El Ojo del Lago - July 2015 by El Ojo del Lago

Saw you in the Ojo

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Saw you in the Ojo

PUBLISHER

Richard Tingen

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alejandro Grattan-Domínguez Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Associate Publisher David Tingen Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Sandra Hernandez Special Events Editor Sandy Olson Associate Editor Jim Tipton Contributing Editor Mark Sconce Theater Critic Michael Warren Art Critic Rob Mohr Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart Sales Managers Bruce Fraser 2I¿FH 6HFUHWDU\ Rocio Madrigal 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 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 PRINTING: El Debate El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Distributed over WKH ¿UVW ¿YH GD\V RI HDFK PRQWK) &HUWL¿FDGR GH /LFLWXG GH 7tWXOR &HUWL¿FDGR GH /LFLWXG GH &RQWHQLGR

Index...

FEATURE ARTICLES

COVER STORY

Kelly Hayes Raitt writes about the commander of an all Mexican$PHULFDQ ULÀH FRPSDQ\ WKDW ORVW LWV FRORUV LQ D QRZ LQIDPRXV battle during WWII.

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POLITICS

Barbara Harwood studies the life and times of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and makes quite obvious that she is not one of his biggest fans.

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Editor’s Page

Imprints

Jim Tipton takes a look at Professor Michael Hogan’s latest book of poetry—and is enormously impressed.

Uncommon Thought

Dear Portia

Profiling Tepehua

Lakeside Living

Bridge by Lake

Welcome to Mexico

Anita’s Animals

LCS Newsletter

BOOK REVIEW

COMPARISONS

Dr. Todd Stong compares Mexico with some of the world’s most advanced FRXQWULHV²DQG ¿QGV WKDW RXU EHORYHG adopted land comes out quite nicely, thank you!

PROFILE

Mikel Miller remembers Roberto Moulun, one of the most fascinating men and very best writers to ever grace the pages of the Ojo.

MEMORIES

Dr. Lorin Swinehart remembers the month of August in 1945, the most titanic in all of world history—and for a very young boy also one of the most memorable.

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 E\ WKH DXWKRUV GR QRW QHFHVVDULO\ UHÀHFW WKH 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.

COVER STORY

z DIRECTORY z

LAKESIDE LIVING

VOLUME 31 NUMBER 11

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Saw you in the Ojo

Editor’s Page %\ $OHMDQGUR *UDWWDQ 'RPLQJXH] For more editorials, visit: http://thedarksideofthedream.com

Famous Last Words By Some Famous Folks

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herein we invite our readers to choose the quote that would probably best express their own feelings when “the midnight hour finally chimes.”) * Austen, Jane (1775-1817) “Nothing but death.” (When asked by her sister Cassandra if there was anything she wanted.) * Barrymore, John (1882-1942) “Die? I should say not. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.” * Beecher, Henry Ward (1813-1887) “Now comes the mystery.” * Beethoven, Ludwig van (17701827) “Friends, applaud, the comedy is over.” * Bogart, Humphrey (1899-1957) “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.” * Chaplin, Charles (1889-1977) When the priest who was attending him at his bed side said “May the Lord have mercy on your soul,” Chaplin is reported to have replied “Why Not? After all, it belongs to Him.” * Claudel, Paul (1868-1955) “Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?” * Flynn, Errol (1909-1959) “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun.” * Gwenn, Edmund (1875-1959) “It is. But not as hard as farce.” (On his deathbed, in reply to the comment “Dying must be very hard.”) * Henry, O. (1862-1910) “Turn up the lights, I don’t want to go home in the dark * Jackson, Thomas “Stonewall” (1824-1863) “Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” * Keynes, John Maynard (18831946) “I wish I’d drunk more champagne.” * Marx, Karl (1818-1883) “Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.” * Olivier, Laurence (1907-1989) “This isn’t Hamlet, you know, it’s not meant to go into the bloody ear.” (To his nurse, who spilt water over him while trying to moisten his lips.) *Raleigh, Sir Walter (1554-1618) “I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell.” * Rodgers, James W. [American criminal] “Why, yes, a bulletproof vest!” (His final request before the firing squad.)

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Oscar Wilde * Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (18821945) “I have a terrific headache.” * Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) “Put out the light.” * Runyon, Damon (1884-1946) “You can keep the things of bronze and stone and give me one man to remember me just once a year.” * Smith, Adam (1723-1790) “I believe we should adjourn this meeting to another place.” * Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) Just before she Stein died she asked, “What is the answer?” No answer came. She laughed and said, “Then what is the question?” * Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953) “I have just had eighteen whiskeys in a row. I do believe that is a record.” * Villa, Francisco ‘Pancho’ (18781923) “Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something!” * Voltaire (1694-1778) “This is no time to make new enemies.” (When asked on his deathbed to deny Satan.) * Washington, George (1732-1799) “It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.” * Wells, Herbert George (18661946) “Go away... I’m alright.” * Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) “Either this wallpaper goes, or I go!” (Ed. Note: Wilde was dying in a ratty hotel in France when friends from England arrived. Mortified to see him in a hovel that didn’t even have windows, they wheeled him down to a much nicer corner room. When asked what he thought of it, Wilde (flat on his back in bed) peered at the wall next to him, and muttered what would be his last words—a great wit Alejandro Grattanto the very end!) Dominguez

Saw you in the Ojo

A Medal Of Honorr Long g Overdue %\ .HOO\ +D\HV 5DLWW &RXUWHV\ RI The Argonaut, where this article was ¿UVW SXEOLVKHG

ill Lansford fought in WWII. He fought in Korea. And then the late Playa del Rey resident fought in L.A. County to build a memorial to Mexican-American soldiers who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. “Of the nearly 4,000 Medals of Honor awarded since the Civil War, 40 have been given to Latino-Americans, making them the largest single ethnic group, in proportion to the number who served, to earn our nation’s highest award for bravery,” Lansford, the son of a Mexican mother, wrote on his web site. One soldier who was denied this honor was Maj. Gabriel Navarrete. He stood up to his commanding officer over what was “without a doubt, the most criticized of moves made by the United States Army in the European Theater in WWII,” wrote historian Raul Morin in Among the Valiant: MexicanAmericans in WWII and Korea. Navarrete commanded E Company of the Texas 36th Division, America’s first all Mexican-American infantry unit. By orders, all Spanish-speaking soldiers and those of Mexican descent in the division were transferred to E Company. Because the company was comprised primarily of seasoned soldiers and not new draftees, it quickly became one of the most highly decorated fighting units in American history. The soldiers in E Company had a unique camaraderie. They had grown up around El Paso together, served in the Texas National Guard together and trained together. “We came from the same barrios and attended the same school,” Navarrete was quoted by Morin. “Even our parents had long been friends and neighbors. We all suffered the Depression together.” E Company fought valiantly during the storming of the beachhead at Salerno, Italy, and during the hardfought battle to capture Naples. Navarrete became the stuff of legend when he shot a pistol out of the hand of a defiant German officer who re-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

The Late Captain Gabriel Navarrete

fused to surrender to him. Outside Naples, the Italian terrain grew steeper as the Allies inched toward Rome, fighting the whole way. “The Germans had regrouped behind a natural barrier defense that ran between two rivers,” wrote screenwriter/director Alejandro GrattanDominguez in The Dark Side of the Dream. “The Germans held the high ground and were shelling the American troops below with shattering accuracy. Then the Italian winter with its driving sheets of rain made a swamp of the entire area. The Allied advance would be measured not in miles but in blood-soaked yards. In places, almost every yard gained came at the price of another American casualty.” On Jan. 17, 1944, 25 men from E Company were sent on a dangerous scouting patrol to cross the Rapido River and assess the German line. Led by Navarrete, “they forged the raging waters of the Rapido River and soon discovered the other side was heavily fortified over a long stretch of terrain,” wrote Grattan-Dominguez in his historical novel. “Beyond loomed machine gun placements in a force Navarrete estimated was more than 3,000 men. The recon squad barely made it back. One [American] soldier was killed and several wounded, including Navarrete himself.” Navarrete reported to his superior officer that it was insane for a single rifle company to attack such a large force. By this time, E Company had been in combat for 16 days and the remaining 156 men had been chewed up; some could barely walk. Yet the troops were ordered in. When Navarrete’s men — his boyhood friends — were about to be sent to their cer-

tain deaths, he balked. He went over the head of his immediate superior to complain, but was rebuffed and reprimanded for bucking the chain of command. To silence him, Navarrete was ordered to the hospital. His command was passed to two staff sergeants, one of whom also argued against the mission. It was still dark when the soldiers reached the river. As they were going across and the dawn started to break and the fog lifted from the river, the small armada of rafts became visible. For several seconds, the Germans didn’t shoot. The Germans realized the mission had suicide written all over it and some actually yelled for the [Americans] to turn back. Of E Company’s original 156 soldiers, only 23 came back, and 12 later died [from wounds]. Navarrete was lying in his battalion hospital cot when he learned of the casualties. Hearing the news, he got up, slipped out of the hospital and went looking for the superior officer [who insisted on the order], intending to add him to the battle’s casualty list. For his own safety, the superior officer was immediately transferred and Navarrete, who’d been wounded seven times during battles, was promoted and sent home. He was awarded

two Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star and seven Purple Hearts. Although he was recommend for a Congressional Medal of Honor as well, it was denied because he’d threatened his superior. When the Mexican-American soldiers returned home, they were not allowed to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Legion. “Most soldiers were fighting for democracy,” Grattan-Dominguez said. “Mexican-Americans were fighting for something different. They were fighting to be accepted as real Americans.” Lansford died two years ago this month, but his widow and others carry on the struggle to memorialize these valiant men. (Ed. Note #1: Kelly Hayes-Raitt blogs at LivingLargeInLimbo.com. She can be reached at KellyArgonautColumn@aol.com.) (Ed. Note #2: Despite their record overseas, Mexican-Americans were not allowed to become members of either the American Legion or the VFW for many years. Today, they are in leadership positions in both organiza.HOO\ +D\HV tions.) Raitt

Saw you in the Ojo

SHANGHAI—Loved and Lost $ 1RYHO E\ (OL]DEHWK 6KDHQ &ROWHUMRKQ 5HYLHZHG E\ &DURO / %RZPDQ

o one seems sure which genre fits Elizabeth Shaen Colterjohn’s maiden book, Shanghai, Loved and Lost. Is it history or biography? Is it a well-documented account of China’s political upheavals and armed conflicts from 1842-1949? Is it the true story of two Scottish brothers who pursued an exciting life in Shanghai during its heyday, one of whom suffered devastating ordeals during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai’s International Settlement in WWII? From the historical perspective, I applaud Libby Colterjohn’s extensive research into events and clashes of world players that molded China into the powerful nation it is today. Much of the

book chronicles the complex engagement of Nationalist Party politics under Chiang Kai Shek, the frequent aggression by Japanese Imperialists and the country’s eventual fall to Communism under Mao-Tse-Tung in 1949. History buffs might appreciate this comprehensive review of China’s struggle for a national identity Woven into the fabric of these bygone days, the significant role that Shanghai played, as an international treaty port, provided the backdrop for the personal story of Sam and Eric Colterjohn, young engineers who moved to Shanghai to work, play and raise their families. Detailed descriptions of the decadence and high-flying, privi-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

leged life style enjoyed by foreigners in Shanghai during the late 20’s and early 30’s, brought this international city of sin and intrigue to life. The book’s cover photo of a Chinese junk, illustrated by local photographer Antoinette Bullock, perfectly sets the stage, creating an image of elusive Shanghai, completely distinct from any other part of China. Written from the voice of Duncan Colterjohn, the author’s husband, and son of the principle player, Eric, Libby tackled an almost impossible literary task. She used Shanghai born, Duncan to narrate the exploits of the family in the International Settlement and beyond. Regrettably, Duncan died before the book was completed, creating weaknesses in the richness of detail and frequent structural change of POV (point of view). “I felt that I did not have the credibility to say some of the things I needed to say in my own voice, so I changed to Duncan as the narrator,” she said. His mother, brother and Duncan were forced to flee Shanghai to Canada for safety in 1941, shifting his narration away from Shanghai for the remainder of the story. One salient fact wasn’t mentioned in the book. Duncan’s classmate at the Cathedral School in Shanghai was J.G. Ballard, whose semi-autobiographical

novel inspired the character of Jim, the young British lad interned in the Japanese Lunghua Camp for Steven Spielberg’s 1987 film, Empire of the Sun. Readers who saw this movie could have identified immediately with the plight of the Colterjohn family; a fascinating connection. For me, the most poignant segment of the book deals with the universal theme of those returning home after war. Passages that sprang from conversations Libby had with her father-inlaw, Eric, upon his liberation from the Japanese Internment Camp outside Shanghai and repatriation back to London, depicted Eric’s feelings of uselessness, his inability to adjust and the impact on the family. I look forward to Elizabeth Shaen Colterjohn’s new book, All the World’s A Stage, written entirely from her own POV, exploring the adventures she, Duncan and their four children experienced living in Malaya and Zambia. Shanghai—Loved and Lost—available on Kindle ($ 2.99), Amazon POD ($7.99) and locally at Diane Pearl Collections and Nueva Posada for 130 pesos. Genre: Narrative Non-Fiction! Carol L. Bowman

