Ojo del Lago - October 2018 by El Ojo del Lago

Saw you in the Ojo

 D IRE 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

Index...

FEATURE ARTICLES

COVER STORY

Robert James Taylor remembers “The Trail of Tears,” one of the cruelest episodes in all of American history.

COVER STORY

VOLUME 35 NUMBER 2

Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Diana Parra Morales

8 Cover By Norm Tihor

Special Events Editor Sandy Olson

12 MOVIE HISTORY Paul Jackson knows the background of many of Hollywood’s most legendary names—and rather proudly lets us know that many of them were Canadian.

Associate Editor Victoria Schmidt Art Critic / Contributing Editor Rob Mohr Theater Critic Michael Warren Book Review Panel Margaret Van Every Margaret Porter Clare Gearhart Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart

34 LAKESIDE LIVING

28 INSECTS

Office Secretary Rocio Madrigal

48 BOOK REVIEW

ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9am - 5pm Sat. 9am - 1pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528

Judy Behr tells us a lot about vegetables—and why we should listen. Rather interestingly, there is a gender divide, with woman far fonder of vegetables—maybe one reason why they live longer!

16 Profiling Tepehua

Dr. Daniel Acuff has a Ph.D in Philosophy, and as such is certainly entitled to have some fun with the

Dr. Michael Hogan reviews Shattered Illusions, a novel that begins in Vietnam in the last stages of that tragically misguided war and ends in Central America, where the same type of duplicity, Dr. Hogan believes, could well be partially responsible for the huge wave of current immigrants from that part of the world.

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 / October 2018

Editor’s Page

26 PHILOSPHY

Sydney Gay here does nearly the impossible: create sympathy for cockroaches.

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

24 HEALTH

subject.

Sales Manager Bruce Fraser Carmene Berner

COLUMNS THIS MONTH

22 Welcome to Mexico 34 Lakeside Living 60 LCS Newsletter

Saw you in the Ojo

COLUMNIST

Editor’s Page

By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez

About Canada and Canadians

“

hen in the hell is that magazine gonna start printing the goddamned truth about the Canadians down here at Lakeside?!” That was the opening line of a rather nauseating encounter I had with an obviously intoxicated man I met many years ago at a Lakeside party, soon after I had become associated with El Ojo del Lago. “Exactly which truth do you have in mind?” I asked, easing upwind of his foul breath. The question seemed to startle him, and with a confused look, he wandered away, as if in search of whatever it was he had in mind. His fatuous question stayed with me, however, and with a start, I realized that (like many Americans at Lakeside) before coming here I knew very little about Canada and Canadians. So I headed for some history books, and being a WWII buff, one of the first things I read about was the WWII Canadian assault on the French beaches long before the invasion at Normandy. That raid at Dieppe by those courageous Canadian commandos was an unmitigated disaster, but the brutally-won lessons learned from that initial effort saved many thousands of lives in the subsequent D-Day invasion. The more I read about Canada, the more I admired the country and its people, though in truth I already had a soft spot in my heart for Canada—for a personal reason. When my father’s ancestors had first migrated from Ireland in the late 1800’s, they arrived in New York at a time when the quotas for Ireland had been filled for the year; but rather than turn back, they decided to try to enter Canada, where, luckily, they were welcomed! They settled in Manitoba, and were so successful at farming that five years later, when they finally en-

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tered the United States to settle in Kansas, they had enough money to successfully launch another farming enterprise. Later they would migrate south again, this time to Texas, then Mexico, where they did well at cattle-ranching. All this recently came to mind when I came across several magazine articles, both in Spanish and English, about the young Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. What follows are several things I found out about Trudeau, and some comparisons that immediately came to mind: • Trudeau has an excellent relationship with the Canadian press, and has been quoted as saying: “When you’re (the press) at your best, it reminds and challenges us (the government) to be at our best. Thank you for your tireless work.” • Despite the United States leaving the Paris Environmental Climate Accords, Trudeau is now working directly with American mayors and governors to cut emissions. • Countering America’s cowardly coddling of Russia, Trudeau’s Foreign Minister is a Canadian of Ukrainian descent who is banned from entering Putin’s Russia. • America has said that NATO is obsolete while Trudeau keeps Canadian forces installed in the Baltic countries to deter Russian aggression. For more than seventy years, NATO has preserved the freedom and national integrity of many, many countries. • While some in the American government belittle minority groups, Trudeau chose as his Defense Minister a Hindu who was a former army major born and raised in India.

• While the American government is continually pushing Muslim bans, Trudeau once met Syrian refugees at a Canadian airport to hand out winter coats to them. He encourages refugees to come to Canada “. . . because Canadians are open-hearted, generous and dream big for their country.” • Many in the government of the United States repeatedly scorn the LGBT community; Trudeau often marches in gay-pride parades. • The American government delights in disparaging Mexico and its people, and has stalled NAFTA. Trudeau vowed to keep Canada in the treaty, and has told Mexico that “Together, your country and mine can still make it work.” Footnote: This article was brought to the top of the publishing pile because of the American government’s recent despicable (and inexplicable) treatment of Canada at the G7 meeting, acting as if it were suddenly an adversary! Since the Second World War, Canada has been at America’s side in virtually every armed conflict, and has proven time and again to be the United States’ best friend and most reliable trading partner. Personally insulting its Prime Minister from the safety of

being back up in Air Force One after the conference was the classless act of a coward. *It should also be noted that Trump’s castigation of Canada for taking unfair trade advantage of the United States is totally disconnected from fact: The US has a trade surplus with Canada of over 100 billion dollars. Alejandro GrattanDominguez

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TRAIL OF TEARS–A Tale of Injustice By Robert James Taylor

uring the winter of 1838-39 the Cherokee Indian Nation was forcibly evicted from their ancestral native lands in northwest Georgia, and it was carried out in such fashion, that would defy the imagination, seen as incomprehensible today: it was undoubtedly one of the worst disgraces in American history. After the American Revolution the US implemented a policy of ‘civilization’ toward Indian nations living within its borders. This meant they were encouraged to adopt the Anglo-American ways of life, in order to harmonize within the sphere of accepted norms of society. For years the Cherokee nation had shown a willingness to do so, and their assimilation of the American settler culture was

remarkable. They were a proud, peaceful, resourceful nation, industrious, builders of churches and schools, who published a newspaper in English and Cherokee and they had already formed a government modeled on that of the United States. But their territorial sovereignty became a heated issue with white settlers. The whites increasingly coveted their large fertile farmlands and when the Cherokee decided to stop selling any more land to the settlers, the whites endeavored to take the land away from them. The whites in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee insisted that their state governments remove them- their greed was intensified when gold was discovered on Cherokee land. In 1829 Congress passed, by four

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votes, the Indian Removal Act, which was a clear departure from previous policy which respected the rights of Native Indians. President Andrew Jackson had hitherto hoped to win voluntary emigration to the lands west of the Mississippi, but could see which way the wind was blowing and any previous friendship and loyalty he had for the Cherokee nation seemed to dissipate. The Cherokee had fought alongside Jackson in the battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, that mattered little to Jackson: now he would deceive them. In 1828 the Georgia legislature annexed Cherokee territory which led the Cherokee to argue in the courts, their status as a sovereign nation: the matter reached the Supreme Court which found that the Georgian government had no jurisdiction over the Cherokee lands: they were under Federal congressional custody. However the Georgians, and Andrew Jackson himself, ignored the court’s decision. Jackson said “Mr. Marshall (Chief Justice) has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Andrew Jackson was one of the most controversial Presidents in US history. He certainly was the most rapacious: acquiring large tracts of lands after his military conquests in Tennessee and Alabama that he and his cronies managed to acquire through intimidation when dealing with Treaties over Indian land. Through stealth he increased his domain of thousands of acres on which his over a hundred slaves toiled. Jackson was a slave holder who stood on the wrong side of the fundamental moral issues of his times, and of human bondage: he referred to the abolitionists as ‘monsters’ and decried the anti-slavery movement as the “wicked design of demagogues.” His doctrine preached white supremacy. And so, the expulsion of the oppressed Cherokee nation was inevitable. On December 2th, 1835, an unauthorized small faction of the Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota, whereby they would cede their territory east of the Mississippi in return for $5 million dollars and homelands in the Western territory. It was an act of betrayal- the vast

majority chose to stay. In May 1838, the Georgia militiamen invaded the homes of the Cherokee at gunpoint, and forced all men, women and children into prison stockades, where they would be held until every native Indian was rounded up. Lawless citizens plundered and burned the Cherokee’s homes and stole all their contents. The imprisoned tribes were de-moralized: many died that summer from the poor conditions and disease. Starting in October 1838, lasting until March 1839, some 15,000 Cherokees were forced to commence the 1000 mile journey to the lands west of the Mississippi. Poorly supplied, with insufficient clothing, starvation and disease, the death toll increased daily. The elderly and the children, being the most vulnerable would be the first to perish: alongside the trail there would be over 4000 unmarked shallow graves before the journey had ended. And so, as a country formed fifty years earlier on the premise “….that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness….” brutally closed the curtain on a culture that had done no wrong. Modern historians have described this brutal act of aggression as ethnic cleansing and genocide. Jealousy, greed and racism all contributed to such an unspeakable chapter in American history. Although many Americans denounced the removal the new President, Martin Van Buren made the following speech in his 1838 message to Congress: “It affords me sincere pleasure to apprise the Congress of the entire removal of the Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi. The measures authorized by Congress at its last session have had the happiest effect. By agreement concluded with them…their removal has been principally under the conduct of their own chiefs, and they have emigrated without any apparent reluctance” And so, now the perpetrators, the politicians, their avarice satisfied, could no doubt find some comfort from such an insidious proclamation. The Trail of Tears is a story of conquest, but it is also a story of victory. To commemorate the event the US Congress designated the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in 1987- it stretches across nine States. In February 2008 the Senate passed a Joint Resolution whereby the United States offered an apology to all Native Peoples for “all ill conceived poliRobert James cies.” Taylor

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The Cheerleader Who Founded Guadalajara By Herbert W. Piekow

henever I show off my adopted city I always take my guests to the Plaza de Fundadores, behind the Teatro Degollado, where they see the statues of the two people credited with founding Guadalajara on February 14th, 1542. Nuño de Guzman, originally from Guadalajara, Spain had several failed attempts at establishing the Mexican site because the indigenous people refused to succumb to this cruel tyrant. His technique was to enslave and slaughter the locals. The other statue in the plaza is of a woman with flowing hair and billowing long skirts, Beatriz Hernandez. I think she was the real founder. After several failed attempts Guzman led his weary followers to this spot and declared this to be their final location. Supposedly Beatrice Hernandez led the women in a loud cheer of hallelujah and proclaimed they could begin to build a real settlement. However, I think Beatriz earned her bronze statue for rolling up her skirts and then leading the ladies in settling at this location. History is always eager to honor brave men, but I think Beatriz was the more gallant by secretly organizing the women, all of whom were tired of trekking across a vast and inhospitable land just so one egocentric man, Guzman, could claim the rewards offered by the Spanish Crown. In fact Sr. Nuño

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de Guzman was recalled to Spain, put in chains, and chastised for his cruel treatment of the native population. No, it is conjecture on my part, but I think that the women were weary of their nomadic lifestyle and of their wandering throughout the desert like the lost Tribe of Spain. They were ready when Beatriz organized them into a band of sisters who actually refused to move one more time. I think Beatriz earned her statue and place in Guadalajara´s history when, during a secret meeting of this sisterhood she laid out a plan and declared, something like. “We women refuse to move from this location.” I think she got the women together and they declared their unity and refused to cook meals, wash clothes, minister to the men´s baser desires unless they accepted this place as their new and ultimate settlement. It is my opinion that is how Guadalajara was established. And it was because of Beatriz Hernandez and her band of brave women that Guadalajara has inherited a spirit of adventure, acceptance of other races, cultures and is today Mexico´s leader in both industry and diversity. So I say, hip, hip hooray for Beatriz Hernandez and the bold women of Guadalajara. Herbert W. Piekow

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CANADA’S GIFTS TO THE CINEMA By Paul Jackson

ex siren Yvonne DeCarlo hailed from Vancouver, B.C, and usually played a dance hall girl in westerns. She ended her career playing in the TV series The Munsters. Ruby Keeler, who married Al Jolson, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Busby Berkeley, the greatest choreographer of all time, turned her into the biggest dancing star of her age. We Canucks have made major contributions to the celluloid world, and not only by inspiring Nelson Eddy to portray a Mountie in Rose Marie. The famed “America’s Sweetheart,” Mary Pickford, was born as lowly Gladys Smith in Toronto in 1893. Raymond Burr who gave lawyers a good name in the Perry Mason TV series was born in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1917. Before playing the good guy in that series he was the heavy in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window in 1954. Marie Dressler, perhaps the greatest movie comedienne of all time, was hatched as Leila von Koerber, in the mining town of Coburg, Ontario, in 1869. Deanna Durbin, one time a rival to Judy Garland, came from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Before retiring in 1948 at just 27 she had become the highest paid actress in the world. Glenn Ford, christened Gwyllyn Ford in Quebec City in 1916, starred opposite Rita Hayworth in

