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D IRE C TOR Y PUBLISHER David Tingen
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Victoria A. Schmidt
EDITOR EMERITUS Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez
Index... 36
COVER STORY
THE BRUTAL END
Herbert Piekow delves into Mexico’s brutal history, exploring the major conquests of Mexico. And its difficult past.
COVER IMAGE
VOLUME 38 NUMBER 11
Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Reyes Diana Parra Morales
08 Special Events Editor Kim Le Mieux Associate Editor Sally Asante Theater Critic Michael Warren Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart Poetry Editor Mel Goldberg Sales Manager Bruce Fraser Carmene Berner
The World is Made of Plastic, by Dr. Lorin Swinehart
16 The Crow, by Patricia Hemingway 22 Let’s Get Physical, by Tom Nussbaum
Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago www.chapala.com elojodellago@gmail.com
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26 Murderous Addictions, by Don Beaudreau
12 The Streets of Mexico
34 Fidelity. Wherefore Art Thou? By Larry Kolczak 40 Blind Date, by Sue Schools 44 “He who feeds a hungry animal, Feeds his own soul”. Lakeside Food Bank
14 Vexations & Conundrums 18 Ramblings from the Ranch 20 Life in the Laugh Lane 30 Lakeside Living
Dental Intermissions, by Judy Dykstra-Brown Friends And Flowers, by Joaquin A. Hawkins 50 From Que Pasó, by John Thomas Dodds Inventory, by John Hogan
Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: 376 765 3676, Fax 376 765 3528
PRINTING: El Debate El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Distributed over the first five days of each month) Certificado de Licitud de Título 3693 Certificado de Licitud de Contenido 3117. Reserva al Título de Derechos de Autor 04-2011-103110024300-102 Control 14301. Permisos otorgados por la Secretaría de Gobernación (EXP. 1/432 “88”/5651 de 2 de junio de 1993) y SEP (Reserva 171.94 control 14301) del 15 de enero de 1994. Distribución: Hidalgo 223 Chapala, Jalisco, México. All contents are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the written consent of El Ojo del Lago. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher or the Editor, nor are we responsible for the claims made by our advertisers. We welcome letters, which should include name, address and telephone number.
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COLUMNS THIS MONTH
24 “From Physics Comes Beauty” by Fred Mittag
48 Common Scents, by Steve Hluchan ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9 am - 5 pm Sat. 9 am - 1 pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528
By Linda Williamson
El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
42 Verdant View 46 Profiling Tepehua 48 Poetry Niche
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COLUMNIST
Editor’s Page By Victoria Schmidt
Dying for Action
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he one thing these current times will not be remembered as is the “Age of Reason.” I have spent most of the last three decades watching the loss of reason disintegrate our nation. I watched as the “Moral Majority” claimed to represent the views of the majority. I watched and felt helpless as critical thinking crumbled and reasonable debate turned into talking points and shouting matches. The United States seems to have lost its ability for civil discourse and compromise. Listening has become a lost art. And we have now become that nation Lincoln warned us about on June 16, 1858, in the Illinois State Capitol before he became president: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Forget standing. We are in free fall! When a nation sends its children off to schools where they are not safe, where they may be shot and killed, we, as a nation, have lost our moral compass. Columbine, most notable, on April 20, 1999. Twelve students and one teacher: DEAD. Perpetrated by two white students. Since that event that stunned the world 23 years ago, we have come to learn that Columbine, though unprecedented at the time, would come to be known as the first symptom of the madness that was gripping our country. There have been 27 mass shootings this year alone. We have seen these mass shootings spread out from schools. Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook. These names instantly catapult heartbreaking images to our brains. As the violence in America escalates, not just schools, but shopping centers, nail salons, concerts, bars, and churches have all become targets. Most recently Uvalde, Texas, at Robb ELEMENTARY school, where 19 children, no more than babies, and two of their teachers were murdered. And the horror isn’t just in the hands of these misguided misfits.
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We’ve seen a steady rise in the number of unjustified killings by police of the people they are sworn to protect. Following is an excerpt from Dr. Roy Guerrero’s description of what he encountered at the hospital after the Uvalde massacre: “I had heard from some of the nurses there were two dead children who had been moved to the surgical area of the hospital. As I made my way there I prayed that I wouldn’t find her. I didn’t find Alaina but I did find something no prayer will ever relieve. Two children whose bodies had been pulverized by bullets fired at them decapitated, whose flesh had been ripped apart, that the only clue of their identities was the blood-spattered cartoon clothes clinging to them, clinging for life and finding none.” An 11-year-old had to have the moxie to spread her dead friend’s blood on herself and play dead to try to escape the shooter’s attention. Picture that, if you can. An 11-yearold should only be familiar with the blood from a skinned knee from roller skating or bicycle riding. Dr. Guerrero testified he attended Robb Elementary School—that same school—as a child. His memories were playing with his friends between classes and the smells of the cafeteria on Hamburger Thursdays. What smells will these children remember? (Watch his full statement at youtube.com/watch?v=RCwwoHRTIMk) The United States has a problem with SHOOTING. It isn’t bombing, shelling, or anything else (except for George Floyd) but death at the barrel of a gun. Children, Jewish worshipers, Asian nail specialists, public figures, and random students walking on campus as in Kent State. It isn’t the weather. It isn’t the architecture. It isn’t race. It isn’t the day of the week. It isn’t all mental illness. It IS the guns! It’s gun manufacturers who in-
vest in the development of violent video games. An article said the US has more guns than people in the US…393 million civilian-owned guns with a population of 326 million. That’s one gun per person, with 67 million guns left over. (2018 Figure.) What is wrong with the USA? Why doesn’t its moral outrage and thoughts and prayers lead to congressional action? Recent polls suggest that 63-95% of citizens say they agree with more gun control. Depending on which poll you wish to cite, the majority of US citizens support gun control. Isn’t it time—past time!—for our elected officials to bow to the will of the people they serve rather than the gun lobbyists? Look at other countries. They have schools with two doors. They have children with the same sorts of issues. But they have either stricter gun control or no guns. When Australia had a mass shooting, they eliminated the guns, with the citizens’ approval. They have had no problems since. Sure, there is a black market there. The US black market gun sells for about $1,000. That same gun in Australia is $34,000, significantly reducing easy access. Most of the shooters have been
male and white and, of course, all with guns. Let’s stop with the red herrings. Stop with the finger pointing. Mass shooting events went up when the Brady Bill was allowed to expire, in 2004. Where is our nation going to go to regain its moral compass and sense of morality? What we have going on now is pure insanity, and the public continues to die waiting. Victoria Schmidt
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The World Is Made Of Plastic Dr. Lorin Swinehart.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” -The Lorax It should come as no surprise that micro-plastics have now been identified in 80% of human lungs and blood samples that have been tested. Plastic residue and trash have been found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Marianas Trench, six and a half miles beneath the surface, the deepest location in all the seven seas. Traces of plastic exist in every aspect of our lives. Members of older generations may suffer the illusion that we lived much of our lives basically plastics free, but that is not the case unless we are very old indeed. In 1869, John Wesley Hyatt experimented with a new type of billiard balls. Up to then, billiard balls were made of elephant ivory. Hyatt, instead, created them by converting cotton treated with camphor into celluloid, thus saving the lives of many elephants. In 1907, a chemist named Leo Baekeland produced an early form of plastic which he named after himself, Bakelite. For years, many uses for Bakelite were found, including electric insulators, radio and telephone cases, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous cigarette holders. As with so many other products, uses for plastic proliferated during World War II, as it was used to replace ingredients necessary for industrial production but were in short supply, including steel, paper, glass and wood. During the postwar years, from 1950 to 2015, plastic production in the US increased by 8.4%. annually. We now produce twenty times as much plastic every year as we did twenty years ago, but it is estimated that only 10% is recycled. The rest goes into landfills or into the sea. All too much finds its way into fields, woodlots and roadsides as litter. According to the journal Science, the numerous components utilized in plastic production, include coal, salt, natural gas, cellulite, and crude oil. More and different uses for plastics continue to be found. The computer keyboard that I am typing on this very moment is made of plastic,
as are the pens I use to keep notes, the TV set in the corner, the lamp- stand on this desk, parts of picture frames, a flowerpot, the coffeemaker, clock and thermometer on the wall, my cell phone, the handle on my Swiss Army knife, water and soft drink bottles, the flatware—knives, forks and spoons— given out by fast food businesses and many of the components of our Toyota. Plastic is cheap and convenient. Plastic has become such a part of our lives and such a benefit to manufacturing that until the 1960’s, few even questioned any negative side effects that might be associated with its use. For most of us, not a day goes by that we do not eat, drink or breathe micro-plastics. During that decade known popularly as the Sizzling’ Sixties, many previous assumptions called into question for the first time. When Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was published, many began to express concern about man’s activities negatively affecting the natural environment. Ohio’s Cuyahoga River, bisecting the major industrial city of Cleveland, had been so riddled with pollutants that it had burst into flames more than once. But this time the national press got hold of the story. A reporter was on hand, and the outrageous state of the Cuyahoga’s waters as well as many other US waterways entered the public consciousness. Mayor Carl Stokes, the nation’s first mayor of African descent to lead a major city, worked closely with his brother Congressman Louis Stokes to support legislation to clean up the Cuyahoga. At the same time, President Richard Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Agency into law in December, 1970. On April 7, 1972, President Nixon also signed into law the Clean Water Act. The American people were waking up to threats to the environment and human health on many levels. As a consequence, The Endangered Species Act was also signed into law by Mr. Nixon on December 28, 1973. Thomas Jefferson wisely observed that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It is also the price of every other good thing, including the sanctity of the natural environment that sustains Continued on page 10
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From page 8 us. Despite the many successful efforts during past decades to improve and protect life on our island home, threats to health and safety continue to surface. So it may be with plastic. We have all seen the heartrending news photos of sea turtles strangled with those plastic rings used in packs of soft drinks, of others with plastic straws impaled in their nostrils, of dolphins choked with plastic items, of the guts of seabirds packed tight with indigestible plastics cast off thoughtlessly by a careless or indifferent human populace. Coca Cola sells an estimated 120 billion plastic bottles each year. The company has pledged to make 25% of its packaging reusable by 2030. That is tragically insufficient. Sadly, many plastic soft drink and water bottles are used once and then tossed away. Such bottles constitute one of the major forces behind fossil fuel use. More petrochemical plants and most incinerators that burn plastics are located near impoverished or minority municipalities, adding to the health threats of the citizenry. The ingestion of plastic residue may also constitute threats to human health. The reality is that we don’t know
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for certain, but it stands to reason that it cannot be a good thing. Harvard Medical School warns that heating plastics in a microwave may cause chemicals to leach into food, possibly contributing to metabolic disorders like obesity. The National Library of Medicine cautions against small children chewing on plastic teethers and toys, that doing so could lead to impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and even some forms of cancer. The US Food and Drug Administration has ruled that the Bisphenola (BPA) used in the manufacture of many plastic products is safe “in small amounts”. BPA is used to coat the inside of bottle caps, food cans and water supply lines. BPA is used in the manufacture of water bottles and soft drink bottles. In the body, BPA behaves like estrogen, possibly causing chromosomal abnormalities that could lead to birth defects and childhood disabilities. Given such widespread use, one is left wondering what constitutes “small amounts.” Chemicals called phthalates, sometimes called plasticizers, used in the manufacture of plastics can leach out into food and water and into human bodies in sufficient amounts to disrupt the endocrine system. The concern is that such chemicals may especially pose a threat to small children. What, then, can be done? What can we as individuals do, and what needs to be done nationally and globally to curb the growing menace of plastics pollution? Individually, of course, we can commit to recycling. While only an estimated 10% of plastic bottles are recycled, it does make a difference. We can urge our members of Congress to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Bill and the National Bottle Bill. We can urge national leaders to work toward a Global Plastics Treaty. The problem is huge, but there are solutions if people and their representatives recognize the potential threats and create policies to deal effectively with them. It has been said that since the end of World War II, mankind has been engaged in a vast, global chemical experiment, with no real idea of the possible consequences. The presence of plastic molecules in human blood samples adds to that concern. It is uncertain at this juncture whether or not those plastic molecules constitute a threat to human heart. And yet, exactly how comfortable are we with the knowledge that we may be carrying traces of plastic around in our bodies? Lorin Swinehart