Saw you in the Ojo 11

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Landmark Paris

With more well-known landmarks than just about any other city, Paris challenges the visitor to decide which ones will make the cut before the return flight. The iconic Arc de Triomphe, midway on the Champs-Ă&#x2030;lysĂŠes, was conceived to honor those who fought for France during the Napoleonic Wars, but also now memorializes those who have since fought for it. Chiseled into its walls are the names of the hundreds of battles fought by Napoleonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Â Grand ArmĂŠe, and its friezes, figures )LJXUHV RQ WKH $UF GH 7ULRPSKH and bas-reliefs make it something to be seen up close. The World War I Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its Memorial Flame sit directly beneath the arch. In a practice which continued uninterrupted during the German occupation, the flame is rekindled each evening by former combatants. Enjoy a two kilometer walk down the Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde,

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Parisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest square. Today itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dominated by a giant Egyptian obelisk that once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. Decorated with hieroglyphics dating to the reign of pharaoh Ramses II, it was given to the French by the Ottomans. Its gold-leaf cap, added in 1998, replaces one missing since the 6th century BC. It was here that the revolutionary government guillotined King 7RPE RI )UDQFHÂśV 8QNQRZQ 6ROGLHU Louis XVI and other notables in$UF GH 7ULRPSKH cluding Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre. Adjoining it to the east are the Tuileries Gardens and a treasured trio of art museums: the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, the Orangerie, and the Louvre. Two blocks away down the Rue Royal is theÂ Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. The distinctive design of this Catholic church is inspired by the Roman temple Maison CarrĂŠe at NĂŽmes. The front facade frames a sculpture of the Last Judgment, and bronze entrance doors bear reliefs representing the Ten Commandments.Â One of its first official functions following its 1842 dedication was the funeral of Frederick Chopin. The Place VendĂ´me is a square located north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Ă&#x2030;glise de la Madeleine. The column at its center was erected by Napoleon to commemorate his victory at Austerlitz. Place de la Concorde

Modeled after Trajan’s Column in Rome, its spiraling bas-relief bronzes were made from captured cannon and depict Napoleon’s campaigns. He stands at its pinnacle, bare-headed and crowned with laurels, a sword in his right hand and a globe with Victory statue in his left. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is most often photographed from its famous front, but I find views of the magnificent flying buttresses which support its remaining walls at least as awe-inspiring and compelling, and the view of the river from this point is one of Paris’ most picturesque.

Église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine Few of the visitors taking selfies in front of Notre Dame, though, realize that one of Paris’s most unique and moving memorials sits only a stone’s throw away. The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation is a memorial to French Jews deported by Vichy France to Nazi concentration camps. Built underground on the site of a former morgue, its long, narrow space and small

3ODFH 9HQG{PH rooms evoke the claustrophobia of imprisonment. Urns containing ashes from concentration camps are positioned at both ends of its tunnel. Along the walls of the dimly lit chamber are illuminated glass crystals, one for each of the 200,000 deportees who perished. Inside, an eternal flame burns at the Tomb of the Unknown Deportee. For something lighter in mood, follow the Rue Rivoli (walk or Metro) from the Lou5HDU YLHZ RI 1RWUH 'DPH vre to the Place des Vosges. When it was Cathedral completed by Henri IV in 1612, few realized that this square would become the prototype for the residential squares of other European cities. Homes around it are all built of red brick and stone to the same design. Notable past residents include Victor Hugo and Cardinal Richelieu. It’s a great place to take a break from tourist site surfing, and to sit in its park under the linden trees. The Place de la Bastille, birthplace of the French Revolution, is a four block walk away. The Bastille itself is long gone, but a monument still marks the spot, and the Paris Opera now often performs at its Opera Bastille theater. Next on this trip: Sorting out Paris’s innumerable muPlace de la Bastille Antonio Ramblés seums!

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am the kind of guy who likes to keep up to date on research about health and nutrition. Years ago, I avoided eggs and limited red meat. I try to eat my share of fruits and vegetables. Several years ago I started reading studies which indicated that the nutrients and enzymes in foods were absorbed by the body more reliably than they were in supplement form. I avoided the Atkins craze, although now science seems to indicate that inflammation caused by refined carbohydrates may be more damaging than saturated fats. So, now I’m less concerned with the fats and paying more attention to how many carbs I eat. I still don’t take supplements. But, I may be wrong. Of course, I will likely need to make other adjustments in the future. I know a number of people who have given up listening to dietary advice. They exclaim “They keep changing their minds! So why should I pay any attention to what they say? I’ll eat what I want.” Yes, the information on diet and health is not completely settled. It is confusing. It can even be contradictory. That’s the nature of science itself. We live in a complex world; and our bodies are a marvel of interconnected chemical and biological systems. It is impossible to isolate variables in a way which will definitively prove that particular foods are beneficial or dangerous. BUT, we can draw probable conclusions about which diets are healthy. That’s the best it gets in science. Those who are looking for

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

absolute truth must be satisfied with varying degrees of probability. Some connections, like the health effects of smoking, are understood to a very high degree of probability. The effect of specific compounds in specific foods are not so clearly understood. This is infuriating for some people who are looking for certainty in their lives. We would all like to have simple, clear information about diet, exercise, cognitive function, and child development. We do know more about these subjects now than we did a few years ago. Nevertheless, we cannot understand many things with certainty; they are too complicated, and we simply do not have enough information. We all would like to be able to avoid ambiguity. When we go to the doctor, we would like to get a clear, unequivocal diagnosis and treatment. When we ask a question, we would like to get a definitive answer. Of course, it doesn’t work that way. We get conditional responses which leaves us with the uneasy feeling that we really don’t know. Some people are very uncomfortable with ambiguity. They like to find and believe in simple fixes and simple answers. I think that has always been the appeal of strict, fundamentalist religions. There is no ambiguity. “Do this; believe this. You will be saved. If bad things happen, it was God’s will.” Simple, yes. Accurate? Not likely. As critical thinkers, we must accept the fact that knowing the absolute truth about many things is not possible. Yes, we can function by searching for the most reliable information available and base our behavior on this information. But, at the same time, we must understand that our knowledge of the human body and our natural world is continuing to evolve. We must accept a certain degree of ambiguity in many areas of our lives. Our conclusions must be provisional. We must be able to change our minds based on new information. Accepting this truth and embracing it is central to clear thinking.

DEAR PORTIA Advice to the Lovelorn, the Dispossessed and the Deeply Disgruntled

The Old Portia!

The New Portia!

here are no coincidences! Just as Caitlyn Jenner has revealed her stunning new persona (and get that exquisite chassis), I can now reveal my true self. No more hidden by a scruffy exterior, enclosed in a miasma of nameless mind altering substances. Early this year, friends threw me an uncomfortable party. I was carted off to a spa across the pond in an instant, for cataclysmic changes. The mob had found “Clean and Decent” online, a two-for one offer- rehab, plus a surgical makeover. Yes, dear ones, rebirth is painful, but take a look at me now! My new squeeze, Roger, my personal trainer at the spa, became so much more to me on a host of levels. One polite Brit term for lovemaking is to ‘roger,’ as in Roger Moore. Geddit?? Spa details are classified; sorry. It’s an all celebrity clientele. The food was exquisite. The décor was opulent. Oh and the “Optimizers” (e.g. staff ), a

subtle blend of Dr. Phil meets Kim Kardashian and HRH Princess Margaret says it all—and this from the Brits? I was massaged mentally and physically until my pristine beauty shone through that hideous crustiness build up. A nip here, a tuck there, a bit of exercise, plus some meaningful repartee with other clients; the days flew by. Yes, Dear Reader, I have expanded my vistas. I invite you to join with me. The “old” Portia might have eschewed questions about fashion, body enhancements, general tips on seduction and the like, but no more! Here is my personal email, (portiaojodellago@ gmail.com). I hope you can and will share tribulations, disgruntlements and other troubles to so enhance the scope of our fun together. Ta Ta for now! Transparently Yours, Portia

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he man has no class. He wants to be Catherine the Great, but he’s Vladimir the Imposter, a power-grabbing, former KGB thug coveting respectability. His awkward attempts to emulate the greatest Empress in Russian history, specifically her conquest of the lands on Russia’s western boundary, reveal Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-simmering ambition to become the most powerful leader in the world. He wants to propel Russia into a position of world dominance it has never had. Yet he lacks any sign of Catherine’s graciousness, her respect for diplomatic processes between governments* and, most of all, her respect for her con-

stituents. From the time the Empress annexed large parts of Poland and defeated Turkey to claim several of its Balkan possessions in 1771, they were part of Russia. Ukraine’s declaration of independence 200 years later was the first, and largest – both in size and insult - of the Russian territories to severe relations with the Fatherland. Now Putin has sidled into the Ukraine under cover of denial to take it back. Somehow, he has misread the time clock. The 18th century is radically different from the 21st. He could take a few lessons from Catherine’s charming personality, her canny political sense, and her financial savvy instead of crashing in like a jack-booted gangster. But even then, the odds are of a political

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

leader summarily appropriating another European country in 2015 without enormous flak from the western economic community are punishingly small. Catherine’s first act as Empress was to send couriers riding to all European capitals reassuring their leaders of her desire for peace. Russia was financially exhausted by the Seven Years War. When she came to office, the price of grain was sky-high; corruption and extortion were rampant, and the Russian treasury was drained. Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great’s daughter who had reigned before her, had tried unsuccessfully to get loans from European banks. So it was a practical decision to sue for peace in every quarter and make friends with countries whose aid she needed. It was also deep in her psyche as a student of Voltaire and the Enlightenment. “Russia is a European State,” she said in her memoirs. She recognized that Russia could be a part of the European alliance and culture. It didn’t have to set itself apart and be threatened. Refresher course needed, Mr. Putin. Further, Catherine cleverly aligned with Joseph II of Austria, a powerful partner in her dismemberment and partition of the Ottoman Empire. Catherine’s treaty with Austria protected them both from the Turks. She also, thus, prevented an Austrian/Franco treaty which might have later threatened Russia, and acquired greater power in her negotiations with a weakened Prussia. Putin isn’t that smooth or smart. He has managed to alienate every potential political ally. The world is smaller, more economically interdependent, and communication is instant, not requiring weeks of travel on horseback. The news of Catherine’s victory over the Turks in the Crimea took weeks to get to Western Europe. Tweets announced the invasion of Putin’s troops into Ukraine the night it happened. Economic sanctions have hurt Russia’s ability to borrow from European banks. The value of a ruble is at its lowest in years. Oil prices have dropped, reducing the government’s income by

half. Yet, instead of pulling back troops, he’s fomenting a war in Ukraine and has convinced Russian citizens, even some living in Ajijic, that the U.S. somehow caused it. Instead of reaching out to European nations to end sanctions and to help refinance Russian banks, he brazenly invades a country that is seeking to make its currency the Euro. Instead of sending his best and brightest intellectuals to other countries as diplomats, he kills them in midnight Al Caponestyle assassinations. Now, he is clamping down ever tighter on the press and free speech. He wants to turn back the clock but he hasn’t looked further back than his KGB years. If he would just look over his shoulder, he could see a modern model of what he wants to become: Angela Merkel. She has a picture of Catherine the Great hanging in her office. What Putin has is Dictator Disease. He’s stuck in the 20th century of Joseph Stalin, Malenkov and Brezhnev, unable to see that backing off the precipice, renouncing the violence of war, and opening his hand in friendship to the rest of the world would create the only viable future for Russia and would, in the end, give him the kind of glory, praise and power he seeks Dictator Disease has ruined Zimbabwe and North Korea, seriously damaged Cuba, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, the Congo, Myanmar (Burma) and destroyed Libya and Iraq. Russia may be larger and have more resources, but like tall, heavily loaded trucks on the highway, its very size may presage a larger fall when it hits the inevitable economic curve thrown by the drop in oil prices. Narcissistic egocentrism is frustrating to deal with in anyone. In a world leader, it becomes dangerous. *Not true in the case of Poland, but that’s a long story replete with her lover, Turkish threats, and a waning Prussia. Barbara Harwood

