it.

Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago http://www.chapala.com elojodellago@gmail.com ojodellago@prodigy.net.mx Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: (376) 765 3676, Fax 765 3528 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.

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

COLUMNS THIS MONTH EDITOR’S PAGE

Judy Dykstra Brown unloads on elected Congressional Representatives in Washington, D.C. Pretty, it’s not.

Book Review Panel Margaret Van Every Margaret Porter Clare Gearhart Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart

COVER STORY

VOLUME 36 NUMBER 5

PROFILING TEPEHUA 22 FRONT ROW CENTER 26 WELCOME TO MEXICO 28 LAKESIDE LIVING

Saw you in the Ojo

COLUMNIST

Editor’s Page By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez THE ZIMMERMAN COMMUNIQUE —One of History’s Most Fascinating Moments—

n January of 1917, something occurred that might have forever damaged the relationship between the United States and Mexico. It preceded the United States’ entry into the First World War, a conflict that would go down in history as one of the costliest ever in terms of lost lives. At this point, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II—the bombastic, choleric leader who had caused the war—was winning it against the Allies (mainly England and France) and the final outcome seemed but a few months away. The United States entry into the war seemed the only way that an Allied victory could be snatched from the jaws of defeat but though repeatedly provoked, the U.S. had managed to remain neutral. However, Germany’s Foreign Secretary, (Arthur Zimmerman), fearing that the United States might eventually join the war on the side of the Allies, sent a cable to the Mexican government, advising it that if the US of A did enter the war, and if Mexico thereafter declared war on the Unites States, when the war was won, Germany would restore some of the territory (today, comprising much of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico) that Mexico had unjustly lost in the Mexican-American War of 1848. Implicit in the offer was that Germany would also join Mexico in that effort, meaning that the war might be brought to the very south-western doorstep of the United States. Luckily, the note was intercepted and decoded by British Intelligence* and sent on to its counterpart in the United States. As might be imagined, reaction in the United States to the official note was swift and savage, feelings that were amplified a short time later when Germany admitted (foolishly) that the note was genuine. That admission helped to fur-

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman

ther fuel the outrage and generated support for America’s formal declaration of war against Germany which came very shortly thereafter. Postscript #1: What the initial official American response was to the Mexican government regarding the German proposal can only be imagined but it must have been something like “HEY, FORGET ABOUT IT!” Relations between the two countries would eventually greatly improve, however, during the Second World War men and women of Mexican blood played a substantial part in helping the United States and its allies to win that war. Postscript #2: Once again in WWII, British Intelligence broke the German code that literally saved tens of thousands of Allied lives. The device that did the trick was called Enigma, which in many respects paved the way to the world of computers that we Alejandro Grattanknow today. Dominguez

Saw you in the Ojo

The Fable Of The Complainer Who Travelled A Long Distance By Neil McKinnon

nce upon a time, there was a Loud Complainer named Mortimer who, late at night, knocked on the door of a Stand-up Guy who was monikered by the designation, Al. Al knew the Loud Complainer as a griper and grumbler who caused other people’s teeth to itch. For years, he had deliberately crossed the street whenever it appeared that the trajectory of he and him was such that their paths might intersect. Mortimer was a charter member of SWAC, the Society of Whiners and Complainers. The subject of his complaining fit neatly into one broad category—everything. Al, the unsuspecting Stand-up Guy, opened his door. “Hello,” said Mortimer. “I saw you

were up so I thought I’d enlighten you about my life and promote within you a feeling of sympathy for my downtrodden circumstance.” “I don’t need any feeling of sympathy,” said Al as he slammed the door into the foot of the Loud Complainer who had placed it in the path that the door usually followed when progressing toward a closed state. Mortimer pushed his way in and sat on a red leather chair in the centre of the living room. He was tall and thin so that his large head seemed to bob and weave much like a boxer evading knockout blows. With a beard, a tall hat and a time machine he could have passed for Abe. He spoke. “I’ve come to tell you my misfortunes so that you may feel sorry for me and recognise that the Deity has chosen me for special attention in the most negative way. I’ve tried telling others but they always cross the street and start running. “Uh …, “ said Al. “I was about to leave. My garden in the country needs hoeing.” Askance peeked over Mortimer’s eyelid and peered directly at Al. “There is nowhere to go and nothing to hoe

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

at ten minutes past midnight on a Sunday. You will not be able to tell ragweed from radishes. Besides, I promise to occupy only a few hours of your time.” Al knew himself trapped. He also knew that if he played dead or committed suicide there was only a small chance that the Loud Complainer would leave. So he excused himself to visit the toilet in the far corner of his basement. “No matter,” said Mortimer as he followed and shouted from outside the locked door. “I will speak in a vigorous voice even though I have a throat ailment which has recently spread from my spleen who acquired it from my liver.” Askance moved quickly through the locked door, took up residence in Al’s eye and prompted, “Why don’t you visit a doctor?” “I have been to every medical practitioner in this town and they’re all quacks. They don’t know a serious disease from a rash on the rectum, which I also have.” Mortimer paused to wipe a tear, which had a somewhat crocodilian shape. Then he resumed, “I’ve also got a bone spur on my tailbone the size of a hockey puck and it pinches every nerve between my head and my ass. Last week my arm was numb when I wokeup. My wife, Vera, was preoccupied in the upstairs bathroom so I yelled that I was having a heart attack. In her hurry to call an ambulance she knocked her face cream into the toilet while it was flushing making it clog up and overflow. Vera never swears so when I heard her cussing, I forgot about my arm and ran to the bathroom. I bent over to shut off the water and my glasses fell into the toilet at the same time as I twisted my back. I see as well as a blindfolded bat so to get my glasses, I’m up to my elbow in the overflowing toilet wearing only my bathrobe when our cat gets under it and swipes at the only thing it sees hanging. We never had the cat declawed so when the ambulance arrives the paramedics didn’t find a heart attack but they put me on a stretcher anyway because of the blood that was dripping out of my scratched scrotum. They laughed so hard at the nature of my injury that they dropped the stretcher. I hit my head producing a concussion. The water leaked through the floor and dripped all over our new white sofa that Vera bought with her credit card to get points so we could go to Mexico for a vacation which I can’t go on now because I can’t fly due to the concussion.

I would have hated it anyway because my back is sore. Al interjected, “You should be in bed.” “If I lay down I will surely die—so dire are my maladies and so incompetent are those who would treat me.” “Then try the doctor in the next town.” Again, the Loud Complainer complained loudly. “I would but my car is not capable of travel. The flywheel has detached itself from the piston and fallen onto the drive shaft where it leaks oil into the carburetor. There is not one mechanic in town capable of fixing such a trivial problem. Besides, they all charge too much and I can’t afford to pay anyway because I have lost my job and my bungling money advisor didn’t prevent me from investing all of my savings in a scheme, so diabolically clever that the constant demand for cash depleted my assets. When my net worth reached zero, Vera began an affair with my financial advisor. Also, my children have run away and I hear they are being cared for by a doctor who I should sue for malpractice because he misdiagnosed a lung malady as boils on my goiter.” “You and bad luck are joined at the hip,” Al said. “I don’t believe in bad luck,” Mortimer replied. There’s a reason for everything. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for teenagers, gay marriage and Asian drivers. Al, The Stand-Up Guy was truly sympathetic but it was late and he was tired. “Have you heard of the Vedic Dyspeptic Ulcerative Respite Clinic and Rehabilitation Center. It was founded by a famous healer on a remote Island off the Newfoundland coast on the sailing route to Madagascar. The practitioners there are experts on every ailment from rectum rash to clawed scrotums to automobile malfunction. They would probably treat an interesting case like yours without charge but a complete cure could take many months.” Tears dripped from Mortimer’s voice and rolled under the bathroom door. “What good does that do me? I have no money. Even if the treatment is free, I can’t afford to travel all that way.” “Perhaps, for an old friend like you, I could help out,” said Al as he emerged from the toilet, extracted his wallet from his pocket and carefully counted out the exact amount for a one-way ticket to Newfoundland. Moral: Sometimes it costs a great deal to solve a problem. Neil McKinnon

Saw you in the Ojo

A Little Red Button By Sandy Olson (October 13, 2019)

et’s start out with full disclosure, as they sometimes do in New York Times editorials. I got a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) a while back and am living in a residential hospice in San Francisco instead of where I would much rather be, back at Lakeside. I expected to live in Ajijic until my late 80s or so and die peacefully in my sleep without a stroke, but leukemia? Me? How? I asked one of the world’s leading experts on AML here in San Francisco and she answered, “Bad luck.” So be it. We get mad or sad, then adjust to the change and surprises and one of them for me is this little red button. I press that button and people run

in and give me whatever I want in two minutes or so. Can I have a cup of coffee at 6 am with a toasted (not nuked) English muffin? Check. Can you open the window? Check? Can you turn off/ on the fan? Check. Can I reserve a room for visiting friends? Check. Can you help me to the commode at 3 am? The aide is often a young man in a baseball cap but you get used his handing over the toilet paper. Check. All this instant and loving attention is getting to be bad for my character but I have a six month diagnosis of life and who’s going to report me to the principal or out me to a therapist, anyway? I do feel a little embarrassed at asking for so much so often but am working to get over it.

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

The aide staff is largely Filipino and one woman here who is from Chapala. With the exception of grumpy old Felicita Happy Little One, ha! they are warm, loving and eager to help at all times. Here’s my point for Ojo readers. Friends, you at Lakeside just about have those little red buttons already. In the interest of brevity it’ll be referred to as LRB. One day I bought an office chair and one of those guys who work outside Costco (LRB) managed to wedge it into my car somehow. I chose not to worry about what to do when I got home and had to get it upstairs. I couldn’t ask my friend with the bad knee to do it. (All the gringos have bad backs and hips and knees these days; have you noticed that?) We arrived at the house and there just happened to be two sturdy young men standing around. They carried the box upstairs (LRB) and set it on the balcony. I assumed that the gardener was capable of assembling the chair but he couldn’t, so an hour later showed up with another young man who could do it and who took away the empty box too (LRB). Now some of you left comfortable lives up north, and decided as a sensible couple to relocate. You are already familiar with getting a lot of help when you need it. You think nothing of hiring someone for the day to take you to Guadalajara to find that hidden place in some grubby mall where your helper can show you where to stand in the old folks’ line and get in and out of there in 30 minutes with the new license that actually has a nice photo. I’ve never seemed to attract rich people in life. And it’s the same with the people I meet at Lakeside. Most new friends and arrivals can be classified as “economic refugees,” if this hasn’t happened already. They haven’t been spoiled with services up north. They hardly have time to finish their IHOP breakfast before the

waitress slaps down the check. A fill up at the gas station can include breakdowns at the pump and trips into the office where you can’t understand Vietnamese. People at the city agencies have unintelligible accents and if you have phone troubles you might be talking to someone in India, or Florida, or anywhere else (actually that can be kind of fun, a chat with a new person). If they ever did, they don’t any more shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joes, more likely now at Target or standing in line at the Family Dollar Store. And then there’s ailing Mom. She isn’t doing that well and the family is talking about her growing dependence and what to do about her. So thoughts move south and these refugees start showing up at Lakeside. New friends, I want to repeat that each of you just about has one of those little red buttons already, a version of the one sitting on my hospice bed, Newcomers can afford a nice inexpensive meal of wholesome fresh ingredients (LRB) and sit as long as they want without being hassled by a waiter (LRB). They go to the mercado daily and to the tianguis on Wednesday for colorful shopping (LRB). Gas? The attendant will do a full service while you wait. (LRB) Doctor problems? Doctors make house calls or send representatives. They even drive you to Guadalajara. (LRB) And Mom can get into one of these nice assisted living places with warm and caring attendants for a fraction of what it would cost up north (LRB). I can’t say I want to invite you to be with me in adjoining beds in this hospice experience but I will be thinking of you when I press that button and am grateful that foresight? wisdom? dumb luck? whatever, took us all to beautiful Lake Chapala. Sandy Olson

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THE APOLOGY (not Plato’s) By Steve Griffin

s they were preparing to leave the dinner party, he swore to his angry wife that he would never do it again. She laughed, deliberately, right in his face. “No, I really mean it this time.” “Yeah, and you really meant it last time, and the time before that, and the time .. ” “I know,” he interrupted, “but it’s different this time.” “Different, how?” she demanded. “I can’t put it into words exactly, but It’s different this time. It just feels different.” “I hope you’re right, because frankly, we’re running out of friends. We’re running out of people who will even tolerate us, let alone welcome us. I was surprised John and Barbara invited us tonight. You can bet that won’t happen again. I...” Now, Honey,” he said as he helped her into her coat. I know it’s my fault. I just couldn’t help myself, that woman quoting, or I should say misquoting the Bible and claiming it came from Omar Khayyam’s “Rubaiyat , and that fat guy who came with Susan, confusing Plato with Aristotle. My God, they’re almost exact opposites in their philosophical outlooks. Someone had to set him straight. I couldn’t stand anyone crediting Socrates with such an empirical definition of reality. He’s just too…” “Oh, Bill, for God’s sakes. No one else cares if someone gets a few details mixed up. It’s just called making conversation. You’re the only one who cares, and for sure no one appreciates being lectured to and insulted about their ‘ignorance,’ as you put it.” “But ignorance is not a fault, certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. Ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge in a particular area. I wouldn’t be insulted if someone

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

called me ignorant if I misspoke, say about the details of how a nuclear reactor works. I’d be grateful that they were helping me be less ignorant in that area. I’d thank them.” “Well, Bill, maybe you would, but the vast majority of ‘normal’ people don’t think like you do. Thank God. They feel embarrassed, put down, even humiliated, if they’re particularly sensitive. I’m sure I saw tears in Luisa’s eyes when you corrected her pronunciation of something. I don’t even remember what it was. You were making so many corrections of so many things. I think we should go back in there right now, and you should apologize, to, to everybody, and try to make sure you act like you mean it. I know you know how to act. You gave poor Susan a five minute discourse on method acting when her definition failed to capture its essence correctly, I believe you said. Do you think you can do that?” “Oh, yes. Of course, Dear. I’ll be the epitome of contrition as far as anyone can tell, though I believe they should be apologizing to me for their egregious misinformation, and …” “Bill!” “I know, Dear, I’ll be the very soul of sincerity. As Shakespeare says, ‘O, what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side.” “Bill, just say you’re sorry, that you know you were wrong to correct them, that on second thought, they may not have been wrong at all, that you’re truly sorry for your rudeness.” “Yes, Dear. You’re right. I need to go back in there anyway. What Peter was saying about Carlyle’s view of society was in fact a quote from Hobbs. I’m sure he’ll thank me for.. “ “Bill!”

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COLUMNIST

BRIDGE BY THE LAKE By Ken Masson

lam hands are nearly always exciting to bid and play. It would be nice if we had 12 running tricks every time we arrived at the six-level but sadly that is not the case and we have to choose the best line of play to make our contract. Fortunately, there are sometimes ways of reducing guesswork and the illustrated hand shows how it can be done. South was dealer and with a balanced 22 high card points made the modern opening bid of 2 clubs. North responded 2 diamonds, a “waiting” bid asking for a further description of partner’s hand. 2 No Trump showed 22 to 24 high card points and North had no hesitation in jumping to the no-trump slam. West made the opening lead of the heart jack and the first thing declarer did was to count winners and was a little disappointed to see only 11 sure-fire tricks but if the club finesse worked all would be well with the world, so south correctly called for the club queen and let it ride to West who won with the king.

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

Declarer now saw that the contract depended on finding the spade queen and the task proved to be an easy one because when South cashed the heart ace it became apparent that West started with five hearts after East showed out on the third round of the suit. Declarer continued with three rounds of clubs learning that West held precisely four clubs and then followed with the ace, king and queen of diamonds learning that West held at least three diamonds. With 12 of West’s 13 cards accounted for it was obvious that West held at most one spade, so declarer led the spade five to the king and led a spade to the jack knowing the jack would win. Thanks to careful “spadework’ this finesse, unlike most others, was 100% certain to succeed! Questions or comments: email: masson.ken@ gmail.com Ken Masson

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Dear Elected Representatives: (A Letter from the People of America)

We ventilate our dwellings of many different kinds, but may not have the sense to ventilate our minds. Perhaps we fear we’d stir up something that has died— some milk of human kindness that’s buried deep inside. As kids sit scared in cages and countless forests burn, you think you’re given license to hoard all that you earn, protecting it from others who have need of it, flailing around in luxuries of your money pit. Yachts and cars and mansions should not buy peace of mind when they leave our planet in a lethal bind. Our plastic world is flailing. It chokes on its excess. How can you turn your backs on its extreme duress? We elect our rulers. They are not born to reign. In return we must demand that they share our pain and do not profit by it with cash for legislation leading to their betterment and our consternation. Look at where we’re going and look at where we’ve been. Open up your minds. Let truth and justice in. During your term of office who’s advanced as far as you have? It seems the teeming masses did not profit as a few have. We’re taking back our government, abolishing each clause that gives you the entitlement to profit from the laws you enact for self-interest. It’s time that you were outed and all who vote against our interests were routed. You defend bad judgement, support your corrupt clown. Now all who stand behind him must also be brought down. You overlook the obvious for motives all your own. You’ve opened up the cage and the dove of peace has flown, stalked by a bald eagle who feeds on those for whom it should serve as symbol of something else but doom. We must bring back our liberty, nobility and pride. Resuscitate a country that many fear has died. The truth is there before you, so open up your minds to see there’s a solution for our present binds. If you refuse to topple that one on whom you dote, we’ll topple you one after one--when we go to vote!!