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COLUMNIST
Streets of Mexico By David Ellison
Lázaro Cárdenas
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made an effort to serve my country... with greater commitment to the needy people,” Lázaro Cárdenas wrote in his journal after he’d stepped away from the presidency and power. “I canceled many privileges and distributed much of the wealth that was in few hands.” Indeed, with a remarkable combination of compassion, cunning, and courage, he did more to fulfill the promise of the Mexican Revolución and implement the liberal tenets of the Constitución of 1917 than any other president, before or since. After serving as a general in the Revolution and then as the liberal governor of Michoacán, Cárdenas was tapped to become the next of former President Calles’ puppets in the 1934 presidential election. Cárdenas immediately distin-
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guished himself as his own man, however, traveling during his presidential campaign nearly 16,000 miles throughout Mexico, eschewing the Mexico City elite and endearing himself to the rural and urban poor. He listened to them, and clearly empathized. “Nothing can more eloquently justify the long struggle of the Mexican Revolution like the existence of entire regions in which the men of Mexico live alien to all material
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and spiritual civilization, sunk in ignorance and absolute poverty, subjected to inferior food, clothing and accommodation that are inappropriate for a country that, like ours, has sufficient material resources to ensure a just civilization.” And he believed the federal government to be “the only institution capable of ensuring the common good of Mexicans.” Once elected by an amazing 98% of the vote, Cárdenas turned the opulent presidential Chapultepec Palace (where Los Niños Héroes had made their supreme sacrifice) into a national museum, chose to reside instead in the far more modest Los Pinos, and cut his and all federal government salaries in half. Then, he threw his support behind labor unions, which responded by throwing their support behind him. Thus empowered, Cárdenas abruptly ordered Calles and his allies into exile, and then replaced Calles’ political party with his own, the corporatist Mexican Revolution Party (which would eventually become the current Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI). It was an astounding coup. Cárdenas designed his new party with great care, giving equal representation to four major Mexican groups: the peasant union, the industrial union, the urban (government worker) union, and the military. (Noticeably lacking were the wealthy hacienda owners and the Catholic Church.) His co-opting the generals was a controversial but wiley ploy, forcing them to share their hitherto immense power with three other, now equal partners. And all were subservient to the government, i.e, Cárdenas and his party. And then Lázaro Cárdenas rolled up his sleeves. Aggressively implementing the Constitution of 1917, he redistributed more land than all his revolutionary predecessors combined, replacing the huge haciendas with ejidos, communally owned peasant land. In fact, when he was done, one half of the county’s arable land was in the hands of previously landless farmers. He’d fi-
nally undone much of the damage that Benito Juárez’ and Porfirio Díaz’ neoliberal “reforms” had wrought. Although wisely choosing not to implement the radical anti-cleric tenets of the Constitution (and thus avoiding another Cristero War), Cárdenas did pry the Church’s fingers off of schools, insisting on a secular, even socialist curriculum, and investing twice as much in rural education as, once again, all his predecessors together. But his most radical moves were yet to come. First, yet again citing the Constitution, Cárdenas nationalized the Mexican railroad system, handing management over to the unions. Next, in a breathtaking stroke when foreign—predominantly American— oil companies refused to comply with a Mexican Supreme Court ruling in favor of the workers, he nationalized the petroleum industry as well, creating what is now known as Pemex. (His and the decision’s wild popularity in Mexico protected him from what would soon become common American-sponsored coups in other Latin-American countries for far less egregious affronts to corporate, capitalist neocolonialism.) Cárdenas had consolidated immense power in himself and his party. Nonetheless, like a modern-day Cincinatus, he relinquished it all at the end of his term, no more wealthy than when he’d begun (quite the exception, then and now). While he watched his successors and the party turn decidedly conservative, he spent the rest of his life supporting irrigation projects, free medical clinics, and education for the poor. Today, Lázaro Cárdenas is deservedly one of Mexico’s most beloved presidents, second only to Benito Juárez. There is nary a city, town or village that doesn’t honor him with a street name. This is a selection from Ellison’s upcoming book, Niños Héroes: The Fascinating Stories Behind Mexican Street Names.
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Politics, Religion, Toilet Tissue
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isits to my mother in Louisiana are full of surprises. Two of my sisters take turns staying with her, and both are colorful personalities. I think my mother enjoys the minidramas that ensue as my sisters pursue their various interests. When we are with people outside of family, we have always been cautioned that conversations which veer into politics or religion can change the tone of a visit rapidly. That seems to have only become more noticeable in recent years. However, when
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my family members gather, no topic is forbidden. This visit, out of left field, my sister animatedly presented me with the topic du jour: Environmentally conscious toilet paper made of bamboo. Bamboo grows extremely fast and is an alternative to using precious tree pulp. “Mother was furious when I came home with bamboo toilet tissue!” she exclaimed. “Mom demanded, ‘Why on earth would you buy me beige toilet paper?’”
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Two weeks later, our mother came in and changed her tune. “I never want anything but bamboo toilet tissue! No more white toilet paper,” Mom had informed her, a new edict of the house. Now my sister had a problem. She explained to me that she couldn’t find this bamboo tissue anywhere. She had searched and searched and there appeared to be yet another product shortage, due to supply chain issues. I smugly pulled out my phone to look on my Amazon app. One can find anything on this app. I searched and there was no bamboo toilet paper. I was stumped. I decided to Google bamboo paper, of the brand my mother wanted. One site had it at an astronomical, price-gauging cost. It was quadruple the cost of the “out of stock” rate. Only one pharmacy chain had it, and it could not be ordered online. Shoppers had to go to their nearest store and see if it was in stock. My sister had already checked with the nearest pharmacy the day before and been told it would be two weeks until a new delivery came in. I suggested we drive to the nearest small town, a place where people wouldn’t try beige toilet tissue, and
try our luck there. We all loaded into the car for our important road trip. I felt like this would have made a great documentary film: In Search of Beige Toilet Tissue. My mom and I waited patiently as my sister shopped. Shortly, I saw what looked like a small boat, loaded to overflowing, coming out of the store’s double doors. It was being piloted by my sister, who was not visible behind the mountain of paper rolls. She had emptied the shelves. Perched crookedly on top of the stack was a sign proclaiming, “Buy one, get two free!” She exuberantly wheeled her way to the car and filled the vehicle with packs of tissue. “I have to return the sign,” she shared, as she ran back with her empty basket. In the manner of small towns, there had been no limits put on her purchases. As she jumped victoriously behind the wheel, she exclaimed, “The clerk told me the store right near us received their delivery today. They have ten packs.” Off to the races! After our next stop, and an emptying of those shelves of the undesired brown tissue paper, we couldn’t see each other in the car. Every space had tissues crammed in. Our mother would have the tissues she wanted, the earth would be in a better place with more trees and we, the loving sisters, had won a special place in the pantheon of “Those Who Please Mom the Most.” But the story did not end here. The next morning, my earth-loving sister whispered to me that she had slept on our project. “I’m worried that taking down the bamboo may affect the habitat of panda bears.” This is how toilet tissue was added to politics and religion as a verboten topic, too hot to get into in general discussion. Katina Pontikes
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The Crow By Patricia Hemingway
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live among crows. They fly in asynchronous formation through the fifty-foot redwoods that stand in great beauty beside a row of tiny apartments. This is the spot I love: the least accessible area of this large senior complex. I am a widower who seeks privacy. In the midst of the city, this redwood grove is my sanctuary. The trees create a zone of protection from the fleet of tiny black and white cars known as the “Geek Squad,” set loose upon the neighborhood by a big box electronics store. A member of the Squad sometimes pounds on my front door while I am poaching an egg.
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“Good morning, sir.” Seeing my confused expression, the intruder begins by rote: “We repair home computers. We offer hundreds of channels of cable TV. We can upgrade the sound system in your car for only a hundred and ninety-nine dollars.” I send the young wizard away, informing him that I have no interest in modern electronics. I do not add, for I doubt he would take the time to listen, that my wife played for twenty years in a symphony orchestra. I am left with a stack of LP records and a turntable. I wake up to the caw, caw of the crows. They navigate in wide swoops from the top of one great tree to the
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next. Their squawks pierce the air, obscuring the hum of the nearby freeway. I know their conversations as I know the notes of my wife’s Beethoven collection. One late morning, a staccato of insistent cries breaks open my solitude. I step onto the porch and look up at the sound. A crow is caught, helpless, in a tangle of twine wrapped around a redwood branch. Somewhere in my mind I imagine a kite losing its way. The screeches grip me. I run back inside to find the emergency number provided by management. I punch in each digit. A voice responds by requesting my apartment number and I blurt out, “A crow is trapped in the tree.” “Is this an emergency?” the voice responds in a dry monotone. “It is for the crow!” There is silence on the other end of the line. From mine, the sound of labored breathing. “I will send maintenance over.” Click. Within minutes a much younger man than I appears on the lawn. He has a wild look around his eyes and his front teeth are missing. If I had not been so desperate I would have retreated into my apartment and locked the door. The man stands still before me. He senses my alarm and looks upward to the crow. “I’ll be right back,” are his only words, implying that I should stay where I am. As my stomach contracts, my wife’s dying breaths break open inside me. I am at her bedside, blind, as tears drip from my chin and I cling to the chrome stand that holds the morphine drip. “It won’t be long now,” the nurse whispers. I hear the man’s footsteps in the grass. He has a six-foot ladder over one shoulder and a professional, long-handled clipper in his opposite hand. Opening the ladder directly beneath the crow, he climbs to the top step and stretches his arm
straight up, extending the clipper like a steeple. “Don’t you bite me,” he croons. His arm remains steady as it nears the knot. The crow quiets. The man continues to speak in a soft voice as he snips at the twine. I marvel at his ability to maintain his balance and hold the heavy clipper aloft with such precision. A miracle worker, disguised in a mask of madness. As the man cuts, the crow begins to descend, still bound by the twine. It makes its body limp as it slides closer and closer to two human beings. I clasp the twine and look directly into the bird’s black eyes. It stares back at me. As it is lowered onto the grass, the crow lies as still as death. With the last few gentle cuts, the twine no longer binds the bird’s feet. The maintenance man and I step back, and the crow shivers for a moment before it flies to a high redwood branch that sways with the morning breeze. As it caw-caws down to us I feel a sense of wonder, like being present at a birthing. With an economy of movement the maintenance man folds up the ladder and collects the clipper and is about to walk away. “Thank you . . .” I stammer, and he answers back over his shoulder, “Tommy.” “Thank you, Tommy.” I remain in the spot where human and bird connected. My mind is clear and open, a half smile is on my lips. When I am able to move, I walk to my patio, pick up the lawn chair, carry it back to the spot and sit down. I notice only that the light has changed. That the treetops whisper in their swaying. Neighbors pass by me on the way to their cars, walking their dogs, going wherever people go. From time to time, I wave to them. The crows provide the chorus and ride the wind.