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Living The Not-So-High Tech Life! %\ 6XQQ\ *OHVVQHU VXQQ\QYHQWXUD#\DKRR FRP

ow you can find a destination through the GPS on your smart phone. You can pay bills directly from your bank account or trade stocks on your smart phone. You can get your boarding pass in the Timbuktu Airport. Isn’t that wonderful? As a Neo-Luddite, I don’t think so. Luddites were named after British workers who destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the early 1800’s. I’m not “that old” but do fit a more modern movement. Neo-Luddites oppose many forms of modern technology and worry about its effect on privacy, families and society. So if I use my cell phone to get that boarding pass, crooks can locate me and it’s not at home, which gives them free rein to abscond with my valuables, like my grandmother’s treadle sewing machine. If I lose my cell phone, the thieves will have access to all my financial information. Since it’s much harder to lose my desktop computer, why would I risk using the cell for those transactions? Although I can use a password to lock my cell, that slows things down when calling 911 plus I have to remember it in a time of crisis. And it wouldn’t slow the thieves that much. I’ve already had a phishing email from PayPal “needing to refresh my credit card info”. (I was forced to use PayPal when buying something.) Recently, a very helpful man with an Indian accent cold called and offered to help me fix my Windows problems by sharing my computer. I didn’t have a problem and I’m not good at sharing. This came just days after Microsoft took over my computer and upgraded to Windows 8.1 without my permission and against my wishes. Then Lenovo was forced to admit they had purposely pre-loaded Superfish, a malware that allows hackers access to the operating system. Technology scammers are winning—if not the war, at least the current skirmish, costing us billions. For $33, someone can get enough infor-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

mation to make your life miserable. For example, with only your social security number, scammers can submit your tax return, and the IRS will send them a refund. The resultant mess is your new life. Some of these wonderful apps for your cell phone use the Cloud, including GPS tracking and PayPal. How can a cloud be secure? Just look at one—so fuzzy you can almost see through it. Better keep an eye on what’s being called the Internet of Things or IoT. Manufacturers are putting network connectivity into everything from thermostats to toasters, from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners. In the old days, people might kick something like a vending machine to try to make it work. With smart machines, it’ll probably take your picture and post it to your Facebook page with a warning. As our homes get “smarter,” the number of Net-enabled objects worldwide will grow to a staggering 26 billion by 2020—that’s only five years away. Your connected refrigerator can send you a text when you’re out of truffles, or even add it to the grocery list on your phone. But then companies can hit you with spam and I can’t picture eating truffles with spam. And I don’t want my garbage disposal talking to my electric toothbrush. Wait, my toothbrush isn’t electric. Whew. Consumers have discovered that 1984 by George Orwell has finally happened. Smart TV manufacturer Samsung’s privacy policy warns that the voice recognition software on these TVs can listen to conversations and record personal or other sensitive information. With very little security in the device, they are leaving our home networks vulnerable not only to the government but to hackers who can compromise the entire system. Even clothing is getting into the act. You can buy a motorcycle jacket with LEDs in the back that will sync with your turn signals or brakes. That could be a life saver. But the shirt that automatically scrunches up its long sleeves when you get warm could be

like the wings of a hummingbird when worn by a woman going through menopause. All these events affect my willingness to get heavily involved in high tech. High tech also provides more things to go wrong. I enjoy my dishwasher, love my microwave and stove. I drive a modern car but not an electric one and wouldn’t consider a driverless one. Even my new washing machine is smarter than me. Don’t ask. Being around high tech has caused me to develop Tourette’s Syndrome—the bad language version. I’m afraid to buy

new items because they can be difficult to operate so I’m going to start shopping second-hand stores or even antique stores for functioning older models. Instead of a mind reader, I need a “machine reader”. Besides being a Neo-Luddite, I’m also a Neo-phile who loves novelty, enjoys changes and evolution. Being a Neo-phile explains my love of travel and thirst for other new experiences. Having two Neo-isms can create an inner conflict. But when it’s close, Neo-Luddism always wins. Neo-Luddites, Unite!

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ELDER INTIMACY â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Part 2 %\ $QQD (OHQD %HUOLQ &HUWLÂżHG 3URIHVVLRQDO &RDFK ([SHULHQFH RI /LIH 5HVHDUFKHU

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can honestly say that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as believing that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m standing on the outside of my life looking in and wondering what it would be like if I had the courage to show up and let myself be seen.â&#x20AC;? -BrenĂŠ Brown, Ph.D, LMSW. Dr. BrenĂŠ Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.Â Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spent the last twelve years studying and writing about vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Her â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Power of Vulnerabilityâ&#x20AC;?, is one of the top ten most viewed TED talks on TED.com, with

approximately 6 million viewers. What is the difference between courage and bravery? People use them interchangeably all the time, but they are not the same. Bravery is an inherent quality some people have that enables them to face risk without thinking about it, and bravery needs no cause.Â People displaying courage know fear is present and face it anyway for a worthy cause. In other words, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s far more meaningful to face risk with courage than with bravery. The point is that you choose courage while bravery chooses you, if you are one of the lucky ones. We are vulnerable creatures living in an

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

environment that has the potential to do us harm by simply crossing the street, slipping in the bath, or falling in love.Â So why is it virtually all of us can be okay with the first two risks and not okay with progressing toward the third and our intimacy goals? Is it because emotional risk is an innate part of the deal? As with everything in life we do the best we can, until we learn better and then we do better. Learning better can be tough when the subjects of vulnerability and emotional risk are rarely part of any dialog. I can think of nothing that is less talked about yet has more influence over how we experience life.Â This is problematic when you think about how much they affect the outcome of our most important choices.Â Not the least of which is our relationship with our own intimacy.Â And, because this is the case too many of us donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t move forward to fully enjoy the riches that this most essential human gift provides. So why is emotional risk so daunting? Why are some of us better at dealing with it while the rest of us just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to do with it, wanting to shut down when it is involved?Â According to Dr. Brown the crux of the struggle is: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me.Â We love seeing raw truth and openness in other people, but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re afraid to let them see us.Â Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re afraid that our truth isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enoughâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that what we have to offer isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough without the bells and whistles, without editing, and impressing.â&#x20AC;? Vulnerability is defined by Dr. Brown as- uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. To love someone is to be emotionally exposed, vulnerable, and yes, at risk. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of fear attached to each of these because we have all experienced pain as a result of them, feeling exposed and in â&#x20AC;&#x153;the torture chamber

that we call uncertainty.â&#x20AC;?Â However, the truth is that our life experience quality plummets without loving or being loved because humans are built for connection and intimacy. In Dr. Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, Daring Greatly and from her extensive research she concludes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we want to reclaim the essential emotional part of our lives and reignite our passion and purpose, we have to learn how to own and engage with our vulnerability and how to feel the emotions that come with it. Even if we choose to stay out of relationships and opt for disconnection as a form of protection weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still alive and that means vulnerability happens. Experiencing vulnerability isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a choice, the only choice we have is how weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to respond when we are confronted with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to remember that we are all at emotional risk, and that people actually love others for their vulnerabilities and not despite them. There are many books and resources available to help people learn emotional intelligence and maturity. The learning these give can be the bridge from where you are to where you want to be in your emotional life and your intimacy. To enjoy the best possible experience of life it is extremely valuable to come to terms with emotional risk and vulnerability. The lack of this, I believe, is the reason there are so many children among us walking around in 60+ year old bodies. Â As always, it is valuable to remember that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be perfect to have the life that is perfect for youâ&#x20AC;Ś embracing courage is Anna Elena the key. Berlin

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In the Time of the Jacarandas %\ 0LFKDHO +RJDQ Egret Press, 2015 ZZZ DPD]RQ FRP 3DSHUEDFN .LQGOH 5HYLHZ E\ -LP 7LSWRQ

ichael Hogan, in his latest book In the Time of the Jacarandas, writes: “we slip down/the gravel slide of age hoping not to outlive/ our money, our memories, our minds.” We are “like wrinkled bills, worn/but still negotiable…” The author of more than twenty “novels, histories, social and political essays, short story collections and poetry,” Michael is well known to Lakeside readers for books like Mexican Mornings (2006), Molly Malone and the San Patricios (2011); and of course the The Irish Soldiers of Mexico (published in various editions since 1997), which was the basis of two documentaries and a fine MGM film, One Man’s Hero, that starred Tom Berenger and the lovely Daniela Romo. Michael, now in his seventies, faces the fact that “My heir has gone/into the grave before me” and that “I am older than my father ever was.” He himself has “lost the option of dying young….” In “Uninvited Guest,” the poet laments that “We always thought we’d finally be safe/these golden years: money in the bank, house paid/ the children with their children/and our heroic worthy hearts at ease.” But Michael concludes the poem with these almost frightening lines: “I hear the creaking of the front gate/and know it is much too early/ for any welcome visitor.” In a later poem, “Like Geometry,” he announces, “I know that no accumulation of wealth can save me.” Only he can understand the “private club/with many visitors but only one member in the end/that he belongs to.” What about the conundrum of life? Tomorrow he “will have to buckle down/if it is to make any sense.” What then do we do when we realize “one cannot be everyone, or even someone forever”? For Michael, he will continue doing what he has been doing these “twenty years in Mexico”: “casting words

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

at life/as Huicholes in Puerto Vallarta throw their nets/into the water flowing past Yelapa Point/again and again/praying for the miracle of red snapper.” And he will look at memory as well, remembering the boy “learning to write a name in first grade in complex calligraphy called Palmer Method/invented by nuns, he thinks, to torture boys./These misnamed Sisters of Mercy.” And in later years remembering “those bronzed by the desert sun./We see them as we pass on the highways/ laboring in chain gangs in pink coveralls/while the High Sheriff, unapologetic and fascist,/leaches his poison in the political soil.” But Michael will also continue to take walks, looking for “the smallest detail” that can save him, a wild rose, the sun “behind a cloud like molten copper/if only we knew how to pay attention.” (Elsewhere he ponders, “The things we never write about/ are lonely for our attention.”) Each morning he can find “some small thing/to begin the day with…. bracts of bougainvillea, /a whiff of jasmine…a flock of crows…/the flutter doves make when they mate in the garden…./Something to be happy about.” I have long held the whimsical theory that every collection of poetry needs at least a couple of dogs. In the Time of the Jacarandas it might be a dog who “knows exactly what the day will be/bounding forth across the grass headed for a eucalyptus/where the squirrel waits.” Or it might be a dog on a morning walk who “pulls on her leash anxious to be moving on,” who later in the

walk “tilts her head as if listening/ to some faraway voice she once knew.” On his 70th birthday, “the dog bounds like a joyful shadow. Everything is new.” He remembers another dog “back then….and a boy who clung with his pal in the dark/ when a summer storm rattled the windows.” But Michael also knows that “that if we ran together fast as we could when I was a boy/and the dog was a pup/and time bent back round again/that I would still never catch up with that life/which seems as real as the ground fog which I can almost touch/but then as the sun

rises/disappears as if it were never there.” Indeed, man and dog are so bonded that in “Christmas morning in Providencia” “The dog and I head home led by our mutual leash.” Well, it should be obvious by now that Michael Hogan’s In the Time of Jacarandas kept knocking at something inside of me. As Michael says, “What use is poetry anyway, if it cannot break your heart?” Jim Tipton

Saw you in the Ojo 23

:KDW ,V '\LQJ I am standing at the seashore. A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean. She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her till at last she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, “She is gone.” Gone Where? Gone from my sight, that is all; she is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when I saw her, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination. The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her; and just at the moment when someone at my side says, “She is gone,” there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up the glad shout, “There she comes!” - and that is dying. —Bishop Brent (Ed. Note: This lovely poem was distributed at the recent memorial service for Marie Dwyer Bullock.)