Judy Dykstra-Brown

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

E-Harmony I’m looking for the perfect mate. I’m nice and normal, not a neurotic feller – So let’s just get enrolled, let’s have a date. I dream of meeting her, and she looks great Like Marilyn with a touch of Vampirella. She says she’s looking for the perfect mate. We’re both online, and I can hardly wait To touch, to kiss, to open up and tell her All of my feelings of love on our first date. But then it rains and she’s two hours late, Her hair’s a mess, her skin’s a sort of yeller, Hardly my longed-for perfect mate. And I’m not perfect either, lousy ingrate, I’m loud and drink too many rounds of Stella – Needless to say, there is no second date. I guess I’ll have to opt for a single fate, I got stood up by Joyce and dumped by Della. I’m tired of looking for the perfect mate, I’ll simply un-enroll myself, without a date.

—Michael Warren—

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RAMBLINGS FROM THE RANCH By Christina Bennett

Rodrigo Goes Home

ometimes people ask me how long dogs stay at The Ranch before getting adopted. Well, it depends. Rodrigo was found as a stray at The Racquet Club. The couple who found him tried to integrate him into their family, but Rodrigo couldn’t make it work. He did not like the female dog who adored him, and he kept pestering the male who despised him. Alas, Rodrigo came to The Ranch in 2017. From the start, he was a difficult guy. He loved all the people he came across but he could be really ornery with the other dogs. Eventually, the staff gave up trying to find him a “roommate” and Rodrigo was kenneled by himself. A generous volunteer paid for Rodrigo to go to dog school to see if he could learn to love other members of his own species. While he got a little better, he still was not well-mannered

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enough to get a roommate. Rodrigo remained a favorite of the volunteers, though. He was a funny guy who would sometimes just lie down on his walks and refuse to budge. And every day, he was the eager one who “helped out” at feeding time by cleaning the soup bucket. In September, Angela Adams, the founder of Born Again Pit Bull Rescue in Portland, Oregon, came to visit. Like many before her, she became smitten by Rodrigo and sent for him as soon as she found a perfect foster home. There wasn’t a dry eye at The Ranch when it

was announced that Rodrigo was going to get adopted! In December, his favorite volunteers cooked him some hot dogs over an open fire and celebrated his good fortune. Then the little guy climbed into a crate and took his flight to freedom. It takes a long time for some dogs to find their forever homes. In the meantime, you can help by: walking dogs at The Ranch; fostering flying dogs “up North”; and by donating funds to feed and care for these special canines! For more information please contact The Ranch: www.lakesidespayandneuter. com or 331.270.4447.

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IN MEMORY OF SANDY OLSON

We were saddened to hear that Sandy Olson, long-time Editor of the “Lakeside Living” column in El Ojo del Lago, passed away in San Francisco on Sunday, November 24 after a short illness. Born and raised in El Cerrito, California, Sandy found her heart in Mexico—first in Zihuatanejo and finally in Ajijic. She was a loyal friend and talented writer with an infectious wit who will be greatly missed by her many friends in the Ajijic Writers Group and numerous other social, spiritual and writing groups to which she belonged. Submitted by Judy DykstraBrown

Ed. Note: The entire staff of our magazine will long remember Sandy for her professionalism, upbeat attitude and deep sense of loyalty to everything and everybody she held dear. One of Sandy’s last articles, sent to us from her hospital room, is included in this issue. (page: 10)

COLUMNIST

Life Askew By Julia Galosy

Candy Asses

K, you buncha sissies. Get your little girly selves in line. You there, the fat blubby one in the middle? Yeah you, you know who I´m talkin´’bout. You think this man´s army‘s gonna help you get rid of those pounds yo´ mama´s butter biscuits slapped on yo´ ass? Dýa? Dýa? Damn right, it will. This army will not, I repeat, will not, let a fatass, low- count, no- good tub stay in this here army. What yo’ doin´sidling up to me, you little shrimp? Dýa think being close to the MAN will make life easier fo’ you in this here camp? NO WAY!! Get yo’ ass back in the rank. And you there, you group bunched

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in the back. Don´t think hiding yourselves in a group is gonna save you. Get spread out. We gotta take this hill and that means we gotta move. Move I said. Ain´t no milk gonna be comin´from the sky to help you. How do you think I got this big? This strong? This bodacious!! Not by hiding my candy ass in the middle of a bunch of other candy asses. And not, like you, you little shrimp, by trying to play kiss ass with the MAN. So spread out, let´s go. We gotta take this hill! Julia Galosy

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COLUMNIST

PROFILING TEPEHUA By Moonyeen King

President of the Board for Tepehua

moonie1935@yahoo.com

he Tepehua Community Center has been through another year of promise. Going from strength to strength simply through supplying basic support. The needs of the family unit does not change much from house to house or socioeconomic differences. Education and health care. When you have those two things you can control your world. Drastic changes have taken place in Tepehua since the Center opened its doors, only because people are taking charge of their Center, the responsibility of their future and that of their children. Days are not taken one at a time now, there is a tomorrow for children that is finally possible to achieve. Barrio

people can actually have dreams and visions. Maybe even a New Year Bucket List, or make resolutions of achievements for the immediate future. Sarah Pruitt wrote “Babylonians were the first to make New Year resolutions some 4,000 years ago, the first to hold celebrations in honor of the New Year which was then in March when crops were planted and Kings were crowned....” she goes on to say promises were made to the Gods to pay back debts and return borrowed items, hence the first resolutions, today we promise ourselves or loved ones, maybe a God or two. It was Julius Caesar who changed New Year to January the 1st. Some-

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thing to do with the Solstice. This was also a combination of the fact that the Christians believed Mary declared her pregnancy in March, with the Christ child, obviously his birth would be nine months later, making December a religious holiday instead of carousing.. (Hope you can get your head around all that intellectual thought!) The Tepehua Team also has New Year Resolutions, the list is long but it is all achievable if we work together. With help from the private sector and the incredible support we have from Rotary International we can make things happen. Now the Church is slowly being pushed away from the private lives of its people a little bit more every day, with choices being made according to their needs, a separation between Church and state, educated choices instead of being dictated to, life in the barrios will get stronger with people working together as a whole to make their corner of the world a better place. The Church definitely has a place in the heart for teaching civilized thought, difference between good and evil for those who believe, but it should never have the controlling power for the choices of people, especially the women, who are now becoming a strength in the work force for the first time, par-

ticipating because they can with self choices made. Like how many children to have. This writer has noticed a subtle difference in the Churches of today, they play a more supportive than controlling role in everyday life, especially the various Churches Lake Side. This is a very good thing. The Tepehua Team wishes the whole world peace, especially in our world at Lake Side, where supporters of Charities have made such a difference in the life of the barrios, with generosity and unselfish volunteerism. Healthy New Year to all! You have made a difference.

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Days Gone By Courtesy of Paul Titterton

o you remember? Would you believe the email spell checker did not recognize the word Murgatroyd? Heavens to Mergatroyd! Lost Words from our childhood: Words gone as fast as the buggy whip! The other day a not-so-elderly (I say 70) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said “What the heck is a Jalopy?” He never heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was old.... but not that old. Well, I hope you are Hunky Dory after you read this. About a month ago, I wrote down some old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology. These phrases included “Don’t touch that dial,” “Carbon copy,” “You sound like a broken record” and “Hung out to dry.” Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We’d put on our best bib and tucker to straighten up and fly right. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whilikers! Jumping Jehoshaphat! Holy moley! We were in like Flynn and living the life of Riley, and even a regular guy couldn’t accuse us of being a knucklehead, a nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China! Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when’s the last time anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pedal pushers and Saddle Stitched Pants. Oh, my aching back! Kilroy was here, but he isn’t anymore.

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We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, “Well, I’ll be ‘a monkey’s uncle!’” Or, This is a “fine kettle of fish!” We discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed omnipresent have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards. Long gone: “Pshaw, The milkman did it. Hey! It’s your nickel. Don’t forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Well, Fiddlesticks! Going like sixty. I’ll see you in the funny papers. Don’t take any wooden nickels. Wake up and smell the roses.” It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter has liver pills. We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeable times. For a child each new word is like a shiny toy, a toy that has no age. We at the other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering there are words that once did not exist and there were words that once strutted their hour upon the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our collective memory. It’s one of the greatest advantages of aging. Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth. See ya later, alligator! Okey-dokey.

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FRONT ROW CENTER By Michael Warren After Magritte and The Real Inspector Hound By Tom Stoppard Directed by Randy Warren

hese two one-act plays were created by Tom Stoppard in 1970, and were first performed in the Green Banana Restaurant at the Ambiance Lunch-hour Theatre Club in London. They are an exercise in wordplay and absurdism, and of illusion versus reality, or different versions of perceived reality. Rene Magritte had recently died, and these plays were a sort of tribute to his surrealist paintings. They are also crazily funny in a Monty Python style of humor. After a short educational video featuring some of Magritte’s work, the curtain rises on a bizarre scene. The furniture is pushed back against the front door, a man is standing on a table trying to fix a lamp which is on a counterbalance with a bowl of fruit, while a woman crawls on the floor and an old woman is lying on an ironing board. And a policeman is outside looking through the window. All this is explained in the next halfhour, so it’s a visual joke to which the author adds a series of comical misunderstandings. Stan Rawson plays “Harris” the husband with appropriate dismay, while Donna Burroughs is excellent as the strident “Thelma.” The senile mother, who likes to practice on the tuba, is squawked by Beede Satterthwaite. Later the police arrive, in the shape of “Inspector Foot” who has his own theories as to a crime that may have taken place. Brian Fuqua marches around the stage and shouts his lines at breakneck speed. It’s all very confusing, and I confess that I had to consult

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Google to figure it out. The Real Inspector Hound is a lot easier to understand and to enjoy. It’s simply a parody of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. An isolated country manor, phone lines cut, someone in the room is a murderer, etc.. Stoppard adds some further ingredients – there’s a body on the floor, completely ignored for most of the play, and there are two pretentious critics “Moon” and “Birdboot” who also become involved in the action. In a way the critics are what the play is about, as they make ridiculous comments on each other as well as on the hackneyed whodunit. The country house includes Mark Donaldson as the sinister stranger “Simon,” Allyson DeJong as flighty “Felicity,” Louise Ritchie as the heiress “Cynthia, Lady Muldoon” and Frank Lynch in a wheelchair (but not really disabled) as distant cousin “Magnus.” Some of the best lines came from Jean Marie Harmon, who played the maid “Drudge” with just the right amount of dark conspiracy. Dave McIntosh played “Inspector Hound” who stumbles on the body and then gets shot for no apparent reason. Brian Fuqua played Moon as a martyr to his unappreciative seniors at the newspaper, while Fred Koesling was Birdboot, who is stuck with a homely wife while lusting after Felicity and then Cynthia on stage. The actors had a lot of fun, and the audience responded. In the Director’s Notes, Randy Warren advises us to keep our ears attuned. It was certainly difficult to hear some of the lines in After Magritte, which is a pity because the dialogue is the play. I congratulate the director and all the actors for what must have been a challenging experience. Suki O’Brian was Assistant Director, while Jean Marie Harmon was Production Stage Manager, ably assisted by Donna Burroughs and Beede Satterthwaite for the second play. Michael Warren

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COLUMNIST

By Victoria Schmidt

Going Nowhere

lmost everywhere we go lately, the talk of the town is traffic. All traffic. It started in Chapala on one side of the street. It grew quickly. A road-resurfacing project started diverting traffic on Madero so one or two blocks could be resurfaced. Then on Hidalgo, one side of the street, followed by the opposite side of the street. Every day the project grew larger and larger. We thought maybe it was infrastructure repair. But the machines kept coming. Orange posts, netting, and the streets and sidewalks were being torn up. Block after block was being chewed up, and they were moving further and further up west on Hidalgo towards Ajijic. Then it started in Ajijic on the mountainside of the carretera. First with surveyors, followed by the cones and netting and finally the workmen and the cutting of the pavement. What is it? First we had guesses. Widening the road? Working on infrastructure beneath the road? Then we see signs about the ciclopista in Chapala, renovation by the State of Jalisco in Ajijic, and renovating the ciclopista. Now there are rumors of a bicycle rental organization to encourage people to rent a bike and drop it off and rent another bike when needed. Like luggage carts at airports. I can barely imagine myself on a bike, let alone carrying all my different cloth bags from a shopping trip. I could look up on a website to find out what is going on, a website I call “rent a rumor” and try to see which story I believe most. Or wait for the Guadalajara Reporter to let us know the facts as presented to them in that moment. What is really going on? When will it end? Who is paying for it? The construction has made driving an exercise in frustration. But not only for those of us who drive our cars. Those who take buses are complaining of overcrowded buses that are unable to stop to off load passengers because the road is torn up and there is no safe place for passengers to disembark. Inside the bus the passengers

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will keep yelling for the bus to stop, but the driver cannot find a place. Taxi’s are an alternative, except they have to fight the traffic just as much as other drivers, and the slow traffic makes it difficult to service as many people. So the drivers aren’t too happy. Even people who want to walk to their destination aren’t happy. Their usual route is torn up, their back-up walking paths may be blocked with equipment or fences, and they find themselves backtracking and trying to walk around the construction areas. Then let’s talk parking: What parking? For a while, even the entrances to the parking lots in Chapala were cut off. And when it is all finished, we cannot begin to imagine the amount of parking places that have been permanently eliminated. Side streets will have to hold more parking, and that is very difficult as they are already at maximum. Merchants must love the fact that people cannot access their business at all. And the same holds true for the employees. We are not just talking a “little” inconvenience here. Perhaps there are plans we do not know about for how to deal with the parking. But we have contributed to these problems. How many households of expats have two vehicles? And those who do ride bikes have nowhere to ride safely. My short-term advice is this: be patient, plan ahead, leave more travel time, and drive carefully. Victoria Schmidt

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Wise Witicisms By the Ever-Elusive Anonymous

1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it. 2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list. 3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong. 5. We never really grow up, we

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only learn how to act in public. 6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left. 7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism . To steal from many is research. 9. In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet 10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, Notify:’ I put DOCTOR! 11. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy. 12. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. 13. A good speech should be like a women’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest. 14. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target. 15. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. 16. You’re never too old to learn something stupid. 17. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one now. 18. Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way they ask for directions. 19. ¨The hand is quicker than the eye!¨ That´s why there are so many black eyes ! 20. Igor Stravinsky said Mediocre composers borrow themes the great ones steal them!

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PERSONAL GROWTH

—What is it? How to make it happen! By Dr. Daniel Acuff

s we turn the corner from 2019 to 2020 most of us have probably given up on New Year’s resolutions. But the truth is most all of us are still very interested in what we could do to make our lives even better and happier. After a lifetime of learning and “growing” the persons we are, we still aspire to climbing higher on whatever ladders we can find that lead to greater and better. Ask any adult what “personal growth” is and they would probably come up with an answer. “Oh it’s like reading books and becoming smarter”. Or, “I think it’s when you set personal goals and achieve them”. Or, “Personal growth means taking classes or workshops and learning to be a better person.” But few would agree on one workable definition or approach. What is needed is a framework that covers the basic dimensions of our lives. That framework is HUMAN NEEDS. The psychologist Abraham Maslow, in his 1962 book, Toward a Psychology of Being, offered what became known as Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”. He proposed that each of us has five levels of basic needs. He created a pyramid with “Physical Needs” at the bottom, then with “Safety”, “Love”, and “Esteem” in ascending importance. His theory

was that until an individual has been able to meet the most basic physical survival needs he cannot adequately pursue more emotional/social needs such as love and self-esteem. If he can meet these higher order needs he or she can attempt to reach what he termed, “Self-Actualization” which is the desire for self-fulfillment, the desire to become more and more of what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. While Maslow’s work provides somewhat of a framework that might guide us in our journey toward selffulfillment, it is not comprehensive enough; there are too many blanks. My own research, along with Dr. Robert Reiher, indicates that, while it’s true that certain basic needs have to be met before we can pursue higher order needs, what’s missing is a more detailed approach. In our view there are TEN HUMAN NEEDS. And any approach to one’s “personal growth” can benefit by deciding which of these ten needs an individual can best work on. Here they are: PHYSICAL NEEDS, SAFETY, GROWTH, REALITY, STIMULATION, RELEASE, CONTROL—and the self-esteem needs: LOVE, ACCEPTANCE and SUCCESS. As we examine each of the ten needs, ask yourself “What can I do to “grow”, to enhance myself related to this need?”

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MY PHYSICAL NEEDS: The Obvious: Healthy diet, clean air and water, exercise. Not so obvious: The need for touch, physical contact, physical intimacy. What healthier practices can you commit to? THE NEED FOR SAFETY: Each person in life and in relationships needs to feel physically and emotionally safe and free from excessive worry or stress. The source of stress might be financial concerns, for example. It might also be emotional abuse or even physical threat or actual harm. Where might you feel vulnerable and unsafe? What could you do about that? GROWTH: To actually become more, and to learn is an innate need. You can satisfy your need for growth by taking on one or more of these ten needs as a project for personal enhancement. REALITY: Mentally ill individuals often lose touch with what’s really so and what’s not. As “normal” people, we can’t function without a solid grasp on what’s real, what’s imagined, and what’s not real. This need is seldom addressed. It is related to the need for safety in that it is the need for stability and the avoidance of doubt, uncertainty, even chaos. In relationships the extreme would be how erratic Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were in Who‘s Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Everyone needs to be able to depend on what’s so in their relationships and what’s not. STIMULATION: Stagnation and boredom are not only unpleasant but unhealthy. It’s healthy to stay busy— especially on projects, tasks, and activities that are interesting to you. Are you in a rut? What could you do to dig yourself out of that rut and add some excitement to your life? RELEASE: Few people are aware of this need. The need to release can take various forms. It might be letting go of something from your past that still disturbs you. It might be—appropriately as much as possible—expressing strong emotions such as anger, fear or love. It might be practicing meditation to let go of stress. CONTROL: The need for control or power is critical. Some individuals have given away their power by becoming subservient to someone or some way of thinking that is not healthy for them. We need to be the masters of our own ship. Power operates in each of these aspects of our lives: Physical, Emotional, Social, Ethical and Spiritual. Where in your life might you take better charge of your destiny? How can you gain more power and control? THE SELF-ESTEEM NEEDS: We classify the following three needs under self-esteem because if a person feels and experiences being loved, accepted, and successful, that person will inevitably have high self-esteem.