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the fabled Gilda in 1946. Also born in Quebec, at Danville, was Mack Sennett, the producer and director whose movies featured such silent day comedians as Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Chester Conklin. Norma Shearer, who became known as The First Lady of the Screen, was born in Montreal in 1900. She would marry producer Irving Thalberg, who died tragically too young in 1936. Leslie Nielsen, son of a RCMP officer, was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1926. He played in 101 Hollywood movies, including the Debbie Reynolds hit, Tammy, before achieving fame as a comedian in Airplane! (1980.) His brother, Erik, by the way, actually became deputy prime minister of Canada in the Brian Mulroney government. Here’s a nugget few know: Louis B. Mayer, one of the three founders of MGM, spent his child hood in Saint John, New Brunswick, where his father was a junk dealer. Originally from Minsk, in Russia, the Mayer family left for North America to

escape anti-Semitism. Walter Huston, today best remembered for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in which he co-starred with Humphrey Bogart, was born the son of a cabinet maker in Toronto in 1884. The movie was directed by his son, John Huston. Both would win Oscars in 1948.

ger Rogers. It was at the National Press Club in Ottawa, and though she was a little heavier than when she danced with Fred Astaire, she was great fun to be with. Ginger Rogers was not the only movie actress I escorted on a date. In 1993, on the 60th anniversary of King Kong, I sat by Fay Wray’s side as the movie was screened once again in her hometown of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Paul Jackson

John Huston Edward Dmytryk, one of the “Hollywood Ten” and director of The Caine Mutiny and Raintree Country, was born the son of Ukrainian immigrants in Grand Forks, B.C., in 1908. And to make all this more personal, I actually had a date with Gin-

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THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD —Rest in Peace California By William Franklin

hree events were to herald the end of the 60’s; Manson, Altamont and the election of Reagan in 1980. To understand the 60’s and assuming that’s possible (For example: The best year of the 60’s was 1974.) it’s helpful to refer to the bongo drumming Beatniks of the 50’s. The poets in San Francisco, the guys that read Alan Watts, the Huxley Door’s of Perception readers, the Kerouac books, even Hesse, and that mixture of Eastern mysticism aided by an American post war wealth bubble, (ironically allowing us to disdain materialism) as those ideas began to sink in, we under 30’s would arrive at

a youthful but magnanimous consciousness/spirit best understood by the Love-in. Love-ins could be found anywhere that trees and marijuana and kids wearing beads would congregate to listen to folk and rock music and share oranges and apples and LSD. Sometime just after the early Beatle and Dylan albums were released, idealistic, weed addled, rookie mystics would start playing guitar in droves and learn how to make leather purses. It was an amazing time, I had fun anyway, and like all great things, it cast a shadow. And our 60’s shadow was made up of outlaws. The Hells Angels were kind of our Comanches riding in

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on their hogs and throwing their dark and scary and ugly power around. They got to be the security detail at the Stones and Airplane concert in Altamont which fastened one nail in the coffin of our 60’s spirit. What was that spirit? In a nutshell it was that people were good and the non-competitive, human potential harmony idea/dream could work. (There were still things to work out, though, like how to go to work on acid, which most people couldn’t figure out how to do.) Because people were good, it was OK to not lock your doors and hitchhiking was cool. We didn’t need guns then, we were nonviolently smoking weed and admiring The Stones and anybody that looked like Michele Phillips. Then Manson sent shivers over the whole thing and another nail was sunk into “The Spirit” and suddenly doors were locked, hitchhiking was for the foolhardy and a veil of something ominous began to drown out the Beach Boys and thinking about good vibrations. To make a long story short, the final nail in The Summer of Love thingy that lived through the years of untold throws of I Ching coins and Tarot Cards and Sufi this and mystical that, the last straw was the election of Reagan in 1980. This election foretold the

reemergence of the old politics of commercialism and a new thirst for the things capitalism could buy. So it was a wave goodbye to the hippie symbol of freedom, the VW van, to be replaced by the corporate symbol, the BMW, while Nancy Reagan told kids to just say, “NO.” We had been saying “yes” for so long, “no” felt subversive. Now, wonder of wonders, weed is therapeutic and good for sex and legal. And things still have to be sorted out, which, I suppose, is why circles as symbols will always be very much with us.

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COLUMNIST

PROFILING TEPEHUA By Moonyeen King

President of the Board for Tepehua

moonie1935@yahoo.com

HO and UNICEF Press stated in 2014 “No single intervention is likely to have a significant impact on global poverty other than the provision of clean water”. It is essential to life. It is essential to maintain that life through hygiene. At present there are 748 billion people living without access to clean water, exposing them to water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, parasites and kidney disease. Thousands of bottles of water were delivered to Puerto Rico a year after hurricane Maria hit. They are still on the tarmac unused. Why do we treat this precious commodity so badly? Our rivers and streams, lakes and wells....all suffering from our ignorance. Potable water has a shelf life of six months depending on how it is stored or what climate you live in. For those of you who don’t think purified water can “go off”, look it up. Water creates life. We ourselves are made up of 65% water. Keep water long enough and you will see those little wiggly things in there, which is probably the way we started out. Mexico is not a third world country, it is verging on becoming one of the world’s Industrial Giants of the near future. Yet the simple things of life are not available, like turning on a tap and having a glass of water. For the upper class, clean water is available, for the working class it is impossible to reach and too expensive.

Water can help alleviate poverty. If people had clean water on tap it would create a healthier family, there would be no need to buy sodas and potable water, children would be weaned on water and milk rather than coke. Precious pesos could be used for food and education. It has been suggested corruption is a cultural thing. This, of course, is not true. The disease of corruption is known to man all over the world; it is a matter of greed and lack of social conscience. Organizations can keep putting band aids on the water problems and the sickness it causes. The simple cure is to clean the wells, build wells where there are none, and give people the God Given right of clean water from a tap...free. The ban on using Chapala Lake water for the small barrios should be lifted, as they did for the village of La Zapotera recently, in Poncitlan. A small village of 1,000 people, this barrio had the highest record of kidney disease at Lakeside. They now have comparatively clean water from the lake, with solids easy to remove with filters. Lake Chapala is as clean as any lake in the north. This author had the opportunity to sample the lake fish at the opening of the La Zapotera Community Center, which is under the umbrella of the Tepehua Community Center. Tails still flapping, they were cooked in hot oil, and were outstanding in their taste. “Where a spring rises or a water flows, there aught we to build alters and offer sacrifice” (Lucius Annaeus Seneca 4BC65BC.) Mythological stories of water deities have been orally passed down through the ages and rituals still exist in one form or another. The water most sacred is that which “springs from the earth seeking its first light”. Water gives us hydroelectricity, through hydro-power plants. According to Wikipedia, the largest is the Italpu dam, a bi-national undertaking between Brazil and Paraguay, claimed by engineers as one of the seven wonders of the world...and it is impressive. Larger than life! The Brook. Tennyson. .”..’til last by Phillips farm I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.” Lets hope so.

El Ojo del Lago / October 2018

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LIFE BEGINS WITH AN OPEN HEART By Ed Tasca

ur ageless vocal superstar, Mac Morrison, was a man who by every account sung with his heart. And ironically, recently, he underwent emergency open heart surgery. He was originally scheduled for an angioplasty and stents but the medical professionals realized his heart condition was far more grave and immediately began pre-op work for open heart surgery. Six hours later, Mac came out of surgery and spent several days in Cardiac I.C.U. He has now returned home to Ajijic – and is steadily recovering. Effectively, Mac has a partially reconstructed heart. He’s like 40 again. What’s he get for that? A new mid-life crisis, probably. But also a new lease on life. But what we all can be sure of is that intricate medical care doesn’t come cheap. And sometimes effective insurance coverage is out of reach for some because of age. This unexpected surgery has wiped out Mac’s and his angelic, long-suffering and ever-supportive wife Barb Clippinger’s savings and they find themselves in the harrowing position of not knowing where to find the funds to pay for the surgery, hospital, medications, etc. And I haven’t even mentioned all the chocolate truffles I bought them. As a result, members of the local arts community are reaching out to our friends and patrons of the arts, many of whom have enjoyed Mac’s and Barb’s performances throughout their lengthy residencies here, to remind everyone how much this couple has given to local charities through Mac’s yearly concerts. These were efforts that I know personally took a toll out of the man, because of his inimitable professionalism and dedication. They certainly played a role in debilitating him over the years without anyone being aware. We are lucky that this ultimate diagnosis and treatment, from extremely brilliant young physicians and specialists here, saved his life. That’s why, The Miracle Mac Fund. Medical care is smarter, more complicated... and more costly. And it’s no longer anything you can fix with Serutan because Serutan is “natures” spelled backwards. It’s more like ekorb! Which is Broke spelled backwards. We need to raise $40,000 U.S. to help Barb and Mac cover the costs of Mac’s surgery and rehabilitation. Big bucks for most couples. Think on this: today,

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Adam couldn’t afford to have Eve. It would involve dozens of specialists and anesthesiologists and specialized equipment. And that first smack on her ass could mean a law suit. So we have to accept the demands of our times. Critical surgeries come with a big price-tag and you can’t get them on Groupon--so emergency funding measures had to be taken. Proceeds from a CD sale of some of Mac’s favorite renderings will also go towards the Miracle Mac Fund. In addition, look forward to an upcoming “Variety Show” with music, dance, comedy and more, with all proceeds going towards the Miracle Mac Fund. It isn’t often we can make a difference in the lives of those who have given so much of themselves to our community. Here’s our chance. Go to: https://www. gofundme.com/vbtnnu-emergencyopen-heart-surgery?member=687562 Or call: 376 766 3503 or 766-5222 / blondeval@gmail.com So to all of you who can help, let me say thanks in advance for an open heart. And in honor of Mac and Barb’s Lakeside musical legacy, let me suggest that you find a moment and space to dance or sing. And then move to the music as though it was written just for you. That’s how it will feel to help us. Ed. Note: The foregoing is not the type of material we would normally publish, but we have made an exception in this case because of the contributions both Mac and Barbara have made to the cultural life of our beloved community, and also (not so coincidentally) because Barbara once did our Lakeside Living column. Ed Tasca

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My Trip With Magic Mushrooms By Margie Keane

he instant I stepped off the Golden Gate Bridge, I knew Timothy Leary was a liar! He said take enough magic mushrooms and you can fly. Or did he say I would feel like flying? Well, too late now. I wanted to fly up and grab a star, to soar around the earth but that’s not happening. Maybe I should confess my sins while there’s still time. God, please forgive me for all my sins. I don’t know if free love is a sin. One of the commandments is “love thy neighbor as thy self, and that’s what I’ve been doing, or maybe not, but what’s the difference between free love and fornication? Oh well, too late now. I know I have caused my parents pain. They didn’t want me to come to Berkeley, said I’d get into trouble. Maybe if they had given me some freedom when I was in high school I might have handled things better. Maybe if I had stayed in my dorm instead of listening to my friend Janie when she said “Let’s move to a pad on Fillmore Street.” I have to say it was a blast, all that grass and Boone’s farm … I can hear my parents now, mother whining, “I’ll be disgraced! The women in the Episcopal church Ladies Friendly Society will shun me!” Poor Mom. Dad will be ticked because he wasted all that money

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on my education, but he can’t yell at me because I’ll be dead – and not grateful either! So, God if you could please forgive these sins, oh, and I haven’t gone to church, but I prayed a lot, especially after I moved to the Fillmore. I wonder if my profs will give me incompletes instead of failing me. They should. It’s because of a member of their profession that I’m plummeting down like a gooney bird. Oh, no! Sorry mom, I forgot to put on clean underwear! If my boy friend Ted were with me I wouldn’t feel so scared. He’s probably stoned, or making it with that slut Cleo! She’s been trying to get in his pants for weeks. I wonder if there are sharks in the bay. I hope not. I want to be buried in one piece. I don’t want the epitaph on my tombstone to say “Here lay some pieces of Betsy.” Wow! Here’s the water. My feet are touching, all of me, going un-

der, bubbles all around me, a vapor wrapping around me I… What’s happening? I’m not sinking any more. What are these silver things floating next to me, hanging on to me? “Who are you?” “I’m Faith.” “I’m Hope.” “Yeah, yeah, and you! Grabbing my leg! I’ll bet you’re Charity, right?” “You crazy? My name’s Lowanda. Listen girl, I was workin’ on my second bowl of ambrosia when we got the call.” “What call?” “The call to come down here and get your sorry ass. Well, Not your ass so much, we’re here to get your soul.” “You mean I’m going to heaven?” “You get a try-out. See, God knows that you weren’t trying to kill yourself when you jumped off the bridge, right?” “Right, I thought I could fly. Timothy Leary says acid lets you fly. What a joke!” “Yeah that guy is causin’ us a lot of extra work. So anyway, God’s gonna give you some wings and then see how you do.”