Dear Sir: Surely all articles written by Marita Noon and published by the OJO should be prefaced by the fact she is a lobbyist, bought and paid for by the petroleum industry. This is a woman who thinks Green is something you wear on St Patrick’s Day! Publishing these ar-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

ticles or press releases as they should be called is tantamount to paid propaganda for the oil companies. Perhaps next month you could get a couple of big tobacco lobbyists to write about the health benefits from smoking. Ian Greenwood

Saw you in the Ojo 25

Mexico: The Positive Side %\ 'U 7RGG ' 6WRQJ

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artially based on his recent Open Circle presentation) Of near 200 nations in the world Mexico is with pride 11th (PPP – Purchasing Power Parity) in economic size in terms of GDP, right behind various EU nations. (Right behind Germany, France, UK, Russia and Brazil). By 2050 it is predicted that Mexico may be in 6th place in the world behind China, USA, India, Brazil and Russia. In terms of debt, Mexico at less than 40% of GDP, appears quite good compared to the 1st world where many nations possess debt near or over 100% and the US about 75%/CA near 40% also. Mexico is the largest nation in all of Latin America for both import and export. It has over 40 international free-trade agreements, more than even the US. 90% of trade is via these agreements. Mexico’s exports are 90% to the US/CA and 55% of their imports from the same. China’s factory wage is at $4.50/ hr and going to $6, while Mexico is at $3.50 and there is no ship voyage across the Pacific. Mexico’s Dina Company is the #1

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

bus manufacturer in the world. Mexico now produces more autos than the US and Canada. Further, Mexico does not simply assemble autos, but also designs/ makes 70% of the parts that go into these cars. Mexico graduates over 100,000 electronic engineers each year that support not only design of auto systems but have made the nation #1 in the world for the manufacture of TVs. Over 30% of exports from Mexico are electronics. The largest construction company in the world is CEMEX, which is also ranked #3 in the world for cement. One can easily see that Mexico is ranked #2 for Coca Cola, and in turn is #1 in diabetes in the world. Despite stagnation of its oil industry with a 60%+ tax since it nationalized foreign oil companies in 1938, it remains in 6th place for production. Exports went from 60% in 1980 to 7% now. Dr. Todd D. Stong

Saw you in the Ojo 27

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:H When we were young We thought that we could change the world. Our Dreams flew high And every song invited us to dance Love was in every glance. But now we know Tomorrow is just a breath away, The world did not change And we are no longer young. How quickly time did fly, Gave us so many reasons to cry, So many things were left undone So many songs left unsung. Then for one moment I looked away Did not know that you could not stay Our hands are no longer entwined You left before you could say good bye, Left me in a world I no longer like. In everything I see I search for you At night I look for a star that is new, Thinking it might be you. Memories I treasure like a shiny pearl As I think of you in that other world. At night I can’t wait to fall asleep So I can find you in my dream. And there again are ‘We’ But when I awaken - it is only me. (Ed. Note: Mr. Dryden Jones passed away on1/14/15. A Memorial will be planned at a date in the future by his wife, Gudrun. You can send your email to: loveonaleash@prodigy.net.mx)

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 29

PROFILING TEPEHUA %\ 0RRQ\HHQ .LQJ epe ep pehua ehu President of the Board forr T Tepehua

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argaret Sanger, born n 1870 until 1966,, once wrote “Woman must have her freedom, the fundamental freedom of choosing whether or not to be a mother or how many children she will have. Regardless of what men’ss attitudes are, that problem is hers, s s, and before it can be his it is hers erss e of of alone. She goes through the vale orn n. death alone each time a baby is born. As it is neither the right of man no nor n or state to coerce her into this ordeal, al,, it is her right whether she will enduree it. t.” Nothing has changed today. As a nurse Margaret was aware of the effects of unwanted pregnancies, watching the health of her mother decline after eleven children. In 1912 Margaret gave up nursing, dedicating her life to educate people about birth control. In 1913, she was indicted for mailing ‘obscenities; she fled to Europe and in 1914 founded the National Birth Control League. Hilary Clinton stated quite recently “Women’s empowerment is inextricably linked to security, economic opportunity, effective governance and social development. It is a simple fact that no country can prosper if half its citizens are left behind.” There is no doubt since the women’s rights revolution took place, with the right to vote and govern, that societies as we know them today are stronger. The same can be applied to poverty; if you have a ruling number of rich but a majority of poor, no society can prosper without a strong middle class. If women do not have the right to choose, they will be kept in the kitchen instead of being part of the work force. Mexico City Law legalized abortion in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy; from that time, 16 of Mexico’s federal entities have legislated to recognize the ‘right to life’ from the moment of conception, limiting the woman’s ability to exercise their right to health and choice. Since then, according to Human Rights Watch, in 2010 the Supreme Courts ruled, all states must provide emergency contraceptives and access to abortions in the case of rape victims. However, many women and girls face barriers to abortions after sexual

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

Margaret Sanger violence, including misinformation and intimidation from officials. Amnesty International 2012. “In the past years Mexico has approved a number of laws and institutions designed to protect women from discrimination and violence,” stated Rupert Knox “Much of the problem, however, lies in the lack of effective implementation of these laws and the weakness of the institutions.” Women’s advocates are making slow but steady gains against violence and according to Maria Elena Alvarez, “We have made a lot of gains, but the women still do not use the laws, most don’t know their rights and we have trouble reaching them, most believe violence is in their destiny.” The answer to these problems are local Community Centers where education is the right of everyone. Not just basic education but education in the rights of the family unit. Teaching empowerment and socioeconomic growth, and gaining the respect of society as a whole. Unless there is respect and equality between adults in the family unit, the children will have no respect for anything. Whether we personally agree or not with everything “Freedom of Choice” covers, it is not our decision to make for someone else. This writer finds it absurd that women are still fighting for their civil rights since Margaret Sanger started in 1912. What is the world afraid of? Moonyeen King. President of the Board for Tepehua

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Sandy Olson

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

PAST EVENTS TOUCHING THE PRESENT The Heart of Awareness Community last month presented a special live streaming retreat from the Omega Institute in New York with Pema Chodron, a notable and popular American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. The weekend included talks, guided meditations, The retreat committee, left to right: Marian and question and answer Puentes, Isabel Van Rooy, Liz Sellars, Michael periods. The Heart of Fitzpatrick, Patricia Hyland and Dan Schaller Awareness Community will sponsor another live stream retreat in October. For information on future events, check the website: www.heartofawareness. org. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IN BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES The Lake Chapala Society was the scene of a fashion show last month. It was organized by Karla Boentgen, LCS Event Chairperson. Proceeds from the event were for the support of the Community Education Programs at LCS.

/HIW WR ULJKW ÂżUVW URZ 0DULD GHO &DUPHQ 5RPHUR &ODXGLD *X]PDQ Rosa Flores, Nadia Arreda, Blanca Vazquez, Ana Paola Ramos. Second URZ 'DYLG 0HW] -DQHW %DUQHV 0DUWLQ 0H]D )UDQN 'HOR\D Students who successfully completed the16 weeks were honored at a reception at El Parque. The course included such topics such as ethics and professionalism, infection prevention, hygiene, wound care, ambulation, dementia care, visual and hearing and speech impairments and emergencies. Generous community support and donations as well as time volunteered by other nurses made the program successful. Further information: Healthaidemex@gmail. com LAKESIDE SINGLES There was a good group of Lakeside Left to right in the photo: John Burns, Nancy Wun- Singles enjoying a Wednesday afternoon der, Gini Garden, and Paul Katz. at Maria Isabel recently. Laura Burns was at the door to greet people. For more information about this friendly bunch, email lcs.singles@gmail.com.

COMING EVENTS

An hour of socializing with drinks and appetizers served by some of the children was followed by a modeling of beautiful clothes from Lois Cuginiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s store Opus, provided from a Dunes collection (owner Diana Martin and her daughter Patti) and from a Mi Capricho collection (owner Lynne Gilbank). The models who participated in the event were Kat Miller, Azucena Campos Bateman, Judy Chambers, Marilyn Morris, Diane Pearl, Beth Cathcart, Shelley Wilson, Lynn Gilbank, Yoly Martinez, Edna Lidia Alcaraz, Concha Gurski, Bob Welch, Ben White, Tom McConkey, Jim Donnelly, Bryon Cranston, Jack West and Hans Boentgen. HOT OFF THE PRESS! The eagerly awaited collection of short stories,Â Embracing the Fog, byÂ popular Lake Chapala authors Robert Bruce Drynan, Mel Goldberg, Antonio RamblĂŠs, and James Tipton is now officially available. Buy the paperback ($9.99 US) or Kindle version ($2.99 US) at Amazon.com. It is available locally for 200 Left to right: Mel Goldberg, Antonio Rambles, pesos at Diane Pearl ColecJames Tipton and Robert Bruce Drynan ciones or from the individual authors. HEALTH CARE GRADS To better meet the health care needs of the population at Lakeside, registered nurses Mary Anne Molinari, Coordinator, Jackie Kellum, Dona Hall, James Flynn, George Allen and Phil Rylett have designed a bilingual Health Care Assistant Program (H-CAP) curriculum. Benjamin Vallaran, M.D., sponsors the program.