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COLUMNIST
RAMBLINGS FROM THE RANCH By Ranch Staff, Et Al
Wendy’s Story
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his past April The Ranch was contacted by a man that claimed he needed to move back to Canada the first of May and couldn’t take his dog. He went on to brag about how much money he had spent on training this dog and maintaining her vet care. Because The Ranch was very full we wouldn’t be able to accept the dog before he moved. Following Ranch policy we suggested he post the dog on social media to see if he could find a home, at the very least a foster situation until the Ranch had room. He ignored that suggestion and instead said it would be sad to see her living on the street. Later he claimed the dog had originally been adopted from the Ranch, however our database showed no record of Wendy or this man as an adopter. Ranch personnel discussed the situation and felt certain this man was lying about the dog being a Ranch dog, but on the off chance he was telling the truth we decided to accept the dog. We let him know of our decision and, as we do with all dogs placed by people with the means, strongly suggested that he make a monthly donation to support Wendy while she was in the shelter. He didn’t respond to this request but he immediately brought Wendy to the Ranch. This beautiful dog was so confused and sad when she arrived. Dulce, our Ranch manager, asked him for a donation to support Wendy and he went off on her. It was the most threatening moment anyone had ever experienced at the Ranch. He got right in Dulce’s face and started yelling at her, accusing her of trying to bilk him. Dulce walked up to the Ranch casita to call for assistance then she turned around just in time to see this man get into his car and quickly drive off. Wendy had been with him by the car and she started to give chase. Immediately all Ranch hands went to find Wendy and luckily she was hiding in some trees rather than follow him to the highway. Everyone was extremely shaken-up by this run-in, but happy
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that Wendy was safe. Due to the unusual hostility of the encounter The Ranch posted this experience on social media along with a photo of the man and a video one of our staff had managed to take of him driving off with Wendy chasing him. We immediately started getting calls from people who knew him. They pretty much confirmed our opinion that this guy was unbalanced, cruel and stingy. We also found out that he had a Mexican wife, Mary, whom he had thrown out on the street a few months earlier. She had badly wanted to take Wendy with her, but he refused and she only had enough money for a bus ticket to Mexico City to join her family. When Mary heard Wendy was at The Ranch she called us sobbing. She gave us more info about what led to Wendy’s abandonment and that began our quest to get Wendy to Mexico City. Many in our community who knew Mary and her love for Wendy donated to make the reunion happen and several Ranch managers donated the balance. We wanted Wendy in a loving home! We booked a flight to Mexico City for Dulce to accompany Wendy and the reunion with Mary was so heartwarming. A small crowd at the airport gathered as they saw Wendy’s pure joy after being reunited with the woman who had cared for her. No one else knew the story, but they could tell it was a special moment indeed. If you would like to volunteer or learn more about The Ranch contact us at adoptaranchdog@outlook.com or donate by visiting our website at Theranchchapala.com.
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COLUMNIST
By Scott Jones I Thought I Was Going To Live Alone
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moved to the countryside near Sansai, eight miles out of Chiangmai. When I step outside to my kitchen and teak deck, I never know what creatures from the neighborhood or nearby marsh are currently visiting (or have visited and left their excremental calling cards). Chickens, ducks, geese, scrappy dogs, two black cats from Hell, mice and their large cousins, a miniature vagrant horse, spiders a bit smaller than the horse but much faster, or an infinite number of ants, times two, give or take a million (or billion). One day I emerge, sans spectacles, to find a large, dark pile of poop in the middle of the floor. As I reach for the paper towels, sponge and cleaner, the poop hops out of the kitchen and off the deck. Toad. Size XXL. Hopefully it likes ants. The toad (or toads) has (or have) become a permanent resident (s). Moments after removing one toad from its home in my tool bin and gently setting it in the bamboo stand near the deck, another toad magically appears. Perhaps I should have kissed her (or him) in hopes of creating a beautiful (or handsome) princess (or prince). I introduce the two toads in the bamboo so they’d happily hop off into the sunset (the marsh) holding hands. (Paws? Toes? Suction cups? What do toads hold?) One of them (he or she) is back in the bin the next day, safely hidden under hammers, spanners
and sponges. Maybe the other one (she or he) has a separate apartment somewhere in my bungalow. I’ve given them the androgynous name of Tony (or Toni) until I can’t find them together again and determine their sex. (Turn them over? Operate? Check their laundry?) I suspect they’ve taken up residence with me, a friendly Farang, instead of neighboring Thai families where they’d probably be stuffed, skewered or stir-fried. When I return late in the evening, Toni is normally up and out waiting for me. Some men come home to a stunning, naked woman lounging on a bearskin rug or doing the dishes. I come home to a naked toad squatting on the tile floor or sitting in the sink. It’s definitely better than coming home to a wart-ridden wife who looks like a toad, who will not leave without a legal battle, large amounts of cash and the deed to your house, and who you cannot fling into the marsh, stuff, skewer or stir-fry. Toni likes to wear my shoes but only needs one at a time. I cannot fathom climbing into the stench of my riding boot, especially risking the chance of a foot the size of a tourist bus in my face. I put on a shirt and feel a wet spot in the sleeve. Toad. Toni’s in love with me. As I leave home to ride into town, I grab my jacket, jump on the bike, reach into the pocket, but do not feel keys—I feel toad. Since Toni’s confident she’s not going to be dinner, she obviously wants me to take her out for dinner. Scott Jones
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Let’s Get Physical By Tom Nussbaum
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hen Olivia Newton-John reached #1 with “(Let’s Get) Physical” in 1981, we all knew she wasn’t urging us to become more active, even though the record’s video was set in a gym. We all understood the lyric’s real meaning, Olivia’s true message. She was telling an unspecified someone she had desires, was horny, and wanted to…to…to…well, it may have involved lying on her back, but probably had nothing to do with bench presses or ab crunches. The record and video were perfectly timed, cashing in on the growing worldwide interest in physical fitness. People jogged. They joined gyms. They bought workout videos. They became obsessed. Even fashion mirrored the trend. As they aged, however, the passion
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and commitment to stay in shape waned for many. But not me. To this day, I continue to be active, to get physical. Prior to a workout or other physical activity, I stretch. Sometimes I stretch the truth, like when I write. Sometimes I stretch my budget by clipping coupons. Sometimes I stretch my workout wardrobe by simply adding a colorful scarf, antique brooch, or a stylish trucker hat. A variety of exercises usually follow my stretching warm-up. They could include jumping, for example. I jump a lot. I jump to conclusions constantly. I also run. I run amok on a regular basis. I run into friends. I’ve also been known to throw things. I threw a party a while back. I threw a tantrum just yesterday.
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I pitch things, too. Just moments ago, when my stupid computer made some typing errors, I pitched a hissy fit. In addition, I always remember to exercise my right to vote, my right to free speech, and my right to bare arms, which I do by wearing either a tank top or sleeveless muscle shirt, which may be accessorized with a tasteful scarf or gaudy brooch. I have found playing catch is good exercise. I still catch things. Cold. Viruses. A bus. The drift. Occasionally, I can be seen tackling things, a new project or a tough subject. I still like to jog. Other people’s memories. My own memory… now, what the hell was I talking about? Oh, yes. I’ve even been known to tax my muscles by pushing limits and pulling strings. Hopping is good exercise, too. I’ve hopped to it and on board. I’ve skipped meals and dental appointments. But I have never skipped to My Lou, whatever that means. On the other hand, I could imagine, on a trip to England, skipping to the loo. I never surfed as a young man. But when I discovered how beneficial surfing the internet or channel surfing can be, I added surfing to my workout routine. I, however, don’t couch surf. I’m not a college student. Or unemployed. Or a shiftless, lazy bum. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But sleeping on
other peoples’ couches doesn’t burn off many calories or build muscles. Unless you walk in your sleep. Briskly. And the entire Appalachian Trail. To help keep in shape, I box and wrestle. I usually box all my Christmas ornaments on New Year’s Day. Then I wrestle with decisions. Is New Year’s Day too soon to put them away or should I leave them up until Passover so all the seder guests can enjoy them? Other people focus on different physical activities. They walk, for example. I’ve known people who walk all over others. Radio disk jockeys think they can stay in shape if they “Walk the Line,” “Walk Like a Man,” or “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Many people, although neither former soccer nor football players, kick to keep in shape. They kick habits. They kick other people to the curb. Politicians dance for exercise. I’ve seen them. At press conferences. Dancing around answers. Dodging questions. They also run. Constantly. They also raise things. Funds. Spending limits. Hell, when defeated by the opposition. But, somehow, with all that dancing, dodging, and raising, their spineless backs remain weak. Even though I am a former gym-rat, I don’t do bench presses anymore. But I do press other things. My luck, for example. I also lift. Not weights. I’m too old for that. As a writer, I have been known to lift lines from other writers. Some call that plagiarism. I call it exercise. In the end, although a septuagenarian, I remain proud of my physique. My waist measurement now matches my age. My muscles are as taut as cooked spaghetti. And I still can do the same number of one-armed push-ups I could do in my twenties. Zero. But more important, I continue to spar with the best of them, fight old-age, pound the pavement daily, and beat unrealistic editor-set Tom Nussbaum deadlines.