LOVE: The need to feel loved is exceedingly important. This may take the form of important people in your life touching, hugging, kissing you, telling you that they love you, and showing their love via taking care of you in different ways. Sex needs to be making love, not just the physical act. Self-love is typically a natural result of being loved in these ways. It is said that the best way to receive love is to give it. Start smiling at people for no reason. How can you create more love in your life? ACCEPTANCE: Have you ever been rejected? Not fun. Especially in childhood and the teen years feeling accepted by the members of your family and your peers is critical to healthy growth. Remember the “I’m ok, you’re ok” mantra of years past? Everyone needs to feel ok. Do you accept yourself the way you are and the way you are not? That is, have you become ok with most of what might be seen by yourself and others as shortcomings? SUCCESS: You can’t just take on success as a whole. What’s needed is to break down success into its life domains. Do you feel successful Physically? Mentally/Intellectually? Socially? (Includes such as career, finances) Ethically? Spiritually? Mentally unchallenged? Why not take on a new skill or learning a language for example? In which of these “success domains” could you take on a project to improve yourself? There you have it. Go back over each of the ten needs and select at least two of them to focus on for your own personal growth program. Two suggestions to help you succeed: First, draw up a solid plan that includes the details of what you are going to do to reach the goals you select. Second, communicate your plan and your commitment to its success to a partner and enroll them into being your support. It’s easy to fail by yourself; it’s more difficult when a partner is committed to what you are committed to. * Dr. Acuff’s Ph.D. is in philosophy, sociology and education. He has been a seminar and communication workshop leader in front of more than 3,000 participants. Dr. Acuff will be leading a personal enhancement workshop beginning January 29 at LCS. Get ready to explore together a wide variety of topics and issues germane to what it means to be here, now, alive and inquisitive, wanting even more insight, growth, health and happiness. For info and to register: danielacuff@sbcglobal.net. Daniel Acuff

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Pews By John Thomas Dodds

otwithstanding the pickling and pruning of the average older person the most widely seen cognitive change associated with ageing is that of the Procedural, Episodic, Working, and Semantic memory. The functioning or lack of is uniquely personal and can be of some concern. Personally this memory/recall thing doesn’t really bother me until I think about it. If you live long enough all the closets in the upper house become cluttered with stuff you only go looking for when something or someone plants a seed, otherwise out of sight, out of mind. I know I’m not alone when I leave my mind behind—climbing the stairs, entering a room going after something that, just an interminable second ago, was the most important priority, focus, quest on my agenda, only to return to the origin of the thought to re-enact what it might have been that I was after. Perhaps it’s not that my motor skills are any less vibrant than when I was younger—I still remember how to ride a bike, its just that I’m not all that interested anymore in pedaling about, and I still could walk, talk and chew gum at the same time if it weren’t for my dentures. When it comes to how to do stuff I may have forgotten a few things, but now I know how to find it on YouTube or Wikihow.com. Early grade school left me with just one off the top of my head episodic memory: the little old lady teaching grade 5 periodically zoning out and starting to take her clothes off in the

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front of the class, and someone always running to get a nun. Those mental tags about where, when and how information is picked up don’t sit out there on a garage sale table waiting to be plucked, they have to be searched for, and the search gets a little more interesting with the ageing process. Working at trying to manipulate the present is like trying to alter the past, and processing information is more work than the curmudgeon in me generally wants to deal with. Irritability comes on when decision making demands a perceived unreasonableness. I know if I pay attention I just might learn a thing or two, and if I’m lucky it will stick. Seemingly patience has become my patron saint of forgetfulness. It allows me to abdicate responsibility in the land-of-forget-me-nots where grey cells become the dandruff of should haves and oops, maybe, if only I had remembered what I ... Sometimes it’s just lazy mind. With the esposa a walking rolodex, I don’t really have to dig deep in the recesses of the skull for the names of people that I meet, and when searching for the meaning of things, Google has usurped my semantic memory, transferring recall from my cerebral cortex to my fingertips. Do we really need to remember every name, place, event, taste, smell, song etc., why not take every new encounter as a surprise—a fresh face, a familiar but exotic smell, a subtle and refreshing taste, an exquisite moment, the feeling brought on by sound of the Moonlight Sonata. I have learned, and keep reminding myself, I need only to be the keeper of the world around me to relive the memory of all that I have known and cared for. I need to be joyful of memory and open to what comes along when it does, and when it does I’ll be sitting in the first pew, knowing it will unfold in its own time at the John Thomas altar of love. Dodds

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Prophet My spirit, thirsting, wandered lost The grim and barren desert sand, And where two ancient pathways crossed I saw a six-winged seraph stand. With touch as light as sleep or sighs His fingers brushed my burning eyes, And they beheld strange visions blaze As if with startled eagle’s gaze. He gently touched my stricken ears--And roused the sounds of distant spheres: I heard the trembling heavens weep, The monsters moving through the deep, The flights of angels in the skies, The sap in valley vineyards rise. Then bending to my mouth he ripped The sinful tongue from out my lips And all its vain and cunning talk; And on the mute and lifeless stalk, His right hand steeped in blood, he flung A serpent’s wise and double tongue. With sword he clove my breast in two. And thence my beating heart withdrew, And thrust inside the gaping hole A flaming shard of living coal. I lay like death upon the sand And heard the Voice of God command: “Arise, O prophet! Heed My Will; Proclaim what thou hast seen and heard. On sea and land thy task fulfill: To burn men’s hearts with Heaven’s Word.”

—Mark Sconce—

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Carol D. Bradley

Email: cdbradleymex@gmail.com Phone: 33-2506-7525

Feliz Año Nuevo from the Lakeside Living team. I will have much better vision this year…it’s 2020! The Lake Chapala Society hosts Open Circle every Sunday at 10AM, a popular community gathering in Ajijic every Sunday morning to enjoy a diverse range of presentations. For more information see their website: opencircleajijic.org. Open Circle Presentations for January: January 5 Caring for the Soul in Times of Chaos Presented by David Bryen Humanity is experiencing The Dark Night of the Soul! How do we address the shredding of civility and eruption of hate and polarization, without being overtaken by our own tribalism or withdrawing in fear? How do we preserve the interior dimensions of soul life when chaos preoccupies our attention? How do we thread our way between responsibility to the world and connection to the soul? But what is soul? How does it work? What does it want? How do we unlock its intelligence rather than fall prey to primitive reactions? David Bryen, during his lifetime career as a psychotherapist, became a fierce defender of the soul. In this presentation he will suggest that listening to and loving the soul is the true work of our lives. He will give ways to care for the soul and find its wisdom hidden inside. He coordinates Open Circle, is a motorcycle safety instructor, woodworker, author, and poet. January 12 “The best vision is insight.”—Malcolm Forbes Presented by Yann Kostic As of this writing (December 2019), the bull market is officially the longest on record, but this does not stop skeptics from asking when will it end, and maybe more importantly, how badly. This leads to the question: how long will any other market stay strong? With the ever-changing U.S. political “Helter-Skelter,” to the UK’s “Never Ending Story,” Black Swans are lurking everywhere. Along with this financial market update, we will cover the three largest financial mistakes retirees make when establishing themselves in Mexico. Tom Zachystal, CFA, CFP & Yann Kostic M.B.A. have presented at Open Circle for the past three years. Unfortunately, Tom cannot make it this year. January 19 Here Comes the Judge . . . Presented by Don Munroe Judges are the guardians of the Rule of Law which is at the foundation of any true democracy. Without an independent, non-partisan, even courageous judiciary, the Rule of Law is threatened. Using the United States and Canada as the main reference points, Don will define what we mean by the Rule of Law and demonstrate its importance. He will then take a critical look at how our judges are selected and whether those processes are compatible with the democratic values that the Rule of Law is intended to protect. Don Munroe is a prominent Canadian lawyer whose career has included criminal and civil litigation; chairmanship of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board; visiting professor of constitutional law at the University of Victoria; and some 30 years as an arbitrator and mediator. Don has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada on four occasions and at age 38 was designated a Queen’s Counsel. Don Munroe January 26 What are you? And why you won’t believe it. Presented by Phil Rylett WHAT are you? It is something we rarely think about. We are much more concerned with WHO we are. Our identity defines our differences. I am not you. You are not me. But if you knew WHAT you are, would those differences start to crumble? Would you see yourself differently? And your relationship to all life, our planet, and beyond? How we got here tells us quite a bit of where we are going. Take a humorous trip back in time and space and let’s just see how you got here and what it means for your daily life today—nutrition, health, sex, relationships, love, etc. There’s a lot going on under the hood. Let’s find out what it all means. Phil Rylett is a native of England. Careers in pharmacology, nursing and computer science define what he did. But what is he? Well, all will be revealed during the presentation. February 2 How to Die When You’re Ready Presented by Loretta Downs Self-determination is the process by which individuals control their own life, includ-

ing the end of it. Learn about the ethical, safe, and legal ways available in the US, Canada, and Mexico to exercise this basic human right to die on our own terms—how we miss opportunities to use it and what obstacles prevent us from achieving it. Loretta Downs, MA, CSA, has been companioning people at the end of their lives for nearly 40 years—listening, serving, and observing the many ways we die. She sees natural death as a sacred passage deserving of recognition and fervent support. Loretta founded Chrysalis End-of-Life Inspirations (www.endoflifeinpsirations.com), is a member of a hospital ethics committee, an Advance Care Planning Facilitator, and a Certified Senior Advisor. She has a master’s degree in gerontology with a major in thanatology. In summer she raises Monarch butterflies in Chicago; in winter she hibernates in Ajijic. Bare Stage Theatre presents: Loretta Downs Maggie’s Getting Married By Norm Foster Directed by Roseann Wilshere Dates: January 24th, 25th & 26th “Maggie”s Getting Married! Or is she?” “Funny, Witty, Silly, Shocking & Touching” This play takes a comedic look at the Duncan family as they prepare for the wedding of their daughter, Maggie, but things go haywire, the dream begins to crumble. It’s the night before the wedding to Russell, a Realtor who wooed her in a whirlwind romance. Unfortunately, she’s the only one excited about it! Her father is afraid that his baby girl may be marrying the wrong man for the wrong reasons. Her bombshell sister, Wanda, is home for the big day with her latest boy toy. And her mother is pondering the future (post-wedding) as part of a couple whose passion has diminished from a forest fire to a “small grassfire”. Will Maggie get cold feet when she learns that her sister knows the groom all too well? Tickets $150 / Reservations: barestagethCast: Ali McFarlane and Tina eatre2018@gmail.com / Showtime 4 p.m. Leonard Box office &amp; bar open at 3 p.m. Seats are held till 3:50 p.m. Located at #261 on the mountain side of the carretera in Riberas del Pilar across from the Catholic Church. Please, no parking inside Baptist Church lot. Please Like, Follow, Share our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/barestagetheatre2018/ Cast: Ali McFarlane and Tina Leonard PUBLISHED LOCAL WRITERS READ THEIR WORK: Announcing an exciting new event: Beginning Tuesday, January 28—and every 4th Tuesday of the month going forward—there will be a reading by Published Local Writers from 4-6pm at El Gato Feo Café. Each month’s reading will have a theme: January will be stories, and February will be “Glimpse of the Novel.” Books by local writers are for sale downstairs at El Gato Feo Café, which is next door to Barbara’s Bazaar on Independencia. When you purchase a book at a monthly reading, the reader will sign it for you! El Gato Feo sells coffee drinks, tea, wine, beer & smoothies. Please arrive by 3:30 to get your drink and take your seat in the comfortable seating upstairs. Parking is available at the Ajijic malecon. Space is limited; please leave pets at home. We hope to see you at this exciting new venue! Email Patricia

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Hemingway with questions at PATRICIAHEMIGWAY@GMAIL.COM. [Note: no “N” in “HEMIGWAY.”] Last Call for the 12th annual benefit LIP SYNC SHOW at the Ajijic auditorio. The show is a fun romp through songs you know and can sing along, great songs you haven’t heard in years and songs to tickle your funny bone. Plus this year there is a heavy dose of dance numbers. Show dates and times are Thursday January 9th at 4 p.m. Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The price is $300 pesos. Tickets are available at Mia’s, Diane

Pearls, the auditorio or the easy way at ajijictickets@ gmail.com Have you ever said; “I should write a book.”? Learn how to put your story on paper. Award-winning author, Rachel R.J. McMillen (The Dan Connor mystery series. Driving Baja), is offering an 8-week Creative Writing course that will lead you through the various facets of creating a story, whether it be fiction or non-fiction. Plot, Story-Arc. Characterization. Dialogue. Sentence Structure. etc. Commencing Wednesday, January 8th, and continuRachel R.J. McMillen ing every Wednesday until February 26th, from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm at the Lake Chapala Society campus. Registration is limited and can be done at the LCS Service Desk, Monday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. The Met Live HD 2019-20 Season Join the Chapala Opera Guild ... Local dues $1,300p. Join us at MovieSpace! Individual performance tickets are available at the MovieSpace taquilla / Box Office. Select the season shows that best fit your calendar and order them for only $300 pesos per Seat. See special pricing for Guild members. Tickets are available daily at the box office. Mon - Fri 3pm - 10 pm / Sat - Sun 1 pm - 11 pm Location: Carretera Chapala - Jocotepec 206 A1, Col. Centro; Chapala, San Antonio Tlayacapan, C.P. 45922 Teléfonos: (376) 766 2580 Email: hola@moviespace.com.mx MovieSpace is in the Centro Laguna Mall across from Walmart. Ample parking lot nearby. English and Espanol Sub-Titles: Pick your language sala! Premium Foods and Beverages: Enjoy the renovated spaces with upgraded coffee bar, offering coffees, teas, wine and beer. Little Lakeside Theatre presents: By Susan Miller Directed by Kevin Cook Assistant Director Russell Mack Show Dates: January 17 – 26, 2020 Show Sponsor: DeLane David CAST: Nicolas Cumplido, Debra Bowers, Chris L’Ecluse, Connie Davis, Collette Clavadetscher, Georgette Richmond. 20th Century Blues follows four sixty something friends as they confront the downsides of being an adult, primarily aging and ageism. Danny, Sil, Mac and Gabby met in lockup. Danny, a photographer, took a behind-bars snapshot and for the next four decades she reconvened the women for annual portraits.

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

Along the way the women had children and shed lovers, earned degrees and fought for stature. Their faces changed, their minds and hearts altered less. Now the Museum of Modern Art has offered Danny a retrospective, and she wants to show the photos. Review: “Playwright Susan Miller has the pulse of women at a certain age. Her characters are well drawn … we CAST: Nicolas Cumplido, Debra Bowers, Chris know these people. – (Women Around L’Ecluse, Connie Davis, Collette Clavadetscher, Town) Georgette Richmond. “20TH Century Blues is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.” Original Off Broadway production Produced by Lida Orzeck Originally produced at Contemporary American Theater Festival (Ed Herendeen, Artistic Director) Summer 2016 LLT Box Office: 10am to noon, every Wednesday & Thursday. During Mainstage shows, 10am to noon, every day but Sunday, & one hour before curtain. Show Times: Evenings 7:30pm Matinees 4 pm. First Saturday and both Sundays are matinees. Cuota de recuperation – 300 Pesos Email: tickets@lakesidelittletheatre.com THE CANADIAN CLUB hosted their annual Christmas Party, December 13th at La Nueva Posada. Larry Youell graciously MC’ed the well attended event that provided social interaction and delightful entertainment from a few of the children of Voces de Luz, the choir from the music school Musica para Crecer, AC in San Juan Cosala. They were joined in song by a few talented friends of the Maestra, Cindy Youell.

The mission of Musica para Crecer is to bring both musical and life skills to the students who are enrolled and keep them actively engaged in education. Many of the students who originally started with the program 6 years ago are now going on to University educations. The school is non-profit, and all of its’ financial support comes through donations and benefactors in the Lake Chapala community. Voces de Luz - Voices of Light - sing songs in Spanish, English, French and Latin (so far!), and unison to 4 part harmony. What any child lacks in skill they more than make up for in enthusiasm! Maestra Cindy Youell conducted the choir from the keyboard provided to the school from funds raised in part by fellow Canadians. On a Sad Note…We have lost one of our very own here at Lakeside Living; Sandy Olson passed away a few weeks ago. Our deepest condolences to Sandy’s family and friends from all of us at El Ojo del Lago at the saddest of times.