THE WRECKING CREW Lakeside Little Theatre has announced the Mexican premiere of The Wrecking Crew, a documentary film about one of the greatest groups of rock and roll musicians ever. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard of Nancy and Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Beach Boys, The Mama and theÂ Papas, 5th Dimension, Jan and Dean, The Ronettes, Tijuana Brass, Glen Campbell, and Sonny and Cher. Their biggest hits were played by a group of anonymous, and incredibly versatile, studio musicians nicknamed The Wrecking Crew. This documentary has been praised at film festivals all over the world. The evening will include a live Q & A with the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director Denny Tedesco, son of The Wrecking Crewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s late guitarist Tommy Tedesco. There are four shows only: Friday, July 17, 7:30 p.m; Saturday, July 18, 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m; and Sunday, July 19, 3:00 p.m. Get your reserved seat ticketsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;200 pesosâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; on July 6, 7, 13, 14; from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the LLT Box Office. SUMMER NEWS FROM VIVA MUSICA Viva Bus Trip to the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra Sunday July 12 Mexican Gems & Rachmaninoff â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with Sonny Wong, brilliant young KoreanCanadian pianist playing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2; also works by Vargas, Briseno, Guizar and Albeniz. The Jalisco Philharmonic will perform this program in Korea later this year. Bus leaves at 10.30.Â Tickets for the bus trip are $300 pesos for Viva members ($400 for non-members) available at LCS Thursdays and Fridays, 10:00 a.m. to noon. Note: bus trips are subject to cancellation if not enough people sign up. Viva Summer in the Village Concert Series These performances are at 7:00 p.m. in the Auditorio. Thursday, July 23 Daniel Estrada, clarinet, and Hans Peter Aull, piano. Robert Schumann, Romances; Camille Saint-Saens, Sonata Opus 167; Francis Poulenc,Â Sonata (1962) and Arturo Marquez, Zarabandeo.Â Thursday August 6 Joshua Chavez, double bass, with Rodrigo Leal, piano This brilliant young bass player will play works by Hoffmeister, Marcello, Bottesini and Gabriel Faure. Thursday, August 20 The Serenata Piano Trio: Areli Medeles, cello; Robert Markus, violin; and

continued on page 34

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

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Rosa Maria Valdez, piano, will perform works by Antonin Dvorak, Manuel Cerda, Alfredo Carrasco, Leo Janacek, Eugene Toussaint and Manuel Ponceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Estrellita, written for Jascha Heifitz.Â Viva concert tickets are 200 pesos and are available from June 1 at LCS Thursdays and Fridays 10:00 a.m. to noon, at Diane Pearl Colecciones and the Auditorio. A MAN IN MIDLIFE CRISIS The next Naked Stage production will be Sylvia, a whimsical comedy concerning a man in midlife crisis who becomes addicted to a New York City street dog. (canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to see this one!) The show runs July 24, 25 and 26. An extra treat is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s directed by Liz White, Â a former professional actress and one of the original Naked Stage founding members. Cast members are Marianne Gibbard, Jim Lloyd, Clay McAdam, John Ward, Amy Friend and Day Dobbert. The e-mail address for future reservations: nakedstagereservations@gmail.com. Reservations guarantee a seat until 3:50, after which seats will be sold to those waiting without reservations. The Naked Stage is located at #10AÂ Rio Bravo. Directions: west on the carreteraÂ from Ajijic, south on Rio Bravo,Â about two blocks down and behindÂ Danielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant on the eastÂ side. Danielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is open for lunch andÂ dinner with a no host bar availableÂ at 3:00 p.m. The box office opens atÂ 3:15 and the show starts atÂ 4:00 p.m. ARTISTS AND MARGARITAS The Lake Chapala Painting Guild will hold a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Meet the Artistsâ&#x20AC;? event on Saturday, From left to right: Liz White, Direc- July 25 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at Arileo restor, Amy Friend, Maryanne Gibbard, taurant. Members include, Maryann Linhart, &OD\WRQ 0F$GDP *HRUJHWWH 5LFK- Nancy Gray, Marion Decker, Geraldine Clasmond Missing: John Ward, Jim Lloyd sen, Lois Schroff, Ina Gieysztor, Anita Lee, Winnie Hunt, Carol Ann Owers, Stve Achs and Antonio Lopez Vega. Not shown: Sonia Mocnik. The artists will introduce themselves and discuss their philosophies about art,Â their individual methods and media, as well as show their work, which will be on view until mid-August. To celebrate this special event, Arileo will have 2-for-1 margaritas. Plan to stay for one of their superior dinners. For further information, email www.lakechapalapaintingguild.org. ROCK THAT LAKE! Hotel Montecarloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tented lakeside terraces will be the site for some serious rocking and rolling on Wednesday, July 29, from 6:30-10:00 p.m Cruz Roja invites you to come and relive the 50â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 60â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and dance to DJ Howard playing your favorite oldies. Wear your most creative rock â&#x20AC;&#x2122;nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roll attireâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from sideburns to disco glitter; from poodle skirts to tie-dyed shirts. The cash bar will serve cocktails, wine, and beer. You might score a bargain at the silent auction. Tickets at 280 pesos include a welcome cocktail, grilled burger or hot dog, side dishes, chocolate chip cookies and brownies for dessert. Tickets are available at the Cruz Roja table at LCS on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., from Cruz Roja Charlie Klestadtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sales team, or at Diane Pearl Coleccio- 7LQNHU 5HLOO\ /DIDWD DQG &KHI 0Dnes. ria Guadalupe PadrĂłn Renteria Once you have purchased your tickets, you can make reservations for tables of 6-10 guests or make a song request by emailing tmkassier@ live.com FRIENDSHIPS AND TRAINS The old train station, Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo, will be the site of the XIX National Model Train Convention on August 7, 8 and 9. This event is held in a different Mexican city every year and this year the honor goes to Chapala. Train fanciers come from all over the country with their layouts and models and have meetings and workshops at the convention. According to Ana Gabi, proprietor of restaurant Machina 245 atop Papeleria Trinidad in San Antonio (check out their trains), â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a weekend full of friendship and trains.â&#x20AC;? Here in Chapala there are two model train clubs. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested, visit the Facebook page: XIX ConvenciĂłn Ferromodelistas Chapala. LAKESIDE LITTLE THEATRE Season tickets are now available for the LLT 2015-16 season, which also promises to be exciting. The plays are as follows: October 2-11 Murder by Misadventure

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

November 6-15 Stepping Out December 4-12 Rumors January 15-24 Good People February 19-March 6 Nunsense March 25-April 3 Other Desert Cities To reserve season tickets, email tickets@lakesidelittletheatre.com or contact the Box Office at (376) 766-0954. The 1100 peso prices includes an annual membership and a reserved seat at each of the six shows. ONGOING EVENTS BUSBY BERKELEY LIVES! Well, almost. Lakesiders now have the chance to try for stardom through the beginning tap dance classes taught by local dance lights Val Jones and Alexis Hoff. Instructor Val Jones and Students Beginners and experienced tap dancers will enjoy the class, too. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good opportunity to keep in shape/get in shape, have some fun and maybe audition for Stepping Out, a November Lakeside Little Theatre production thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be directed by Ann Swiston. Classes are on Mondays, 11:00-12:00, and Thursdays 1:00-2:00.Â The fee is 50 pesos per class, or six classes for 250 pesos.Â They are held at The Bravo! Theatre. Email thebravotheatre@gmail.com.Â Instructor Val Jones and Students ROLL CALL An interesting new magazine at Lakeside is Roll Call, introduced in March and published by the American Legion. The layout editor is Marianne Carlson. Through distribution of Roll Call the Legion hopes to build membership and also keep the public posted on events. The Legion sponsors picnics, happy hours, barbecues, memorial services and other events. Check Roll Call for news, recipes, stories about US military and Mexican history, and profiles. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a nice restaurant (would you believe filet mignon for 95 pesos on Tuesdays?) open for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday until noon. Roll Call is available at LCS, Superlake, IShop Mail and numerous restaurants and other venues. Writers who want to contribute can call Marianne at 765-7485 or email her at mariannecarlson@gmail.com. XOCHITL-MICHI-CIUALLI Work is well under way for this summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first ever LLT/ LCS Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer Theatre Camp. The camp is a collaborative project between the Lakeside Little Theatre and the Lake Chapala Society and will be a performance by children enacting the ancient local legend of Queen Xochitl- MichiCiualli. Well-known local artist and alumnus of the 0DULDQQH &DUOVRQ original Neill James Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Art Program, Antonio Lopez Vega, has transformed the legend into a script and will be the Artistic Director of the production. Assisting Antonio will be Thom Weeks, Jennifer Stanley, and Kathleen Neal, Production Manager at LLT. Many volunteers have been working to assist Antonio bring his version to life on stage on August 1 and 2, for family, volunteers and friends performances. NOTE: This is going to be a great event and an incentive to get a volunteerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s invitation! If you wish to join and become involved with this exciting project or require any additional information, please contact Jennifer Stanley at jenthom. enroute@gmail.com or phone 766-3543. The camp starts on July 20. As part of this production, a pre-Hispanic dance troop from Chiapas will be working with the children, as well as Alberto Paz, a local artisan who creates beautiful pre-Hispanic instruments.

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BRIDGE BY THE LAKE %\ .HQ 0DVVRQ

Distributional hands can be very challenging, often with neither side being able to determine just who can make what. When both pairs are capable of making high level contracts it can be difficult to know just how far to push the envelope. In the illustrated hand which Herself and I played against an experienced partnership in a club duplicate game in Aurora, Ontario the bidding quickly rose to the 5 level with everybody getting into the action. Holding 5 diamonds and 6 clubs and 11 high card points East correctly opened in his higher ranking suit. If he had bid 1 club and then reversed into diamonds he would have been showing a much stronger hand. With 17 high card points and an excellent six-card suit, Herself was too strong to make a simple overcall so she started with a takeout double. West entered the proceedings with a slightly conservative 1 no trump, perhaps because she didn’t have a full heart stopper or more likely because she knew her partner (and husband!) was prone to opening the bidding on the light side. This bid took me off the hook so I didn’t have to bid with my near yarborough. East now bid 2 clubs, and Herself showed her strength by bidding 2 hearts, a call that both surprised me and woke me up! West’s holding more than justified her next bid of 3 diamonds and I felt that my hand had grown in stature with 5 of my partner’s suit and a singleton diamond so I ventured a 3 heart call. It was at this point that things began to get out of control as East jumped to 5 diamonds followed

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

by Herself’s 5 hearts. I was beginning to regret my cheeky contribution as West pulled out the double card from her bidding box. After three passes West led the club 2 which was won by East with the king and immediately followed by the ace, ruffed by Herself. She then drew trumps in two rounds before knocking out the ace of spades and when that suit broke 3-2 she was able to claim her contract, 5 hearts doubled bid and made for a complete top score. In the post mortem it was noted that East-West would have made 6 diamonds on any lead except a spade and indeed that contract was bid and made at several tables. It was felt that East, holding a heart void, might have ventured on to the six level rather than try to beat South’s contract. His hand was very offensive in nature and he could not expect to take many tricks on defence. On the bidding, Herself would have led the spade king had the opponents gone to slam and that is certainly the right card to lead. It would have seemed very likely that one of the declaring side had a void in hearts but if they had a spade or heart loser there would have been no place to park it before the diamond ace was knocked out. If we had defended 6 diamonds and defeated it one trick we would have still had an above average result. Questions or comments: email: masson.ken@ gmail.com Ken Masson

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God’s Waiting Room %\ 0LNHO 0LOOHU

ne of the most interesting people I’ve ever known at Lake Chapala had a remarkable philosophical perspective about aging. “Ajijic is God’s waiting room,” he told me one day during lunch on the plaza three years ago, gesturing at groups gathered under umbrellas in the early afternoon sun. I laughed as always when enjoying his insights about life, especially his views on how aging improves both people and wine to a point. Many local residents remember when retired psychiatrist Roberto Moulun arrived in Ajijic in 1999, and how he attracted friends early on with his charm and quick wit. Some are fellow writers who appreciated his pursuit of perfection; two others are friends who sought his compassion in coping with personal issues, including the loss of loved ones. “You have no idea how much he helped me,” one told me. “I don’t think I would have recovered without him,” said the other. He was a gifted story-teller, and a helluva writer too. He won three annual best fiction awards from El Ojo del Lago for short stories. However, his opinions about the writing of others attracted few close friends in the Lakeside writer community. After listening to a poet read about cicadas one day, I watched in amusement as Roberto signaled for the microphone and then growled his criticism: “That’s the most words I’ve ever heard about nothing. My advice is to burn it.” Some of us also knew him as much more than just an aging expat hobbling to writer meetings using a four-legged walker, and becoming dependent on friends for rides. I visited him often in his humble home in West Ajijic, looked through his scrapbooks, and marveled at the breadth and depth of his conversa-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