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“From Physics Comes Beauty” By Fred Mittag
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n Slovenia, there is a flute in a museum that came from a cave of Neanderthals. The flute is 50,000 years old and was carved from a bear’s bone. The Neanderthals were not our ancestors but more like cousins of homo sapiens. They were their own species. Nonetheless, there was some cross-breeding before they became extinct. The result is that modern humans carry two percent of Neanderthal DNA. Perhaps it is for that reason we identify some of those who disagree with us as evolutionary throwbacks. Another 50,000-year-old flute was found in a cave in Southwestern Germany, also made of a bone. It was
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tuned to a musical scale, precisely like the Neanderthal flute found in Slovenia. A textbook from my early schooling pictured Neanderthal as looking as much like an ape as a human. Since those school days, anthropologists and other scientists have learned much about Neanderthals. Anatomical artists can now give us a more accurate picture of their appearance. And more cultural artifacts have been found that show the Neanderthals had some appreciation of esthetic things – such as the flute. We might intuitively imagine that the Neanderthal flute played notes and melodies that would be unintelligible today. That would not be the case. The Slovenians made a model of their Neanderthal flute. A musician used it to play a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor. It is available on the Internet – from an instrument of 50,000 years ago! How can this be? How can the sounds of a musical instrument from 50,000 years ago play the musical scale we use today? The answer is in physics, the laws of which are universal, even for the Neanderthals. An orchestra tunes itself to the note called A, which is 440 vibrations per second. If we double the vibrations to 880, we still have the same
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note, only an octave higher. In ascending succession, the notes that follow the A are B, C, D, E, F, G, and then A again. (There is no H note in our scales.) That is the scale of A. Any piece written with that scale is in the key of A. Scales can begin with any note, C, for example. When two or more notes are played simultaneously and sound pleasant, that’s because they are harmonious. The notes C, E, and G, played simultaneously, are a triad chord. C is the tonic, E is the third, and G is the fifth. But why those three notes? Even though the Neanderthals knew to play the notes of a musical scale, they did not know why. It was an ancient Greek who first scientifically studied musical sound. Pythagoras discovered that when they plucked a string on one of their musical instruments to play, say, the note C, many more notes were sounded simultaneously. In this case, we hear C, called the fundamental or first note. But other notes are ringing at the same time. We can show this by silently pressing down on the key for G on the piano so the string is free and then thumping C below it. We will clearly hear the G string even though we didn’t sound it with the piano key. These additional notes above the fundamental C are called harmonics or overtones. They fade in prominence as we go up the overtone series. The strongest ones are the octave, the note eight steps higher above the fundamental C. Next, comes the fifth, G. The third most noticeable overtone is E. Those are the most harmonious notes of the scale. When sounded together; they make the triad of C, E, and G. They are the most harmonious combination because they are the strongest in the overtone series. The triad chord is the basis of western music. The first five overtones constitute the pentatonic scale, from the Greek words pente for five and tonos for musical pitch. They’re easy on the piano – just play the five black keys, and you have a pentatonic scale. It was no accident that the Greeks, a speculative people, were the first to analyze musical sound and discover the physics of overtones. Music was everywhere for the Greeks, for every kind of celebration and every mood. Philosophers thought music was necessary for their study and assigned certain sounds to mean various things. Modern Jazz players favor the pentatonic scale for improvisation because any note will be more harmonious with the other notes. A wrong note using the diatonic scale
would be dissonant and easily recognized by listeners as a “wrong note.” Based on the first five overtones, the pentatonic scale is pleasant to the ears and safer for improvisation. The pentatonic scale derived from overtones is used in Africa, Asia, by native Americans, and everybody else. It is prominent in jazz, gospel, blues, and folk music worldwide. Composers use the pentatonic scale to imitate foreign musical sounds, such as Japanese music. They all use the same notes but in a style that we identify as Japanese, Chinese, German, Greek, or wherever the music is from. Examples of songs written in the pentatonic scale are “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,”“Amazing Grace,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” and countless others. The laws of physics are universal. That is why the pentatonic scale is universal on every continent. All the peoples of the world discovered it independently. Each instrument, including the human voice, produces overtones. But the strength of each overtone in the series varies among instruments. Overtones allow us to know it is a human voice, a trumpet, a violin, or a piano. Boy sopranos have far fewer overtones than an adult female voice, giving them a bell-like quality. For that reason, they are loved for certain styles of music, such as the cantatas by J.S. Bach. But they would be entirely unsuitable for any opera roles other than what was specifically written for a child’s voice. Pure sound, that is, the fundamental, can be produced electronically. A fundamental, without the overtones, sounds somewhat otherworldly. A sound engineer can take various pure sounds or fundamentals and combine them in the same pattern as they occur for a trumpet, saxophone, organ, and anything else. The electronically produced sound will be remarkably close to the actual trumpet or oboe, even though those instruments are nowhere in sight. You may have heard this from a portable electronic keyboard that musicians can bring to the garden or stage. They plug it in and push a button, and voilà! – a trumpet. Then another button, and behold the French horn! They are changing the relative strength of each note in the overtone series to match the instrumental sound they want. The Neanderthal people doubtless would be proud of what we’ve done with their bone flute. Fred Mittag
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Murderous Addictions Getting Them Before They Get Us By Don Beaudreau wbeaudreau@aol.com
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ddictions can kill you. I know. I almost died. It was not until a mid-life event happened to me that I finally began to grasp the fact that I was raised in an alcoholic family. It was as if a jack-in-the-box had suddenly popped up and said: “Surprise!” “Surprise!” You’ve been living in denial. “Surprise!” You can’t hide from the shadow, because the shadow knows. “Surprise!” You’re hurting and you don’t even know it. “Surprise!” You’re not relating well to your wife and kids. “Surprise!” You’re continuing a dysfunctional family pattern going back generations and in doing so you are guaranteeing its perpetuation into the future. There was one particular event that focused me on this reality. A serendipitous, life-altering event. I had returned home late at night from a much-too-long board meeting. My wife and kids were already asleep. To unwind, I turned on the television merely as background noise, and then went to the refrigerator. Nosing around in there, I was not paying much attention to what was on the tube, other than to note that it was a talk show. But then, in the middle of deciding whether it was going to be beer and chips, or beer and brownies, I heard the phrase “dry drunk” coming from the television and my interest was aroused. I don’t remember the name of the person talking about Adult Children of Alcoholics, but I do know that what he said applied to me: that even though I thought I was not an alcoholic, the fact that I was raised in a family where alcohol was a problem meant that my behavior was affected by it. I was one of those “dry drunks.” At that point, I accepted the reality that my life was in a shambles, both professionally and personally; that my physical and mental health was in a downward spiral. And I began to wonder if maybe growing up in an alcoholic family had something to do with all this.
Well, even without the beer that I chugged that night, I would have cried. And cry I did! Torrents! This began the process of my wanting to know more about this addiction called “alcoholism” and its effect on me. Within a few days I attended my first Adult Children of Alcoholics meeting, and continued in that program for nearly 5 years, missing only a few weekly sessions. This lead to further efforts to understand myself that included studying in various Clinical Pastoral Education situations with supervising therapists and attending various group sessions. In her book When Society Becomes an Addict Anne Wilson Schaef makes the point that an addiction is “any process over which we are powerless. It takes control of us, causing us to do and think things that are inconsistent with our personal values and leading us to become progressively more compulsive and obsessive.” Schaef’s major point is that addiction is not merely an individual’s tragic dilemma or the problem of those who associate with the addict, but also is society’s tragic flaw. Furthermore, as she and others point out, our problem is indicative of a deeper, systemic tragedy: of a society seeking purpose and meaning. Being addictive is a state of existence that proclaims a feeling of powerlessness. The horror is that addictive substances give the user/abuser the illusion of being powerful, sometimes brazenly so, whereas, in reality, the substance is merely a poor substitute for real power. The first of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous indicates this when it tells us: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol; that our lives had become unmanageable.” And according to AA, until one turns to the “Higher Power” as one might understand the concept, then one is not on the road to recovery. Or, if one is Humanist and a member of Rational Recovery, until one accepts Continued on page 28
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the power within one’s self and in relationship to others and the universe, one is controlled by this false sense of being in charge which alcohol gives. A similar process and realization can occur for those who are suffering from addictions other than alcoholism. So when an addict starts to realize that s/he has reached an unmanageable stage and needs help toward recovery, the denial process begins to break down. “Denial” is a nice way of saying that the addict has been a liar. Others also are trapped in this denial syndrome because of loyalty, pity, or love toward the addict; or because of confusion due to the addict’s erratic behavior; or out of a desire to help. This denial breakthrough is a powerful thing. It is powerful in the real sense of power, not the false power that comes through substance abuse. But the power that comes with truth. Tears flow freely then. Anger flashes. Pain hurts. But there is release and consequently joy. But it can be scary, too. Being renewed in life can do that. And the fear that one might return to addiction again is there as well. Still, it helps to be with others who have been in the darkness and who are fighting the demons. And yet, more often than any of us really want to believe, addictions get us before we can get them. Let me share a story with you when I served as a hospital chaplain. Josh (that was not his real name) was in his mid-forties and was recovering from the recent death of his wife and his own neardeath due to liver failure. I met him shortly after his liver transplant. At our first meeting I could see that he was eager to talk. Wide eyes, quick movements, rapid speech pattern. A man with many questions and many comments about his physical condition, about life in general, about the meaning of it all. He was not
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someone who would be content with a mere pastoral nod of understanding. To him everything was new and exciting. Sadly, this new way of being: of being a recovering alcoholic, came too late in his disease to save his body. But at least it came before he died! And even if his body was decaying moment by moment, his human spirit kept getting stronger and stronger. He opened himself to the fullness of life like he had never done before: delving into his psychic pain and learning where he needed to get better. And he knew he had to do this fast. His spirituality grew in relationship to other people. He had a constant stream of recovering alcoholics coming to his hospital room day and night, much to the dismay of some of the hospital staff who believed that the healing of the body, mind and spirit were not linked. I never agree with them. Day by day more and more physical complications occurred. Josh endured procedure after procedure, including brain and heart surgery. Sometimes he joked about it, sometimes he raged at the heavens. In other words, Josh was very real. Very authentic. I shall always wonder what Josh would have been like had he gone to an AA meeting earlier than he had; or if through respect for himself or through the love of others, he would have faced his illness earlier than he did and pushed through the denial part to a place of healing. Nevertheless, Josh was inspirational to so many! Including me! Five hundred people came to his funeral. I can only presume that a number of them were addicts of one kind or another. It was a very long religious service with many, including myself, telling of our relationship with this guru of recovering addicts. It was a bittersweet celebration of a life. Perhaps, in a way, his addiction got him before he got it, but in the larger scheme of things, he was the final victor. He learned what it meant to be alive as a loving, compassionate person, and to give love and compassion back to others. My hope is that all who suffer addiction in any form, and those who love them, will remember Josh, and do what they can to be healed and to heal others. NOTE: Don Beaudreau is a member of the Ajijic Writers Group, and has published 10 books, including Playbook for the 21st Century (A Guide to Practical Spirituality for Free Thinkers), from which this article has been adapted.