Saw you in the Ojo 59

Sugar Twist By Rico Wallace

ld friends wiggled into the van, all except Cathy. Danny stopped her. “You’re not getting into this car without your diaper, honey,” he said. “I don’t want another mess.” Everybody laughed. “Don’t worry, sweetie,” she said. “I got it and one for you, if you need it.” She showed him the diaper covering her head. They all laughed. “Oh boy, Cathy, you are really losing it,” Rick said. “Cuckoo.” “Like I was saying, before being upstaged,” Barb said, “I ran into Bill my old boyfriend. He said he was in the hospital and had the same doctor that I had; very good doctor. He was the brother of my boss, the Mayor. Boy, that Bill is still good looking. I was at the village hall for thirty years. I shouldn’t let Bill get away.” Cathy turned to the back seat and said, “I’m a grandmother again!” “Will you shut your trap and don’t interrupt me,” Barb said. “The Mayor told me to see his brother the doctor. It probably saved my life. Bill said we should get together again, cha-cha-cha. I had that stomach thing but the Doc fixed it good. Bill is still good looking; got all his hair. The Mayor kept that village running beautiful. Saw the Doc on the street last week and he says, ‘Barb, don’t be eating no seeds and nuts; I don’t want you going down again.’ He-he. I ran into Bill at McDonald’s getting a hamburger if you can believe that.”

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Suddenly Rick threw up his arms and yelled, “Stop it! You’re telling three stories at the same time, you crazy loon. I can’t take it anymore.” Everyone laughed. “By the way,” Liz said, “where are we going, again.” She lit a cigarette. Cathy turned to the back seat and blurted out, “I’m a grandma again.” “We’re taking a ride to Gene and Jude’s for hotdogs,” Danny said. “Can’t you remember anything?” “Michelangelo’s, oh hell yes, I love those little wiener’s,” Liz said. “Not yours Danny. I only remember what I have to. There’s not much room left to remember new stuff. Ha ha ha.” Cathy turned around again and hollered, “I can’t believe I’m a grandmother again. I’m so happy. He’s a big boy.” “Stop interrupting!” Barb shouted. You’re so ruuude, ugh.” She grabbed Liz’s hand with the cigarette. “Put that thing out,” she said. She threw it out the window. They started flaying and slapping each other, laughing then doing, “Pat-acake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man...” “Stop the car,” Rick shouted. You people are nuts. You lost your mind. I can’t take it anymore; let me out.” The next day the friends went to Rick’s home. “What do you want,” he said. “I told you I never want to see you again. You people have lost your marbles. And who are you?” A women stepped up. “I’m a nurse,” she said. “Your friends asked me to help them with this intervention. They said you have been very intolerant and angry, lately.” Rick started screaming, “Get out! Get out!” Two white coats came into the room. They restrained him and fastened him to a gurney. “It’s going to be ok,” Barb said. “They’re taking you to the hospital for rest and evaluation and maybe some medicine. You’ve been acting a little crazy lately.” Rico Wallace

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“If ever our paths should cross again, I promise you this…” By Margie Keane

“

f ever our paths should cross again, I promise you this…” “That’s what he said, and there he is!” Whispered Marcia. Even after 25 years she recognized his “jock walk,” hands in pockets, kind of ambling along, almost a strut. Streaks of gray were prominent in his once crow black hair. He was dressed as he was the last time she saw him—khaki shorts, navy polo shirt and boat shoes. Marcia walked over to the pier railing where he was standing, gazing out over the ocean and said, “hello good lookin’.” Paul wheeled around, his eyes wide as he looked at the lovely red head, “Marcia!” He grabbed her shoulders and said “My god! It’s really you!” They hugged then stood back surveying each other. “My golly Marcia you still have the greatest smile I’ve ever seen.” He looked around. “Are you alone?” “Yes, I’m here to cover the sail races. They don’t start for two days but I love New Port so I came early. I like going through the mansions and eating in the fabulous restaurants here. What about you?” “Here for the races too, my son works at the Naval welfare center here, and I too, came early so he and

I could spend some time together. How about having a drink with me, catch up on the past years.” “Sounds fine.” They walked over to the Black Pearl restaurant and found a table on the deck. As they sipped their drinks Paul asked, “What happened to your friend, what was her name, the one you were staying with here in Newport?” “Janie. What a great three weeks that was. Her parents had that rambling cottage on the beach, remember? She’s happily married, living in Providence and now owns the cottage. “Yeah, I remember that cottage. Do you remember Truman?” “Who could forget anyone with a name like that? “Right, well, if he hadn’t invited me to Newport to go sailing with him, you and I would never have met, and that summer night might not have been so memorable. Paul looked at Marcia, a smile playing around his mouth. “So you’re here to cover the races. That’s funny, I don’t remember you as much of a sailor.” Marcia laughed and said, “You must be thinking of the time I tipped over the canoe trying to get a picture of that beautiful heron.” “No, I was remembering a time a bunch of us were sailing and the boom came around and knocked you into the water.” “Now that wasn’t funny. I had sore ribs for a long time. Would you believe that I now work for a boating company? Paul threw back his head and laughed and laughed. “How did you get a job there?” Marcia shrugged, “I was ready for a job change, saw an ad in the paper for an assistant editor. I had no idea it was for a boating magazine until I went for an interview. When I was in their office, sitting there, looking out over the Connecticut River, I knew I had to have the job, and I got

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it. I read nothing but sailing magazines for weeks. I also took the Coast Guard boating course, learned how to tie a bunch of fancy knots and got my boating license. And you? What are you doing? “You remember the last time you saw me I was leaving on a tramp steamer? “Yes I do remember that. How did it go?” It was an experience. We went to a couple of different ports and then to Germany where I left and bummed around Europe for a while then signed on with a Japanese ship bound for Portland Maine. That was not so much fun! I worked in the galley and saw more fish heads and rice than anyone should have to look at. Ugh!” Gazing at Marcia, Paul reached over and took her hand. “I’m sorry we lost track of each other. I was never good at writing letters. If only I had taken my computer along.” Marcia smiled and took his hand. “I’m sorry too, I have missed your quirky sense of humor. Did you marry?” “Yeah, but turned out that in spite of her telling me how she loved sailing, she really didn’t like boats and I definitely didn’t like big city living so we parted ways, and you?” “Yes, but mine didn’t work out either and we grew apart. He wanted to live the life of a frat boy forever and I wanted to grow up. Are you still sailing around the world?” “No, I started my own boat building business, specializing in small sailboats, then started on bigger things. It got to be too much work so I sold the business for a good amount of money and started another business. Now I’m restoring old boats and loving it. People with old boats still want mahogany and teak and brass, none of the synthetics, so it’s a perfect fit for me. That’s why I love the old mansions; the craftsmanship put into those places is almost non-existent

today. The Vanderbilt’s brought over Italian craftsmen from the Vatican to design a mosaic tile scene on the outside wall of one of their verandas. The workers cut and arranged the small pieces of tile into a fifty foot long ocean scene that is absolutely stunning.” Paul sat back in his chair and gazed at Marcia then he sat forward and asked, “What is the name of this boating magazine you work for?” “Soundings” Marcia responded, “its right next to…” “Essex Boat Works. That’s my old company. I now work in Essex.” “Are you kidding?” Exclaimed Marcia. “Totally serious, I’ve lived in Essex for fifteen years.” “I’ve only worked at Soundings for four months, but still, you would think we might have run into each other, I mean it’s not like there are hundreds of people there. I go down to the dock all the time just to feed the ducks and also to watch this big black lab who thinks he’s a duck dive into the water searching for bread scraps.” They looked at each other for a moment, shaking their heads then break into peals of laughter before Paul asks “are you going out on a boat to cover the races?” “Yeah I am, I’ve gotten better over the years, I haven’t fallen overboard once.” “Why don’t you come with me? You can meet my son, and I will be there to catch you should you try to slide away.” I don’t think I’ll need to be saved but I would like to meet your son. I’ll go to that phone box over there and let the office know of my change in plans, then can we go see your boat? As they walked across the dock Paul took Marcia’s hand. “The last time I saw you, we were on this same dock watching the Kennedy’s yacht come in, remember?” “Yes I do said Marcia, we saw a bit of history.” “I told you that one day I was going to have a boat like that and you said ‘In your dreams!’” Paul stopped and pointed at the beautiful yacht. Marcia clapped her hands “You remembered! The moment I saw you that phrase popped into my mind.” Paul kissed the top of her head and murmured, “Sunset is in two hours and I always keep a promise. Margie Keane

Saw you in the Ojo 63

MAKE-A-WISH—For An Old Lady By Steve Parker

aomi was ready to celebrate a birthday…she would be eighty years old, or as she often was heard to proclaim with a sparkle in her eye and an impish grin… “eighty going on seventy-three.” A strong sturdy woman from Swedish heritage, she had been a wife and teammate to husband Fred for more than fifty years before he lost his battle to cancer and left her to grieve his loss. She moved on with eager anticipation of her new life. She quickly returned to her hobby of knitting lap blankets for those in wheel chairs and soon developed a group of a dozen women who joined in the effort. Always the organizer, she was a natural

to be chosen the designated captain of the shuffleboard and bridge clubs. To everyone at the village Naomi became the go-to person for many of the activities. Naomi looked forward to today’s visit from her grandson Mike. He often teased her claiming he was exhausted, just keeping abreast of her active social life. This visit, however, was even more of a surprise when she told him of her eightieth birthday wish. She laughingly proclaimed it to be a “Make-A-Wish for an Old Lady.” Naomi had thought about her wish for months and had anticipated Mike’s response. She had detailed her arguments against his objections but

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almost burst into tears when his only response was, “Are you sure?” She hugged Mike tightly with a tear in her eye and nodded in the affirmative. For a moment she saw in Mike’s face an image of her late husband Fred when Mike enthusiastically exclaimed, “Okay, let’s do it!” Spending the next week arranging the details Mike picked Naomi up early Sunday morning and they were like little children sneaking down the hallway and escaping through the front door while most of the residents were still sleeping. As they drove south through Phoenix, the Arizona desert landscape became a beautiful panorama of purple hues and soft gold as the rising sun welcomed the summer day. Naomi lowered the window and enjoyed the fresh cool air, smiling in anticipation of what was to come. Mike turned off the highway onto a gravel road which meandered for several miles until, in the distance a rounded metal building stood shining in the morning sun with an orange wind sock to the right. Turning into the drive a sign reading Adobe Mountain Parachuting and Glider Rides, Naomi sat up even straighter in her seat and began to tingle with anticipation. She was first to alight from the car with Mike trotting after her, enjoying her eagerness. She entered the building and to her left she could see an assortment of flight suits neatly hanging on hooks with helmets, scarves and eye wear arranged next to each. She hesitated and then walked over to the large pillow shapes she knew were the parachutes and excitement filled her body. Seeing Mike standing at the counter she hurried over to join him. The young man behind the counter greeted them both and looked at Mike. “Have you ever parachuted before?” Mike tried to present a solemn face, but a little grin gave him away when he pointed to Naomi who was wide-eyed and said, “Not me…HER!” Looking down at the paperwork to hide both his embarrassment and amusement, the clerk mumbled, “Sorry Mam, I just assumed…” Undaunted, Naomi scooped up the paperwork and hurriedly began filling in the blanks as if to say, “Let’s get this show on the road!” Once finished, the young man took both she and Mike to the area where she donned a flight suit and received a helmet and eye wear. Explaining the procedure, Naomi was so excited she hardly heard a word. They inspected the parachutes, as if anyone could tell whether they were packed correctly or not. Her instructor explained there would be a jump master attached to her and introduced her to a young man named Jim who smiled and seemed to

admire her age. After a short instruction video, Naomi was escorted to the plane, a white single prop Cassena already idling on the runway with a large open door and a step on the passenger side. Striding confidently, Naomi went to the door, stepped up and entered the empty shell of the plane. She greeted the smiling pilot and sat on the bench as instructed with the jump master behind her. Being securely tethered to her new best friend, she smiled when the pilot explained they would circle until they reached the 13,000 feet, jump altitude. The third passenger was the photographer who was ready to video her exciting experience. After take-off wind engulfed the compartment making it difficult for Naomi to hear until she heard the voice of the jump master in her ear telling her to scoot forward toward the open door. The photographer exited first standing on the step just outside the open door. Hanging on he motioned his readiness to begin the filming and soon Naomi and Jim were seated at the opening. Both she and Jim waved to the photographer and then suddenly she was airborne. Naomi had anticipated the feeling of flying but this was an incredible new experience. As if she were an eagle, she spread her arms and shrieked with joy as she saw the ground far below, wishing the sensation to last forever. After an extended free fall, the jump master told her to pull the rip cord on the parachute and it was as if they suddenly stopped mid-air. The photographer had fallen faster opening his chute so he could film the decent and catch the wonderment in Naomi’s expression. Then falling even faster, he was on the ground to capture the landing. Just before landing the jump master told her to lift her feet and he brought them in with a soft, gentle on their butt landing. Mike rushed over to see if all went well, but seeing her laugh and smile was all he needed. After changing out of the jump suit, Naomi seemed to talk on fast speed while waiting for the video to be processed. They both laughed in amazement as they watched the video of Naomi giving the “thumbs up” to the photographer. With video in hand, they began walking to the car and passing the desk, Naomi stopped and turned toward the young man. “Hey, how old was the oldest person who ever jumped here?” The young man smiled and said, “Eighty-three, Mam.’” She turned, looked at Mike and back to the young man. Smiling she said, “I’ll be back!”

Saw you in the Ojo 65

The Image Of Mexico By Herbert W. Piekow (From the Ojo Archives)

o image is more revered by Mexicans than that of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She appears on shirts worn by macho men, sewn onto school bags carried by students, as an emblem of faith around the necks of both sexes. The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is proudly carried in public parades and in religious processions. Hidalgo carried her image in battle; his banner is preserved in the National Museum in Mexico City. Felix Fernandez, one of Mexico’s first presidents, even changed his name to Guadalupe Victoria. In 1974 the Nobel Literature laureate Octavio Paz wrote; “The Mexican people...have faith only in the Virgin of Guadalupe and the National Lottery.” The writer Judy King wrote that the Virgin of Guadalupe is a “common denominator” uniting Mexicans. She says that Mexico is composed of a vast patchwork of differences, linguistic, ethnic, and class, but “The Virgin of Guadalupe is the rubber band that binds this disparate nation into a whole.” Four hundred and eighty years ago on Saturday. December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, an indigenous 57-yearold peasant, had a vision of a darkskinned young woman who spoke to him in his native Nahuatl. She appeared to him in the darkness of early

morning as he was on his way to Mass. His almost daily route took him across the cactus covered Tepayac hill, a little distance from Mexico City. There are two early scholarly writings concerning the four apparitions to Juan Diego and one apparition to his Uncle Juan Bernardino, one chronicle written in Spanish and the other in Nahuatl; they are basically the same and relay a similar sequence of events. In the first apparition on December 9th, Juan Diego heard beautiful singing and wondered if he had died and was in the terrestrial paradise “which our elders had told us about.” Then he relates he heard a woman´s voice saying to him; “Juanito, Juan Dieguito.” He climbed the hill, to see who was calling him, he says he was not frightened, but on the contrary felt overjoyed. When he reached the summit he says he saw a Lady, who stood and motioned him to approach. He says he marveled at her superhuman grandeur. “Her garments were shinning like the sun, the cliff where she rested her feet, pierced with glitter, resembling an anklet of precious stones, and the earth sparkled like the rainbow. The mezquites, nopales and other different weeds, which grow there, appeared like emeralds, their foliage like turquoise and their branches and thorns glistened like

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gold.” He says he bowed before her and listened to her words. “ . . . I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love . . . because I am your merciful mother . . .” She instructed him to “Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe.” It is believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mistranslation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that was probably used was Coatallope which means “one who treads on snakes.” We have come to know her as Our Lady of Guadalupe or in Spanish Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. The Santa Maria de Guadalupe told Juan Diego to go to the local bishop and tell him of her wishes for the temple. Naturally, the bishop was dubious and asked Juan Diego to describe the events in detail. After listening to the humble man recount his experience, the bishop dismissed the peasant saying: “You will return. . .” Juan Diego felt frustrated after being sent away by the bishop because he knew the bishop thought the whole affair a fantasy. Returning a second time to the hill, Juan Diego had a similar encounter with the beautiful woman. He begged her to find another messenger, “someone of greater importance because I am nobody.” The apparition replied: “Hark, my son of the least, you must understand that I have many servants and messengers . . .” The next day, Sunday, Juan Diego left his house, again before daybreak. After waiting for most of the day Juan Diego was once more admitted to the bishop, who asked many questions before ultimately dismissing Juan Diego by demanding that the man bring a sign from the apparition, not just words. The bishop instructed some of his men to follow the peasant, as sometimes happens in biblical stories; Juan Diego became invisible and disappeared into the crowd. The bishop´s men told the bishop that Juan Diego was nothing but a common liar and was attempting to mock the Catholic Church. Late that afternoon Juan Diego returned to the hill, where once more he met with the apparition and informed her of the bishop´s demand for a sign. She told Juan Diego to return the next morning and she would give him a sign. However, on Monday his uncle, Juan Bernardino, was gravely ill and Juan Diego spent the day administering to his dying uncle. Early Tuesday, December 12th, Juan Diego left to fetch a priest for his uncle; when he approached the hill he once more encountered the mysterious woman who said, “Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle,

who will not die now of it. Be assured that he is now cured.” Juan Diego was instructed to climb to the top, most barren and coldest part of the hill where December frost was a nightly occurrence. When he reached the summit he was astounded to see so many varieties of exquisite rosas de Castilla blooming. They were fragrant and covered with dewdrops of the night, each drop as perfect as a pearl. He gathered them all and placed them in his tilma. When he returned to the Lady from Heaven, she took each rose into her hands and replaced them back into the tilma. She instructed Juan Diego to open the cloak to only the bishop. The bishop´s angry servants refused to grant Juan Diego an audience until overcome with curiosity they gathered around the humble peon and demanded to know what he guarded in his cloak. He would not open the cloak, but pulled aside a portion so they could see the roses. Each perfect rose gave off a heavenly perfume and the bishop’s majordomo admitted Juan Diego. When he entered the bishop´s chambers, Juan Diego knelt before the prelate who listened as Juan Diego recounted the vision of the fourth apparition. The bishop demanded that Juan Diego open the cloth. The fragrant roses scattered to the floor at the bishop´s feet. Suddenly there appeared the drawing of the precious image of the Holy Mary, Mother of God. Today, the icon is displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe. It is fact that most agave tilmas last no more than 15 years, yet the tilma of Juan Diego is as “soft as silk” and “the fabric and pigments used were from no known source, whether animal, mineral or vegetable,” according to biochemist Richard Kuhn, who analyzed a sample of the fabric. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, who photographed the icon under infrared light, says there are no sketches, corrections and visible brush strokes. Ophthalmologists who have examined the face confirm that the eyes of the Virgin reflect the image of a bearded man, and in fact reflect the ten people who were present when the cloak was opened to the bishop. They say, “The eyes look strangely ‘alive’ when examined.” There is much that is significant about the Patroness of the Americas; she is more than the symbolic mother of MexiHerbert W. cans, but that of Piekow Mexican identity.