The Late Roberto Moulun tions about classic literature, fine art, and music. We shared simple meals together with his live-in caregiver and her two children. And I watched him share stories with her five-year-old son who, in return, gave an elderly man new purpose in his last years. He claimed ancestral nobility from Spain, a scion of parents who owned a large coffee plantation in Guatemala. Blessed with a brilliant and curious mind, he graduated college at fifteen and from medical school at eighteen. He always had compassion for suffering in life, human or animal, and led a protest in medical school against using healthy animals in laboratory experiments. After his internship at the Menninger Foundation in the United States, he dedicated his medical career in Hawaii to helping people with psychiatric problems. On a larger scale, he assisted International Red Cross disaster teams as a grief counselor. Planning to retire in the early 1990s, he returned to his homeland but leaders of warring guerilla and government forces warned him against staying. Instead, he returned to Hawaii and wrote The Iguana Speaks My Name, a nuanced novella using magical realism to portray Guatemalan villagers coping with the thirty-year civil war that resulted in the genocide of 200,000 indigenous people. After closing his medical practice, he moved to Ajijic. Sixteen years after he wrote the novella, it was published in a combined volume with ten short stories from Guatemala. Kirkus Reviews named the book one of the top twenty-five independent books of fiction for 2012, and it won second prize in a national competition in New York City in 2013 as the best first book of fiction. The award-winning book is available on Amazon.com. He continued to write while he was waiting, although his eyesight deteriorated as he neared ninety and he could

no longer use a computer. Over his midmorning coffee at his favorite table in the plaza, “corrected” with Tequila, he would scribble lines on napkins and test them on friends who happened by. The scribbling was almost illegible to me when I tried to read it, so he would speak them to me with reverence. Friends said he tested the same lines with them, too. Two years ago this summer, he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and accepted it with medical stoicism and religious faith. In his final days, I went to check on him at his home, where he was frail and tired as I sat at his bedside. “Six angels came to visit me last night,

and we talked and talked for hours about what it’s like in Heaven,” he said. He lay back on his pillow and waved his bony arms in the air to show me where they stood. “I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true.” Sitting at the plaza in Ajijic’s “waiting room” for many years helped him accept aging, and allowed him to keep writing. And I believe that talking with angels at his bedside one night helped him to begin a new chapter. Mikel Miller

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Dear Sir: Re: Harper letter published (pp 42) in your June issue: http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. The following is a partial list of these organizations, along with links to their published statements and a selection of related resources.â&#x20AC;? The â&#x20AC;&#x153;left wing groupâ&#x20AC;? making these claims is NASA. Now, if the Koch brothers hire a scientist, he will deny global warming. When the Koch brothers buy a politician, he will deny global warming. https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/ uea-teams-up-with-universities-tomyth-bust-climate-change-fallacies East Anglia University: â&#x20AC;&#x153;UQ Global Change Institute Climate Communication Fellow and MOOC coordinator John Cook said the course tackled climate myths and exposed techniques used to mislead the public.â&#x20AC;&#x153; 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming, how-

ever, less than half of Australians are aware of humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in climate change, while half of the US Senate has voted that humans werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t causing global warming,â&#x20AC;? he said.â&#x20AC;? If half of the Australians arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t aware of climate change, does that prove it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist? How does a US Senate vote prove whether or not a science is true? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The key to understanding the controversy is the science of science denial,â&#x20AC;? Mr Cook said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our course looks at whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driving climate science denial and the most common myths about climate change. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also examine what the science says about how to respond to science denial, equipping participants with the tools they need to see through the fog of denialism.â&#x20AC;? The blogger Mr. Harper quotes is Christopher Booker, an English journalist and author. He has taken a stance which runs counter to the scientific consensus on a number of issues, including global warming, the link between passive smoking and cancer, and the dangers posed by asbestos. In 2009, he published The Real Global Warming Disaster. Denying the truth does not make it false. Sincerely, Hank Shiver revhank@gmail.com

READER ADVISORY! Following in Their Footsteps is Bill Mesusanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s look back at Lakesideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literary history which goes back nearly 100 years. Billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fascinating article can be found at KWWS FKDSDOD FRP HORMR LQGH[ SKS PLG PRQWK DUWLFOHV (DFK PLG PRQWK ZH RIIHU VXSHUE DUticles that while a bit too long for our print version are perfect for our digiWDO IRUPDW &KHFN LW RXW

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

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%\ 0DUN 6FRQFH

he other night, my reading somehow merged with my sleep. I found myself dreaming about Russian Culture, not exactly a sexy topic. Yet I very much remember being visited by two Zinaidas. (zin eye éedahs). I’m not sure if I was smitten by or seduced by both. The first was Zinaida Volkonskaya, the favorite, nay, the mistress, of Czar Alexander I who reigned from 1801 to 1825. Daughter of a very old and prominent noble Princess was ble le ffamily, amililyy P riincesss Zi Zinaida w as born to aristocracy with all the trappings of a glamorous society. Fancy dress balls and a wardrobe to match, elegant horse-drawn carriages and then of course the manners and tone when on a first name basis with Europe’s power elite. Not only strikingly beautiful, she possessed a talent for singing, writing and poetry and even wrote lyrics for a Rossini opera. Yet, during the Napoleonic Wars, she observed, at close range and unafraid, the various gruesome military campaigns. At war’s end, she returned to Russia, establishing a dazzling and influential literary and musical salon whose most illustrious visitor was my friend, Alexander Pushkin. Most intriguing, however, was Zinaida’s conversion to Roman Catholicism and her growing concern with the plight of the poor. She spent the final decades of her life in Rome. She abandoned the life of luxury, privilege and salon glitter, choosing instead to become a lay missionary dedicated to easing the burdens of the sick and destitute. Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya died of pneumonia (apparently after giving her warm cloak to an old woman). Her death was mourned by friends such as Sir Walter Scott, Nikolai Gogol, Stendhal, Rossini, Mikhail Glinka and Alexander Pushkin who dubbed her “Tsarina

of the Muses and of Beauty.” Indeed, she inspired Tolstoy’s character “Natasha” in War and Peace; the movie, you may remember, starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda. Well, Time Passes: Concrescences of movies, books, dreams, history; “entangled fates and feelings.” Until, a hundred years later, we’re presented with Zinaida Gippius, nicknamed the “decadent Madonna.” Gippius was a poet, playwright, novelist, editor and reputable literary critic. Gippius, the poet, holds a very special place in Russian literature. “Her poems are deeply intellectual, immaculate in form and genuinely exciting,” wrote the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary back in the Year of Our Lord 1910. In an act of admirable bravery she even wrote several bitter, angry anti-Bolshevik works. She used to be an ardent Revolutionist. And she used to host a literary salon in her posh St Petersburg apartment. One of its habitués reported that Zinaida’s mere appearance caused a sensation: “a heavenly vision walked in slowly, an angel of astonishing thinness in snow-white garments and golden loose hair, along whose bare arms something akin to sleeves or wings fell to the very floor.” Indeed, that’s how she appeared in my dream even though I knew that her natural hair color was red and that she frequently dressed in men’s attire and carried a monocle much to the horror of her contemporaries. Zinaida received a steady flow of visitors after midnight in her apartment, recumbent on a chaise lounge, smoking long, scented cigarettes and “unceremoniously peering at her guests through her famous lorgnette.” Her opinions and declarations were terse and beyond appeal. (Fortunately, that never happens here.) Residents of St Petersburg with literary conceits respected, hated and, most importantly, feared Zinaida Gippius. In 1914 she joined the Red Cross in an effort to help the veterans of the First World War. She later kept a detailed record of events that led to the Russian Revolution and the following Civil War. But let’s see what we can learn from a few of her poems. Here’s one with a familiar topic: Impotence With greedy eyes I search the sea, But here on shore I stand, in chains… Off to the azure sky I’d flee, Over the void my spirit strains. Should I rebel or simply stay? I lack the will to die…or live… I feel God close…but cannot pray, The love I crave I cannot give. Oh how I long the sun to clasp! I see shrouded heavens stir… And sense the truth within my grasp… If only I could know the words. And if that weren’t gloomy enough… Gippius played with decadent motifs and themes of the sacred and the profane. Spiders My world is just a tiny pit, The ceiling low and dark within; Four spiders in four corners sit And ceaselessly their webs they spin. They’re agile, greasy and unclean, Forever weaving in the murk… And dreadful, dreadful to be seen— Their never-ending weaving work. They’ve woven now in one huge ball The four slim webs I saw before; I watch their hairy bodies crawl Across the dusty, rancid floor. The web has now enmeshed my eyes In grayish, soft and sticky thread, And in their monstrous joy they rise, The four fat spiders round my head. I think it’s fair to deduce that Zinaida was not particularly adept at small talk and pleasant conversation. Nevertheless, I remain infatuated. With Lell’s permission, of course. *All translations by James E. Falen Mark Sconce

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

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AUGUST, 1945: Memories of another Time and Place %\ 'U /RULQ 6ZLQHKDUW

n August, 1945, as the long awaited birth of my baby sister approached, I was sent off to spend ten days on my grandfather’s farm, located on a gravel road about four miles north of my hometown of Ashland, Ohio. At the age of three, I was given free reign during those golden summer days, exploring my world of horses and cows, pigs and chickens, barn cats and hunting dogs. August was harvest time, and each evening, I would hang on the stable door as I watched for Grandpa to appear, driving his team of massive but gentle draft horses over the hill from my Uncle Edgar’s nearby farm, where they had been harvesting oats under the glaring summer sun. In that less complicated time and place, most farm work was still done with horses, water was drawn from the pump in the front yard, the house was heated by potbellied stove, and daily trips to the outhouse were routine. Later, as Grandpa milked his small herd of mixed Jersey and Guernsey cows, I would hang on the opposite stable door as I awaited the arrival of my dad from his manufacturing job in town. His 1938 Plymouth was equipped with fog lights. To my delight, he would turn them on as he wound his way up the dusty road. Each day would end with Grandma and I watching the sun set beyond the timbered hills. I followed Grandpa loyally as he completed his evening chores, running milk through the hand cranked separator in the basement, feeding the desperate hogs, toting his large iron kettle of homemade “mush” out to the three slavering hounds. I refused to enter the henhouse to gather eggs, intimidated by the angry protests of stubborn hens pulled from their nests. My “job” was holding a bucket of milk for a greedy calf. Each day, the red and white Nickel’s Bakery truck would arrive amid plumes of dust. I knew Grandma would unfailingly spoil me with one of those little pies like men used to

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

carry in their lunch boxes. I reveled in thunderstorms, the calls of screech owls, a horse’s soft nose, a puppy’s tailwagging joy, the melodies of red wing black birds as they serenaded from atop cattail stems in the bottomland. Over the years I have often returned to that time and place when life has dealt out its share of stresses, anxieties and disappointments. Like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lothlorien, it is a place where no fell thing may enter. Such simple joy cannot endure forever. A few years hence, I would enter school with its lockstep conformity and accompanying barbarities and banalities of the playground and athletic field, intended to prepare children for lives of quiet desperation. Even at three, I was vaguely aware that a war was going on. I had seen the daily newspaper with its photos of servicemen killed or missing. In May, after Germany surrendered, there had been joyous celebrations in downtown Ashland. On August 6, Hiroshima was reduced to ashes, along with its inhabitants. On August 9, the Japanese city of Nagasaki suffered a similar fate. My dad took me to watch the fireworks celebrating the end of the war. I would not know until years later of the piles of bodies at Auschwitz and Dachau, the orgy of bloodshed at Stalingrad, the firestorm that razed Dresden, the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the brutalities of Nanking and Bataan, or the forced evacuation of thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans into concentration camps. The media promoted “The Best Years of Our Lives” with the end of the war, a promise that would prove illusory. On the evening of September 11, 2001, my dad and I went to a nearby county fair. Walking through barns where friendly horses were quartered gave me a small measure of peace as the world entered yet another time of madness. Dr. Lorin Swinehart

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A STUDY IN DELUSION %\ )UHG 0LWWDJ