“You mean, I get to fly?” “Do I look like a pack mule? You comin’ with us you best be flying.” “Let’s go, ladies, we need to give her a jump start.” We shoot to the surface and I start flapping my arms. I’m flying! I’m really flying! Look, Mom and Daddy, I can fly! I’m an angel, Mom, so tell that to the Episcopal Ladies Friendly Society! “Come on Lowanda, I’ll race you to the stars.” Epilogue A story appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle about a strange phenomenon. It said in part: “Many people who witnessed a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge last night said they saw a strange sight. Supposedly four vaporous forms emerged from the water at the exact spot the jumper went in. They all agreed that the forms ascended up into the stars. A nun from Our Lady Star of the Sea Convent said she was sure they were angels. The Vatican is sending Archbishop O’Malley to investigate the incident.” Margie Keane

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COLUMNIST

By Victoria Schmidt

Dia de los Muertos

y most favorite Mexican Holiday is Dia de los Muertos. Also known as “The Day of the Dead.” Every November 1st, the lives of infants and children who have passed away are celebrated. The following day is the day when the lives of adults who are no longer with us are celebrated. You see, long ago it was thought that it would be an insult to the dead to remember them in sadness and mourning. (This is not to say the dead are not mourned or there is no sadness in the death of loved ones.) But these specific days are days to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones, and even mock death itself. Inside the homes, people decorate an alter to celebrate their dead. Alters are filled with photos, favorite flowers, instruments, jewelry, tequila, cigars, hats…you name it. And the favorite foods of the dead are made and shared. The cemeteries are filled with similar displays, and a sad dreary cemetery is brought to life by these decorations, and the people who gather to share the lives and the stories of their dead. The air is filled with the smells of the flowers and food and the music for all to enjoy. There are also parades, and Catrina

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dolls are everywhere. Many Mexicans will wear vivid colors and have their faces painted in the Catrina style, or they will wear black and have their face painted as a death mask. Skulls decorated by artisans are also prominently displayed. Watch your weekly papers to see where the public parades and alters can be viewed. J.G. Posada, whose 1913 sketch of the Catrina claimed: “La Catrina has become the referential image of Death in Mexico, it is common to see her embodied as part of the celebrations of Day of the Dead throughout the country; she has become a motive for the creation of handcrafts made from clay or other materials, her representations may vary, as well as the hat.” It was, however, Diego Rivera’s mural in Mexico City at Alameda Park (later moved to the Museo Mural Diego Rivera) that brought greater prominence to the use of La Catrina. I prefer a layperson’s explanation to me best of all: “La Catrina is a skeleton dressed as a rich woman, that is a way of saying no matter what our station in life we are all equal in death.” It is that equality that also attracts me to this holiday. Young, old, rich, poor, no matter what we are in life, we are all touched by death, it is part of the continuum of life, and therefore, it makes us finally equal. I strive for living a life that can do the same for all. Due to a recent move, my items for our personal alter are in storage. While we will still celebrate, it won’t be the same as before. This brings up another truism about life: Constant change. It is refreshing to know, that this Holiday tradition, is one that seldom changes, and it is my hope that at the end of my life, someone will make space on their alter to include me, and celebrate my life. But it must be here in Mexico, where I learned to Victoria Schmidt celebrate life itself.

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Planting For The Future By Judy Baehr

Hints for the Vegetable-Challenged

y husband’s views in this regard, while nobly defending the male viewpoint on eating vegetables, may have caused some misconceptions. Thus, I am going to go back to the question I once posed: Why is the color of your vegetables important? The true answer is that strongly colored vegetables— the darkest green, the richest red, the brightest orange— have the most antioxidants and vitamins to help you stay young and healthy and avoid cancer and other maladies. When we were growing up, the value of vegetables was not very well proven. We just had to follow our mothers’ advice. But today, scientific studies are determining just what compounds in vegetables protect our health, and why. For example, researchers recently studied men who had pre-cancerous lesions that increase prostate cancer risk. They split them into two groups and one group had to eat four servings of either broccoli or peas each week for a year, while the other group ate their usual mashed potatoes. Wait a minute, I know what you are thinking! You non-believers are saying to yourselves, “There are worse things than prostate cancer, and one of them is eating broccoli and peas for a year.” But the results were worth it! The researchers learned that men who ate broccoli showed hundreds of changes in genes known to play a role in fighting cancer. And more good news: the benefit would likely be the same in other vegetables containing a compound called

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isothiocyanate, including brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, arugula, watercress and horseradish! (My husband wishes to note that having a Bloody Mary would give you horseradish, tomato juice and celery, which counts as three vegetables. So if you have more than one Bloody Mary at brunch, you’ve more than fulfilled your FDA daily requirement of vegetables!) All vegetables are good for you, but some offer more nutrients than others. Why not eat the ones that really count? A recent article entitled “The 11 Best Foods You Are Not Eating” by nutritionist and author Johnny Bowden emphasized several vegetables you can add to your diet for extra points: Beets: “Think of them as red spinach,” suggested the author, because they are a rich source of folate and natural red pigments that may fight cancer. (My husband wishes to note that thinking of something as spinach does not improve its allure for him.) Swiss chard: It’s packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes. Try sautéing swiss chard in olive oil and garlic. Purslane: Known in Mexico as verdolagas, purslane is among the best natural sources of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as carotenes and vitamin C. If you don’t like cooked greens because they are bitter and mushy, try purslane. It stays crunchy when lightly sautéed and has a mild peppery taste. For a salad, just pick the delicate tips and toss them with oil and vinegar. A closing note in the interests of balanced reporting: The U.S. maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread, Hostess Ding Dongs and Drake’s Cakes has emerged from bankruptcy. My husband gave me the clipping.

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What Is Philosophy Anyway? Daniel Acuff PhD

hy did the chicken cross the road?

Emily Dickenson: “Because it could not stop for death.” Henry David Thoreau: “To live deliberately and suck all the marrow out of life.” Ernest Hemingway: “To die. In the rain.” Salvador Dali: “The fish.” Eternal Optimist: “Because Love and Success and Happiness is over there.” Eternal Pessimist: “Because life sucks, then you die.” Jack Nicholson: “Because it [censored] wanted to. That’s the [censored] reason!” Mark Twain: “The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.” These quotes demonstrate a wide

variety of attitudes toward life, ranging from the ridiculous to the profound to the absurd, and to some degree are different individuals’ answers to the question: “What is your philosophy of life?” – But they don’t at all approach a technical description of philosophy as a discipline. Most people are not aware of this more studious approach to defining

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philosophy. And to learn what it is in a more systematic way can be very helpful as we humanoids walk, trot or race along life’s curving paths. I was playing golf not long ago on a sunny day in Southern California and I was partnered up with a fellow who told me he was a professor of philosophy at a local college. Pretty sure I knew the answer, my ears twitched as I tossed a question at him: “What is philosophy, professor?” He did a quick brain scan search and came up with: “Philosophy is knowing the right way to live one’s life and then staying true to that way.” My response was: “Yes, well I can see that captures an essence of what Buddhism is all about, but that’s not a technical description of what philosophy is.” I went on to tell him what I had learned in a philosophy graduate course at the University of Southern California and through other research. I told him, philosophy essentially asks three questions: One: What is real and what is not real? This is termed “ONTOLOGY” and is the study of being or existence. Two: What is true and what is false. This is “EPISTEMOLOGY.” And it carries a sub question: How do we know something is true or false? How can we prove it?

Three: What is good and what is bad? This is termed “AXIOLOGY” and is equated with morality or ethics. He did not respond and didn’t talk to me the rest of the round. I didn’t mean to upset him, I just was amazed that a professor of philosophy wasn’t knowledgeable about the foundational elements of his discipline. This short article has no intention of exploring philosophy in depth. It would take a book, not an article. So that’s not our purpose here. Our aim is to assist you in determining which kind of “philosopher” you are in your life. How a person responds to these three fundamental questions indicates to which “camp” of philosophy he/she belongs. The IDEALIST: The “Father of Idealism” was Plato. An Idealist’s answer to “What is real?” is that you don’t, and can’t, know ultimate reality. You can only believe things based on your perception. If God exists, God is the only true reality. What is true and false? And how is it proven? You have to rely on ultimate reality (EG: God) to communicate that, such as through revelation like the Bible. What is good and bad? Again, you rely on what a higher source tells you such as in The Ten Commandments or the Koran.

The REALIST: The “Father of Realism” was Aristotle, student of Plato and the founder of the scientific method. Using the classic test of whether the glass is half empty or half full as an example, we see that idealists tend to be positive thinkers – i.e. those who see the glass as being half full. Realists may not hold the opposite or negative point of view, but they do view a situation through less hopeful eyes. Realists are stereotypically seen as people who are very rational, who think carefully, and weight their options before making a choice. In this sense, realists make safer and more practical choices when compared to idealists, who may be willing to make more risky decisions. The EXISTENTIALIST: Søren Kierkegaard, “the ultimate anti-Christianity Christian”, is often considered to be the father of EXISTENTIALISM and Friedrich Nietzsche, “the ultimate anti-Christ philosopher” is one of the first atheistic existentialists. If you lean toward EXISTENTIALISM your answers to the three questions of philosophy are based on you as the source and would be something like the following: What is real is whatever I decide. How is it proven? Through my experience. And what is right/wrong? Again whatever I decide. There often are individuals who are a combination of these three fundamental belief systems. For example one person might consider themselves to be a Christian Existentialist, and another might say they are combination of an Idealist and a Realist. Depends on the situation. So, what kind of philosophy most resonates with you and your beliefs? How do you answer the three fundamental questions of philosophy – What is Real? What is true and how do we prove it? And what is good and bad? What kind of philosopher ambles around in your shoes? And remember… When life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic You can carry a rabbit’s foot for good luck, but remember: It didn’t work for the rabbit. Choose old people for enemies. They die, you win. Dr. Acuff’s Ph.D. is in philosophy, sociology and education. He has been a seminar leader, radio talk show host and in Philosophy of education. He is author of fifteen books including three philosophical/spiritual works of fiction: God Lied – What’s Really Going on Here, The Mysteries of Quan, and Golf and the Zen Master Daniel Acuff

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Cuca—The Cockroach By Sydney Gay

ith increasing frequency a medium size cockroach enters my kitchen, I could stomp it with my shoe but the closer I come to my own death the more I realize not a year goes by without murder happening somewhere, this roaches not threatening me. Maybe I should let it live. Thinking it is female and frequently pregnant, I name her Cuca, wondering if God wants me to be kind to roach babies, I make a Google search, google sends me a story about “a gang” of roaches living in the messy apartment of a Japanese man named Tokyo. Gokiburi is the Japanese word for cockroach, these Gokiburi think Tokyo’s

place is an absolute paradise. Unfortunately Tokyo gets a new girlfriend, who sees hundreds of roaches running in and out of the apartment happy as they please, she says “I hate those ugly things and attempts to exterminate them. Well, the Gokiburi get very angry, all hell breaks loose, Tokyo begins to have nightmares, he has to do something to restore peace, so he gets rid of the girl. Thankfully my roach Cuca is a solo artist, preferring to live alone, she hardly gives me even a brief look; however, I notice, the calmer I become the longer she is willing to look and after

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a while we began having conversations. Me: Where are you going, Cuca? Cuca: In there. Me: What are you up to? Cuca: Bye Bye. Twilight of The Cockroaches* is a Broadway play featuring a glamorous cockroach named Naomi. When the curtain opens, Naomi is dressed to the nines on her way to a New Year’s Eve party when suddenly a huge rainstorm hits the street, it looks like Naomi is going to drown, but she crawls beneath a pile of dog poop and saves herself. Finally, the rain stops, she scurries off to the party where all her roach friends are drinking, singing and dancing. *Twilight of the Cockroaches can be seen on you tube. /-/-/ Day by day my Cuca is getting fatter; she will give birth soon; I plan to get a child size broom to sweep the babies outside, I will not kill them. No no no, I will try to train them. I imagine this conversation. Me: Out. Out. Out. Them: Okay. Okay. I am wondering, do you know the story of Godzilla, The Giant Green Lizard vs. The Gigans? The Gigans are “masterful” roaches who invented the quantum physics of entanglement; they invade planet Earth and behave

like humans. All they want is a safe place to live; their own planet had been destroyed by pollution. Godzilla decides the Gigans must be killed. The rest of the story is about murder with guns and bombs. Oh well, they say it’s a man’s world. It’s great the way Cuca can read my mind, she hatched her babies outside, then cleaned the kitchen floor, after scooping up crumbs like a vacuum, she left the house. Late that night I found a dead beetle in the house, laying on its back with legs sticking straight up in the air, I left it for Cuca and went to bed, in the morning the beetle was gone. How lovely. Perhaps there are benefits to roaches, so I research google again and five seconds later a book review of Archy and Mahitabel arrived. Archy is an educated cockroach who writes books, I quote: ‘Expression is the need of my soul, I was a poet, but I died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach, named Archy.” College students love this story. I don’t know why. And I don’t know why cockroaches are not ever mentioned in the Bible, therefore I feel it necessary to say Cuca has become my spirit guide, although beady eyes and six hairy legs horrify my senses, she knows my limits and recognizes what I need. She told me to read The Secret Life of Plants and I am so glad I did, because during rainy season, leaf cutter ants destroyed my favorite rosebush, I did what the book said and asked the bush, “What do you think I should do to keep you safe and it replied give the Cutter ants a bowl of sugar and rice; rice is not expensive so they will eat that instead of me. Well, I followed those instructions and the roses started to grow again. I now come to the end of my story. One morning I woke to the smell of sadness, Cuca was nowhere to be seen, I looked through the house, there in the kitchen sink was Cuca floating in a spoon of olive oil, I forgot to wash that spoon last night. She got drunk on oil and drowned. She was quite dead. And that is the end of my story.