Saw you in the Ojo 67

DIANE van der ZANDEN—Colima Sculptor

By An Anonymous Source

ucked into the mountains near the Volcan de Fuego not far from the Jalisco-Colima border,you will discover a hidden gem: the artist’s workshop-atelier Arenas. Gifted artist, Diane van der Zanden, has been pursuing her unique vision since she first put crayon to her mother’s walls. In her idyllic – and ecologically-friendly, mountain retreat where she [and husband, Oscar Rogelio Caraballo Rodriguez] produce much of their own food – she creates sculptures in her tranquil studio using a technique she developed here in Mexico. It wasn’t something she planned, and it took her years to refine. Her exquisite work focuses on the human body, primarily women’s bodies. She explains. “I love the human body; it is magnificent. It is also the hardest thing to do well. I want to show women’s natural bodies as they really are, as an antidote to the false and hateful images that are of-

Tria: Woman Singers by D. van der Zanden

ten portrayed.” Gifted in both art and music, she knew she wanted to be a sculptor the first time she worked with clay when her mother enrolled her in a clay sculpting summer class at age 11. Diane arrived in Colima as a successful professional, showing her work in juried shows across the U.S., and actively selling it through her website. With her natural gifts, and the skills she’d developed at various U. S. colleges and universities, she sculpted in all the standard materi-

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als – clay, plaster, bronze, resin, etc. – and also taught art classes. But life in San Francisco had its problems. So, in 2007, she and her husband, originally from Colima, decided it was time to move to Mexico as they’d always planned. As they scoured the countryside for the perfect piece of land, she began the quest for suitable clay to continue using her preferred material. Despite thorough research, she found nothing that met her rigorous requirements, though she tried everything available. She was reduced to ordering from the US but with this option endured supply unreliability and high costs. Her problem was not simply unavailable materials, but also an unsuitable climate. Colima is hot and humid. The first house she lived in had a southern exposure and her studio was metal-roofed, so her plasticine models melted. The only kilns available for firing her work were so unevenly heated that most pieces either cracked or exploded. After five years, at a low point in her struggle, a writer friend introduced her to the wonders of You Tube. One day as she surfed, she came upon a video about Venetian masks (in Portuguese which she doesn’t speak but

it bears sufficient similarity to Spanish that she got the gist). The mask maker was working with flat molds, using paper and paste. The proverbial light bulb went on. “Aha,” she thought, “I could use a similar technique in three dimensions to produce my sculptures.” Starting with an existing clay sculpture mold, she layered it with small pieces of art paper using craft glue. Eureka! This turned out to be the breakthrough that changed her art. Using the technique, she could produce sculptures that satisfied her aesthetic. It was not easy. It took a lot of experimenting to find the right paper; the best glue; the finishing materials; the suppliers; the technique to prepare the plaster molds and layer the paper; assemble the sculpture from the pieces; and finish the artwork once it was roughly constructed. She describes her method as a ten-step process: Sculpt a piece in plasticine; Cut the sculpture apart; Make plaster molds for each part; Glue several layers of craft paper into the molds and dry; Release each piece from its mold; Cut the flanges from each paper piece with precision; Assemble the paper pieces of the sculpture around an internal armature; Refine the assembled piece with paper and paste; Paint the piece; and Mount on a base. The pieces satisfy her aesthetic sense, requirement for structural integrity and technical perfection. They also reflect the technique she has adopted, and her determination that women should not be seen to be ‘less than,’ from which she suffered in her youth. She has shown her work at the Pinacoteca and IUBA [Art School] in Colima and sold pieces to international clients. She is working on 12 pieces and plans a show in the next year.

Saw you in the Ojo 69

CHRONIC PAIN: The Hidden Disease By Sherry Simon-Heldt

he proverb “seeing is believing” does not really apply to people dealing with pain related to migraine, arthritis, back discomfort, TMJ, RSD, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, cancer. With pain being out of sight and ongoing (sometimes for years), sufferers may have difficulty being believed and validated; their pain can be minimized by family members, friends, even by health care providers. The word pain derives from the Latin poena and the Greek poine, which means “penalty or punishment.” The work of Galen of Pergamon, a prominent ancient Greek physician from the first century, suggested that illness and disease were caused by an imbalance of the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile). This theory gave rise to terms such as phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, and melancholic, which became associated with one’s attitude or mood. Myths are powerful and insidious. The notion that one has long-term pain because of who the person is defies logic, science, even common sense. However, pain sufferers, themselves, can use self-blaming language, such as “This is my fault;” “I must have done something wrong to deserve this.” Some of the common myths and misconceptions regarding chronic pain: Myth: “Pain is in your head.” Truth: Pain is real. Healthcare professionals are beginning to address pain as the fifth vital sign. Severity of pain is judged by the patient. Myth: “Pain is your fault.” Truth: Pain usually results from injury to tissue and alterations in nerve

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pathways. Scientists are still attempting to understand the complexity of chronic pain. Myth: “Pain means you’re weak.” Truth: Pain is indiscriminate. It affects people of all ages, gender, race, socioeconomic standing, or prior health status. Myth: “Pain won’t get better, and you’ll never be able to live a full life.” Truth: People do not need to suffer endlessly in silence. Today, many options exist for treatment that can decrease pain and allow people to resume their lives. What is known from research and clinical practice is that connection with and support from those who are understanding of and empathetic to a patient’s disease is of critical importance to physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health and wellness. Chronic pain patients and their loved ones can benefit greatly by being involved in support groups that address issues such as: • Understanding chronic pain and dispelling myths • Learning the psychosocial stages of chronic pain • Developing a treatment plan, and potential co-occurring conditions • Creating coping skills and strategies • Dealing with family and social interactions Throughout the U.S. exist support groups sponsored by Pain Connection (www.painconnection.org), a program of the U.S. Pain Foundation. * Sherry Simon-Heldt, a licensed psychotherapist is developing programs for chronic pain patients in Tucson, Arizona, where she lives.

Saw you in the Ojo 71

Ever The Horseman. Never The Tourist Be By Dr. Lorin Swinehart

t was a blazingly beautiful autumn day on the desert, and along with my three companions—ten, if you count four horses and three dogs—I was riding deep into northern Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly. There are days so flawless, burned so deeply into our consciousness, that few others ever compare to them. This was one of those days, a peak experience. We rode twenty miles into the canyon, at one point soaked to the skin by an afternoon thunderstorm. In the arid desert air, we were bone dry in moments, as a brilliant rainbow arched across the desert sky. Later in the day, we galloped hell for leather across the canyon floor to help

an elderly Navaho man recapture his two runaway horses, a scene straight out of the western films that so captivated us when we were younger. I remember a small herd of wild horses grazing at some distance as we rounded one bend, their leader, a flashing black stallion, rising up, snorting his warning, and driving his harem off into the distant world of red rock and cacti. We had planned this excursion weeks ahead of time, made arrangements with the park rangers for the horses and two Navaho boys as guides. The guides were necessary, rangers insisted, because pools of quicksand lurked along the canyon floor. Our destination was the notorious Canyon del Muerto, the canyon of death, where the Navaho were defeated by Kit Carson, in service to the insatiable appetite of world gobbling European invaders, and later consigned to a reservation far to the east, away from their homeland between the Four Sacred Mountains, a sort of cultural genocide. The boys brought along their two dogs, who immediately befriended my mixed breed border collie Tiger. The three dogs strayed off from time to time to capture and devour any unfortunate lizard who failed to skitter off fast enough to avoid their capricious but lethal grasp. Dogs will be dogs. The thunderstorm, the rainbow,

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the black stallion, the runaway horses, the red rock Eden basking beneath the cerulean skies, the aches and Pains we experienced after so many hours in the saddle, the campfire kindled from cedar and pinion boughs at the end of day, as starry constellations wheeled overhead, are printed indelibly in my memory. There was only one dissonant note on that glorious day, one that did not affect me personally but left its mark nevertheless. Around mid-morning, a park service van driven by a ranger passed us. Inside, gazing outward at the beauty surrounding them, was a group of perhaps a dozen tourists. They could have suffered some physical limitation that prevented them from experiencing the canyon as we four horsemen were, but it did not appear to be so. Instead, they looked a bit smug, self satisfied, lazy, content only to observe and to “tour”. At that moment, in my 24th year, I resolved that I would always, health permitting, be the horseman and never the tourist, who only tours. My resolve has never diminished. The persons in the van might as well have been back in their overheated living rooms slugging down beer and junk food and watching a TV show. There is little difference between living life second hand through a screen or through a window. A half life is no life at all. Thomas Merton has much to say on this subject in his powerful essay “Conquistador, Tourist, Indian”. Merton decries those who only tour, who see what they expect to see, whatever a travel poster tells them to see, and no more, whether in the stranger they meet or in the stranger’s land. Over the years, I have been blessed to have had other peak experiences like that in Canyon de Chelly. Later that very autumn, a friend and I trekked and, at one point, climbed hand over hand to the top of the nearly 9000 foot escarpment in the Chuska Mountains that overlooked the BIA boarding school where we served as teachers. We scaled those heights for no reason other than to watch cloud patterns drifting across the desert floor far below as the wind shrieked among the towering ponderosa pines and a Rocky Mountain white tailed squirrel cursed us soundly from his sylvan sanctuary. In 2014, my wife LaVon and I drove all the way from Ohio to the big woods of northern Minnesota in order to have a conversation with two wild wolf packs one bright moonlit night deep inside the Superior National Forest. On other occasions, I have witnessed the world illuminated only by starlight, found myself face to face with wild gators in the swamps of Florida, javelina in the Arizona desert, black bears in many of

their homelands. These are holy experiences denied the faint hearted and the spiritually lazy. As I pen these lines, I am distant in miles and years from Canyon de Chelly, sitting alongside a storm tossed beach in South Carolina, preparing our lunch on our charcoal grill. A nearby American flag tells me that Zephyrus, god of the west wind, is responsible for churning the ocean into a froth, causing the waves to beat against the sands, setting the palmetto trees to clattering and chattering among themselves, sending small white puffy clouds scudding across the azure face of the overhanging heavens. Out at sea, I watch a shrimp boat chugging northward, towing its nets behind it, surrounded by a flotilla of gulls, cormorants and pelicans, their wings beating the air in a frenzy, hoping to benefit from any castoffs or leftovers. It is a cold, windy day. The bottom fell out of the thermometer last night, and the winds gust at over 40 miles per hour. There are those who would quail before such natural extravagances, insist that it is too cold, too windy or too something for anyone to be out at all. Those few whom I do see are trundling along all bundled up, made fat by layers of fleece and wool. My experiences have taught me to avoid those who use the word “too” whenever describing meteorological phenomena. They will encage you within their own prison of low expectations. To experience, rather than to merely view or watch, requires that those who are physically able to do so rise above the weak and paltry business of tourism, flee from their ranger driven vans, their self imposed shoebox existences that only approximate life, don a day pack or leap onto a saddle and be off. Live a real life, not a shadow life. Turn off the false life offered electronically. You may emerge soaked to the skin, footsore or saddle sore, but you will experience real adventures, have real stories to tell. The glories of creation, await you. As the prophet Isaiah exults, “The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” My long hours in the saddle on that bright desert day in 1966 provided me with a lifetime of golden memories, a plethora of stories to share with others. I wonder what the people in the van took away on that afternoon. Perhaps only that they witnessed red rock canyons from behind a window. Lorin Swinehart

Saw you in the Ojo 73

A Mexican Maze By Bert Slocombe

Culture Should Be Respected*

n completing our twelve weeks of ‘Survival’ training, my wife Iris and I returned to Mexico City where we anxiously awaited to see what State and village, and to which Indigenas language we would be assigned. We didn’t wait long. We were to take over from a Canadian couple. But first I had to go out on my own and spend around a month with this couple to get a ‘feel’ for the people and their ‘culture.’ The village is named Atliaca, about one hundred or so kilometers from the capital of Guerrero, Los Bravos or Chilpangcingo as it is called in Nahautl. The name Chilpangcingo literally means ‘the city of the bees’, and Atliaca, ‘water

town’ which is a gross mistranslation because in those days the village had very little rain! Our home would turn out to be made of mud/brick with a typical Indigenas thatched roof, and for sleeping purposes, a very small camper. There was one large room which was called the ‘clinic’ where pills of various kinds were handed out freely ‘only’ to the inhabitants of Atliaca but not to those from other surrounding villages which caused my medical/nursing background to raise disturbing questions ! This part of the State of Guerrero was highly infested with a highly poisonous variety of scorpion which had the habit of breeding in the thatch of

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roofs including our little home and work place. During the night they would silently climb down the white -washed painted walls of the ‘clinic and by daylight would congregate in their dozens, daring us to swat them. Our Canadian friends did have working arrangements with the Health Dept. ‘Salubridad’ In Los Bravos and always kept a supply of ‘anti-venom’ readily on hand for use if any of the villagers were stung. Our friends would be leaving us their ‘small’ generator for us to use for our minimal electricity requirements which included a small refrigerator. Around my second week there was to be a special ‘fiesta’ by the village people which revolved around a parade of their ‘black virgin’ mother. It was a most solemn event and was ‘exclusively’ for the Indigenas members of the village and NOT for any stranger or gringos. My Canadian friends had always kept to the wishes of the village but now that they were leaving and Iris and I would be taking over, the husband decided to do the unthinkable and accompanied the village worshippers and took as many photos as he could of the procession and the not to be photographed ‘Black Virgin.’ I was disturbed by his action as was his wife who reminded him the importance of

respecting the cultures of the peoples we were living with. I had hardly returned to the outskirts of Mexico City when I received news that the village of Atliaca was in revolt. The revolt was headed by the city fathers because of the intentional intrusion by a gringo into their most sacred annual religious procession, and the photographing of their most highly venerated ‘Black Madonna.’ I had become close friends with the Public School Superintendent in Los Bravos and he in turn had access to the Governor of the State whom he personally knew, and it was decided that I, my Public School friend Juan, together with a posse of armed militia ordered by the Governor, and a young woman government attorney who would be the ‘arbitrator’ in this tinder box situation, would return to Atliaca immediately. We had had news that a village mob had burned the little church down. What was most unnerving was the news that the more militant members of the mob were threatening to ‘lynch’ the leaders of that little church group which was closely associated with the person responsible for the uprising. With the four armed militiamen, Juan, my Public School friend, the young woman attorney and myself packed into my WW2 Jeep, and on arrival in Atliaca were met by a large and angry group of surly men-folk. With great self-assurance our young attorney stood up in the Jeep and arbitrated with the justifiable angry inhabitants and finally peace and understanding was established. The threatened members were safely released, and I felt safe enough to walk around and greet some of the villagers I had gotten to make friends with in the short time I was in their village. ‘Culture’ needs to be respected! *Ed. Note: This is a true story that happened many, many years ago. The writer and his wife were in Mexico under the sponsorship of a religious organization.

Extending Lives By Ross McDonald

Metabolism: How Does It Work?

ating five times a day controls your metabolism and makes it work for you. It’s easy to spend 3, 4, even 5 hours a week in the gym or some other rigorous exercise. It is very hard to have the perseverance, the mind set, to pursue a “diet” which will keep the weight off! Your thyroid gland, located in your neck, regulates metabolism which is controlled by three factors: The thermal effect of feeding accounts for 5-10% of the calories you burn. This is the energy your body needs to digest the 1/2 liter (or more) of ice cream you were not supposed to have last night. The thermal effect of activity makes up 20--30% of the calories burned daily. This refers to the number of calories you burn in physical activities during the day. Finally and most important is your resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is the number of calories it takes to maintain the body’s basic functions and uses 60--70% of the total calories you expend in a day. It is when this RMR declines that the battle of the bulge begins and RMR decreases as we grow older. Often this happens BECAUSE we grow more sedentary. A low RMR, however, can also be caused by diet, especially if it is too low in calories. The more calories you cut when you start to diet the harder it will be to lose weight!! As we cut mega calories from our food intake, in the mistaken belief this will reduce fat, the opposite happens: the metabolism, believing it will starve, burns fewer calories, stores fat and turns muscle into fat. This latter effect is a disaster. One pound of muscle can burn 50--60 calories a day compared with less than 10 calories for one pound of fat. So if your strict diet causes you to lose 5 pounds of muscle and you have decreased your calorie intake by 500 per day your net result is a calorie reduction of 200 calories because the 5 pounds of muscle you lost no longer burns 300 calories. All you are doing

is losing lean muscle. Eating five times a day is inconvenient. People tend to underestimate their calorie consumption by 400--500 calories per day. Eating large meals “dumps” a lot of insulin, glucose and fat into the blood all at once. The body cannot absorb it. So we create more AND GREATLY INCREASE OUR BLOOD SUGAR COUNT. The point of 5 meals is to even this out. The body no longer believes you are starving so it burns all the food calories and presto! Pounds come off. You can also take Vitamins C and natural E before meals to slow the fat/glucose build up. Getting a thyroid test is a very important step in your longevity particularly for people over 50 years old. For information on supplements that help to control your weight contact Extendinglives@gmail.com Ed. Note: Ross graduated from Yale U and U of Texas, after a career on Wall St and several diverse businesses including geological research and motion pictures. He turned to exercise and health. During the last 23 years in San Miguel, he owned a gym, a health spa and presently a package delivery service and health store.