“

n controversial topics such as climate change, a significant number of Americans do not use science to inform their views. Instead, they use political orientation and ideology.” – Scientific American David Harper’s Letter to the Editor (June, 2015) is a case study in conservative delusion. Harper says the claim that 97% of scientists agree on global warming is “faked” and suggests Google to prove it. Google leads straight to the Wall Street Journal, and of course, they say the 97% of scientists claimed by liberals is a myth. But Rupert Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, and also owns Fox News – the most disreputable of all TV channels. Two climate change deniers wrote the article in the WSJ, Joseph Blast and Roy Spencer. They both work for the Heartland Institute, whose institutional mission is climate change denial. Blast is the president, in fact. The Koch brothers and other polluters fund this conservative think tank. The Heartland Institute has as one of its projects a “global warming curriculum for elementary children” that presents global warming as a “major science controversy.” Of course, it is not, since scientists are in agreement. Dr. David Wojick, a coal-industry consultant, is preparing the curriculum. He is in the service of big coal, not school children. Billionaires in the fossil fuel industry have spent many millions of dollars lobbying to make global warming a doubtful hypothesis rather than an established fact. The Heartland Institute is one of their main anti-science efforts. The fossil fuel industry has financed the ideological brainwashing of gullible people, especially viewers of Fox News. Harper accused the El Ojo del Lago editor: “Like many from the left you start with a false premise and go from there.” This is so ludicrous as to invite contempt. Scientists are by definition liberals. As Stephen Colbert said, “Reality has a liberal bias.” Scientists, of course, deal in reality, while conservatives are chained to ideology –at best, a kind of faith system resembling voodoo more than science. We really need to dispel any misconceptions about liberal and conservative. When Galileo proposed the heliocentric theory, he was a liberal. What he did was scientific progress, a liberal attribute. When the Church insisted on conserving the geocentric theory, and tried Gal-

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

ileo for heresy, that was the conservative position, a rejection of progress. Galileo the liberal was intellectually solid and the conservative Church was ignorantly wrong. Harper proves conservative mentality has not changed since the heresy trial of Galileo. Conservatives are still wrong about almost everything. Harper fell into the conservative trap of confirmation bias with his citation of the East Anglia University scandal. He saw what he ideologically needed to see, but was blind to the bigger picture. In psychological terms, he used “motivated reasoning” to reach a false conclusion. And then this amazing sentence: “The money in the global warming game goes to those who continue to falsify records to provide politicians inaccurate data to plan more taxation to feed their desire for increased government size and spending.”The delusional paranoia behind that sentence is beyond human aid. In 2009, e-mails from the University of East Anglia in Britain were illegally hacked. A few cherry-picked, out-ofcontext, quotes from climate scientists were published on the Internet that conservatives claimed were proof that climate scientists were promoting a world-wide scientific hoax. A number of prestigious investigations, both British and American, cleared the scientists of any scientific wrongdoing. Harper is in pursuit of a red herring. His vacuous ideology is promoting the calamitous hoax that the earth’s climate is O.K. The dinosaurs were hit with a climate-changing asteroid that caused mass extinction. For humans, the climate -changing consequences of greenhouse gases produced by the Koch brothers’ profFred Mittag its loom ahead.

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%\ 9LFWRULD 6FKPLGW Culture Clash

don’t really know what I was expecting when we moved to Mexico. We had not traveled extensively, we didn’t speak the language, we didn’t know the culture, and we didn’t know anyone here that well. We made one exploratory trip to Lakeside, and fell in love with the area. Back home, relatives and friends were discussing mental health clinics and interventions as they were convinced we lost our minds. As I look back, I realize now what a tremendous leap of faith we took. We packed up our lives and moved to a completely foreign country. Perhaps our ignorance protected us at first. We figured “other people have done this, why can’t we?” We have learned so much while we’ve been here. I see new arrivals, and sometimes hear what they are discussing, or watch their behavior, and simply shake my head. I hope we weren’t like that when we arrived! One woman was screaming, attempting to make a complaint to City Hall because all the fireworks were scaring her dogs! Can you imagine Mexico with a noise ordinance? Also, I see people wanting to help, without learning about Mexican culture and about the needs of the people. My first piece of advice is to get to know your Mexican neighbors, cab drivers, clerks, waiters, cooks, and service people. Mexicans in general, are very proud, very religious. They love family, and they love fun. When we look at Mexico through the eyes of people who hail from a different culture, many of us apply our thinking, and try to make Mexico more American or Canadian. For some reason, we think we have the corner on how things “should” be done. We don’t. Many expatriates know the first thing they must do is learn Mexican law. That means traffic laws, employment laws, rental laws, banking laws: well you get the drift. Learning may be difficult, however, because anyone you ask could give multiple responses…

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

one of which might even be correct! The community of Lakeside is one of the most devoted and giving communities I have ever lived in. There are countless organizations that help with medical expenses for children, education, teaching trades, and in general trying to help wherever they can. In addition to giving to the Mexican community, they also are known for helping out other expatriates. Where many of us make mistakes is by forcing our solutions to their problems, without understanding the problems or their source. My own understanding grows the longer I am here, and I often smile at my own naivety when I first arrived. Since we decided to retire here, we must have liked something about Mexico, which brought us here. The climate is a great plus. The vista is beautiful. The people here are wonderful and patient and loving and giving. Why would we want to bring to Mexico that which we left? I believe it is best to learn from the people, learn the culture, and celebrate both the ways we are similar and the ways we are different. Another thing that amazes me is how readily we, as immigrants to Mexico, are treated for the most part with dignity and respect. We joke about the special gringo pricing. But I don’t see people demonstrating, carrying signs, and telling us to go home, as many Mexican immigrants face when they are in the USA. (I can’t comment about other countries.) At some point in my life, I hope to live my life more like the Mexicans I have grown to know and love.

Victoria Schmidt

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he last column dealt with what to do if your family dog got lost. Hopefully, if you find a dog, the owner would have had enough foresight to have a collar and ID tag on their dog. If you find a “lost” dog, keep safety in mind. An unknown dog may be sick, injured, frightened or have unpredictable behavior. Do an assessment – is this a ‘street dog’ that does not need to be rescued or have its owner found ? Or, is this a ‘dog in crisis’ that needs an intervention? First step is check for a collar and ID tag. If no collar / tag, begin the search. Walk in the area where you found the dog, and see if he can find his way home again. As you see people, especially the neighborhood children, ask if anyone has information about the dog. Take a photo of the dog. Make posters and fliers. Keep it simple: “ FOUND DOG (or cat)!” Needed info: a photograph, location [street/ area], date the dog was found, and a phone number. Distribute photo fliers in the area where the dog was found, vet. clinics, shelters, grooming places, store bulletin boards, and pet supply stores. Post a giant FOUND DOG poster near the area where you found the dog and a couple more at major intersections in that area. Post a Found Dog notice on local web boards Check the area for any “LOST DOG” posters, considering that the dog might have traveled a long distance from where it was found. Possibly the dog may have just escaped in the last few hours and lost posters haven’t gone up yet. Check back for several days in the area for “LOST DOG” posters. Different circumstances (health problems, being out of town, etc.) can prevent people from posting lost pet flyers immediately. If you see a lost pet posting, even if the description doesn’t perfectly fit the dog you’ve found, call anyway. Frequently people get ‘the breed’ wrong – especially with our famous Mexican mix heritage dogs. If the dog is injured: handle carefully as a dog can become aggressive when injured. Take the dog to a vet. if possible. If not, call to see if the vet is willing to make a house call. In rescuing this dog you need to

be prepared to pay the vet bills, as it is not the vet’s responsibility to provide free vet care for stray animals. If you take a stray animal home, keep it separated from your family pets. You have no way of knowing if this unknown dog or cat has been vaccinated, has fleas and ticks, is ill [although it may appear to be ‘healthy’ now] or if it might become aggressive toward your pets. After a thorough search for the owner and if you are unsuccessful, this is when you should start speaking with your local shelter to see IF they have any room or possibly when a vacancy might be available. Do not automatically assume that the shelter has vacancies, and can take this animal, especially if they have breed restrictions. If and when the shelter has an opening and can accept this animal, it is strongly suggested that you make a donation at that time to help pay for the cost of the necessary vaccinations, spayingneutering, and daily care costs of this animal until a home is found for it. During your time caring for this animal, it is advisable to have the dog seen by a Vet., start vaccinations and possibly schedule spay-neuter surgery, while you continue to find it a home or wait for a shelter vacancy. Please support Anita’s Animals: www.anitasanimals.com

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The Ojo Crossword

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El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

55 Dirt 58 Scent 59 SupermanÂ´s Ms. Lane 3OD\LQJ ÂżHOG 63 Inclined plane 64 Very large trees 65 Yummy 66 Long time periods 67 Shade of black 68 Basic beliefs DOWN 1 Baseball plate 2 Deeds 3 IranÂ´s neighbor 4 ZagÂ´s partner 5 Nervous nature 6 Monte __ 7 Lotion ingredient 8 Tap 9 Excuse 10 State capital 11 Ruin 12 Skim 13 Similar 22 Pigpen 24 Panama 25 Fairy tale opener 27 Torah table 28 Separated 29 Skating areas 30 MosesÂ´mountain 31 Towards .HOORJJVÂ? ZDIĂ&#x20AC;HV 33 Horse sound 35 Wound seriously 37 Tableland 40 To make sour 41 Slick 43 Shopping magazine 46 Takes by force 47 Nada 48 Harden 50 Brazen woman 51 Opp. of aft 52 6th month (Jewish calendar) 53 Unconsciousness 54 Cycle 55 Net fabric 56 Preposition 57 24 hour periods 60 Rowing tool 62 Lab animal

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“People Helping People”

The

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News

www.lakechapalasociety.com

July 2015

ChildrHQ¶V 7KHDWUH 6XPPHU &DPS Preparations are continuing for the first ever Lakeside Little Theatre and Lake Chapala Society co-sponsored Children’s Theatre Summer Camp. Volunteers have been working with Maestro Antonio Lopez Vega to bring his Legend of Queen Xochitl-Michi-Ciualli to the stage on Saturday and Sunday, August 1 and 2. Thirty-five children signed up to be part of the dancing, singing, acting, drumming, puppeteering, and painting workshops starting Monday July 20. Two performances are planned for volunteers and children’s families. Performers specializing in pre-Hispanic dance will be coming from Chiapas, as will a musicologist of pre-Hispanic traditions from Guadalajara, and local artisan Alberto Paz, creator of beautiful pre-Hispanic musical instruments. A legend passed down through generations that tells of this lake and the naming of Axixic, carries an important message of preservation. To become involved with this exciting project, or if you require additional information, contact Jennifer Stanley jenthom. enroute@gmail.com or phone 766-3543.

6PRNLQ¶ 6XPPHU 0XVLF )HVWLYDO Save this date! The LCS Summer Music Fest will be Saturday, July 11 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. on the LCS campus. The exciting entertainment features three bands: The Tall Boys, Black Swan, and Smoky Dub (reggae), and fabulous food from three of Lakeside’s most popular local restaurants-No. 4, Cocinart, and Just Chillin’! Tickets for admission only are $120 pesos at the LCS Service Office and $150 pesos at the door. Cash accepted for bar, refreshments, and food. Please note: the libraries and the Service Office will close at noon that day.

LCS is closed Wednesday, July 1 for Canada Day and Saturday, July 4 for U.S. Independence Day.

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

-XO\ LV (6/ 7HDFKHU 5HFUXLWPHQW 0RQWK â&#x20AC;&#x153;The most important things anyone brings to teaching ESL is the ability to speak English, along with love and care for our students,â&#x20AC;? said Inez Dayer, Director of the English as a Second Language Program sponsored by Lake Chapala Society. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One can learn the content, but not the joy shared. That must be experienced.â&#x20AC;? Since its 1999 inception at Wilkes Education Center, this program has brought a sense of community, a bond with adult ESL learners, a satisfaction within, that some Mexican lives have been changed, to almost every foreign resident who has jumped into this learning ring. The growing program needs teachers. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put this rewarding experience off another month. Get involved and you will never regret it. The customary fears of, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never taught professionally, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t speak Spanish, etc.,â&#x20AC;? have been felt by many teachers, but the involvement has been so gratifying that those doubts melted away after a few classes. When both teachers and students are novices, acceptance of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newness makes learning fun. Inez has prepared a comprehensive â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;new teacher orientation packageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to address initial jitters, brimming with ideas on how to approach teaching ESL. At monthly staff meetings, solutions to classroom dilemmas and viable tools and techniques are exchanged with experienced volunteer teachers. Inez is always available for personal consultation, and Maria Huerta, Bi-lingual Student Coordinator helps to resolve issues for non-Spanish speaking teachers. A proposed 2015-2016 schedule change could solve commitment issues for prospective teachers. A mid-term December, 2015 student registration is being enacted. The objective: fill class spots lost to attrition or form new classes, depending on the demand, for the semester beginning in January. The program will continue to run from Sept.-April, but this approach could offer potential teachers a choice for a shorter time commitment; Sept-Dec. or Jan.-April. So contact Inez Dayer at inezme@gmail.com, now to discuss how you can be part of this unforgettable educational and bi-cultural experience.