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Kim LeMieux Email: kimslakesideliving@gmail.com The Lake Chapala Society host Open Circle every Sunday at 10:30am, a popular community gathering in Ajijic, to enjoy a diverse range of presentations. Entrance by the side gate on Ramón Corona, gate opens at 9:30am. We recommend bringing a hat and bottled water, and please remove containers upon departure. Use of mask is optional. Check their website for upcoming presentations, make your reservation if you want to attend and if you missed a past presentation, you can still enjoy it on line. https://opencircleajijic.org/ JULY PRESENTATIONS INCLUDE: July 3 - Steve Nousen: Benjamin Franklin Returns to 1776 Dr. Franklin will address the events growing out of the British aggression against the Patriots who continue to fight and die in the cause of Liberty. Since he made his last address at Open Circle, Dr. Franklin has recovered from an ill-fated diplomatic trip to Canada which nearly cost him his life. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he co-authored the Declaration of Independence and helped shepherd it through Congress. On September 11th, he met with the British commander in a last-ditch effort to find a peaceful end to the war. That effort failed and the United States is now faced with a prolonged war. The setting for Dr. Franklin’s latest Open Circle talk is dockside in Philadelphia. It is October 28, 1776, and the 70-year-old Franklin is about Steve Nousen to depart on the most important mission of his career. The future of the United States hangs in the balance. Please come to wish Dr. Franklin success on his critical endeavor. Award-winning teacher, actor, and lobbyist, Steven Nousen has presented Ben Franklin to countless audiences ranging in age from 9-90. He has entertained and informed people at conventions, schools, and universities. He has spoken at the National Geographic Society and the Library of Congress. In his presentations, the audience becomes part of the show. “Dr. Franklin” engages in dialogue with those in attendance. In marking the 246th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Steven will close the program with a reading of a revised and updated interpretation of the Declaration.
Rachel McMillen
July 17 - Rachel McMillen: Creative Writing A familiar face in the Lakeside community. Many know Rachel from the Introduction to Lakeside course she conducts, or perhaps her Creative Writing course. Or as managing editor of the Lake Chapala Society’s monthly newsletter, Conecciones. In her spare time, she is an active member of a biweekly writing group, a member of the Orchid Society, and of course the dog rescue group. And, just a minor thing, she’s a successful author of four mystery novels set on the Pacific coast of Canada with another novel in the works. But that’s all for, as she says, she is retired now.
July 31 - Poco a Poco San Pedro Poco a Poco San Pedro started working in early 2016. We started with projects to help the people in San Pedro Itzicán and the surrounding villages. We do this by facilitating and supporting projects that are requested by the local community. As much as possible we leverage knowledge from available sources in the community, in research, in govern-
ment and from project leaders from around the lake, and we love working with other local organizations. Poco a Poco works on creating small, startup projects to enable local people (mostly women) to earn a living and encourage and enable children to attend school. We believe that an “A hand up - not a handout” approach is the best way to help. This often involves providing training to people who have asked for help and have an interest in learning. We encourage youth to attend school, to continue into high school, and beyond. One young lady has been trained as a Paramedic and is now enrolled to take courses to become a doctor! The local people, especially the women, want to create local work and activities so they can earn money, and be there to look after their children. July 9 2:30-6:30 pm - The Lake Chapala Society will host the 5th Annual Music Festival with Traficantes Rock’n Latin and Gargamel Food for purchase will be provided by LA PACENA and THE SMOKEHOUSE as well as ice cream from BOK HELADOS and a No Host/Cash bar to quench your thirst after all that dancing. Tickets $400 Non-members; $300 Members www.LakeChapalaSociety.com July 15 3:00 - The Lake Chapala Society will host the Feria Maestros del Arte Fundraiser Fashion Show Tickets $250 available at Fiaga Boutique, Morelos 7, Ajijic Centro and Lupita Campbell lupitacampbell48@gmail.com The indigenous folk art of Mexico is in danger of disappearing if artists cannot find outlets to sell their work. Feria Maestros del Arte was created to offer these artists a venue to sell their work at no charge to them - for many, the sales they make at the Feria are the largest portion of their yearly income. Organized by an army of volunteers, artists do not pay any fees or percentage of sales. They are hosted by local families, fed, and assisted with their transportation costs. The hosts’ participation in the Feria makes for a unique community experience. Every year, extraordinary cross-cultural bonds are forged between families of diverse backgrounds. For more info on future events: http://www.feriamaestros.com/ July 25 to 29 - Children’s Art Program will have their Art Camp. And Saturday July 30 you can appreciate and buy some of their creations. The Art Camp will have the following workshops: Alum-Art, Mosaics, Acrylics, Watercolor, Abstract, Drawing & Painting, Embroidery, Dreamcatchers and Terra Cota Modeling. Since 1954 when it was started by Neill James, The Children’s Art Program has engaged thousands of Mexican children in exploration of their creative talents. The Program has produced many well-known local artists and helped to position Ajijic as an art colony. The mu-
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ral honors the Program and the three women who enriched the lives of so many young Mexicans. The mural is made possible through a generous donation from the Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) and the creative collaboration and time of Ajijic artists, Jesus Lopez Vega and Javier Zaragoza. Many thanks to everyone who has helped to make the LCS Children’s Arts Program a continued success. Dedicated on March 3, 2012, the mural celebrates the many Ajijic artists who got their start in the Children’s Art Program and inspires the children who will continue to come to the art patio every Saturday morning. FoodBank Lakeside is expanding its local restaurant program this month. Local participating restaurants place small FoodBank notices on their tables and offer to collect donations from their customers. All materials and cash pickups are provided by FoodBank volunteers. They are seeking to grow the success of this program with a new volunteer that will manage just this program. They currently have nine local participating restaurants. Any restaurant owners or managers that would like more information are encouraged to contact FoodBank Lakeside at foodbanklakeside@gmail.com. For more information about FoodBank Lakeside, Alex Holland and Steve Montenko please visit www.foodbanklakeside.org July 29 12:30-2:30 - Alex Holland and Steve Montenko will perform at La Pacena, Ajijic. All tips donated to FoodBank Lakeside Classic folk-rock. A gourmet seafood lunch in a garden setting. featuring Steve on acoustic guitar and vocals, Alex on bass, cover the legendary singer-songwriters of the 70s and beyond, plus a few tasty originals. All tips go directly to FoodBank Lakeside. Steve is the Volunteer Coordinator for the FoodBank. Alex is an internationally recognized expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a former professional bass player. July 15, 16, 17 - FOUR DOGS AND A BONE A witty satire of the movie business. Though it is biting and cruelly critical it is also very funny – and that’s probably why it ran for 230 performances when it premiered in New York in 1993. “If you’re going to write a satire about the movie business at this very late date, it had better be very, very funny. In the case of FOUR DOGS AND A BONE … that criterion is most abundantly met.” (NY Times) FOUR DOGS AND A BONE is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., NY.
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August 4 - 7 - Mark Boyer 10 Minute Play Festival. This concept was introduced to the LLT Board by Mark Boyer in March of 2019 and unanimously approved. This Festival was originally scheduled for August 2020, but due to COVID it is now being held August 2022. Collette Clavadetscher is the Festival Director and Deborah Elder is the Festival Stage Manager. Seven 10-minute plays will be presented with 17 cast members.
Tickets for both events are available at lakesidelittletheatre.com or check LLT’s website for box office hours. Reserved seating in the McIntosh Auditorium. July 29, 30 & 31 4:00 pm - La Vérité (The Truth) The original writer of La Vérité, Florian Zeller, (The Truth, as translated by Christopher Hampton) has been given credit on a global level as an extraordinary script that is not just uncannily funny but has more to it than meets the eye. The play provides an unsettling but hilarious gaze at the downsides of infidelity in a marriage. It is said that his script dances as much along the lines of a traditional French farcical comedy, as it does along the celebrated play Betrayal, by Harold Pinter. Our Bare Stage production, adeptly Standing: Louise Ritchie, Linda Goman. directed by Bernadette Jones, fea- Seated: Ken Yakiwchuk, Mark Nichols. Front: Director Bernadette Jones. tures, Linda Goman, Mark Nichols, Louise Ritchie & Ken Yakiwchuk. Tickets are $200 to join in the fun. Sales are brisk so RESERVE NOW at barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com. We are located at #261 on the mountain side of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar across from the Catholic Church. Door and Bar open at 3:00 pm. Seats are held till 3:50 pm. We still request mask-wearing out of respect for our fellow audience members and our actors. Curtains will be open for air flow. Please Like, Follow& Share our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/barestagetheatre2018/ Every Thursday 3:00 – 6:00 - Gringo Bingo and Live Music An ongoing fundraiser with the Iron Horse and all proceeds goes to Lucky Dog. Lucky Dog Rescue and Adoption Center is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue and adoption of abandoned and abused dogs in the Lake Chapala area of Jalisco Mexico. Lucky Dog is run solely by a group of dedicated volunteers. Lucky Dog has expanded a lot since its inception, adding additional runs, installing a playing/training field in back, constructing safety doors on the kennels and shade coverings for the play yards, and more. Come visit us and see for yourself! We are always happy to meet our supporters! Our dedicated volunteers ensure our dogs are walked and loved daily. Visits to the vet are all handled by volunteers, as are routine vaccinations, worm and flea treatments. For more information to volunteer or donate: LuckydogLakeChapala.com
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Fidelity, Wherefore Art Thou? By Larry Kolczak
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couple of months ago, I went back to California to get vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine. In Mexico, I had been given the Chinese (Sinovac) vaccine, but that was eight months earlier, and it didn’t have all that great an effectiveness rating. Many European countries were not accepting it for entry, and I was worried the U.S. might follow suit. I made the mistake of mentioning why I was back in California to my crazy cousin. He promptly held his finger to his lips, and signaled me to come closer. He whispered in my ear that “Everybody knows, the government has inserted tiny microchips in the vaccine that allow them to hear every word you say, and track everywhere you go.” When I said I wasn’t worried about that, he made me assure him that I’d wrap aluminum foil
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around my arm before phoning him in the future. I had no difficulty getting my first two shots. I’d have to return in six months for the booster. The only side effect I experienced was hiccups. Two days straight. Night and day. With every breath—a hiccup. My only consolation was that, if government spies were listening, they probably went nuts trying to decode the message. While I was in California, I also needed to straighten out some financial affairs. I was revising my will and I needed to update the list of beneficiaries on my 401K account with Fidelity Investments.