Saw you in the Ojo 75

Maggie’s Story* By Donna Pearce

here are many different ways of forming a family. We are all familiar with the traditional: man and woman meet, fall in love, get married and have babies. Sometimes, however, things don´t go according to this “plan,” and we find that there are other ways to make a family. This is the story of ours. It begins with me. At the time I was 33, and had been divorced for about a year. Having dealt with the emotional fallout of my divorce, I realized that the most painful part was the loss of the potential to have a family. One day, it came to me in what I think was a “moment of clar-

ity.” I hadn´t lost anything. I could still have the family I wanted so very badly. It seemed to me there was two options: I could have a baby or adopt one. I quickly ruled out the idea of having a baby. For me it didn´t seem a viable option. I happily decided that adoption was the way I would form my much desired family. My two best friends both had babies in 1997, and I saw that raising an infant was an exhausting task, even when shared by two people. I wanted to be realistic about what I, on my own, could do, and find the child to whom I could offer the most as a parent.

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With this in mind, I decided to adopt an older child, age 6-10. Somehow, I’ve always known in my heart that I would have a daughter. I also believed that, as a single woman, I could offer more to a girl than to a boy. Some people would disagree, but I feel that it is more important for a boy to have a father than for a girl. My parents had spent the last 14 winters in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico and made many friends. Among them was a lady from Guadalajara, Gloria. In December 1997, when my parents were leaving for Mexico, I asked my Mom to talk to Gloria and see if she had any connections which might help me adopt a child. There is no program between the Mexican and Canadian governments at this time, though this might change in the future. There are many children in Mexico who need families and many people in Canada with a lot of love to share. I have always felt a strong affinity for Mexico and its people, and speak Spanish. Some would say I have a “Mexican soul.” In early 1998, my Mom called to say that Gloria had a friend, Adriana, who worked at Instituto Cabanas, one of the orphanages in Guadalajara. She had spoken with the ladies in charge of international adoptions, and they already had a little girl in mind for me. This little girl was completely “libre,” meaning she was legally free to be adopted. Was I interested? I quickly wrote a letter by fax. The next afternoon, I received a bundle of papers by courier. I felt as if someone was trying to show me that this was the path. I completed the application package, which included an information sheet, a short autobiography, a medical, four letters of reference from friends, and a letter from my employer. All of these I translated into Spanish. Everything was ready for my planned trip to Mexico in February 1998. When I arrived, I made an appointment with the Instituto Cabanas for a personal interview. The two ladies in charge seemed happy with me, and I was certainly impressed by them and by the Institute itself. Everyone seemed to really care for the children. They told me there was, indeed, a little girl of nine who was legally free to he adopted. They said she was very bright, warmhearted and was in excellent health. That was all I needed to know, and decided to proceed. As for the little girl’s new name, I chose “Margarita” for two reasons. It was my mother’s name, and also the name of my fa-

vorite drink. In July of 1998, I received a package from Mexico—the best package of my life. In it was information about my daughter-to-be, including pictures. She was absolutely beautiful, and had just turned ten in May. Her name? Barbara Margarita, known as Maguito (little Maggie) or, as we would call her Maggie. My Mom had died in March when Mom was on her way home from Mexico. Now the family would have a new Margarita. I sent Maggie a long letter, and pictures of her new family, our home, her school, etc. In August, I received my first letter from her. Again, we all cried many tears of happiness. My lawyer initiated the case in the courts. Our court date was set for December 8. We arrived in Mexico on December 5, after five days on the road. The morning of December 7, my lawyer phoned Instituto Cabanas. They told him that Maggie had already been to the office twice, saying that she didn´t think her Mommy was really going to come. We zoomed over there between my two appointments. After ten months of waiting, I was finally going to meet my daughter! Needless to say, it was very emotional for us both. I should have bought stock in Kleenex. On December 8, we went to court. My parents traveled from Ajijic to accompany me. After the hearing, we went to Instituto Cabanas so my parents could meet their new granddaughter. To my surprise, the people at the Instituto said that we could take Maggie with us, even though there were eight more days of school. I wasn´t really prepared, but still jumped at the chance. That’s about the end of our story. The rest involved a lot of waiting for Maggie´s birth certificate, act of adoption, passport and entrance visa to Canada. Our new family is adjusting nicely, day by day. It has meant a lot of changes for all of us, including Maggie. She has never had a family, and I have never had a daughter, but we are both learning. I´m sure, with love and patience, we´ll both be fine. I have always felt that if you really want a child, there is one out there somewhere for you. I truly believe that Maggie is the child God meant for me to have. It just took us a little while to find each other. *Ed. Note: This true story is one of the most heart-warming that we have ever published and for just that reason, we run it again every once in a while.

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Through The Window By Katina Pontikes katcpon@yahoo.com

clean windows for a living. Window Washing Technician is my official position. People stand mouths agape when I tell them what I do. Apparently, an awful lot of people fear dizzying heights. Not me. I love the wind, the quiet, the almost hypnotic sound of my squeegee as I follow the same pattern on each window to remove the liquid cleaner. Thump, drag, wipe. Thump, drap,wipe. I can complete the windows of a highrise unit in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes is a short or a long time, depending on who’s counting the minutes. I think I’m efficient. The tenants of the high rises feel that a guy hanging from a rope at the fifteenth floor is nerve-wracking. And they don’t like feeling like they are in a fishbowl. Most of them leave the rooms I am cleaning so they don’t experience facing their own fear of heights. And no one wants to witness an accident. I am focused on my job, but sometimes I can’t help but see something from the windows where tenants haven’t closed their blinds. Take yesterday. I had just begun cleaning what seemed like a den, when a middleaged lady came from an adjoining bathroom straight into the room I was washing. She had an open robe, nude underneath, hair twisted in a towel. I know she saw me right away, because she crossed the front of her robe to close it as our eyes met. I pretended I

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hadn’t seen her by focusing diligently on an invisible spot. Only a few minutes later, I was washing windows of a large kitchen area. She popped up again, this time her figure in my peripheral vision. Her wet hair had been combed in a swept back style, and she had on what looked like running clothes, very form fitting. Her figure was sharp. The oddest part was as I looked down to feign interest in a lower area of the window, I caught sight of her shoes. They made no sense. She had on silver evening shoes with little rhinestones glistening from the spiky heels. As she teetered out of the room, she swayed a bit from side to side. I wasn’t sure who was in the greatest danger at that moment, her or me. I’d made my progress to the balcony area, which had a short, clear half partition under the railing. Oddly, the lady had now moved to this room, without any shoes on at all, and was polishing her toenails. This task would take at least as long as my work. I was beginning to realize there was a method to her appearances. I still focused on my work as I neared completion of her unit. Then the woman came walking right up to the window, very unusual behavior in my line of work. She had clear, smooth skin and her lips were wet with some clear glossy gel. She looked me right in the eyes, noting that I was expectantly looking back. I really had no choice, as she was one inch from the window. She never mouthed a word, never attempted to open the sliding door to the balcony. Ever so calmly, she took out a red lipstick, and dirtying the inside of her window, she wrote her phone number in reverse, very easy for me to read. She put the cap back on the lipstick tube, grabbed a purse and left her apartment. I made a note of the number and then continued to finish the job. People would be surprised at the hidden benefits of a job as lonely as mine. Katina Pontikes

Saw you in the Ojo 79

Conservative Contradictions By Fred Mittag (Reprinted by Request)

ne obvious manifestation of this conservative neurosis is the unusual degree of anger and hate they display. Who can forget Congressman Joe Wilson’s shout of “You lie!” to President Obama during his address to a joint session of Congress. Or Governor Jan Brewer wagging her finger in President Obama’s face. And so many other examples of the crude level of behavior to which conservatives have sunk. Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a prostitute and a slut. This is hate and anger at unusual levels, far beyond reasoned political debate. I think a lot of it is neurotic frustration over having a black president. I

hypothesize that conservatives hate Obama because he’s black; therefore, their instinct is to destroy him. That’s the stimulus that comes from their hatred of him. The conflicting stimulus is that they can’t do it. Their fear of punishment is the stimulus that stops them. And so they suffer an unresolved conflict, no different in principle from the mouse that is rendered neurotic by whether to press the button with its nose. The mouse is torn between the stimulus of hunger and the stimulus of fear at a possible electric shock if it presses the button. Just as the mouse suffers agitated behavior from its neurosis, I think the result of the neurosis in conservatives

is that it shuts down their brain. What else could explain a conservative saying that Arab terrorists are coming across the Mexican border posing as “wetbacks”? What else but an incapacitated brain could make a conservative believe Mexicans are bringing leprosy and Ebola to the United States? What else but a crippling neurosis could make Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) state in Congress that a warm pipeline in Alaska would encourage caribou to have romantic dates by the warmth of the pipeline and increase the caribou population? What else but neurosis could make conservatives believe Obama was born in Kenya? Also, that he’s a Communist Muslim? Nobody can believe these are normally functioning brains at work. In many cases, the coping mechanism for conservatives is cognitive dissonance. I think the evil they commit in various ways, including especially racism and the economic damage done by conservative ideology, is too much for them to accept, and they just go into denial of their evil, reassured by their sitting in a church pew on Sunday morning. How can they be evil if they go to church? An appeal came from Congressman John Lewis this evening to sign a

petition demanding that voting rights be reinstated. I was happy to sign it. He is a revered civil rights leader from the 60s who was beaten into a brain concussion by racist police. He said that Republican voter suppression resulted in the 2014 election having the lowest voter turnout in 72 years. That, of course, is exactly what the Republicans intended, so as to enhance their base of angry old white men. Voter suppression is also another expression of institutionalized racism, since it mostly targets minority voters. Rudy Giuliani’s statement that white policemen are needed in black neighborhoods to keep blacks from shooting each other is something that came back to my mind several times today. It seems like a bizarre thing for him to have said. And he repeatedly drove home the point that 93% of black murders are committed by other blacks. In his racism, it never occurred to him to wonder what percentage of white murders are committed by other whites. The answer is that it’s almost exactly the same percentage. According to Giuliani’s logic, black police officers should be sent into white neighborhoods to shoot white men and to keep whites from killing each other. Conservatives have never been accused of having critical thinking skills. To the contrary, they officially want to keep thinking out of our schools. It’s in the Texas State Republican Party’s platform. I kid you not. In a lifetime of being a student, a teacher – and I hope a lifelong learner – I could never possibly have believed I would live to see the day when the suppression of thinking skills became an official position of a political party. Thinking is the essence of what I have worked for my entire life. God help us. Fred Mittag

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

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Watch Your Step By Marilyn P. Davis

jijic (Îah-heeHEEKâ), a beautiful, friendly little town of cobbled streets and prettily painted houses... is how it’s described in the guidebooks. We come to this charming, picturesque pueblito, where strolling is the favored pastime, and notice Mexicans with Á11fitting huaraches or worse yet high heels walking with friends, talking, often with children in tow, and bundles on their back. Not only do they not have a problem maneuvering the cobblestones, they seem completely oblivious of them. This puts us at unawares. As foreigners we are observant and take our cues from what we see others doing, and we assume there is no problem. Of course the guidebook does not advise us to wear our sturdiest walking shoes, or warn us that even then, we can break our neck on those cobblestones. No, but it is something that any North American who has been here for two weeks can tell you. Most of us have had a near turn of the ankle and all know of someone who had a serious fall. But why does this not happen to Mexicans? If it did, they would have paved the streets long ago. Is it that they have been walking on cobblestones all their lives or is it a genetic proclivity? Probably a little of both, but the real reason is fairly simple:

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negative reinforcement. Years ago when the village I work in didn’t have electricity, hence no telenovelas (soaps), to occupy our afternoons, the women would sit outside and sew while the children played games in the street. One day a baby, just beginning to walk, was let loose. He would walk a few steps and fall, just like children everywhere, but here, at each kapoooom, all the women and children would laugh. He’d get up with a smile on his face and try again. And as it is with babies, in just a few days he was walking here and there; hardly ever falling. Before the water was piped to each house, one of the joys of pueblo life was rainy season when the river was full. All the women and smaller children would all go up and wash clothes and bathe. We’d carry the big metal tubs on our heads filled with clothes and a variety of special soaps to take out any possible stain. I was fortunate in that I just had a family of three, so my load was fairly light. Some women had to wash for a family of eight or nine. We’d walk up the hillside in gullies trying to avoid the nopal, huisache, and all the other stickery growth that seemed to reach out and grab you. My tub would wobble back and forth as I’d tip my head to keep an eye on where I was going. I noticed that the other women walked with their heads

held high. Being of a short, stocky build, they didn’t appear to be particularly graceful or agile, yet no one ever tripped or lost their footing. As I walked along watching them, and trying to navigate the twists and turns, I would wish that the women from my fabric store in Berkeley could see this. In my store, I had one small step. Even though it was outlined with day-glo tape, every day someone would fall. I could never figure it out. When we walked up the hill to the river, we would always be accompanied by Doña Irene, the most respected matriarch of the village. She would lend her authority and assurance to keep all members of the opposite sex at bay, and protect our standing as fine young women. At 70+ years, she was still in good walking form. Then it happened. She fell! She not only fell, but as she lost her footing she tumbled over and landed just short of the needle-sharp spines of a prickly cactus. Horrified, I immediately dropped my tub ran up the hill to help her. By the time I reached her, she had gotten up, to the shrieking and laughter of all the other women. She started laughing too. We were all hysterical. It was hard to tell if the tears coming down were of pain or hilarity. Back in the pueblo it was a great story to be acted out and it kept everyone in stitches for days. Well, I often thought that the next time someone fell down that step there in Berkeley, I’m going to laugh and see if that made a difference. But I never could. So just remember, as you walk through these quaint cobbled streets, to watch your step. You are at a distinct cultural disadvantage. Ed. Note: Ms. Davis, a member of the Ajijic Writers Group, is one of our area’s most distinguished writers. Her book Mexican Voices, American Dreams was published by the prestigious Henry Holt & Son and recently went into its sixth printing.

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The Ojo Crossword

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

ACROSS

DOWN

1 Green skinned pear 6 Pros 10 Big party 14 Seal off 15 Deadly contest 16 Aged 17 Large eastern religion 18 Advise 19 Jewish calendar month 20 Moose relative 21 Lounge 23 Skin problem 25 Coin 26 Pastry 27 “Hot__” 30 Washed 34 Use 35 River dam 36 Influential person 38 Pig pens 39 American Collage of Physicians (abbr.) 40 Journalist´s question 42 Cousin 43 African antelope 44 “Home, home on the __” 45 Funeral musical 48 Tack 49 Hotel 50 Refer 51 Drink 54 Hyphen 55 Make lace 58 Defeat 59 Looked 61 Wells___ 63 Nimbus 64 Nurture 65 Worker´s organization 66 Goad 67 Harvard´s rival 68 French city

1 Yearn 2 Nab 3 Debris 4 Hoary 5 Luau guitars 6 Grown-up 7 Helix 8 Electroencephalograph (abbr.) 9 Dozer 10 Brassy 11 Assistant 12 Canned meat brand 13 Zeus´ wife 22 Less than two 24 Central Intelligence Agency 25 Hutch 27 Elephant tooth 28 Bustling 29 North Eastern state 30 Body cavity 31 Mouth parts 32 Happening 33 Funeral hymn 35 Diminish 37 Equal 40 Irate 41 Well 43 Pungent 46 Albanian monetary unit 47 Card game 48 Possessive pronoun 50 Nucleus 51 Epochs 52 Rise (2 wds.) 53 Wise man 54 Do business 55 Triad 56 Greek assembly or gathering 57 Oodles 60 Congressional vote 62 One of these

THREE PLACES AT ONCE

—Or Be Careful What You Wish For! By Julie Elizabeth Mignard

CHURCH DIRECTORY ALL SAINTS LUTHERAN Church Worship Service and Sunday School at 11:00 am 4600 Avenida Tepeyac, Guad. Tel. (01 333) 121-6741. ABUNDANT LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD Carr. 140 next to Mail Boxes etc, Tel: 766-5615.

he soft ruffle of silk lay gleaming across Bettylou’s wrinkled palm. It was three things at once. “If only I could be three things at once,” she was thinking. It was a lovely lavender blue, periwinkle maybe, and wherever the soft gathers bent it, it shimmered a brilliant turquoise, the color of a peacock’s breast, yet it was totally transparent. “This is the material for the bridesmaids’ dresses, Gramma, I hope you haven’t bought your dress yet, because it needs to be able to match this for the pictures.” And on and on the self-absorbed letter went. How could Claudia possibly have chosen October 12 for her wedding? The exact date of the annual NNN Gala. “My last year as President, this just could not be happening!” And now this phone call about Daddy, they need me to empty his apartment before the first of November. The apartment he moved into seventy-five years ago in Manhattan, her childhood home. Claudia’s wedding on Maui. My LIFE in Mexico. This just cannot be happening. “I wish I could just be here and in Maui and in NYC in October!” “Here I spend months at a time never hearing from anybody, missing my granddaughter, not hearing boo from Daddy. I have to work at being with people around here. That’s why I joined the NNN in the first place, without commitments it was just too easy to sit around alone and read books, pet the cats, TV and all that. I’d forget I was in Mexico, not see anyone but the gardener for days at a time, and now, NOW – why for God’s sake can’t these things spread out over the year? A nice June wedding, selling the apartment in January? Oh no. I get my moment to shine, this year the NNN was going to be

bowled over by my brilliance. I was never going to have to call people and try to arrange a lunch again. They were going to be calling ME! Now what? Either my Granddaughter is going to hate me or my Daddy is going to have everything put out on the street by strangers, or I am back to square one in the social life of just one more single woman in the community. Three places, I need to be three places at once.” Shoving the phone aside, Bettylou turned back to her wine. It was just out of reach on the opposite corner of the table. Starting to heft her ample padding, Bettylou stretched across the wide glass tabletop reaching for her favorite wine glass. She startled violently as the forgotten silk fluttering down slid into her view. The top-heavy wine glass went crashing to the floor. Bettylou’s center of gravity reached the point of no return, her considerable mass smashing her face first into the broken glass and spilled wine immediately followed by a huge crash as gravity and floor tiles combined to bounce the custom-made table into flying swords of lethal glittering glass shards. Two days later the maid had a nasty surprise. And so, Bettylou got her wish. On October 12, her friends at the NNN all agreed that it was the best Gala ever as they sprinkled one third of Bettylou’s ashes into the sea. Her Granddaughter honored her at the wedding by adorning her urn with the beautiful silk and her favorite flowers and tearfully toasted her as the best Grandma anyone ever had. The last one third of her ashes in a brown cardboard box got put out on the street in Manhattan by strangers, along with everything else from seventy-five years of her forgotten life.

CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING CELEBRATION SERVICE 1st Sunday of each month, Nicolas Bravo #17 Ajijic. Tel: (376) 766-0920 or tim@revdoctim.com CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS Services in English and Spanish, 10 am, Riberas del Pilar Tel. (376) 7657067, President: Pedro Aguilera. Recidence (376) 762-0299. CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Services Sun. 10 am, Alvaro Obregon 119, Chapala. Tel. (376) 765-4210. CHRIST CHURCH LAKESIDE Eucharist for each Sunday 11:00 am. La Huerta Eventos Center in West Ajijic. Rev. Danny Borkowski at (376) 766-2495 or Jim Powers (387) 761-0017. HOME CHURCH INT’L Locations by calling (332) 242-8648, or email yeshuapfa@gmail.com JEWISH CONGREGATION Santa Margarita 113, Riberas del Pilar, Tel: 766-2668. lcjcac@gmail.com for information and service times. Web site: www. lakechapalajewishcongregation.com. LAKE CHAPALA BAPTIST CHURCH Sunday Bible study at 9:45 a.m.; Sunday worship at 11 a.m. at Santa Margarita 147, Riberas del Pilar. Eddie Garnett, deacon. Tel. (331) 608-0856 LAKE CHAPALA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP

The Unitarians meet Sundays at 10:30 am. Hidalgo #261 Riberas del Pilar. Lew Crippen, 766-1119. LAKESIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Worship-Sunday 10 am; Bible Study-Friday at 9:45 am; San Jorge 250; Riberas del Pilar Church Office at 376-106-0853. Website at www.lpcchapala.org LITTLE CHAPEL BY THE LAKE Sun. services 11:15 am, Chula Vista,. Jal, Tel. (376) 106-1199, 766-4409 SAN ANDRES CATHOLIC CHURCH Services 9 am on Sunday, Ajijic, Tel: 766-0922. SAINT ANDREW´S ANGLICAN CHURCH Calle San. Lucas 19, Riberas del Pilar, Worship begins at 10 a.m., “Coffee Hour,” a time of fellowship and welcome. Tel: 765-3926. www.standrewsriberas.com. ST. MARK’S ANGLICAN GUADALAJARA St. Mark’s is at Chichimecas 836 in Colonia Monraz.

Saw you in the Ojo 85

NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

(NOTE: If there is any change, please advise us so that corrections may be made. Call Rosy: 765-3676) AJIJIC SOCIETY OF THE ARTS (ASA): AjijicSocietyOfTheArts.com Provides local artists an opportunity to meet, demonstrate techniques and organize art shows; and provides assistance to young Mexican artists to learn and show their work. Deena Hafker 376-766-2249 or oliodee@ hotmail.com AA LAKESIDE: Alcoholic Anonymous group. Meets Monday & Thursday from 4:30-5:30 PM at the Lake Chapala Society. Ian Frasier 376-766-4990 iandavid81@gmail. AL-ANON: No website or face book. Monday 10AM at Club12- Men’s meeting. Monday 10:30AM at Little Chapel-Open meeting. Saturday 10 AM at Club 12-Open meeting. Information: Call 376-766-4409, Cell 333-480-7675 AL-ANON (IN SPANISH): Mondays 6-7:30 & Wednesdays 5:30-7:30. Meets at the Lake Chapala Society. Ericka Murillo 376-766-1788 erickamurillo2000@yahoo.com.mx AJIJIC QUILT GUILD - Meets second Tuesday monthly at 10 am. Guests & New Members Welcome. ajijicguild@gmail.com AJIJIC WRITERS’ GROUP- Meets 1st and 3rd Fridays at 10 am. Nueva Posada. Coffee. Meeting followed by lunch at the Nueva Posada. AMERICAN LEGION OF CHAPALA POST- #7: General Membership meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 10:30 am. Tel: 765-2259. AMERICAN LEGION, FRANK M. VALENTINE POST 9: Meets at The Iron Horse Inn (across from the old Maskaras clinic) on the first Wednesday of every month at 1 pm. Call Perry King at 763-5126 or Al King at 737-1493 for more info. ANCIANITAS DE SANTA CLARA DE ASIS: Web site: https://rudiselj.wixsite.com/ancianitaslagochapal . Lisa Le :387 761 0002 - lisale888@gmail.com AXIXIC MASONIC LODGE #31- Meets 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at Hotel Perrico at 3:00 pm. The address is Libramiento Chapala-Ajijic #2500. Contact Sheldon Stone at (376)765-3306 or stoneshel@gmail.com. BARE STAGE THEATRE: Hidalgo #261 in Riberas del Pilar, barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com. BRAVO! THEATRE: www.facebook.com/Bravotheatre (unofficial) Semi-professionsal theatre with live theatre and ongoing adult arts education in dance and theatre. Jayme Littlejohn 331045-9627 mymytickets@gmail.com BRITISH SOCIETY: Assist the British Community facilitates the transmission of information with The British Embassy in Mexico. Meetings are the 1st Saturday of the month at Manix restaurant for lunch and speaker. Sue Morris 376-766-0847 /331-156-0346 ibbocat@gmail.com CARD & DOMINO CLUB- Wednesday, Friday & Saturday. Call for times. We will teach; make friends! Tel. 766-4253, Cell: (045) 33-1402-4223. CANADIAN CLUB OF LAKE CHAPALA: www.canadianclubmx.com Club Objectives are: 1. To promote fellowship among Canadians and friends within the Lake Chapala area. 2. To encourage a cultural exchange and foster friendly relations with all residents. 3. To be a centre for providing current Mexican and Canadian Information. 4. The Club shall be non-profit, non-political and non-sectarian CASAS CARIÑOSAS, A.C.: www.abbeyfield-ajijic.org As part of the world wide non-profit organization of Abbeyfield, help an increasing number of older people enjoy a high quality of independent living provided through a range of services, including housing, support or care, with local community involvement. 376-766-2045 info@abbeyfield-ajijic.org CASA DEL LAGO (CASA DE ANCIANOS) CHAPALA: Provides support for local area elderly citizens through a residential home in Chapala. Ana Luisa Maldonado 376-765-2497 adultosdellago@gmail.com CENTRO DE DESAROLLO JOCOTEPEC, A.C.: www.cedejo.org Improve the quality of life for Lake Chapala families with limited resources through promoting the health and well being of the family. Calle Ocampo # 45-A. 376-766-1679 CHAPALA SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB: www.chapalarotary.org Participate in activities that will support lakeside residents. Provide assistance to international projects and meet with other like -minded Rotarians to build friendships. Meetings: Thursdays 10AM Monte Carlo Hotel CREM: AJIJIC MUSIC SCHOOL: www.cremajijic.com For 24 years this school has provided music education to children at lakeside. Students are taught to play an instrument and participate in the orchestra or the choir. There are 43 students and 8 faculty, all university graduates. Scholarships are offered to students from low-income families. 333-496-8976 cremajijic@gmail. com CRUZ ROJA MEXICANA DELEGATION CHAPALA: www.cruzrojachapala.com Offers clinical, ambulance and other emergency medical services to all Lakeside residents and visitors. Yolanda [Yoly] Martinez Llamas Consejo President 766-2260 consejochapala@gmail.com CULINARY ARTS SOCIETY OF AJIJIC: www.ajijiccasa.org Provides CASA members, Associates and guests a monthly forum to share foods, learn new preparation techniques, stimulate culinary ideas, meet new people and enjoy the world of food: in a competitive atmosphere that encourages creativity and rewards excellence. CASAlakeside@yhoo.com DAR: (At Lakeside) - THOMAS PAINE CHAPTER meets every 3 Wednesday at 12:30 noon at the Janelle´s Restaurant in Ajijic. September thru June. Tel: 766-2981. DAYS FOR GIRLS: www.daysforgirlslakechapala.org A group of women working together giving days back to girls through access to lasting feminine hygiene solutions. This results in a more dignified and educated world, for the girls of the Lake Chapala area. We create hand made menstrual kits and distribute them along with education to empower, enlighten and strengthen the young women receiving them. All this because of access to these products and taking responsibility of ones menstrual situation, sexuality, pregnancy planning and hygiene. Darlene Macleod 387-761-0175 darmacleod@gmail.com DEMOCRATS ABROAD MEXICO/ LAKE CHAPALA CHAPTER: www.democratsabroad.org, www.facebook.com/DemocratsAbroadMexico Official arm of the Democratic Party of the United States, working as a state party for US citizens living abroad. The mission is to represent and serve American citizens living outside the United States who support the principles of the Democratic Party. Larry Pihl, Executive Chair 376-766-3274 larry.pihl@gmail.com, da_mexico@

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

democratsabroad.org EUCHRE CLUB: We play tournament style so that everyone gets a new partner after every 8 round hand, and that way you meet lots of new people. The club is free and open to anyone and everyone who enjoys playing Euchre. It is a free club and we play every Tuesday at El Sombrero at 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm. ESCUELA PARA NINOS ESPECIALES (SCHOOL FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN): www.schoolforspecialchildren.org The mission is to improve the educational opportunities for children with a wide variety of disabilities and in doing so, increase the probability that they might enjoy a brighter future. Mission is accomplished through provision of a clean, safe physical environment and improved nutrition during the school day. Working closely with the Mexican school board and teachers, we help support the educational programs for the children, young, adults and families. 387-763-0843 FERIA MAESTROS DEL ARTE: www.feriamaestros.com & www.mexicoartshow.com To preserve and promote Mexican indigenous and folk art. We help preserve these art forms and the culture that produces them by providing the artists a venue to sell their work to galleries, collectors, and museums. In collaboration with Mexican government agencies, we promote regional and international awareness to the plight of these endangered arts. Marianne Carlson, mariannecarlson@gmail.com or Rachel McMillen rjmcmillen@shaw.ca. FRENCH CLUB (LES AMITIES FRANCOPHONES). A social gathering for people who speak French fluently (and their spouses & guests). The group meets once a month (either a pot luck or at a restaurant) on the 3rd Saturday for a late lunch, good conversation, some drinks and more than a few laughs. For more information contact Jill Flyer, fotoflyer2003@yahoo.com. FOUNDATION FOR LAKE CHAPALA CHARITIES: www.lakechapalacharities.org The prime purpose is to attract money for the charities around Lake Chapala, Mexico and to allow those who donate to claim U.S. tax deductions for their gifts to those charities. The Foundation will also accept “endowments” and “memorial support” for any of the charities and will provide free Mexican legal assistance in setting up those endowments and memorials. 376-766-2606 or cell 331-260-7123 Admin@LakeChapalaCharities.org GARDEN CLUB- Meets the 3rd. Wednesday 12:00 noon at La Nueva Posada. GERMAN CLUB: Provides social opportunities for German-speaking residents. The group meets 2nd Thursday for lunch at 1PM. One does not have to be German but must speak German. Ing. Javier Aguilera 387-761-0777 javier.aguilera@mudanai.com HASH HOUSE HARRIERS: International running group with local chapter walks on Saturday morning, 8:30 AM, La Nueva Posada Hotel with goals of getting exercise, having fun, and enjoying breakfast. Denny Strole 376-766-0485 dstrole@gmail.com HOPE HOUSE: www.hopehousemx.org The Hope House is a safe shelter for boys ages 8 to 18. Our vision is to develop character, provide love and impart tools to be a successful part of society. Rodney Drutos 376-762-0032 oficina@casahogarmexico.org HAVE HAMMERS WILL TRAVEL A.C.: www.havehammer.com The mission is to provide learning and social experiences within a safe, supportive environment so that our students acquire: basic woodworking CAD skills for exploration of career pathways (Level 1: ages 10-14) intermediate woodworking CAD skills for entry-level employment (Level 2: ages 15+) advanced woodworking CAD skills for professional employment, incl. coops (Level 3: ages 21+) skills to maintain a well equipped woodworking shop Tuition $400 pesos/month limited scholarships available Information: hhwtchapala@gmail.com. Office 376-766-4830. President Michel Ouimet or H Wayne Renz, bingolago@aol.com JALTEPEC CENTRO EDUCATIVO (FORMERLY CENTRO DE FORMACION JALTEPEC): www. jaltepec.edu.mx. A Tecnico Universitario en Hoteleria, providing education in hotel & hospitality management and an entrepreneurial program. 387-763-1781 info@jaltepec.edu.mx. LAKE ASSISTANCE: www.facebook.com/ LAG Importing equipment for firefighters and police and to distribute around the lakeside fire departments. John Kelly 331-758-0676 jkelly203@ gmail.com LAKE CHAPALA BIRDERS: www.chapalabirders.org Encourages bird watching; organizes bird walks, bird trips and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. John & Rosemary Keeling 376766-1801 chapalabirders@yahoo.com LAKE CHAPALA GARDEN CLUB: www.lakechapalagardenclub.org Promotes an interest, appreciation and better understanding of botanical subjects including but not limited to all plant materials, their care and use in the home and garden. Meetings explore the many garden species and practices unique to this area of Mexico. Open to all interested in gardens and their care. Supports lakeside organizations with beautification and educational projects. LAKE CHAPALA SHRINE CLUB: www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org & www.shrinersinternational.org www.facebook.com /pages/Lake-Chapala-Shrine-Club/757185090966972 Physical examination of lakeside children to determine if they qualify for treatment locally or by Family trips to the Mexico City Shrine Hospital the cost of which is financed by frequent Fundraisers such as Dine With the Shrine, Rib fest and tax deductible donations. David Eccles, President 331-017-1724 davideccles@hotmail.com Perry M. King 376-763-5126 pking1931@gmail.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY A.C.: www.lakechapalasociety.com The mission is to promote the active participation of Lakesides’ inhabitants to improve their quality of life. By making this commitment we signal to the community that our focus is based not just on ex-patriots, but everyone living at lakeside. For the Mexican community, provides English as a second language, remedial tutoring, student financial aid, Wilkes Education Center and Biblioteca at Galeana #18 and free medical checks. Carole Wolff president@lakechapalasociety.com Steve Balfour 376766-1140 executivedirector@lakechaplasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY CHILDREN’S ART PROGRAM: www.lakechapalasociety.com “A visual arts program free for all lakeside community children aged 3 to 18 that provides them an opportunity to explore their creativity. A Neill James legacy program that began in 1954.” Danielle Page childrensart@lakechapalasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY STUDENT AID FUND: https://lakechapalasociety.com/public/stu-