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Paw Prints On My Heart By Gudrun Jones Co-Founder & Former President of the Lakeside Spay & Neuter Center (Re-published by Request)

ome years ago I meet Bob Hocking. I knew him as the sophisticated, dapper dresser, always the correct gentleman, an animal lover and a supporter of the Lakeside Spay & Neuter Center. I thought I knew him and I loved him. However, at his memorial service I learned about the real Bob, the entertainer, the man with a great sense of humor, the practical joker and the philanthropist. I wish I had known the real Bob. Some time ago I wrote a poem and it has been featured in this publication, but when I recited it for Bob many people came to me and asked for a copy. So here it is: Remember Me Think of me with a smile, Now that I’ve left this world behind. There is no need to weep For finally I’m free. I’m somewhere beyond the sea, Where no sorrow touches me. Dry your tears and look for me In all that once was dear to me. Find me in the blue of the sky, Feel me in the cool and gentle breeze at night. Hear me in the music that fills your soul, See me in the flowers that once I adored. Watch the eagle in flight... It might be me as I leave the earthly bounds behind. I may be the wind that caresses your face, Or the sunbeam, which draws a pattern of lace. I am the laughter and the good old time, The smile of a stranger as he passes by. I am the star that watches over you, The rose that is touched by the morning dew. I am all the things you let me be And I will live, as long as you remember me. If you are looking for a companion and don’t really want a two-legged one, then come to the Ranch and check out a fourlegged one. If you have been there before and did not find what you are looking for, come again. There are always new dogs there, along with the old-time residents. Be adventurous: add a dog to your life. Gudrun Jones

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Politics And Whiskey

n 1952, Armon M. Sweat, Jr., a member of the Texas House of Representatives, was asked about his position on whiskey. What follows is his exact answer (taken from the Political Archives of Texas): “If you mean whiskey, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being.

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However, if by whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it. This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle.”

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Sandy Olson

Phone: 331-283-8529 Email: sandyzihua@hotmail.com

In recognition of Day of the Dead and Halloween, Potter Productions presents Spoon River Anthology, written in 1915 by Edgar Lee Masters. It’s directed by Rosann Balbontin, with musical direction by Don Beaudreault. The cast also includes (from left to right) Terry Gibbard, Cindy Paul, Sharon Lowry, and Michael Warren. The story: Through musical interludes, played and sung by Don Beaudreault and Cindy Paul, we are introduced to the ghosts of those who were inhabitants of the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois, USA, whose secrets have gone with them to the grave. Performances take place at The Spotlight Club on October 12-14 (Friday-Sunday) at 4 pm. The door and bar open at 3 pm. The price of admission is 100 pesos, to be paid at the door. Seating is limited; reserve at potterproductions@outlook.com. OPEN CIRCLE Sunday morning finds many Lakeside residents at the Lake Chapala Society and Open Circle, a forum on a variety of stimulating topics. A social hour with coffee and snacks at 10 am is followed by an interesting lecture and discussion at 10:30. October 14 Eleanor Roosevelt, One Shrewd Lady Presented by Kathleen Durham Eleanor Roosevelt was a leader extraordinaire and fervent defender of human and civil rights. J. Edgar Hoover called her “that old hoot and a dangerous person.” She considered her greatest achievement to be the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will be 70 years old on December 10. As the world turns today, what would Eleanor say about the effectiveness of this document? Has the world moved forward or regressed in the practice of human and civil rights? Prior to moving to Ajijic, Kathleen Durham served as Executive Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, where she provided leadership training as practiced by Eleanor Roosevelt in the areas of social justice, human rights and socially conscious leadership. October 21 Recovering in Chaos Part II Kathleen Durham Presented by Pete Soderman Last fall, Pete addressed Open Circle on his new project, “Recovering in Chaos,” in which he explored the then current situation in the US and explained why the environment makes recovery from self-defeating behaviors, such as drug abuse, so difficult. In this presentation, Pete will discuss how the situation has worsened in the past year, some attempts to mitigate the problem, and where his research is suggesting some solutions may lie. It turns out that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel that isn’t an oncoming train. Pete has nearly thirty years of experience in the recovery field, and is the author of Powerless No Longer, Reprogramming Your Addictive Behavior, and Thinking Recovery, A Cognitive Approach to Self-defeating Behaviors. His website is petesoderman.com. October 28 The Dimensions of the Universe and You

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Presented by Kenneth Hunt The real miracle of the existence of the universe is that the whole manifestation—everything that is knowable—emerges from inherent properties of the very stuff of which it all consists. It might be helpful for us to have a sharpened sense of where we stand in the scale of things that have emerged from the turmoil of the Big Bang. Before we can do that, however, we need to increase our understanding of millions, billions, and trillions and their relative sizes. Ken is a science nerd. He has been reading and thinking about stuff like this for a long time and has learned a lot. He wants to interest you in it too. November 4 Wise Guys Presented by John Stokdyjk What is wisdom? What is the difference between wisdom and common sense? What is the difference between wisdom and intelligence? Can inexperienced youth be wise? Can artificial intelligence be wise? Where in the world are the wise guys today? And dare we ask the question “Where are the gals?” and dare we hear the answer? John will share his personal experience in pursuit of wisdom. He will also prove beyond doubt that he himself is not wise. John has spoken previously at Open Circle about his spiritual journey and his mental health challenges. DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON Come to an informal conversation about dying, not that we want to think of ourselves as mortal. The hosts will be experienced volunteers Wendy Jane Carrel and Darryl Painter. The date is Tuesday, October 9 from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. Preregistration is necessary COLD HAIL AND WARM HEARTS Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos was hit with a disastrous hail storm in July. Hailstones up to five centimeters fell and destroyed cars and roofs. A child was killed and more than 40 people were injured. Some local residents got together and held a fundraiser for families in Ixtlahuacan who needed help from the hail storm on July 28. Their mission was to help them pay for medical bills, roofs and car repairs. They called the fundraiser the Ixtlahuacan Hail Storm Fundraiser. The main three organizers were Jose Juan Vazquez (owner of JJ’s Hair Salon), Karen McConnaughey and Michele Lococo, who came up with the idea of the fund raiser, planned the menu and volunteered her services and most of the food. You can contact PayPal and donate at kmcconnaughey@gmail.com . So far they’ve raised around 70,000 pesos but the need is great. Donations can also be given to Michele JJ or Karen. A GREAT YEAR TO COME The Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation was the venue recently for an open house and fall preview party of doings for the new year. A good time was had by all, as the old saying goes. One delight was getting to check out the Congregation’s beautiful new garden, created by Tiena DuBois Gottesman. VIVA LA MUSICA AND “LIVE AT THE MET” Here are the fall bus trips planned by Viva for opera at the Teatro Diana. Saturday October 13 Aida by Verdi. Set in ancient Egypt, the tragic story of a captive Ethiopian princess in love with an enemy general, with Anna Netrebko in the Membership Committee, left to right: Mel title role (216 minutes). The Goldberg, Joe Gottesman bus leaves at 10:30 for the

Betty Shiffman and Tom Nussbaum.

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noon show. Saturday November 3 Samson and Delilah by Saint Saens, the biblical story of seduction an betrayal, with Elinaa Garanca as Delilah and Roberto Alagna as Samson (184 minutes). The bus leaves at 10:30 for the noon show. Saturday December 15 La Traviata (The Fallen Woman) by Verdi. The famous opera of love and misunderstanding, set in Paris with Diana Damrau as Violeta and Juan Diego Florez as Alfredo (187 minutes). The bus leaves at 10:30 for the noon show. Viva bus trips to the Met Opera are $450 and $550 for non-members. Tickets are available at the LCS ticket area Thursdays and Fridays from 10 to noon, or by calling Rosemary Keeling at 766-1801. WANT TO STAY IN TOWN…. Viva la Musica announces events coming to the Auditorio Thursday, October 18 The Janus Quartet playing Shostakovich, Dvorak, Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart Friday, November 9 The Nath Quintet playing Brahms Clarinet Quintet op. 115, followed by the Schumann Piano Quintet op. 44 Thursday, December 6 The Jalisco Ballet Gala BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET ON A BUS…. Viva is running bus trips to the following events. Sunday October 14 Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 (soloist Alexei Volodin) and Schuman Symphony No. 2. The bus leaves at 10:30 for the 12:30 performance. Thursday October 25 Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 (soloist Vladimir Petrov) and Stravinsky Rite of Spring. The bus leaves at 4:30 with a stop for dinner in a better restaurant area of Guadalajara. The performance is at 8:30. Sunday November 4 Mahler Symphony No. 7 The bus leaves at 10:30 for the 12:30 performance. Tuesday November 27 Live Opera: Turandot by Puccini, featuring Oksana Kramareva as Turandot, Riccardo Massi as Calaf, and the Zapopan Municipal Choir. The bus leaves at 5:30 for the 8:00 performance (($900, $1000 for non-members). Sunday December 9 Baroque Fest: Vivaldi, Geminiani, Gabrieli, Bach, Lully. The bus leaves at 10:30 for the 12:30 performance. Thursday December 13 Ballet: Nutcracker by the Ballet de Jalisco. This plays to sellout audiences every December. The bus leaves at 6:00 for the 8:30 performance. ($700, $800 for non-members). Viva bus trips to the Jalisco Philharmonic concerts are $450 ($550 for non-members). The opera and ballet performances are individually priced above. Tickets are available at the LCS ticket area Thursdays and Fridays 10 to noon, or by calling Rosemary Keeling at 766-1801. GENIUS AND MENTAL ILLNESS The next production of Lakeside Little Theatre will be Proof. It’s directed by Randy Warren. Show dates are October 19-28. Proof was winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play.

Cast: Tony Wilshere, Collette Clavedetscher, Wayne Willis Waterman, Devin Van Domelin The play concerns Catherine, the daughter of Robert, a recently deceased mathematical genius in his fifties and professor at the University of Chicago, and her struggle with mathematical genius and mental illness. Tickets are $250 and are available at LLT’s Box Office from 10 to noon, every Wednesday and Thursday, also one hour before curtain. The evening shows are at 7:30 pm and matinees are at 4 pm. The first Saturday and both Sundays are matinees. For email reservations, email tickets@lakesidelittletheatre.com or call 376.766.0954.

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BARE STAGE THEATRE Check out the new readers` theatre opening on October 1. The first show will be Art of Murder by Joe DiPietro. It is directed by Arleen Pace and runs October 26, 27 and 28. Cast members are Kathleen Morris, Jon de Young, Tina Leon, and John Ward. Here’s a review: “…a kind of comedy-mystery with a thin overlay of chat about the more ruthless aspects of the art industry…” Committee members are, left to right: back row, Emily Crocker and Roseann Wilshere Front row, Johan Dirkes, Suki O’Brien, Arleen Pace. Not pictured, Kathleen Morris The theatre is at Hidalgo #261 on the mountain side of the carretera in Riberas del Pilar, across from the Catholic Church. Parking is available in the parking lot of the Baptist Church, behind the theater. Donation is $100. The Box Office and bar open at 3 p.m. Reservations are by email at: barestagetheaatre2018@gmail.com. For those who use Facebook, look for Bare Stage Theatre 2018 for breaking news and updates. TRANSCEND THE MIND TO MINDFULNESS Yoga teacher Latika Pierrette is presenting, for the sixth consecutive year, a retreat dedicated to “healing the body and the mind with gentle yoga practices.” The dates are November 1-6. It takes place at the Hotel Montecarlo in Chapala. Activities beyond different yoga practices will include introduction to breathing techniques, a one hour private Theater Healing session and an Latika Pierrette introduction to ayurveda, the sister healing science of yoga. The cost of the retreat is $450.00 US per person, $575.00 CN or 8,900 MX pesos. Local residents who prefer to stay at home can deduct $2600 MX for the hotel room cost. A deposit of $150.00 CN will secure your place. Reserve by e-mail at latikayoga@hotmail.com. For more information, feel free to phone her in Ajijic at 376.106.2131. THE LITTLE SPARROW Edith Piaf’s musical career spanned four decades, from the 30’s to the 60’s. Her signature “La Vie en Rose” is still among the most popular songs in the world. France’s greatest singer’s life and times and songs will entertain all who come to a dinner show on Thursday, November 8, and Friday, November 9. Linda Freeman will be doing the storytelling as Simone Berteaut, Edith’s lifelong friend, and Abby Rivera will sing as Edith Piaf. The show starts at 6 pm. The venue is Hacienda Don Pedro. Tickets will be sold at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique and at the Pasteleria Francese for 350 pesos. IT’S COMING UP SOON We’ve heard from the planners of Feria 2018, which is November 9-11 this year. The theme is “The Colors of Nature” and artist lectures will be toward that theme. Check Feria Maestros del Arte’s website www.mexicoartshow.com for information on the individual artists, plus information on all aspects of the Feria - even hosting. New hours are 9:30 to 5;30 Friday and Saturday and 9:30 to 4:30 on Sunday. Admission will be $80. The venue is Club de Yates on Ramon Corona just past the fish restaurants. For Feria questions (general information, volunteering, artists), contact feriamaestros@gmail.com.