El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
So, after filling out all the necessary forms, I was told all I needed to do was have my signature notarized, scan the documents and email them to the company. Unfortunately, being a knuckledragging Neanderthal, I had to admit I didn’t know how to scan documents. So the rep suggested I just drop them off at the nearest Fidelity branch office which was only seven miles away in Irvine, California. So I dragged my knuckles to the car and entered the address into my GPS. The sweet lady with the British accent directed me turn-by-turn, ultimately saying “Arriving at 2211 Michaelson Drive, on the right.” I turned into the parking lot only to find that it served five multi-story buildings, only the backs of which faced the parking lot. None of them had a sign saying Fidelity Investments. I took a couple of reconnaissance loops around the lot before pulling over so I could go into the first building and ask if they knew where Fidelity was located. There was nobody at the reception desk, but eventually a lady peeked out of an unmarked door and asked if she could help me. She said she didn’t know where Fidelity was located, but she pointed to a nearby glass door that would take me into the main lobby where there was a directory that might help. With that, she disappeared back into the inner sanctum from which she had come. It turned out, the directory was just for that one building, and Fidelity wasn’t on it. When I tried returning through the glass door, I found that it had locked behind me. The only way to return to my car was to exit into a central courtyard and walk two blocks, in the hot sun, around the perimeter of the building back to the parking lot. If I was going to have a similar experience at each of the four remaining buildings, I could drop dead before having delivered my beneficiary documents. This was serious. If nothing else, I definitely wanted to delete my screwball, antivaxxer cousin before I died. He’d just blow it all on aluminum foil. When I got back to my car, I suddenly had a flash. I could let my fingers do the walking. I could call the Irvine office, and ask whoever answered the phone which building they’re in. I picked up my cell phone and said, “Siri, what’s the phone number of Fidelity Investments in Irvine, California.” I dialed the number and a recording of a very pleasant gentleman’s voice answered. “Good afternoon. Thank you for calling Fidelity Investments. This call may be recorded to ensure optimal customer service.” I was tempted to tell them not to bother, the vaccine police were probably already doing that. “Please state your name and social
security number.” I didn’t want to go through all that rigmarole, so I just said “Operator.” I had once read that you can skip all the questions and get a live human being if you just keep replying “Operator.” The gentleman’s voice said, “In a few words, can you tell me what you’re calling about. For example, open an account, or check your account balance.” “Operator,” I replied. The gentleman’s voice said, “I understand that you’d like to be connected with a representative. But before I do that, would you state your user name and social security number so we can establish your voice identification for future calls?” I was very tempted to hiccup into the phone. But I stuck to my guns. “Operator.” “Please hold while I connect you with the next available representative.” One ringy dingy. Two ringy dingies. A live woman answered. “Good afternoon. This is your branch representative. May I have your name and social security number?” “No. Listen. I’m in your parking lot, but there are five buildings and I just need to know which one you’re in.” “I’m sorry, sir, which branch office are you calling.” “Yours,” I replied. “Irvine, California. Why do you ask?” “Sorry, sir, I don’t know which building to tell you. I’m located in Portland, Oregon. However, if it will help, here’s the phone number for the Irvine office.” “That’s the number I called and got you in Portland, Oregon.” I thanked her and declined to take the five-minute customer service survey. At that point, I was tempted to ask my cell phone, “Siri, please ask the vaccine police if I’m anywhere near the Fidelity office in Irvine.” Instead, I drove one more lap around the parking lot. This time, I spotted a large red water pipe behind one of the buildings. Hanging from a wheel-shaped valve, there was a placard with the address “2211 Michaelson” painted on it, apparently to help firefighters in an emergency. I tried the back door and it opened. I walked up a long hallway and wound up in the main lobby which had a Fidelity Investments sign over the reception desk. I dropped off my forms and told the clerk how much trouble I’d had finding the office. He apologized and assured me that there was a large Fidelity sign on the front of the building, facing the street. I exited the front door, and sure enough, there was a sign on the building. But more surprising, I noticed that the office was directly across the street from the “Magic Fingers Massage Parlor.” Well, for crying out loud. If they had just said that on their recording, I would have known exactly where to go.
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The Brutal End By Herbert W. Piekow
I
n Mexico City´s Palacio de Bellas Artes there is a large mural painted in 1950 by David Alfaro. La Tormenta de Cuauhtémoc depicts Cortés’s torture of the last Aztec emperor. This work has political and cultural significance. Alfaro’s mural is based on both legend and written historical fact as recorded by Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his book The Discovery and Conquests of Mexico. This book, written fifty years after the conquest, is the only firsthand account of Cortés’s physical, mental and religious struggles while trying to enrich both the Catholic Church and the coffers of the Spanish King, Juan Carlos. Bernal Díaz was a soldier who had previously sailed with the Grijalva expedition exploring the Yucatan. Diaz joined with Cortés in
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Cuba the same month he returned from the Grijalva voyage. Diaz fought alongside Cortés for nearly three years as the Spanish subjugated the Aztecs and later accompanied the Spanish conqueror as he explored today’s Guatemala and Honduras. This mural shows both Cuauhtémoc and his cousin Tetlepanquetal with their arms and legs bound, their feet, which had been covered in oil and placed onto burning faggots. Another earlier painting of this same subject shows Cuauhtémoc and his cousin tied to rocks and their feet stretched over small flaming braziers. Both works leave out The Tlatoni of Tlacopan, a third person also tortured and subsequently hanged along with the cousins. Supposedly Cuauhtémoc turns
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to his cousin and says, “I´m not exactly lying on a bed of roses.” A quote that one would doubt except that it recurred in several different “histories” of the event. Cortés justified these cruelties because he suspected Cuauhtémoc of knowing where the Aztec gold was hidden and he also suspected the captive Cuauhtémoc of plotting another insurrection. It has been speculated that the Aztec gold objects had previously been melted down and turned into gold bars by the Spanish, had either been tossed into the muddy lake waters that surrounded the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, or as some claimed been sent to various hideouts by Montezuma. The mystery of what happened to the Aztec treasures has been the subject of much speculation, theories, books and movies. In 1981, during the construction of a Mexico City subway line, one of the gold bars was discovered sixteen feet (five meters) underground. An estimated 8,000 pounds of gold and silver had been melted and stored in a room in the Aztec capital, ready for shipment to Spain. Cortés did not discover Mexico so much as he explored and conquered it. He received permission to sail to Mexico from the governor of Cuba, where the widowed Cortés lived. His wife, who died of possible poisoning, was the sister of Cuba’s governor. A month after receiv-
ing permission, Cortés sailed from Cuba on February 18, 1519, 27 years after Columbus landed in Española. Cortés commanded 11 ships (which he later had burned to prevent malcontents from deserting), 508 soldiers, 100 sailors, 16 horses, and 14 small cannons. Cortés was not an ordinary man. He was motivated to take his place in history and possibly by greed. It took 32 months of fighting, negotiating, and a smallpox plague for Cortés to accomplish his goal of subjugating the Aztecs. He landed in the Aztec vassal state of Tabasco where the indigenous Toltec people were eager to liberate themselves from their overlords, the Aztec, who demanded not only precious materials, but also regular human sacrifice from the conquered tribes. In addition, Cortés was fortunate to land where several survivors of previous Spanish expeditions had married local women. It was auspicious that he was given an intelligent indigenous slave woman, La Malinche, who converted to Catholicism, bore a son for Cortés, and became his trusted interpreter. She spoke several native dialects and quickly learned Spanish. Some Mexicans revile her as a traitor. He created a local government and conspired to have himself elected El Magistrate, making him responsible only to the king. Cortés wrote five short letters to the Spanish king in which he Continued on page 38
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From page 36 explained his actions and informed the king about the indigenous peoples, their barbaric ways and justifying the brutal subjugation of the heathen population. November 8, 1519, nine months after sailing from Cuba, Cortés and his followers, including 1,000 Tlaxcala, were reluctantly granted permission by Montezuma to enter the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, a city of over 400,000, was constructed on several islands in a lagoon and was described as more beautiful than Venice. The Spaniards and their allies were not welcomed by most of the city’s inhabitants; however, Montezuma provided the Spaniards with quarters and food. Soon Cortés began to have precious Aztec religious and decorative gold objects melted and cast into gold bars weighing 4.35 pounds each, which were intended for the Royal Spanish Treasury, in Madrid. Cortés had some of the bars shipped to Spain. The vessels stopped in Cuba where the Spanish inhabitants learned of the Aztec treasure. Several of the ships carrying Aztec treasures were lost in transit, however. It is conjectured that the majority of the gold bars disappeared when Cortés and his men, many weighed down with gold bars, fled the Aztec capital on the night of June 30, 1520. The Spanish called this The Night of Sorrows, La Noche Triste. The flight from Tenochtitlan was a crushing blow. Bernal Diaz wrote that Cortés wept at the loss of his men. Several weeks before La Noche Triste Cortés left the Aztec capital in charge of Pedro de Alvarado, who like Bernal Díaz had sailed with Grijalva. Cortés travelled to Veracruz to convince the nephew of Cuba’s governor, with his nineteen ships, 1,400 soldiers, twenty cannons, 80 horsemen, 120 crossbowmen, and 80 harquebusiers, not to arrest Cortés, but to join him in conquering the Aztecs and enriching themselves, as well as the Spanish crown. While Cortés was away, Alvarado took advantage of his appointment and ordered the slaughter of several thousand Aztec priests, nobles and citizens by trapping them in the large Patio of Dances as they euphorically participated in the Serpent Dance. To restore calm after this slaughter, Montezuma was forced to speak to his people from a rooftop. Bernal Diaz wrote that during his attempt to restore peace the Aztec emperor was struck in the head by rocks thrown by an angry crowd. Some say the mob was led by his nephew and son-in-law Cuauhtémoc. Later accounts claim the emperor was murdered by the Spanish. Montezuma was replaced by Axaycactl, his 19-year-old son, who ruled for less than three months before dying of smallpox, which left Cuauhtémoc as emperor of the Aztecs. He proved to be a
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fierce defender of the Aztec people, their capital, and their beliefs. Nearly a year after fleeing the Aztec capital, Cortés returned with his larger army, plus 100,000 Tlaxcalan warriors and determination. The fierce battle for Tenochtitlan lasted 93 days. Cortés had wanted to preserve the beautiful Aztec city. However, because the Aztec warriors used the city’s buildings as fortresses and places to ambush and defend their capital, Cortés found it necessary to dismantle each structure as it was captured. Cuauhtémoc would not have capitulated except Cortés had managed to block the supply of food and fresh water; plus the Aztec were overpowered by the superior Spanish arms, the Tlaxcalan warriors aligned to the Spanish and by smallpox. As many as 240,000 Aztecs died and an estimated 40,000 corpses floated in the shallow lake. Almost all of the Aztec nobility had died, leaving mostly young women and children. Even after the surrender the Spanish allies, the Tlaxcalans, slaughtered survivors. The Spanish soldiers and their allies had fought as if possessed because captured soldiers were sacrificed at nightly rituals by the Aztec priests. Bernal Diaz writes that the Spanish soldiers barely slept and when they slept they did so wearing their armor; they were kept alert for attacks by the constant beating of drums. The soldiers could not sleep for long because of the screams of their captured comrades as their bodies were ripped open by razor sharp obsidian knives and their still beating hearts held aloft as sacrifices by the Aztec priests. Diaz writes that the Spanish could often witness the gruesome death of their comrades. After his capture Cuauhtémoc was the prisoner of Cortés for two years as they marched south in search of still more gold and souls. Cortés was convinced by one of his adjuncts that the prisoner Cuauhtémoc was plotting a rebellion so that he could once more rule the Aztec people and reclaim the Aztec wealth and restore their gods. Cortés had Cuauhtémoc and Tetlepanquetal and the Tlatoni of Tlacupan tortured and hanged until dead. To Bernal Díaz this brutal act seemed deranged, although he had been a defender and friend to Cortés from the beginning. The torture and death of Cuauhtémoc terminated the bond between Cortés and Bernal and elevated Cuauhtémoc to the status of hero. Today Cuauhtémoc is the fortieth most popular name in Mexico; there are more streets, monuments and areas named for the last Aztec ruler than there are for his famous uncle Mont- Herbert W. Piekow ezuma.