dent-aid-program.php Provides financial support to qualified Lakeside area students to enroll in public university programs. directoreducacion@lakechapalasociety.com. Alfredo Perez 376766-1140 apoyoeco@lakechapalasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY WILKES EDUCATION CENTER (BIBLIOTECA PUBLICA): www. lakechapalasociety.com Provides classes of Spanish and English languages and other topics for both Anglo and Mexican community. Alfredo Perez 376-766-1140 directoreducacion@lakechapalasociety.com LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS, A.C.: www.lakesidefriendsoftheanimals.org Provide funding for spay/neuters, puppy vaccinese and emergency care and operations for pets of Mexican nationals of limited means. We also spay/neuter feral cats through our 4 Vets WE fund humane education programs in the local schools. Operate the pet store/shelter in Riberas del Pilar. Sue Hillis, President 376-765-5544 hilliss@yahoo.com LAKESIDE GARDEN GUILD: www.gardenguild.weebly.com Limited membership gardening group promoting the interest in the development of local gardens with an accent on the exotic species available in central Mexico. Presents annual Floral Design Show, supports local projects for community improvement and beautification such as Wipe Out Graffiti project in Ajijic. LAKESIDE GENEALOGY FORUM: A group of family historians meeting once a month to share ideas, methodologies and topics of interest for genealogy enthusiasts. Meetings are at 1 PM the last Monday of the month at the LDS Church and Family Center in Riberas del Pilar. Marci Bowman marci452@yahoo.com LAKESIDE LITTLE THEATRE A.C.: www.lakesidelittletheatre.com To provide theatrical en tertainment to the residents and visitors of the Lakeside community: to nurture and develop existing and new talent in every aspect of the performing arts and technical support areas: and to maintain and preserve the theatre facility and properties. Tickets: tickets@lakeside littletheatre.com 376-766-0954 lakesidelittletheatre@gmail.com Collette Clavadetscher, collette618@icloud.com LAKESIDE PATHFINDERS: This group is for people who are spiritual but not religious. See www.facebook.com/groups/427377094450390/about/. For more information please contact lakeside.pathfinders2019@gmail.com LAKESIDE SPAY AND NEUTER RANCH & ADOPTIONS, A.C.: www.lakesidespayandneutercenter.com Provides shelter and helps curtail the over-population of animals. Syd Sullins 376766-1411 or 331-270-4447 adoptaranchdog@outlook.com LAKESIDE WILDLIFE RESCUE & REHABILITATION: Promotes the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals, trees and plants around Lake Chapala. 376-765-4916 LA OLA/CASA HOGAR, A.C.: www.laolacasahogar.org La Ola Casa Hogar is a children’s shelter. We are an interfaith children’s ministry. Our scope is more than that of an orphanage in that we care for abandoned and abused children as well as orphans. 376-688-1005 laola@laolacasahogar.org Becky Plinke 332-312-7756 bgnickel@yahoo.com LCS EDUCATION CENTER- Provides classes in language and other topics for both Anglo and Mexican community. Calle 16 de Septiembre # 16-A Ajijic. 766-1140. LCS STUDENT AID FUND- Provides financial support to area students to enroll in university, vocational and high school program. Calle 16 de Septiembre # 16-A Ajijic. 766-1140. LOS CANTANTES DEL LAGO: www.loscantantesdellago.com A community choir striving that is for artistic excellence in choral singing. We encourage members to improve their vocal skills and to work continually toward greater skill through rhythmic and note training in order to become more literate musicians. Our principal objectives are the support of young musicians, the performance of works of Mexican composers, and sharing our music with the Mexican community. LOS NIÑOS DE CHAPALA & AJIJIC A.C. (NCA): www.lakesideninos.org Provides financial support for the educational, nutritional and social development of local area children. Office 376-765-7032, info@lakesideninos.org LOVE IN ACTION- Shelter for abused and abandoned children. For volunteers and donations. Anabel Frutos 765-7409, cell: 331-351 7826. LUCKY DOG: www.luckydoglakechapala.com www.facebook.com/LuckyDogLakeChapala/ To provide shelter to rescue dogs, socialize them and restore them to health, and adopt them out to good homes. To work with other animal organizations to promote spay and neuter. 331-300-7144 luckydogchapala@yahoo.com MARIPOSA PROJECT: BUTTERFLIES EN MEXICO: www.gomariposa.org Objectives: Provide options for how youth can make sustainable changes and provide opportunities for change. Mac Whyte 387-761-0360 macbwhyte@gmail.com MEXICAN ASSOCIATION TO EMPOWER WOMEN FOR FAMILY INTEGRATION, AMSIF: amsif.org.mx To work with the poor, mainly women, to transform the family values in the community. Educate women so they can have a critical mind and thus liberate themselves and become agents of change through a liberated and integral education. A method of education used where they can “see, judge, and act”. MEXICAN NATIONAL CHILI COOKOFF: www.mexicannationalchilicookoff.com The Mexican National Chili Cookoff is the largest fundraising organization Lakeside. For more than 41 years the event has raised funds to support local charities in their work. The 3 day event, always held in February, features hundreds of vendors of the finest Mexican handcrafts, on-going hourly entertainment, and a variety of food and beverages. The event is held at Tobolandia Water Park in Ajijic. The organization currently funds 9 IJAS approved charities and in the latest year made donations of 60,000 pesos to each participating charity. Jacques Bouchard 376-766-4350 jacqueandcarol@hotmail.com MUJERES APOYANDO A MUJERES: Mezcala jewelry collective with the focus to create a cottage industry jewelry making project that will give the women of Mezcala and la Cuesta a means of economic independence. The jewelry is being sold at Cugini’s and Diane Pearl in Ajijic. Doris Wakeman. MUSICA PARA CRECER A.C. / OFIRC (ORQUESTA FILARMÓNICA INFANTIL DE LA RIBERA DE CHAPALA) Training disadvantaged kids between the ages of 8 and 18 years who want to learn a musical instrument with the possibility of becoming a member of the “Orquesta Filarmónica Infantil de la Ribera de Chapala”. San Juan Cosala, Porfirio Diaz Oriente 144. Coco Wonchee, 33-3117-2927 soco.wonchee@gmail.com NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS DEL LAGO, A.C.: www.programaninos.com A non-profit, all-volunteer organization that helps low-income Mexican families pay medical expenses for their children with disabling or life-threatening illnesses. Email: ninosincapacitados@programani-

nos.com Dave Pike, President 376-765- 3137 dave.ppni@gmail.com Carol Antcliffe carol.ppni@ gmail.com “NO GRAFFITI AJIJIC” GROUP: Group of residents, who remove and cover graffiti. Paint donations appreciated. Contact with details. Email Dan Houck with graffiti reports. Dan Houck 376-766-3225 houck1022@gmail.com NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSIC FESTIVAL: Provides young talented Canadian artists exposure and experience on the international concert stage and provides the community with a wide range of classical music venues including concerts and demonstrations to young Mexican students and musicians through an annual music festival. NSDAR CHAPALA THOMAS PAINE CHAPTER: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mextpdar/ thomaspainedar/ Goal is to make education available to deserving students and to help the community. Contribute to scholarships for the Technical School and students in Ninos de Chapala. Contribute to Hammer Hammer Will Travel and to Needle Pushers and the Lake Chapala Society Wilkes Education Center. Lorene Fields 376-766-1658 ltfields@hotmail.com OPEN CIRCLE: www.opencircleajijic.org Provide a supportive environment for social interactions. Presentations span a wide range of intellectual, cultural, physical and spiritual topics. David Bryen 376-766-4755 opencircleideas@gmail.com, Margaret Van Every 376-766-2092 OPERACION AMOR: www.facebook.com/chapala.operacionamor Our mission is to provide free spay/neuter services for cats and dogs of persons of limited means in the greater Chapala area. 331-872-4440 cgcothran1@yahoo.com Amalia Garcia, Co-leader 376-763-5597 amgarciao10@gmail.com Cameron Peters Co-leader 376-766-4341 zo-onna@hotmail.com OPERATION FEED: www.operationfeed.weebly.com Our mission is to increase self-sufficiency by providing weekly despensas and supporting other educational and income opportunities for people of limited resources in San Juan Cosala. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS: www.OA.org Monday 12PM and Thursday 10:15AM. Lakeside Little Chapel, Carretera Ajijic-Chapala (next to Chula Vista Country Club). Information: 376-7664409, email Sugarfreeme@hotmail.com ROTARY CLUB OF AJIJIC: www.rotaryajijic.org Within the community and Rotary International, The Rotary Club of Ajijic serves as a model providing humanitarian serviced to others while maintaining high ethical standards. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today’s most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, and for educational opportunities. Meetings: Tuesday 1PM Hotel Real de Chapala ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION: https://www.rclchapala.com/ To provide assistance to veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, including veterans of Commonwealth Forces and, in some instances, U.S. veterans and Mexican veterans living in the Lakeside area. Being a Legion member is not required for assistance to veterans who meet the criteria. This is done through our Poppy Fund Campaign. To support the local community by providing money and assistance to specific projects as designated by our members. John Kelly 331-758-0676 jkelly203@gmail.com SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, MEXICAN SOCIETY: Lineal descent from a Patriot of the American Revolution, not necessarily a soldier. Kenneth Loridans 376-766-2981 SoTouch@prodigy.net.mx ST. ANDREW’S OUTREACH PROGRAM: www.standrewsriberas.com St. Andrew’s Anglican Church provides financial grants to local non-profits and scholarships to public school students from funds donated by parishioners or generated at its Todo Bueno Resale Consignment Shop on the carreterra in Riberas, open M-Sat 10:00-3:00 pm. Outreach also hosts an annual “Spring Market Jamboree” the second Sunday in March in the church garden that includes live music, a car wash and unique products for sale by Outreach grant recipients. For more info: staoutreach. lakeside@gmail.com TABLE TENNIS CHAPALA: https://tinyurl.com/TableTennisChapala A club in the Chapala area devoted to the game of Table Tennis. We meet every Monday / Wednesday / Friday at between the hours of 1:30 to 3:30. New members are welcome to join and play. A small monthly fee is required to pay for the facilities and tables. Location Chula Vista Country Club, Calle Paseo del Golf 5, Fracc. Chula Vista, 45900 Chapala, Jal. email: planzee@ymail.com TAILS OF MEXICO: www.spayneuterlakechapala.weebly.com Tails of Mexico’s mission is to provide free spay/neuter clinics in the municipality of Jocopetec, Jalisco Mexico to poor Mexican families, street dogs, and others of limited means in order to reduce animal suffering and help the communities in which we work. Another program is to relocate dogs to specific rescue organizations and shelters North of the Mexican border. Dee Mistrik 01-387-761-0041 deemistrik@gmail.com Linda Rudisell-Hines, Communication Lead 01-387-761-0688 rudiselj@yahoo. com TEPEHUA CENTRO COMUNITARIO, A.C.: www.facebook.com/tepehuacommunitycenter. org A center helping a village through education, counseling and social functions. President: Moonyeen King 376-763-5126 moonie1935@yahoo.com TOASTMASTERS: Weekly meeting of bilingual Lake Chapala Toastmasters. Open to all interested in learning public speaking. Tim Schubert 376-766-0920 revdoctimothy@gmail.com U.S.A. THINKING TEAM: www.usathinkingteam.com Office is in Ajijic for 12 years. Supported by Grandparents for a Better World. Support programs for charitable organizations in Ajijic and includes concerts with That’s Entertainment, speakers and radio shows. Contact: mexicosydneygay@yahoo.com UVA [UNIVERSITY & VOCATIONAL ASSISTANCE] SCHOLARSHIP FUND, A.C.: www.uvalakeside.org Founded in 1976, provide university/technical scholarship assistance to qualified Lakeside students. Monitor and verify the recipients’ qualifications for scholarship assistance (maintain a GPA of 8.5 or better each semester). Assure that 100% of donations for students are distributed to students. Operate as an independent charity and cease to exist if and when support of the charity no longer exists. Sue Torres 376-766-2932 mst0414@hotmail.com VILLA INFANTIL ORPHANAGE: www.villainfantil.com.mx Facebook: Villa Infantil Guadalupe y San Jose Provides care and financial support for 30 children under the care of the Catholic Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph. info.villainfantil@gmail.com VEGGIE GROWERS CLUB: Meetings are held at Huerta Organic Café, Hidalgo #212 in Riberas del Pilar on the second Monday at 10 AM. Discussions on problems with growing vegetables at lakeside, local pests and how to treat them, composting and all matters related to growing vegetables. John McWilliams 376-766-0620

Saw you in the Ojo 87

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

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Service

- EL OJO DEL LAGO Tel. 765-3676

* ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Pag: 82

* ANIMAL CLINICS/PET SHOP - CLINICA VETERINARIA SAN ANTONIO Tel: 766-0808 Pag: 30 - LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS AC Tel: 765-5544 Pag: 27 - MASKOTA’S LAKE Tel: 766-0287 Pag: 36 - PET PLACE Cell: 333-1964-150 Pag: 18 - PET FOOD AND GROOMING Tel: 766-3062 Pag: 83

* ART GALLERIES/HANDCRAFTS - ALFREDO’S GALERIA Tel: 766-2980 - ART21STUDIO Tel: 33-3170-6135, 33-3677-3482 - DIANE PEARL COLECCIONES Tel: 766-5683 - PENTHOUSE GALLERY

Pag: 59 Pag: 10 Pag: 70

- FRATS Tel: 331-139-8539 Pag: 24 - MULTISERVICIO AUTOMOTRIZ ESCALERA Tel: 765-4424 Pag: 82

* BANK INVESTMENT

Pag: 12 Pag: 35 Pag: 11

Pag: 07 Pag: 33

Pag: 81

* BOUTIQUE / CUSTOM SEWING - CUGINIS BOUTIQUE Tel/Fax: 766-1790 - LA BELLA VIDA Tel: 766-5131 - MI MEXICO Tel: 766-0133 - SO CHIC BOUTIQUE Tel: 331-762-7838

766-1760 765-4444 766-5555

* HARDWARE STORES Pag: 82 - FERRETERIA Y TLAPALERIA GALVEZ

Pag: 18

Tel: 766-0880, Fax: 766-2440

Pag: 94

Pag: 24

* HEARING AIDS

Pag: 68

- M.D. CARLOS ALONSO FLORES VALDOVINOS Pag: 33

DENTISTS - AJIJIC DENTAL CLINIC Tel. 766-3682 - CHAPALA DENTAL CARE Tel: 765-5584, 766-3847 - DRA. ANGELICA ALDANA LEMA DDS Tel. 765-5364, Cell: 33-1351-7797

* INSURANCE - STEREN

Pag: 06

Tels. 766-0599, 766-0630

- COSTALEGRE

- FUMIGA

Pag: 77 Pag: 36 Pag: 83

Pag: 81 Pag: 03

* COMPUTER SERVICES

Pag: 83

- SOLBES & SOLBES

- HABITAT GARDEN

Tel: 33-3684-5081 - NOMAD Tel: 765-6602 - UOU Tel: 106-1618, 333-149-4536

- HEALTH INSURANCE Tel: 766-0395, 1-888-449-7799 Pag: 23 - LAKESIDE INSURANCE - EDGAR CEDEÑO Cell: (045) 33-3106-6982 Pag: 24 - PARKER INSURANCE SERVICES Tel: 765-5287, 765-4070 Pag: 64 - PROTEXPLAN U.S. Toll Free 1-800-608-5743 Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6730 Pag: 20 - TIOCORP Tel: 766-4828 Pag: 17

* LEGAL SERVICES

* FURNITURE Pag: 60

Tel: 331-520-5529, Cell: 333-676-6245

Pag: 67 Pag: 65

- L&D CENTER Pag: 74

* LUMBER

- AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS Tel: 766-4973 Pag: 80

- MADERERIA CHAPALA-Hardware for Carpenters Tel: 765-2404, 765-3404

Pag: 72

Pag: 10

* LIGHTING

Tel: 766-1064

* GARAGE DOORS OPENERS

* GARDENING

Pag: 70

* MALL / OUTLET

- GARDEN CENTER Tel: 765-5973

Pag: 35

* CONSTRUCTION

Pag: 36

- ARELLANO CORPORATION GROUP Cell: 331-331-0249 Pag: 40 - COMFORT SOLUTIONS Tel: 33-1228-5377 Pag: 14 - GENERAL HOME SERVICES - Amancio Ramos Jr. Cell: (045) 331-520-3054 Pag: 18

Pag: 18

* GOLF

- CENTRO LAGUNA Tel: 766-5514

Pag: 39

* MEAT/POULTRY/CHEESE

- ATLAS COUNTRY GOLF COURSE Tel: 33-3689-2620

El Ojo del Lago / January 2020

Pag: 79

* FUMIGATION

Pag: 26

* COMMUNICATIONS

- TEPEHUA TREASURES Tel: 763-5126

Pag: 79

* FISH MARKET

Pag: 81

Tel: 688-2826, Cell: 331-464-6705

- BENNO CUMPUTER SOLUTIONS Tel: 33-2340-7501, 766-5933

Pag: 28

* ELECTRONICS/ TECHNOLOGY

* CLEANING SERVICES - AXIXIC SPRING CLEANING Tel: 766-5140- Cell: 33-1075-7768 - STEAM CLEAN Tel: 33-2385-0410 - SPRING CLEAN Tel: 765-2953

Pag: 61

- HOTEL BALNEARIO SAN JUAN COSALA Tel: 387-761-0222 Pag: 68 - LA NUEVA POSADA Tel: 766-1444, 766-1344 Pag: 03 - OPXIC - Boutique Hotel Cell: 333-502-6555 Pag: 57

Pag: 11

Tel: 108-1087 - LONAS MEXICO Tel: 766-0045, Cell: 33-3956-4852

Pag: 16

Pag: 03

Pag: 79

Pag: 83

066 765-2308, 765-2553 766-3615

* HOTELS / SUITES - BETO’S WINE & LIQUOR Cell: (045) 333-507-3024

Pag: 30

Pag: 77

EMERGENCY HOTLINE AMBULANCE - CRUZ ROJA FIRE DEPARTMENT POLICE Ajijic Chapala La Floresta

Tel: 766-5126, 766-4435

* CONSIGNMENT SHOP

Pag: 08

- PISOS Y AZULEJOS DE LA RIBERA Cell: 331-250-6486 - ROBERTO MILLAN - ARCHITECT Tel: 766-3771, Cell: 331-340-3758 - SIKA Tel: 766-5959 - WARWICK CONSTRUCTION Tel: 765-2224, Cell. 331-135-0763

* BEER & LIQUOR STORES

- EXTENDED ROADS DELIVERY - ISHOPNMAIL

* BEAUTY - CHRISTINE’S Tel: 106-0864 - EDITH’S SALON Cell: 33-1310-9372 - ESTÉTICA KAREN Tel: 331-741-8609 - GLORIOSA Tel: 766-3372 - HILDA WORLDWIDE Cell: 33-3676-2514 - NEW LOOK STUDIO Tel: 766-6000, 33-3950-9990

- CASA DEL SOL Tel: 766-0050 - CASA FLORES Tel: 766-5493 - CASA TRES LEONES Cell: (045) 331-350-6764

* CANOPIES Pag: 81

* AUTOMOTIVE

- INTERCAM Tel: 766-5978 - MULTIVA Tel: 766-2499