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Meet Mexico in three days at Feria Maestros del Arte

hen you come to Feria Maestros del Arte, you will be seeing more than Mexican folk art and colorful costumes. You will be meeting Mexico in a way few travelers do. For instance, several days before the Feria, Zenaida Hernández Gómez and Cristina Hernández Pérez have been packing and organizing the textile works from the 50 women who make up Compa Lucha, a cooperative from villages in the municipality of Chenalhó. Zenaida and Cristina are from the village of Yaxgemel Unión, population 362, which is an Abejas community. They will join 40 other artists from Chiapas for a long bus ride to the Feria where each artist will set up their woven and embroidered textiles, pottery, hand carved kitchen utensils, jewelry, rugs, and much more. If you wanted to visit them, you would most likely fly into the modern airport outside Tuxtla Gutiérrez, a bustling capital city of 500,000 and home of the marimba, and then drive, take a bus or taxi into the highlands where the stunning, colonial city of San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at 2200 meters (7200 feet). As you’re enjoying the beauty, history and food of this cultural capital of Chiapas, it will be a challenge to remember that in 1994, the revolutionary Zapatistas took over the city. Continuing the journey to Yaxgemel, you would leave San Cristóbal and drive into the sparsely populated, mountainous backroads of Mexico. Eventually, you would reach Chenalhó, a town of about 3,000. From there you would have to ask directions from the locals, most of whom don’t speak English or Spanish, because Yaxgemel isn’t on Google Maps. Of course, you could also just come to the beautiful yacht club in Chapala and meet Zenaida and Cristina in person and see their incredible rebozos, huipils and other hand made and embroidered items. If you have time and find one of the many Spanish-speaking Feria volunteers to help

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you, you could also ask them about being part of an Abejas community. Abejas, “the bees” is a Christian pacifist civil society group of Tzotzil Maya formed in Chenalhó in 1992 following a property dispute that left one person dead and a controversy about who was at fault. When the Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising took place in 1994, Las Abejas stood in solidarity with the the principles they were fighting for, but not their violent means, and paid a high price for their support when 45 of their members were massacred while praying in a church. Zenaida and Cristina represent only one story and one form of folk art you will encounter at the Feria. There are 83 other booths of authentic Mexican folk art and artisans from all over Mexico with their own stories and art handed down through the generations. To help visitors understand more of the deep background of this art and the artisans who make it, the Feria is presenting a series of speakers and demonstrations to meet the artists and understand the stories behind their art. There will be two presentations each day of the Feria, morning and afternoon. Not only will you meet Mexico in three days, you will be playing a part in saving Mexican folk art for the future. In small villages all over Mexico, families are making beautiful art. The Feria is a non-profit organization that charges no fees or commissions and pays for all the transportation costs for the artists. All of the money the artists earn at the Feria goes home with them, and, for many of the artists, the Feria is their major source of income for the year. Your purchases represent more than beautiful things, they are a connection to real people, real stories from actual families living in remote villages, working every day to bring their art to you during this one three-day event every year. Please join us: Feria Maestros del Arte, November 9-11, 2018. Chapala Yacht Club.

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Why We Chose Lakeside By Chuck Bolotin

fter eight months of traveling through Mexico, I can now tell you, from personal experience, that Mexico is a big, a varied, and in many places, a very beautiful country. A little over two years ago, my wife and I sold our home in Arizona, gave away, sold, or put into storage anything that wouldn’t fit into a big, white van, and with our two dogs, crossed the border from the United States into Mexico. Our loosely defined mission: as almost complete newbies, with very little knowledge of Spanish and even less knowledge of what Mexico was really like, make a road trip through Mexico from one end to the

other, stopping for six weeks or so at most of the better-known expat locations. When it was over, perhaps we would settle in one of the places we visited or perhaps we would return to live back in the US. We didn’t know if we would like Mexico, but we were about to find out. We experienced small fishing villages, larger towns, homes in a village and homes outside a village. In the Highlands, we drove through vast expanses of gently rolling hills almost completely devoid of people, pierced periodically by soaring, snow-capped volcanoes and then, a city or a town would appear. Over that period of about eight

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months, we were dazzled by the exquisite, sparkling beaches of Baja’s eastern coast, swam with our dogs in the clear, warm, calm waters of the Sea of Cortez with islands sprinkled in the near horizon, and danced with the locals in the square of a small village in Nayarit, where nearby, the jungle dripped into the sea. We were awed by the views and experienced the serenity of village life in Jocotepec and Ajijic and we marveled at the majesty and refinement of San Miguel de Allende. We enjoyed Puebla and Cordoba. We stayed in a 400-year-old hacienda in Merida adjacent to a Mayan village and we even swam in a cenote, vibrating with translucent energy. (I am told that the ancient Mayans believed that cenotes were the entrance to the underworld, and when you experience one, you will know why.) In Quintana Roo, we visited Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum stayed in a master-planned mixed-use residential community in Akumal. Finally, at the very southern edge of Mexico, we stopped to gaze out at the Bay of Chetumal, shared with Belize, and which the Belizeans call the Bay of Corozal. Changed by our time on the road, seeing and experiencing so many new and unexpected things,

our tour of Mexico was now over, and it was time for my wife and I to make a decision on where to live. We didn’t choose to go back to the US and we didn’t choose any of the glitzier areas in Mexico. We chose Lakeside, and we’ve been thrilled ever since. Our reasons may not be your reasons and perhaps you may disagree, but for us, it was an easy choice. Our reasons include the pace of life and the warm and interesting people here (Mexicans and expats alike); the weather; the magnificent views nobly presiding over the prevailing and broad sense of calm and tranquility; the closeness of Guadalajara with its shopping and international airport; that it was a great place to start my new moving business; and had a cost of living low enough to enjoy it all without worrying too much about what things cost. Even though all of us who live here are aware of these and other great reasons to call Lakeside our home, I suspect strongly that there are many more interesting, fulfilling, fun, etc., things to do here that many of us don’t know. So, each month, my wife and I will visit one of these places and report back to you, perhaps in the process making all our lives a bit richer and more enjoyable. We’re planning on visiting places like Andares Mall, Abastos (the huge food center), Scorpion Island, Mazamitla, and others. Which others will depend to some extent on you, the readers of El Ojo Del Lago. You see, we’re counting on you to let us know which locations you think are most worthy to share with our Lakeside neighbors. You suggest; we experience and report back. Do you have a favorite, less known place in or around Lakeside? If so, don’t keep it from the rest of us. Drop me a line right now at my email address: Chuck.Bolotin@BestMexicoMovers.com. See you around!

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Dear Mr. Putin,

e need help. I know you’re a former KGB agent (more power to ya) and that you’re one of the richest guys around (but maybe not richer than Jeff Bezos but you could probably buy and sell Kim Kardashian) but I thought I’d reach out for your support. We’ve tried in this country to debunk this president. We’ve called him all kinds of names and told the world he’s the Wizard of Oz (with a small w and a small o). We are scared of him frankly. So I’m writing to you. Could you please verify the “P” tapes you have of our president with some of your best “ladies”? I know

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he said he’s germ adverse but he hung with Stormy, I’m sure he’d hang with a Sasha or two or…how many girls were jumping on that bed? No one in this country seems to have the moral integrity to understand how funky immoral our Prez is. But I think you do. So, I know he’s probably promised you a reduction in sanctions so your rich oligarchy pals can travel around and be rich (and maybe hobnob with some of our best i.e. Kim Kardashian) but still, don’t you want a better flake to wage your macho bear hugging self against besides our sad prez? Someone more your equal? I offer you Pence. He looks like George Washington and if you promise you’ll convert to Christianity, you could have Pence in your pocket too. But please dear Mr. Putin, please. Help us get rid of this president we’ve got. We’re in over our heads here and just as Khrushchev came to our rescue during the Cuban Missile Crisis, could you please get us out of this one? We can’t seem to be able to do it ourselves. Here’s a twist. If you can come clean on the dossier, we’ll drop our sanctions. That’s what Trump offered you. I’m no skin flint, I’ll offer the same deal. Just get us out of this. Thanks, Billy Patriot

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Cejas And The Great Escape By Maggie Van Ostrand

he mean streets of Tijuana finally dispatched something other than media reports of killings, kidnappings and cartels. The bloody, dusty, bullet-ridden streets of Tijuana have watched Cejas emigrate, even without proper papers. You may be wondering, Who is this Cejas of whom she writes? Is he a Mexican hero? Is he a famous actor using another name? Is he an undercover foreign agent? Or, since the word “cejas” means “eyebrows,” might it be a code name for Andy Rooney whose eyebrows enter a room five minutes before he does? It’s none of these. No, he’s not a gang member out to visit relatives in the U.S., a mule for drug guys or a people-smuggling coyote. However, like real mules and coyotes, he does have four legs. Cejas is a little Mexican dog. He didn’t get out of Tijuana by himself. He had the help of many, including angels, Santo Toribio Romo González, Mexico’s ghostly benefactor of “illegal aliens,” and a quick-witted missionary grandmother. Every three months, trucks filled with toys, blankets, and food make their way from the U.S. to poor colonies of Tijuana. Last December they caravanned to La Colonia El Mont Bonito. Part of their mission is to bring food, bowls, and water for the unfortunate dogs of the area. One little fellow caught the eye of Grandmother Reyna, who recalls, “He was ‘very matted, dirty, and smelled awful.’” Their eyes met, she saw his “sad and tender look” and made a decision to bring him back with the church group. Other members wondered why she would take a street dog in such bad condition, and were rightly concerned about trouble crossing the border. What would the border guards do? Would the missionaries be arrested? Would Cejas go to doggie detention? After all, he didn’t have the required records of inoculation, no license, and he looked pretty bad. But Grandmother Reyna decided to rescue him, despite the danger. She stayed calm during the two-

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hour wait at the border. When their van, driven by her granddaughter, got to first place, the emigration officer asked, “What are you bringing back from Mexico?” They replied, “Nothing.” Then the officer peeked in the back window and spied Cejas asleep. “Whose dog is that?” the officer asked. Granddaughter replied, “My Gandmama’s.” The suspicious officer asked Grandmother Reyna what the dog’s breed was. “Terrier,” she said, with an innocent expression. “What is the dog’s name?” asked the officer. Fear of being charged with smuggling turned her mind blank. She could not remember the dog’s name, and boldly gave the first name that entered her head, “JoJo.” The officer was fooled. I would not want to play poker with Grandmother Reyna. Back in the U.S.A., she took the little dog to the veterinarian, who bathed and neutered him. It must have seemed a strange welcome to a new land, but Cejas just shouted “¡Ole! Now can I play?” Cejas came to live with us in California where I currently work. His upper lip snags on one of his few remaining front teeth resembling Elvis Presley’s famous sneer. He prefers burritos to dog food, and is not yet bilingual. He comes when called, does not enter a house without permission, and tolerates a leash when we take our daily walks. He’s hooked on Cesar Millan’s “Dog Whisperer,” and it takes a commercial break before he will look away from the TV screen. Our little illegal escaped the mean streets of TJ and fearlessly crossed the border to a new life. Moral of this story: Be nice to grandmothers. You never know when she can get you out of a bad spot. Maggie Van Ostrand

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Shattered Illusions*

*Now on Amazon/Kindle and in quality soft-back under the title Against All Odds.

A Novel by Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez Reviewed by Dr. Michael Hogan

compelling novel that captures the spirit of the 1970’s “Please turn out the light and come to bed,” my wife implored as I savored the final pages of Alejandro Grattan’s new novel, Shattered Illusions. It is a compelling read, taking us on a journey from the steaming jungles of Vietnam to the equally steamy and dangerous “selvas” of Central America. This is the story of Steven Donleavy, a decorated helicopter pilot who returns from Vietnam with a brutal leg injury suffered in combat as well as a psychic wound because of his failure to rescue stranded comrades that he had to abandon during a firefight lest his lose his chopper and all aboard. His return home is

short of glorious and, because of his gimp leg, he is only able to find work as a pilot for a seedy transport company flying outmoded planes. Steven longs to connect with his

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childhood friend and fellow Vietnam pilot, Artie Casillas, with whom he has lost touch and whom he cannot locate when he returns from Nam. He hears rumors that he is flying planes down in Central America and this is confirmed by a DEA agent who informs him that Casillas is flying drugs for narcos. The agent entices Steven to go to work as a pilot with his friend (while also working undercover for the DEA) to rescue Casillas and clear him of criminal charges. Once there, Steven connects with his friend and discovers that the drugrunning operation is being used to fund a revolutionary movement but that the effort has been co-opted by the CIA. He falls in love with Marlena Salazar, an attractive rebel soldier, and now finds himself trapped between two powerful forces. How can he rescue his friend Casillas without betraying his new-found love and the revolutionary cause? How can he escape death at the hands of the rebels if discovered, or avoid prison in the US for him and his friend if he fails to accomplish his mission? Complications abound. The novel has faint echoes of Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, with courage and integrity (not to mention true love) pitted against the

ruthless indifference of war and conflicting ideologies. The Contra Affair and Colonel Oliver North also come to mind as events unfold in this Central American republic engaged in a revolutionary struggle which will be ultimately betrayed by some of its own people. For those who enjoyed Grattan’s other compelling novels such as The Dark Side of the Dream and Breaking Even, this long-overdue work of international fiction will come as a special treat. Grattan has sharpened his already-considerable narrative skills and has delivered a compelling novel that captures the contradictions and tensions of the 1970s as Vietnam ended and a new unsettling period of hotspot hostilities broke out in the Americas. We now inherit the whirlwind of that violence as the children of those countries flee the terror which was unleashed so many years ago. Ed. Note: Dr. Hogan is the author of the highly-acclaimed The Irish Soldiers of Mexico and Lincoln and Mexico. Dr. Michael Hogan

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EACH GIRL IS A MIRACLE By Harriet Hart