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Blind Date By Sue Schools
P
atricia Holley was sitting in the entryway of a restaurant, in downtown Ajijic, expecting to meet her perfect match. Friends had set her up with a widower who they thought could possibly be her “One.” She picked up the current copy of the Ojo Del Lago and chuckled at an article written by the late Jim Tipton. A very tall, silverhaired man entered and smiled, extending his hand as he approached. “You must be Patricia. So glad to meet you. I’m Howard Melton.” Patricia returned the smile and, taking his hand, said, “Please to meet you, too. You’re punctual. I like that in a man.” “Ah, yes. I was a Boy Scout too and am always prepared. Shall we go inside?” Patricia rose from the bench and he was surprised to see how compact she was . . . a dumpling of a woman with rosy cheeks. As they approached the dim interior, Howard asked, “Shall we sit here, my dear?” “No, let’s go back towards the corner, out of the flow.” The waiter helped her with her chair and took their drink orders, leaving the menus for them to review. “I love their rare flap steak and loaded baked potato. Do you know what you’d like to order?” Howard asked. “I’ll have their veggie lasagna and I brought my own herbal tea.” Howard placed their orders and said, “Okay, then. Let’s get to know each other a little. I’m from Texas and love to hunt and fish.” “Oh, my. I couldn’t take another’s life. I even capture spiders and take them outside for freedom. I read a lot, do you?” Patricia said. “Yes. I think I’ve read every Lee Child and Clive Cussler. What is your preference?” “I abhor violence and read Jude Deveraux, Nora Roberts, and the like.” Howard then asked, “What about movies? I’ve been waiting to see The Joker and the new Bad Boys movies.” “Ah, no. I would enjoy Little Women or Frozen II. Do you dance?” “Oh, darling, you’d be embarrassed to
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see me on a dance floor. It seems I have 16 feet going in different directions at once.” The waiter politely served their meals and retreated. Howard immediately knifed up huge portions of juicy red meat, while Patricia delicately selected small portions of her salad. “You can call me Howie. That’s what my friends call me.” “Thank you, but I prefer to call you Howard. And please don’t call me Pat or Patty, I prefer Patricia.” “Alrighty then, Patricia. I guess I’ll be blunt and tell you I’m 71 years old and with the help of Little Blue, enjoy regular sex.” Patricia gasped, coughed, sputtered, and a wad of lasagna flew across the table and landed in the center of the table. The waiter suddenly appeared behind her, prepared for Heimlich heroics. With tears trickling down her pink cheeks, Patricia said, “Goodness me. It has been so long, I don’t even know if it would be possible for me, and of course it would have to be with the right man.” “Sorry to surprise you so, but I believe in being honest.” “Well, being honest, you have a blob of sour cream on your goatee,” Patricia said. “Oops.” Howard laughed while dabbing his chin with the linen napkin. “What about riding? I still keep a small spread in west Texas and enjoy my horses and the fresh air. They’re very well trained, by the way.” “You’d need a forklift to get me up on one of the beasts and a fireman’s net when I get off,” Patricia joked. At the proper time, the waiter presented the check, received payment with a generous tip, thanked them for their patronage, and requested they come again. At the exit, Howard bent over and lightly buzzed my cheek. “Same time next week, darlin’?” Howard asked. “Yes, Howie, that will be fine.” Sue Schools
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COLUMNIST
Verdant View By Francisco Nava
JULY “Answer July— Where is the Bee— Where is the Blush— Where is the Hay? Ah, said July— Where is the Seed— Where is the Bud— Where is the May— Answer Thee—Me—” ~ Emily Dickinson For most of us in the northern hemisphere July means summer. Chickens are a-laying, sparrows are fledging, our gardens are lush with ripe fruits and vegetables and all sorts of flowers. July is also the seventh month of our calendar . . . and the number seven is the number for security and restfulness. There are seven days in the week, the rainbow has seven colors (Happy Pride Month), and there are seven notes in the diatonic scale. Seven is a lucky number for those born under the signs of Pisces and Cancer. I was born on July 5th. Because we gardeners in Zone 10 have such a long period of warm months we can practice successive sowing and can get at least two full cycles of our summer crops. After your first harvest you can have another round of seeds germinating. When your first round of summer crops mature and come to harvest, you can start pulling them out as soon as production drops off and before pests or diseases start to take hold. Swap the spent plants out with your fresh batch of transplants and enjoy another full harvest of vibrant, healthy summer crops. What to plant in July Warm-weather veggies like beans, corn, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and watermelons can all be sown directly into the ground. Root vegetables (beets, carrots) do not transplant well, so start seeds directly in the soil outside. Peas are also best seeded into the ground; do not transplant. Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage could be direct seeded, but because of the heat
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of mid- and late summer, it’s better to start them indoors and then transplant them into the garden. Do your transplanting in the late afternoon or evening so plants have the whole night to begin to recover before they’re hit with a full day of sun and heat. Water the transplants well and provide shade from the intense midday sun. Water enough to keep soil around transplants moist for at least a month until they’re well-established. Mulch transplants to lessen evaporation so your irrigation water lasts longer. Keep the soil moist and shaded until they’re up, and then gradually allow them more direct sun over a week’s time. It’s wet and rainy, in fact too wet for some things to grow happily. Let your geraniums dry out between waterings, and herbs, too. At the viveros, you will find dahlias, gazanias, larkspur, lobelia and monarda. You may have to protect some things from too much water, particularly new seedlings in flower and vegetable gardens. And it’s still quite hot. Keep up with the garden pests and beware of diseases like powdery mildew. Flower seeds to think about planting are asters, balloon flower, cone flower, lobelia and freesia. You can still plant Swiss chard, peppers, eggplant, leeks and okra. Container gardening gives you an opportunity to add more interest to your patios and terraces and also to move things out of heavy rains and hot sun. With the heavy rains, fertilizers leach out of the soil very quickly. Compost helps. Keep high-nitrogen fertilizers away from beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet and white potatoes, and tomatoes, or there’ll be more foliage than fruit. As veggie gardeners, we’re pulling a lot of nutrition out of our soil every time we harvest, so make sure you’re amending with high-quality compost and organic matter. Francisco Nava
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“He who feeds a hungry animal, feeds his own soul.” This Charlie Chaplin phrase became the mission statement for Pet Food Bank Lakeside.
P
et Food Bank was started over two years ago when Julie Wittmann first moved down to Lakeside. COVID was here and knowing that the shutdowns were going to impact so many families in the area, she started seeing grassroots groups start distributing dispensas to help feed families. Julie wondered, what about their pets? The families would either short change their own food to share, or not be able to feed the pets at all, and possibly turn them out on the streets to try to survive. For those of you who have pets, you know how important they are. For those who don’t have pets, they are constant companions for those who have little outside contact, they provide warmth on cold nights, they provide protection, they instill laughter when playing, and help children develop a sense of responsibility. Losing a beloved pet because you can no longer feed them is heartbreaking. Pet Food Bank still operates out of donated space in a garage, and with the help of a local shelter, The Ranch, they are able to purchase dog and cat food at wholesale prices. Initially Pet Food Bank was aligned with several organizations providing dog and cat food along with dispensas to families in need. As time went on, one of the partnerships with Food Bank Lakeside continued to identify and help those with food poverty. They now provide pet food to over 1,200 pets a month who are with the families they provide dispensas to. Additionally, Pet Food Bank also serve another 200 family pets each month. Pet Food Bank is 100% operated by
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volunteers and all donations go into buying the pet food. They have 12 volunteers who meet twice a month to break down 25 kilo bags of food into smaller allotments. Distribution of the pet food goes to the families that Food Bank Lakeside teams have vetted and pick up orders weekly for the communities that they service. Additional distributions are handled on a case-by-case basis. Exceeding the rate of inflation with food, Pet Food Bank has seen the cost of pet food rise almost 30%, now costing around 30,000 pesos a month. Pet Food Bank is a separate entity from Food Bank Lakeside. They exist solely on private donations. It is easy to help by donating to the Pet Food Bank Lakeside and spreading the love You can donate through Foundation for Lake Chapala Charities https:// lakechapalacharities.org (they accept PayPal, credit card, check, money order, and wire transfers with US tax receipts). Cash Donations, just email Julie and she will make arrangements to make a pickup of pesos, juliejwittmann@gmail. com
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COLUMNIST
PROFILING TEPEHUA By Moonyeen King
President of the Board for Tepehua
moonie1935@yahoo.com
A PROFILE OF A WOMAN. (A Tepehua Story).
M
y name is woman, I have the face of poverty. Like so many of my sisters I was born into poverty with a dysfunctional Father...but there was love. It was the challenges he faced that were bigger than he could handle. He escaped into the bottle and the companionship of other men who also had a cross to bear and a debt to pay for wanting love, love that soon turned into a struggle for survival. My name is Woman. At the age of 15 my hungry heart turned to the charms of an older man of 20, whose family status outshone my own and I had his child, he was sent to the States by his family and I was left to raise the child alone. The love and support of my family was all I had, with the exception of my father who despised what I had done, we had no money but there was pride. I had lost the family pride. I was an abomination in the eyes of the church. Trying to hide the shame I went cleaning houses and making tortilla’s to earn money for my baby instead of going to school. My love for her was fierce, a love that hurts as it overwhelmed, and confused me. The child that was still me, terrified for the future but determined my baby would have the security I had sworn to give her. The security myself and siblings did not have. In the Barrio’s it is always difficult for men to find work, especially the isolated barrios around Lake side. Even for those who can find transport it is difficult, and as most lack a full education all the
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workload and planning the survival of the family falls on the woman. For the first time in my young years I realized the responsibilities a woman had, and I forgave my Mother the bitter words and the harsh orders as she called out the chores for each of us for the day, as her heart was breaking. We all survived. I made it to womanhood and my child grew and I found love again, also an older man but he accepted my little girl and accepted me as his wife and Tepehua became our home and the home of our other four children, at the age of thirty I had five children. We had no money and couldn’t pay the rent. On the verge of being evicted I was introduced to the Tepehua Community Center and my family and I moved into a small apartment there to be guardian 24/7 and I was given work in the kitchen and any other house task there was so that we could live rent free. I gave blessings for that because we were safe. And I began to learn. I absorbed everything like parched earth absorbs water and I grew. My little English improved, my courage swelled and I learnt pride. I had been taught by the church that pride was one of the deadly sins, but it is not, because it gave me the power to be the woman beneath...the woman I have always been but never recognized. The woman trapped in Motherhood and poverty emerged. Eight years later, I am bi-lingual, I handle the organizations money and control the staff, I make decisions and I am President elect. They call me Sandra Zamora...I represent the women of the barrios who can take the tools of opportunity and use it to make change. Note from the author: Many success stories have passed through Tepehua, but this author chose to tell you this story because she had the privilege of watching this young woman grow to someone extraordinary. Although dealt a hard card at the beginning, she kept her faith and her love for her world around her. Sandra will be the perfect leader for all the women of Tepehua...because she knows who they are and recognizes their soul. We all have another self that the world never see’s, we hide it for many reasons. Sandra Zamora broke free and will take many other women with her.