INAPAM Discount Cards for Seniors The Guadalajara DIF office will have representatives here at LCS on July 24 at 1:30 p.m. to present INAPAM cards to eligible senior applicants. To apply for an INAPAM card fill out the application available in the LCS Service Office and return it to the office by Friday, July 17. Qualified applicants may use their cards for significant discounts on pharmaceuticals, medical services, travel, clothing, and other goods and services.

TKXUVGD\ )LOP $ÂżFLRQDGRV Open to LCS members only. Bring your card. All films shown in the Sala from 2-4 p.m. No food. No pets. -XO\ )DUJR 2 p.m. 1996 USA The Coen brothers classic crime comedy. Nominated for seven Academy Awards. Is it worth seeing again? You betcha! -XO\ .XPLNR 7KH 7UHDVXUH +XQWHU 2 p.m. 2015 USA Â A Japanese woman discovers a hidden tape of the film Fargo and believes it contains clues indicating the location of the ransom money buried in Minnesota. -XO\ 7KH :DWHU 'LYLQHU 12 p.m. 2014 AustraliaÂ Russell Crowe stars and directs the story of an Australian man who goes to Turkey after the battle of Gallipoli in an attempt to locate his three missing sons. -XO\ 'LSORPDF\ 12:30 p.m. 2014 France/Germany Â Â A historical drama that depicts the relationship between the German General von Choltitz and Swedish Consul Nordling who tries to convince the German not to destroy Paris. -XO\ 6LGH (IIHFWV 12 p.m. 2013Â USA Â Â A thriller about a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a drug prescribed by the wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s psychiatrist has unexpected side effects. Please note: The time changes for the last three films.

7KLUG $QQXDO /&6 &$3 6XPPHU $UW &DPS Every day, beginning Monday, July 20, and running through Friday, July 24, the LCS Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Art Program (CAP) will be holding its 3rd Annual Art Camp from 10:00Â a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This year our workshops includeÂ painting with acrylics, watercolor, and oil (plain air); collage, jewellery making, beading,Â and tapachin pod decorating. The last two art camps were very well-attended. Last year, over 105 kids attended each day. This year we are planning for about 130 children. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also added daily projects for the little ones aged five and under, who must be accompanied by an adult. A sale of the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artwork from the workshops will be held in the Gazebo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. This annual project wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be possible without the generous financial support of the Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) and the dedication of its members, who assist every day with our workshops. If you would like to volunteer at art camp and/or donate materials for this program, please email Danielle PagĂŠ atÂ childrensart@lakechapalasociety.com.

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July $FWLYLWLHV *Open to the Public ** US Citizens (S) Sign in required (C) Membership card required CRUZ ROJA * CRIV (Cruz Roja) Sales Table CRIV (Cruz Roja) Monthly Meeting HEALTH INSURANCE * IMSS & Immigration Services Lakeside Insurance Broker

Tues+Wed+Fri 11-1 2nd Wed 2-5 Mon+Tues 10-1 Tues+Thur 11-2

HEALTH & LEGAL SERVICES * Becerra Immigration Thur 10:30-12:30 Blood Pressure Fri 10-12 Hearing Aid Services (S) Mon 11-4, 4th Sat 11-2 Ministerio Publico Wed July 3+17 10-2 Claravision Optometrist (S) Thur 9-4 Pharmaceutical Consultation 4th Mon 10-12 Skin Cancer Screening (S) 2nd + 4th Wed 10-12 :30 US Consulate** Wed July 8 10-12 Sign up 10-11:30 LESSONS (C) Children’s Art Children’s Reading Program Exercise Fitness and Strength Thru Yoga Line Dancing Strength and Balance Exercise Thursday Yoga LIBRARIES Audio Book & Video Library of Congress Books**/ Talking Books NJ Biblioteca Publica (WEC)

Sat 10-12* Sat 9-10* Mon+Wed+Fri 9-10 Mon+Fri 2-3:30, Sat 1-2:30 Tues+Thur 10-11:15 Tues+Thur 9-9:50 Thur 2-3:30 Thur 10-12 Mon-Sat 10-2 Thur 10-12 Mon-Fri 9:30-7, Sat 9:30-1

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES (C) All Things Tech Fri 9:30-11:30 Bridge 4 Fun Tue + Thur 1-5 Conversaciones en Espanol Contact Karl Homan 766-3766 English/Spanish Conversation Sat 11-12 Everyday Mindfulness Mon 10:15-11:45 Film Aficionados Thur 2-4:30 Genealogy Forum Last Mon 2-4 Mac OS 1st Mon 12-1 Mac User Group 3rd Wed 1-2 Memoir Writers 2nd Wed 2-4 Needle Pushers Tues 10-12 Open Gaming (open to the public from 2) Mon 1-4* Scrabble Mon+Fri 12-1:50 Tournament Scrabble Tues 12-1:50 SERVICE & SUPPORT GROUPS * Have Hammer Workshop Demo 1st 3rd Mon 10-12* Information Desk Mon-Sat 10-1 Lakeside AA Mon +Thur 4:30-5:30 Open Circle Sun 10-12:30 Toastmasters Mon 7-8:30 p.m TICKET SALES Monday-Friday 10-12 *

Please note: Conversaciones en Espanol will resume its regularly scheduled sessions at LCS on September 7. Costco returns to LCS Monday and Tuesday, July 6 and 7.

El Ojo del Lago / July 2015

There aren’t many good movies available right now. If you have any suggestions, please share them with us. And, as always, we need couriers. If you or anyone you know can help, please let someone in the Video Library know about it. DVDs do not take up much room. The items listed below are some of the July movie additions. Please see the LCS web page or the display boards at the Video Library for other films. &KDUOLH :LOVRQ¶V :DU #6964 Biographical comedy Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts )LUVW 'R 1R +DUP #6972 Drama with Meryl Streep and Fred Ward Hannah Arendt 6954 Biographical drama with Barbara Sukowa and Axel Milberg The Song of Lunch #6959 A drama with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson 6RPHWKLQJ WKH /RUG 0DGH #6960 A biographical drama with Alan Rickman and Mos Def Ever After #6967 A refreshing new take on the classic fairy tale with Drew Barrymore and Angelica Huston And, just for the fun of it: The Birdcage and /D &DJH DX[ Folles #6965 and #6956. Convert your tapes to DVDs for $50 pesos each. Just drop them off at the Video Library desk.

0LVVLQJ As part of our on-going LCS History Project, we have begun to archive annual directories from past years. So far we’ve garnered many annual editions from our existing collection, but are missing a few. We’re trying to collect two directories from each year. Although we have one each from years 1968, 1970 and 1971, 1976 through 1983, and 1997 through 2002, we need to add one more from each of these years. Missing altogether are directories from 1969, 1972 through 1975 and 1987. If you can contribute directories from these years, contact Maryanne O’Halloran in the Service Office at 766-1140.

,Q WKH 6HUYLFH 2I¿FH The Warren Hardy Spanish textbooks for registered class members are available in the Service Office. Much-needed donations to the kitty fund for the care and feeding of our feline friends may be made in the Service Office, too. &KLOGUHQ¶V $UW &DUGV Our wonderful children’s art cards are available in the Just Chillin’ Café.

LCS Unveils New Website You’re invited to visit our new and improved website. go to: www.lakechapalasociety.com. Thank you to volunteers: designer Jeane Treloar, webmaster Chuck Ball, and editor Lindy White) for making this happen!

7KH /DWHVW /LEUDU\ 1HZV Have You Noticed? There will be no more book sales at our various events and celebrations on the LCS campus. From now on, books will be sold during LCS work hours six days a week. Make your selection of well-loved and gently-used editions in the Magazine Room located between the Service Office and the library workroom. Prices are right, too: five pesos for paperbound books and 10 pesos for the hard covers. You may pay for your purchases in the library. The Magazine Room is still home to our extensive collection of magazines. We operate on the honor system, so you can borrow as many magazines as you like and return them at your leisure. Don’t forget our collection of jigsaw puzzles is still available, too.

New on the Shelves New offerings on the shelves in our library include an unusual variety of unexpected titles. The foodies’ favorite crime novelist, Phyllis Richman, has penned a soon-to-be favorite “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Ham”. Local author, crime novelist Jess Waid, a former member of the LAPD, has an entry entitled “Circle of Yellow” one of several of his color-referenced titles on domestic violence now gracing our shelves. “The Banned Books”, an enlightening look at censorship throughout history, is a compilation of titles banned for political, religious, social, or sexual reasons. It’s as current as today’s headlines. “Glimmer Train”, one of the most respected literary journals, published quarterly since 1990, showcases short fiction of the highest order. Be sure to read Susan Cain’s provocatively titled “Quiet-The Power of An Introvert in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”.

%HJLQQHU¶V L3DG &ODVVHV Beginner’s iPad classes will resume on Thursday, August 27. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, send your LCS membership number to: lcsipadclasses@gmail. com. The LCS service desk cannot register you, nor can you register by phone.

)ROORZ 8V RQ )DFHERRN www.facebook.com/lakechapalasociety.

Warren Hardy Spanish Language Classes The next term of LCS’ Warren Hardy Spanish language classes for members begins Monday, July 6 and continues through Thursday, August 20. Classes meet twice a week for an hour and a half at the Wilkes Education Center (NJ Biblioteca Publica). The Warren Hardy Spanish language course, designed for the adult student, has several levels of instruction. The program manager will be available to answer your questions and take registration on Monday, June 29, Thursday, July 2, and Friday, July 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Blue Umbrella Patio. Tuition is $750 pesos. The required course textbook is $430 pesos, and other instructional materials may be purchased. For more information about the Spanish classes or LCS membership, visit the LCS website www.lakechapalasociety.com or call the at 766-1140. Please note: LCS is closed Wednesday, July 1 for Canada Day and Saturday, July 4 for US Independence Day.

Introduction to Spanish Classes LCS announces its next round of Introduction to Spanish language classes for LCS members. This is a casual class for the beginner that covers the Spanish alphabet, simple vocabulary, phrases to use about town for shopping, and useful information about Lakeside and Mexican culture. Classes are held the first Tuesday of the month and continue for three weeks. July classes start Tuesday, July 7th, on the LCS campus from 12 until 1:30 p.m. Sign up in the Service Office; cost is $175 pesos.

CAP Silent Auction Winners We are happy to announce that Marian Ramos of San Antonio Tlayacapan won a very special one-week vacation at the Grand Luxe resort in Nueva Vallarta as the successful bidder in our online silent auction. This prize was donated to benefit the LCS Children’s Art Program. In the photo (from left to right) are Ben White (LCS President), Marian and Joe Ramos (winners), and Danielle Pagé (Children’s Art Program).

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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 - Ben White (2016); Vice-President - Cate Howell (2017); Treasurer - Michael Searles (2017); Secretary - Carole Wolff (2016); Directors: Matthew Butler (2016); Lois Cugini (2017); Ernest Gabbard (2016); Fred Harland (2017); Barbara Hildt (2017); Yoli Martinez (2017); Garry Musgrave (2017); Pete Soderman (2016); Joan Ward (2016); Immediate Past President: Howard Feldstein. Executive Director - Terry Vidal

The LCS Newsletter is published monthly. Deadline for submissions is the 17th of the month preceding publication. Submit all news items to newsletter@lakechapalasociety.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 / July 2015

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Service

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

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