“

ach girl is a story, each girl is a miracle,” says Lupita Canepa, the Director of Education for the Centro Educativo Jaltepec, a learning center situated high on a hill overlooking Lake Chapala. “When they arrive,” she continued, “they are shy, timid, awkward girls from low income families. They have low selfesteem. You can watch them change. They begin to stand taller, speak up more. It’s a beautiful process, from cocoon to butterfly.” Linda Buckthorp, the community facilitator and driving force behind the program, invited me to tour Jaltepec and introduced me to Lupi-

ta and two other young women affiliated with the school: Ana Lucia Mariscal Villanueva, who works for the Beca Foundation in Guadalajara, and Cristal Zapata, a graduate currently employed as an instructor in the restaurant section. Cristal poured us coffee, and Ana Lucia passed the plate of cookies and tarts, lovingly prepared by students in the nearby kitchen. I was eager to learn as much as I could about the Jaltepec facility, its history, mission, curriculum and future plans so after coffee we had the grand tour, which began with the student lounge where evenings, after homework is done, the students

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and faculty gather to talk, celebrate special occasions and bond. “We call it tertulia,” Ana Lucia explained. “It means creating a family atmosphere.” Next I saw the classrooms, a multi purpose room that also serves as a computer lab, the laundry with its commercial grade washers and dryers, the kitchens, also professionally equipped, the student dormitory and two chapels, one for the students, one for staff and visitors. Young girls from all over Mexico come to Centro Educativo Jaltepec every year to participate in the Center’s various programs, which offer comprehensive and intensive courses in cooking, cleaning, laundering, and hotel & administrative techniques including Food and Beverage management, computer word-processing skills, accounting and training in English language and grammar. The Center’s mission is to develop high standards of academic performance, competence and professionalism among its students and to nurture an ethical and spiritual awareness in them that will guide them through a useful and rewarding life after they leave. Centro Educativo Jaltepec is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. In 1968 four benefactors donated land and buildings to create this hotel and hospitality management school, and requested Opus Dei provide the administrative staff and instructors. The students carry out their professional practices within the two conference centers. The first generation started with students from the communities of Ribera de Chapala such as Chante, San Juan Cosalá, Jocotepec, San Luis Soyatlán, and some others. From the beginning, the curriculum sought to positively influence the integral training of women, through hospitality services, always adapting to the circumstances and needs of the time and social environment. In 2001, the Jalisco Secretary of Public Education (SEP) upgraded Jaltepec to a Tecnico Universitario due to its high standards of education in hotel and hospitality management. There are five such schools in Mexico, Jaltepec being the only one to be certified a Tecnico Universitario. In September 2014, Jaltepec became an advisory center for the Colegio de Bachilleres of the state of Jalisco (COBAEJ) with the Open High School System (SPA). With the aim that the students that finished middle school can complete high school in a year and then continue with the career of Superior University Techni-

cian in Hospitality (TSHU) with a total duration of 3 years. So far 700 students from different parts of the Mexican Republic, Jalisco, Michoacán, Sinaloa, State of Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero, and others, have completed their studies. Transforming lives one girl at a time is achieved by a strict regimen. Students get up at 6:00 a.m. and begin their day by cleaning the dorms and conference center guest rooms. Breakfast is served at 8:00 a.m., followed by a rotation in the laundry or kitchen, learning the practical aspects of the hospitality business from folding cloth napkins and ironing tablecloths to meal planning and preparation. After lunch and a short break, the students go to the classrooms where they learn the theoretical side of things until dinner at 8:00 p.m. They are trained in personal grooming, deportment and spirituality. There is also a work component to the program. Each student must complete 1750 hours of a practicum in one of 20 participating hotels and restaurants including The Monte Carlo Hotel, the Real de Chapala Hotel, Los Telares Restaurant, Viva Mexico Restaurant in San Juan Cosala, Café Grano in Ajijic and several large hotels in Guadalajara. I asked Linda Buckthorp how she became involved in Jaltepec. Linda said that when she first arrived at lakeside over twenty years ago, she met Nancy Price, an expat and major philanthropist who introduced Linda to the institute, Nancy’s favorite charity. Linda sponsored two students in 1998. When Nancy died an untimely death, Linda was motivated to help Jaltepec in memory of Nancy Price. In June 2000 Linda stepped into Nancy’s shoes, finding sponsors and organizing fundraising events such as the annual Christmas dinner held at the institute with Los Cantantes del Lago performing a Christmas concert in the chapel. Linda also hosts events in her own home, like the Music & Moussaka afternoon, scheduled for October 28th and the Open House slated for January/February when 60 registrants will get to tour the facility and enjoy lunch prepared by the students. If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes one to transform a girl’s life. You can be part of the miracle. For more information, contact Linda at buckthroplm@gmail. com. Harriet Hart

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The Birth Of A Rock By John Ward

ince the dawn of time on planet Earth, when rocks were born of cooling magma billions of years ago, or: since about ten thousand years ago, when God thought having stones in his diorama would be good idea, the creation of rocks has always been a laborious process. Not so much with kidney stones. Geologically speaking the birth of a kidney stone is a very rapid affair that only seems to take an eon. It’s hard to imagine that acid indigestion, from which I suffer, can lead to the development of kidney stones, but if you fight acid indigestion with TUMS, it can happen. Glaxo Smith Klein discovered that antacids can deplete a person’s calcium which, later, can result in osteoporosis, a serious condition which causes an otherwise healthy person to crumple into a pile of amorphous flesh as you ask for directions in Walmart. To counteract this side effect, the company infused their product with enough calcium to re-create Ayer’s Rock in my right kidney.

It was another beautiful day in Ajijic. I remember that because I thought it was my last. At about 10 a.m., on a Saturday, it seemed that my duodenum decided to wrap around my kidney like a boa constrictor and begin using my ureter as a thong. It was so painful I was afraid I was going to die, but then it got so painful, I was afraid I wasn’t going to die! The pain of passing a kidney stone can reduce a heathen the caliber of Attila the Hun to a kneeling, pleading, praying penitent, begging for relief and/or death! I am told

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the only thing worse is giving birth. What seemed like a bowling ball being squeezed through a garden hose was in fact more like a tiny grain of sand through a pipette. Compared to the birth of an eight pound child being shoved through a space that has had no more stretching, in many cases, than that provided by an organ the size of a humble graphite writing instrument, the kidney stone is a walk in the park. If this is the case, and I have no reason to doubt it is, women should be placed on pedestals and treated with awe and reverence at all times. As my pain hit, I broke into a sweat and knew that if I didn’t lie down immediately I’d drop. I made it to the spare bedroom and flopped onto the bed. Saturday the maid cleans and she had left several carpets folded up on the bed, so I lay there on a pile of carpets like Aladdin after a magic carpet mid-air collision. The pain was so intense that I was both trembling and sweating. The sweat ran down my legs and into my shoes, escaping as steam from the lace-holes. The only thing that saved me from feeling deathly sick was the all-consuming feeling of nausea. I couldn’t call for my wife; I was afraid of opening my mouth to speak in case the pain got any worse. All I could do was make mewling noises. Mentally, I tried to go to my meditational tranquil

place and found it had been overrun by kidney strangling, ureter twanging psychopathic Hell’s Angel bikers. I remembered my father having had kidney stones after a friend of his suggested that sea-shell calcium was a good supplement. He had been taking it for several months and it grew a little rock quarry in his Kidneys. His reaction was much like my own: “Shoot me now.” An ambulance was called, but by the time they arrived, he had given birth to a healthy, young, kidney-stone called Ralph and the crisis had passed. I had to pay for the ambulance anyway. As the pain grew, so did my groans and, as a result, my wife discovered me and, seeing that every drop of blood had left my face and retreated to the safety of my ankles, called a doctor to come to the house immediately. When the doctor arrived, he could not seem to understand why I was confessing to the theft of the Hope Diamond, the murder of Jimmy Hoffa and several of Dillinger’s robberies. Oh yes, pain will make you confess to just about anything. That’s why torturers have this undying belief in the efficacy of torture, - they get answers! They may not be the right answers, but they are answers. After the doctor gave me an injection with a needle the thickness of a HarleyDavidson tail-pipe, the pain started to abate. I was able to unhook my finger and toenails from the ceiling and land back on my crashed carpet bed. With the help of a drug called Alopurinol, my ureter relaxed enough to allow the rock through to my bladder and from thence out through my urethra to join the other cobblestones of Calle Javier Mina. A subsequent examination and urinalysis showed I was retaining urine “Like a dog that has to pee everywhere” the doctor said. Oh well, I thought, at least people would know which patch of Mexico is mine. John Ward

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You Can Warm Your Socks in the Oven —But That Don’t Make’um Biscuits By Fernando Garcia

y mom was a genius when it came to finding simple solutions for difficult problems. Raised on a meager farm in Mexico one learned to be resourceful. She used to open the oven door to warm her kitchen on cold mornings as well as occasionally dry a piece of freshly washed clothing needed with not enough time to dry on her clothes line. One afternoon mom needed a few easily obtainable items from the grocery store. She called us into her kitchen, handed my brother a precious five dollar bill and a small grocery list with strict instructions on what to buy.

“Mucho cuidado con el dinero,” she instructed her two boys with the collective attention span of a gnat. “Okay mom, we’ll be right back” we assured her. Once outside we didn’t make it out of the driveway before disaster struck. My brother took the bill out of his shirt pocket, already a broken rule, rolled it up and pretended to set it aflame and light an imaginary cigar in his mouth. Laughing I swatted at the five dollar note only to dislodge it from his little fingers, watch it flutter in the light breeze and promptly find a new home in an empty cell in the block wall that separated our yard from the neighbors.

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“What did you do that for?” he screeched. “Why did you take it out of your pocket?” I screeched back. Only ten years old and we figured the rest of our lives would be measured in minutes. “You have to tell her,” he informed me. “She gave you the money,” I responded. We decided to face the death penalty together, holding back tears. We slogged into the kitchen and divulged what had happened. “I was putting the money in my pocket when a bee scared me and when I swatted at it the money flew out of my hand and fell into a hole in the wall next to Mr. and Mrs. Cary’s house,” he lied. Exasperated , Mom said, “Que voy hacer con ustedes dos? What am I going to do with you two?” “Ensename donde esta el dinero. Show me where the money is!” With slumped shoulders we showed her. Was dad going to have to disassemble a portion of the wall? And what will he do to us when he finds out what we did? Mom walked back into the house and came out with her long handled broom, “Oh, no,” I thought, a caning!

She asked me for the chewing gum out of my mouth, stuck it to the end of her broom and quickly retrieved the lost money. We stood in awed relief. Mom took the five dollars and personally stuck it into my brother’s pants pocket along with an unnecessary threat. We executed the errand with the precision and efficiency of a high military command maneuver. Many years later, on one of our trips to Hermosillo, Mexico to visit mom’s family, my sister Carolyn’s Ford pick-up with a camper mounted on the back sprung a small radiator leak. Wouldn’t you know it: happened the Sunday morning we were leaving. All the repair shops were closed and we had to be back in San Diego, what the hell were we going to do? Carolyn, myself, my twin and our brotherin-law stood staring under the hood of the truck, the radiator hissing a small steady stream of hot steam. Mom came out to assess the crisis. She looked at me and calmly said, “Ponle un picadillo. Stick in a toothpick.” “What?! I asked.” She repeated what she had just said. “Mom, we have to drive through part of the Sonoran Desert to Tucson, then through the Imperial Valley Desert, up the San Diego County Mountains, then home to the Pacific!” Hardly batting an eye, she said, “Ponle un picadillo” and walked back into my uncle’s house. We did. I swear the radiator did not loose a drop of water for the entire twelve hour trip home. The wood of the toothpick had simply swelled from the moisture of the radiator and completely sealed the leak. We learned over the years that it was that type of ingenuity that allowed my ancestors to survive in the Mexican desert where I swear the devil himself would have despaired. I’m sure Mom would have had a simple solution for him, too.

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MEXICAN DAYS By Tony Cohan Reviewed by Harriet Hart

exican Days by Tony Cohan is a self-portrait of the artist as an outsider, a spectator on the sidelines of life. He writes poetically about Mexico, his chosen home for over twenty years. Those who have read On Mexican Time know him as the ex-patriot who left California to find a different, slower paced life south of the border in San Miguel de Allende. Sixteen years later, Cohan acquires a disorder that propels the sufferer to hit the road and leave his ordinary life behind. The “excuse” for Cohan’s travels is an article he’s asked to write about what’s new in Mexico but his reasons for taking this journey are more complex. Readers will identify with one of the themes that run beneath this travel memoir like the underground tunnels of Guanajuato: the negative changes we create in our paradise of choice. When Cohan arrived in San Miguel it was: “site of fiestas and miracles, ecstatic religion and fiery revolt, unearthly beauty and curative air–a place for dreamers and artists.” As the book opens, it has been invaded by a Hollywood film crew where stand-ins for Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek drop into the plaza on ropes and fake gunshots wake residents in the morning. Tourists knock on Cohan’s front door or snap his photo as he strolls down the street. Like Peter Mayle in A Year in Provence, he has helped put his piece of paradise on the tourist map. Cohan flees the film crew to visit Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Mexico City and the Yucatan, but readers simply looking for a guidebook will have to look elsewhere. In Mexican Days they will discover the author’s current obsessions: what makes a man leave home? What is it about Mexico that captures travelers? What holds a marriage together? Throughout the book Cohan asks himself repeatedly why he must be on the move. When he discovers “dissociative fugue, a curious disorder in which one or more episodes of sudden, unexpected and purposeful travel from home occur” he wonders if he is suffering from the condition and speculates that he is traveling to discover his true

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self: “Border to border, coast to coast, Mexico offered a boundless canasta of riches; yet I experienced these journeys less as attractions than as encounters with the necessary Other-myself, in new guises, revealed in reflection off the alien surfaces travel provides.” Cohan postulates that writers require contrast and likens himself to other well-known American authors whose creativity was enhanced by their wanderings: “Melville, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, and Paul Bowles–full or part-time wanderers or expatriates all. For these writers, being outside often provided the best seat in the house: neither quite here nor there, yet in both places at once.” What does he think is the special appeal of Mexico? Cohan doesn’t own a car; he’s exchanged a life of California driving for “a life on foot, open to the mysteries hidden in slowness.” In Mexico people can reinvent themselves: “you can do things in Mexico you can’t do elsewhere. Artists and architects, fascist and fanatics, ascetics and addicts have long known this. Here you can disappear, adopt a new identity, become who you aren’t – or who you really are.” He calls Mexico our collective unconscious: “Mexico stands in the foreign imagination as a permanently exotic, lawless and untamed antidote to the grey sterility of its northern neighbor, a country riddled with bullet holes and beauty.” chateaucrow@hotmail.com Harriet Hart

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The Ojo Crossword

MIXED NUTS: The Gifts of the “Standing People” By Dr. Lorin Swinehart

ACROSS

DOWN

1 __hopp (child´s toy) 5 Pointed weapon 10 Swiss-like cheese 14 Gets older 15 Chili con __ 16 Ranch guy 17 Western American Indian member 19 Computer “button” 20 Extinguished 21 Unwilling 23 Outline 26 Black birds 28 Airport abbr. 31 Big Apple (abbr.) 32 Adjusts 33 Offence 34 Anchored 37 Unhappy 39 Acting (abbr.) 40 Red planet 42 Tiny 45 Artists paint mixers 49 Eastern Time 50 Suck up 53 Yes 54 Grow older 55 Opp. of doric 56 Small Mediterranean boat 58 Slow (musical term) 60 December 61 __ and span 63 Inert 69 Full of 70 Blue 71 Famous cookies 72 Colt´s mom 73 Looks for 74 Melody

1 Owns 2 Good grief! 3 Constellation 4 Association (abbr.) 11 Duke´s wife 12 Hoopla 13 Males 18 Shade 22 State with certainty 23 Trinitrotoluene 24 Seed bread 25 Feign 26 Horse Fly 27 Free of 29 Fasten 30 Colony insect 32 Creative work 35 Movie 2001´s talking computer 36 Pastry 38 Pacific Standard Time 40 Artist Chagall 41 Loose gown worn at mass 42 Ocean 43 Chinese flavoring 44 Artist´s studio 45 Luau dish 46 Charges 47 Ogle 48 Part of a min. 51 Beliefs 52 Nap 56 Type of Buddhism 57 Acclaim 59 Apex 60 Present tense of “do” 61 Short-term memory 62 Legume 64 Second day of the wk. 65 Gall 66 Flightless bird 67 Boy 68 Compass point

El Ojo del Lago / October 2018

ne of my valued possessions is an old, faded and care-worn denim jacket. It has a history, has served me well as I rode horses, baled hay, roamed the woods with my canine friends, cast flies upon the surfaces of ponds and streams in hopes of luring wary bass, bluegills, and trout from their watery lairs. In the breast pocket is a buckeye, dry and shriveled by the ravages of time. I have kept it for many years. My grandfather always counseled that carrying a buckeye would prevent rheumatism. When I was a boy and for years afterward, I would collect pockets full of shiny brown buckeyes every fall. After a while, my collections always lost their luster and dried up. I never quite knew what to do with them. Fresh out of their spiny hulls, they looked good enough to eat, but, alas, they contain glucosides, poisonous to humans, sometimes even causing death among livestock. Nevertheless, squirrels seem to relish them without ill effect. Basic to much Native American spirituality was the concept that all creatures possess spirit, are to be regarded as persons. According to Dr. Robin Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweet Grass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and The Teachings of Plants, in the Anishinaabe language, as in others, trees are considered persons and were referred to as the Standing People. Nuts are gifts of the Standing People. According to Dr. Kimmerer, nut bearing trees, unlike fruit trees, do not produce a large crop annually. Rather, they store up calories until there are enough to produce a heavy crop. There is no discernable rhyme or reason to this cycle, but all the trees in the forest get the message and produce at the same time. When nut trees produce a bountiful crop, the squirrel population increases. During lean years when nuts are scarce, squirrels find it necessary to range farther afield in search of food and are more likely to fall victim

to hawks, foxes and feral cats. The relationship between squirrels and nut trees is, thus, a close and vital one. When they were forced west on various Trails of Tears, of which there were several, to unfamiliar places called Kansas and Oklahoma, members of eastern Native American nations had little means of sustaining themselves. Groves of pecan trees provided vital protein and fats to see them through the winter. The nuts were boiled to create a sort of porridge. The fat that floated to the top became nut butter, a source of vitamins. Trees that bear butternuts, pecans, hickory nuts and walnuts are all related. I have always regarded the sharp tang of walnuts that have just fallen from their trees to be one of nature’s most delightful fragrances, one of the earliest indications of the advent of autumn. Pioneers used walnut hulls to create dye. Walnuts are much in demand today for use in cakes and candies. Butternut trees, also known as white walnuts, produced sap that can be turned into syrup and sugar, much like that of maple trees. Butternut bark also provided orange and yellow dyes. There are two species of hickory trees, the shellbark and the shagbark. One of the most appealing of all aromas is that of food items, like ham and bacon that have been cured by smoking over hickory logs. I was fortunate to have grown up with that aroma. My grandfather, who farmed his 68 acres until late into his 80’s, smoked his own hams and pork shoulders, afterwards hanging them over the stairway into his basement to age. Walking down that stairway was pure heaven. Hickory trees also provide nuts that are desired by both squirrels and humans, and Native Americans used the wood to make bows. As with other nut bearing trees, hickory sap can be boiled down to make sugar and syrup. I read about making maple syrup when I was ten or eleven years old, and I would not rest until Grandpa tapped the big maple trees in his front

yard. For days on end, every trip to the farm saw me toting buckets of sap to the kitchen to be boiled interminably on the big iron woodstove. In the end, we actually did produce a small bit of syrup. I have read that it takes about forty gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of syrup, a long, arduous process. Before the importation of the honeybee by the Dutch at New Amsterdam, the maple tree provided one of the few sources of sugar for Native Americans. Generally a log was hollowed out, and stones were heated in the campfire. When the sap was poured into the hollowed log, the heated stones were dropped in, causing the maple sugar to coagulate on the hard surfaces. The resulting maple sugar was often mixed with bear fat to create a sort of candy. There was a time when chestnut trees, the Queen of American forest trees, covered the land east of the Mississippi. Then, sometime around 1904, a fungus known as the chestnut blight arrived in a shipment from Japan. By 1940, nearly all American chestnut trees had gone the way of the elm tree, into oblivion. Chestnut trees were not only valuable for their edible nuts but because they provided beautiful wood for furniture mak-

ing. Those chestnut trees now in existence are either Chinese chestnuts or hybrids and not regarded as equal to the extinct American variety. The American Chestnut Foundation is devoted to developing a blight resistant variety, so maybe that beloved tree will once again flourish in towns and woodlands. Twenty species of pine trees produce edible nuts, including southwestern pinion trees. When I was a young teacher on the Navaho reservation, some of my students would go off with their families for several days in the fall to pick pinion nuts. The firs wild bears I ever encountered, a pair of yearlings, were busily gobbling up pinion nuts one autumn evening in the Chuska Mountains when I surprised them at their festivities. The gifts of the Standing People to man and beast are many. From time to time, I take the shrunken old buckeye out and gaze at it. I doubt that it truly prevents rheumatism. On the other hand, at the age of 76, I have never had rheumatism. I never intend to have it, either. Dr. Lorin Swinehart

ATTENTION ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS! Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to change our deadline for all articles of whatever nature from the 15th of each month to the 10th. We hope that will not inconvenience our many wonderful contributors!

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Over 60 years of “People Helping People”

The

Lake Chapala Society

News

www.lakechapalasociety.com

October 2018

LCS 2018 Annual Giving Program

As we enter the second month of our 2018 Annual Giving Season, we would like to share how your generous donation to LCS directly impacts our community by supporting the more than 100 LCS programs and services that members and our Lakeside neighbors value and enjoy. In September, we introduced you to Karen Domitzu Medrano Barajas, a Chapala native and our graphic designer at LCS. Karen was able to realize her dream of going to college and starting a career because of the support she received from our Student Aid Program. The October Success Story will feature Oscar and Jorge Ibarra Mendoza, the well-known owners of the popular Lakeside furniture and accessories store, IB Furniture For Less. Watch for their story in your email, on our website and on our Face book page. Karen, Oscar and Jorge are just a few of the hundreds of community members who have benefited from our programs, such as the Student Aid Program, the ESL classes, Spanish language instruction and our highly regarded Children’s Art Program. Membership and activity fees alone cannot cover all of the goals LCS hopes to achieve. The Annual Fund Campaign raises the additional money we need to maintain our programs and our campus. The LCS Annual Giving drive runs through December 31, 2018. Donations can be made online on our website or you make a donation in person at the LCS Service Office. On behalf of the members of the board, administration, faculty and staff at LCS, I thank you. George Radford, Secretary/Chair Fund Development Committee

Prueba Mexico: Mock Death You Say!

Mexico is not Mexico without its fiestas, and the Day of the Dead is nothing without a good thrill rich in tradition. The instructor is Alfredo Pérez and the course fee is $350 pesos. Class will be held November 1 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the South Campus. Min/Max students required: 15/30. (Must be 15 years old or older). Enroll by October 26.

New to Lakeside? This is For You.

“Introduction to Lakeside” classes are held the second Thursday of every month in the Sala at 9 a.m. This month’s class is on Thursday, October 11. Topics include much of the information you need for living Lakeside. The cost for the course $250 pesos. Register in the office or on the LCS website. members only. Your LCS membership must be current during the classes.

MID-MONTH BONUS! The Boy in the Hammock is Julie Galosy’s intriguing adventure story that commences with these words: “I had gone to the Amazon only to meet with a witch doctor to accompany him on his herb-finding soirees into the rain forest. It turned out that destiny had a very different mission for me.” The story can be found at http://chapala.com/elojo/index. php/mid-month-articles Each mid-month, we offer superb articles that while a bit too long for our print version are perfect for our digital format. Check it out!

El Ojo del Lago / October 2018

LCS Language Classes

LCS offers a variety of Spanish language courses and classes for those of you who want to learn Spanish or brushup on your language skills. One of them is sure to suit your schedule and interests. Introduction to Spanish This casual class for beginners covers the Spanish alphabet, simple vocabulary, phrases useful about town, and information about Lakeside and Mexican culture. Classes are held the first Tuesday of each month in the Gazebo, from 12 until 1:30 p.m. and continue for three weeks. Tuition is $220 pesos. Members only. Warren Hardy Spanish Classes Classes meet two days a week for an hour and a half each session at the Wilkes Education Center (Biblioteca). The program is based on the Warren Hardy Spanish language course designed for the adult student. Several levels of instruction are available to suit the student’s proficiency. Classes run from September 3 to October 22. Register for classes at the LCS office or online. You may also register at the Blue Umbrella Patio from August 27 to 31. A representative will be there to recommend the appropriate class for your skill level. Tuition for the course is $900 pesos; the required textbook is an additional $670 pesos. Other instructional materials may be purchased separately. This is a members-only class. Your membership must be current for the duration of the class. For more information, visit www.lakechapalasociety.com. Conversaciones en Español will return on October 8.

Volunteers Needed

If you are interested in any of the volunteer positions indicated below, or if you would like to offer your skills and time to any of LCS’ many programs and activities, contact volunteer@ lakechapalasociety.com, fill out a form on the LCS website, or pick up one at the Service Office. The ESL program especially needs volunteer instructors. We need an experienced and knowledgeable volunteer handyman who can maintain and repair buildings on the LCS campus. Must be reliable. Requires five to ten hours a week. The LCS library needs volunteers who are computer literate, in good physical condition and who love to read. We also need a volunteer to repair books. Talking Books Library needs volunteers who can be on call from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursdays. The Chess Club needs bilingual volunteers. to work with young chess enthusiasts.

US Passport Checklist October 2018

Up-to-date information on passport services for American citizens may be found in the LCS Service Office a week before or the Monday prior to the visit, or online at the LCS website.

U.S. Citizens Voter Assistance

Democrats Abroad will take requests for absentee ballots and make a ballot box available every Tuesday and Friday through October 23 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the Blue Umbrella Patio.

Ajijic Society of the Arts Sale in the Garden

Every third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. October and through March, members of the Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) will be exhibiting and selling their artwork in the gardens of LCS. The Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) is a major sponsor of the popular LCS Children’s Art Program. Several of the children participating the LCS Children’s Art Program will be attending class and selling their work.

Free Friday Family Films for October

Free Spanish language films for the family are shown every Friday at 7 p.m. at Wilkes Biblioteca Publica de Ajijic at Galeana #18. Open to the public. Bring the family. October 5 Dumbo October 12 Horton October 19 El señor doctor Cantinflas October 26 Lluvia de Hamburgesas 2

LCS Service and Support Groups Open to the Public Al-Anon (in Spanish) Mondays 6-7:30,Wed 5:30-7:30 Lake Chapala Painting Guild Second Fri 1:30-3:30 Lakeside AA Monday +Thursday 4:30-5:30 Needle Pushers Tuesday 10-12 Open Circle Sunday 10-11:30 The Ranch Adopt a Dog Thursday October 12:30-2 Toastmasters Monday 7-8:30 p.m US Voter Assistance Tuesday + Friday 10-12 Veteran’s Outreach Starts September 10 Monday 10-2 Borda Artistico Embroidery Class returns in January. Glucose screening will return in November.

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Video Library September

October Activities

All video rentals are now for five days. The Video Library needs couriers to bring us DVDs. We pre-pay them and have them shipped to the address of your choice. Contact: keanhombre@prodigy.net.mx

*Open to the Public ** US Citizens (S) Sign in (C) Member card Health Insurance * IMSS & Immigration Services Mon+Tues 10-1 Lakeside Insurance Broker Tues+Thur 11-2 San Javier Hospital last Fri 10-12 Health and Legal Services * Becerra & Galindo Services Thurs 10:30-12:30 Blood Pressure Screening Mon 10 -12 British Consulate last Sat 10-12 Hearing Aid Services (S) Mon+Sat 11-4 Ministerio Publico Wed Oct 3+24 10-2 My Guardian Angel Tues 10-12:30 Optometrist Claravision (S) Thur 9-3 Skin Cancer Screening (S) 2nd + 4th Wed 10-12 US Consulate** (S) Wed Oct 10 10:30 register 10 Lessons(C) Basic Yoga Wed 2-3 Beginner’s Photography (sign up email) 2nd+4th Mon 12-2 Cardio Dance Exercise Fri 12:30-1:30 Chair Yoga Fri 2-3:30 Children’s Art Sat 10-12* Children’s Chess Club Sat 12-1* Children’s English Class Sat 9:30-10:30* Exercise Mon+Wed+Fri 9-10 Exploring Spanish Wed 12-1:30 Sat 11-12:30 Fitness Thru Yoga Mon 2-3:30 Heart Dancing Tues 4-5:30 email sign up Help with Tech Issues Thurs 1+3+4+last 10-11:30 Intermediate Hatha Yoga Tues+Thur 2-3:30 Introduction to Basic Drawing (sign up email) Mon 11:30-1:30 Introduction to Lakeside (S) 2nd Thurs 9-1 register+cost Introduction to Portraits (sign up email) Tues 10-11:30 Introduction to Spanish Tues 12-1:30 register+cost Line Dancing Tues+Thurs 10-11:15 PEP and Prueba Mexico Series(S) register and cost; check office Photography Club 1st+3rd Mon 12-2 Scottish Country Dancing begins Oct 18 Thurs 11:30-1 Stretch and Balance Exercise Tues+Thurs 8:45--9:45 Tai Chi Chih Beginners Fri 10-11 Tai Chi Chih Continuing Fri 11-12 Taller Comunicacion Ninos de Mexico Sat 11:30-1; check office Tech Help Desk Thurs 12-2 Walk For Fitness Wed 10-11 Warren Hardy Spanish Classes (S) Mon-Sat register+cost Write-to-a-Prompt Writers’ Group Thurs 10-12 Libraries Book & Video Mon-Sat 10-2 Library of Congress Books**/ Talking Books,Audio Thurs 10-12 Wilkes Mon-Fri 9:30-7, Sat 9:30-1* Social Activities (C) All Things Tech Fri 10-11:30 Bridge 4 Fun Tue+Thurs 1-5 Conversaciones en espanol Mon 10-12 Discussion Group B Wed 12-1:30 Everyday Mindfulness Mon 10-12 Film Aficionados Thurs 2-4:30 Games Group Mon 1-4 Next Chapter Book Group 2nd Thurs 12-2 Scrabble Fri 11:30-1:30 Spanish/English Conversation Sat 11-12:30* TED Talk Learning Seminars Tues 12-1:15 Tournament Scrabble Tues 12-1:50 Ticket Sales Mon - Fri 10 a.m. to 12 noon

El Ojo del Lago / October 2018

Wow! Attention Classic Film Fans

Remember how much fun you had at Saturday matinees? Live it again with LCS’ New Saturday Movies featuring some of your alltime favorites. Our inaugural features for October are The House on Haunted Hill the 1959 horror classic shown Saturday, October 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. and Young Frankenstein the 1974 fun horror classic running Saturday October 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. All movies will be shown in the Sala. Please note: Admission is free. Bring your LCS membership card to obtain your ticket. Ticket sales will start at 12:30 p.m. Doors will open at 12:45 pm. To round out your Saturday movie experience, we plan to sell popcorn and water at our concession stand. This activity is for LCS members only and their guests. Only one guest seat per person can be saved. Questions? contact Michael Goss at lcs.tech.training@gmail.com.

New Member Activities

Basic Yoga Wednesday from 2 to 3 p.m. Learn how to move, to maintain your alignment, and become comfortable with yoga poses. Bring a mat; chairs will be available. Heart Dancing Tuesday 4 to 5:30 p.m. Gentle stretching and movement to music for all ages and physical conditions. . Limited to 12 participants. Email to barbarahildt@gmail.com Beginners Photography Second and fourth Monday of the month from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Email sambrit10@gmail.com.

Tech Classes

Our popular and informative tech classes return this fall. Sign up by email only with your member number and expiration date at lcs. tech.training@gmail.com. Membership must be current. In the Sala from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, October 4 Chromebooks Chromebooks are very low cost (less than $200 USD) laptops. If what you mostly do is on the internet they are an excellent option. They can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can watch movies and connect to your TV. Thursday, October 18 MS Word Features for Writers Basics MS Word knowledge is a prerequisite. We will learn how to do a table of contents, figures, and indices as well as doing chapter outlines. A discussion of backup will also be covered. Thursday, October 25 Introduction to Facebook We will cover the basics of Facebook including security, groups and general usage. Payment for any course must be received in the LCS Service office seven days prior to the date of the class. Pay in person or online using Paypal.

TED Talks

Tuesdays In the Sala 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Members only. Bring your card. October 2 If A Story Moves You, Act on It Sisonke Msimang, Writer and Activist In this funny and thoughtful talk, Msimang questions our emphasis on storytelling and spotlights the decline of facts. During a critical time when listening has been confused for action, Msimang asks us to switch off our phones, step away from our screens and step out into the real world to create a plan for justice. October 9 Reconnecting with Compassion Krista Tippett, Journalist The term “compassion” -- typically reserved for the saintly or the sappy -- has fallen out of touch with reality. At a special TEDPrize@UN, journalist Krista Tippett deconstructs the meaning of compassion through several moving stories, and proposes a new, more attainable definition for the word. October 16 Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable Luvvie Ajayi, Creator, Author and Speaker She isn’t afraid to speak her mind or to be the one dissenting voice in a crowd, and neither should you. “Your silence serves no one,” says the writer, activist and self-proclaimed professional troublemaker. In this bright, uplifting talk, Ajayi shares three questions to ask yourself if you’re teetering on the edge of speaking up or quieting down -- and encourages all of us to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable. October 23 The Pattern Behind Self-deception Michael Shermer, Skeptic says the human tendency to believe strange things- from alien abductions to dowsing rodsboils down to two of the brain’s basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble. October 30 On Being Wrong Kathryn Schultz, Writer Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we’re wrong about that? “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility.

New American Legion Outreach Program

The American Legion Post 7 and LCS will sponsor a veterans’ outreach program providing news and information about services available to veterans and their dependents every Monday from 10 to 2 p.m. on the Blue Umbrella Patio. Contact Roger Van Parys at (376) 766 4720 or email rvanparys@hotmail.com. Open to the public.

Thursday Film Aficionados

Open to LCS members only. Bring your card. All films shown in the Sala from 2 to 4 p.m. No food. No pets. October 4 October Sky 1999 USA The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner’s son who was inspired by the Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father’s wishes. This movie launched Jake Gyllenthal’s career; well supported by Chris Cooper and Laura Dern. One of my personal favorites. (108 minutes) October 11 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society 2018 UK A writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of the Isle of Guernsey in the aftermath of WWll when she decides to write a book about their wartime experiences under Nazi occupation. Adapted from a popular novel of the same name. (120 minutes) October 18 Chavela 2017 Mexico/Spain The life of pioneering singer Chavela Vargas from her birth in Costa Rica in 1919 to her death in Mexico City in 2012. Amazing archival videos of Frida Kahlo with narration by Pedro Almodovar who put Chavela in his films. One amazing life story. (93 minutes) October 25 Hichki 2018 India An inspiring story about a woman who turns what others see as a great weakness into her greatest strength as she seeks a position as a teacher even though she’s handicapped. (113 minutes)

October Bus Trips

Wednesday, October 10 Tonala Discover stylish home decor and wonderful Mexican handicrafts in Tonala. Bus leaves promptly at 10 a.m. from the sculpture in La Floresta. Cost is $370 for members; $470 for non-members. Wednesday, October 24 Galerias Mall/Costco Major retailers like Sears, Best Buy and SuperWalmart are here. Dine at popular restaurants. Cost to members is $370 pesos; nonmembers $470. Bus will depart promptly at 9:30 a.m. from the sculpture in La Floresta. Purchase tickets no later than two days before any LCS trip.

British Consular Officer Now at LCS

British Consular Officer Ceri Dando will be at LCS the last Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. Contact Representative Cecil Dando at 333 139 4314 or by email cpdando2000@yahoo.com.

Costco Returns Thursday, October 20 THE LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY, A.C. 16 de Septiembre #16-A, Ajijic, Jalisco LCS Main Office: (376) 766-1140 Office, information and other services - Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Grounds open until 5:00 p.m. LCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President - Carole Wolff (2020); Vice-President - Sandra Britton (2019); Secretary - George Radford (2020); Treasurer - Tim Boardman (2019); Directors: Azucena Bateman (2019); Elizabeth Villaseñor (2020); Gin Pelzl (2020); Howard Feldstein (2019); Janis Sirany (2019); Nicolas Hanson (2019); Philip Newbold (2020); . Immediate Past President: Ben White * Executive Director - Terry Vidal

The LCS Newsletter is published monthly. Deadline for submissions is the 14th of the month preceding publication. Submit all news items to lcsnewsletter2016 @gmail.com Note: The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all submissions according to time, space availability and editorial decision.

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El Ojo del Lago / October 2018

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Service * ADVERTISING / DIRECTORY - EL OJO DEL LAGO Tel. 765-3676

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* CANOPIES

766-1760 765-4444 766-5555

Pag: 63

* FURNITURE

Pag: 27

* CONSIGNMENT SHOP Pag: 12

- MOSQUITO CONTROL Cell: (045) 331-498-7699

066 765-2308, 765-2553 766-3615

* HARDWARE STORES

* FUMIGATION

Pag: 03

* COMPUTERS Pag: 11

- COSTALEGRE Tel: 108-1087

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

Pag: 43

* FISH MARKET

Pag: 41

Pag: 32

Pag: 62

DENTISTS - C.D. SANDRA ANAYA MORA Cell: (045) 331-218-6241 - DENTAL HEALTH ONE Tel: 106-0826 - DRA. ANGELICA ALDANA DDS Tel: 765-5364, Cell. 331-351-7797

* BOUTIQUE / CUSTOM SEWING - CUGINIS BOUTIQUE Tel/Fax: 766-1790 - MI MEXICO Tel: 766-0133

Cell: (045) 331-520-3054 - MARBLE & GRANITE Tel: 766-1306 - PISOS Y AZULEJOS DE LA RIBERA Cell: 331-250-6486 - ROBERTO MILLAN - ARCHITECT Tel: 766-3771, Cell: 331-340-3758 - SIKA Tel: 766-5959 - SOUL Tel: 376-108-1632, 33-1465-7646

Pag: 19

* BIKE SHOP

- ISHOPNMAIL

* BEAUTY - CHRISTINE’S Tel: 106-0864 - CRISCO SALON Tel: 766-4073 - EDITH’S Cell: 33-1310-9372 - GLORIOSA Tel: 766-3372

Pag: 44

* BEER & LIQUOR STORES

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

* BAKERY

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

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

Pag: 17

* AUTOMOTIVE

- COLIBRI GARDEN Tel: 765-4412, Cell: (045) 333-156-9382 - ROCHATAS Tel: 387-763-0295

- HAIR BY SASHA Tel: 765-2223, Cell: 33-3362-1272 - HILDA WORLWIDE Cell: 33-3676-2514 - NEW LOOK STUDIO Tel: 766-6000, 33-3950-9990

Pag: 62

- CATS LOOKING FOR PERMANENT HOMES Cell: 332-1665-863 Pag: 20 - CLINICA VETERINARIA SAN ANTONIO Tel: 766-0808 Pag: 23 - DEE’S PET HOTEL Tel: 331-765-7074 Pag: 61 - LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS AC Tel: 765-5544 Pag: 15 - MASKOTA’S LAKE Tel: 766-0287 Pag: 62 - PET PLACE Cell: 333-1964-150 Pag: 14 - PET FOOD AND GROOMING Tel: 766-3062 Pag: 60

- FRATS Tel: 765-2505, 765-3946