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Poetry Niche HAIKU A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature intuitively linked to the human condition. The term haiku is credited to Japanese poet and literary critic Masaoka Shiki, who lived in the late Meiji period (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). Most haiku in English consist of three unrhymed lines of seventeen or fewer syllables. In Japanese a typical haiku has seventeen on (sounds) arranged five, seven, and five. Traditional Japanese haiku include a kigo, a word or phrase that helps identify the season and a kireji, a sort of spoken punctuation that gives emphasis to one part of the poem. One common technique is juxtaposing two images or ideas (Japanese rensô). Most haiku have no titles, and metaphors and similes are commonly avoided. Here is an example by Yuko Shimizu from his 2021 publication, Sotogawa no Watashi (My External Self), 2021. like releasing the hand of one’s partner Spring departs The implication is that these hands are those of two lovers, though it is also possible to interpret them as the hands of a mother and child. We see and feel those hands letting go. Only with the next phrase do we realize that the poem is not about the hands. This technique of beginning a haiku with one image and then pivoting and turning that image into another is a common technique. When spring finally leaves and summer replaces it, we know that it is inevitable so are able to let go. There is a feeling of pathos in this haiku as we superimpose such feelings towards spring onto the relationship between the two hand holders.
SENRYU A senryu is a poem, structurally similar to haiku, that highlights the foibles of human nature, usually in a humorous or satiric way. . The senryu was named for Karai Senryū, a poet who lived from 1718 to 1790, during the Edo period. Many so-called “haiku” in English are really senryu.
At my worn writing desk, sharpen chewed yellow pencils, shred these reams so grotesque. I’m spent to the scrawl. for that immortal phrase. I’ve slowed to a crawl in a Minotaur’s maze. I break out of this maze, the immortality phase from pie-in-the -sky I resign authorship. When a bell calls, awaking Its the timer for baking, the aroma of cookie, time to play hooky!
Dental Intermissions by Judy Dykstra-Brown There’s nothing quite so fundamental when it comes to matters dental as the fact that teeth gone missing mar the esthetics of kissing. It’s doubtful that a dental gap would land a lass upon the lap of any lad whose reminiscing will be done with s’s hissing. Potential lovers tend to hate suitors of the toothless state. Better they should duplicate those teeth that happened to vacate those facial places deep inside the mouths wherein they should reside. Teeth should be natives of the jaws that reside within the maws of suitors that might deign to woo— to hug and kiss and bill and coo. In short, what lass does less than censure a suitor who forgets his denture? zigzagged stanzas suggest missing teeth
I am told I look young That is how I know I am not young anymore To sum up, haiku describes natural nature, and senryu Mel Goldberg describes human nature.
Common Scents by Steve Hluchan Artists to Nature great odes do compose, like Beethoven’s 6th, everyone knows. I go to the kitchen look out at the trees I open the window hear birds, feel the breeze.
Friends And Flowers by Joaquin A. Hawkins A withered bloom, a fallen petal, a bye-gone delight of luminous color, once brightly shone under Southern skies, radiant ‘neath the warming comfort of the sun’s rays. Now its glory is dimmed by time, as seasons come, fade away, thus beckoning the chill of winter’s night, ‘til Spring ushers in a dawning new day. Yet, I recall the infant beauty of said flower, in its youth, how it blossomed in full maturity to dazzle the eye and nose of all, with its splendor and fragrant prime.
I sit myself down Continued on page 50
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From page 48
Memories linger long of such wonder, yearning to see life’s cycle renew, but frigid winds and blankets of snow lurk about, as clock and calendar keep pace with Father Time. I did my best, oh for sure, to raise and nurture my bright little ones, free from choking weeds and grasses, sparing them from the ‘bugs’ of life. Then my pendulum of thought swings to recollections of how friends, past and present, how so like they are to the fragile bloom, prone to wilt asunder time’s varied knife. Ah, too often we become careless, negligent, taking all for granted, our prosperity looms all about, but then the newness and zeal for long-labored joys drift away thorns and thistles spring up, choke, abound.
¿que pasó mi amiga so much la señora letting the Frocks and Gringos spoil your sunshine suck the nutrients from your once proud breast for centuries you watched the rape of your children’s playground your men passive, autocratic, scavengers of the visitors waste half shells neatly spread on a bed of economic promise
Inventory
We take for granted all we need is hard work to obtain, not maintain, a most dreadful mistake ever silence of hand and a closed mouth Does not nurture anything sound.
by John Hogan And did you survive the nocturnal dark the bleak encounters with old mistakes and losses and shattered dreams in the drawn-out night? Or did you step out before the night ended and watch the twinkling blue paleness of Venus rise in the west?
A withered bloom, a mum friend, victims alike in time passing similar indeed both are, each requiring a master ‘gardener’s’ hand constant, a heart and mind devoted to love’s task.
Did you forsake another hour in bed and head off with your dog to keep a dawn appointment in the park to watch the trees identify themselves among the mists and the roses arrange their colors from shades of gray to yellow and red and redundant rose?
What a shame to replace nature’s beauty with bouquets of papered sticks and too come to realize similarly, friendships of yore became oddly shaped, mysterious, papered masks.
From Que Pasó by John Thomas Dodds The wonder no longer passes through here the absentee landlords of your uniqueness disembark assemble your wives and children into cadres of convenience satisfied they return to their corporate havens in the fat and familiar It leaves one looking for answers elsewhere & elsewhere it is I felt sorry for Paso Del Norte the portal to the American Dream for those who lover her witnessed the foreshadowing of dry wells and a Rio of pain
50
between the heart and soul of a desert flower ripped apart
El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
Did you escape the blaze of self-righteous reaction to morning news and resist the weave of partisan rhetoric that erodes reason? And did you remember to relish the solitary hour in the late afternoon when the hummingbird returns to its nest? And did you remember to neglect yourself for love of a child or spend an hour with an aging parent with no regret? Did you decorate your day with smiles? Did you try not to make sense of the senseless in a world of reflections and glimmers and pettiness but to love it all anyway, maybe even concede the possibility of deity even though it was far from self-evident? Did you discover how extraordinarily intelligent you are and how incredibly stupid? Did you accept that most of what you lost, or did not accomplish because of carelessness, or miscalculation or even loving too much was not loss at all but rather another path which opened to new landscapes? Will you at the end promise yourself that no matter what it holds (the real end I mean with its darkness and aloneness) will you promise in your essential solitude, with no one left to impress, to say: “Thank you, Life,” as it melts away like a rainbow fading after a summer storm and you are here no more?
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The Ojo Crossword
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El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
ACROSS
DOWN
1 4 8 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 27 31 33 35 36 38 39 40 44 46 47 49 50 51 52 55 58 61 63 65 67 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 25 26 28 29 30 32 34 37 39 40 41 42 43 45 48 53 54 56 57 59 60 62 64 66 67 68 69 70
Dined Prune Forest opening McDonald’s “Big __” Threw Elite Greek infantry member Laundry detergent brand Black Decayed ___ Roosevelt Stretch to make do Frisk Font Acclaim Engrossed Test Past Summer mo. Be Discharge Flowers Mottos Brook Limited (abbr.) Tote Explosive MGM’s Lion Pen fillers Frown angrily Upper body muscles Fats Underdone Helix Staid Restaurant listing Downwind Displayer of emotions Stitches Evening Card game Voluble Scarlet
Natural resin Professonal sewer Skin problem Past Automaton Off-white Women’s partners Meager Elicit Ancient Indian Tiny mark Less than two Marry Dismay School group Goofs Dalai __ Against Children Day of the wk. Shout Chafe Christmas drink Branch of learning Element Singing voice Stair French “yes” Fawn’s mom Slayer Coat part Ire Further in time Fish basket Moses’ mountain Warhorse “as you __” Incapable Behold Flightless bird Medical practitioner Monosodium glutamate
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Service - EL OJO DEL LAGO Tel. 376 765-3676
Pag: 44
* ANIMAL CLINICS/PET SHOP - CLINICA VETERINARIA SAN ANTONIO Pag: 28 Tel: 376 766-0808 - LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS AC Pag: 15 Tel: 376 765-5544 - MASKOTA’S LAKE Pag: 34 Tel: 376 766-0287, 33-3448-2507 - PET PLACE Pag: 14 - ZAVALA - Animal Clinic Tel: 376 766-1604, Cel: 333-480-6686 Pag: 49
- LOWELL STEPHEN BIRCH, D.C. Cell: 331-319-1799
Pag: 13 Pag: 14
- AXIXIC SPRING CLEAN Tel: 33-1075-7768, 376 766-5140 - STEAM CLEAN Tel: 33-2385-0410
Pag: 49
Pag: 11
Pag: 10 Pag: 06 Pag: 22
Pag: 07
* BOUTIQUE / CUSTOM SEWING
54
- AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS Tel: 376 766-4973, Cell: 332-213-8933 Pag: 22
* GARDENING Pag: 41 Pag: 40
- TRANSITIONAL DIRECTIONS - Life Coaching Tel: +52 331-435-7080 Pag: 41
- GARDEN CENTER Tel: 376 765-5973 - RAINFOREST Cell: 331-241-9773
Pag: 10 Pag: 40
* HARDWARE STORES
* COMMUNICATIONS
- DR. GABRIEL HERNANDEZ NUÑO - Plastic Surgery Tel: 376 766-5513, 333-813-3081 Pag: 41 - DRA. CLAUDIA LILIA CAMACHO CHOZAOphthalmologist Tel: 33-3403-3857 Pag: 20 - HOSPITAL SAN ANTONIO Tel: 376-689-0911 Pag: 25 - LAKESIDE MEDICAL GROUP Tel: 376 766-0395 Pag: 29 - PLASTICA LIFT Tel: 376 108-0595, 376 688-1820 Pag: 39 - RIBERA MEDICAL CENTER Tel: 376 765-8200 Pag: 33 - SCLEROTHERAPY-Dra. Patricia Estela Jimenez del Toro Cell: 333-808-2833 Pag: 42 - UNITED AMBULANCE SERVICES Tel: 376 688-3315 Pag: 27
* MOVERS
- FERRETERIA Y TLAPALERIA GALVEZ Pag: 58 Tel: 376 766-0880, 387 763-0341
* HEARING AIDS
- ISHOPNMAIL Tel: 376 766-1933 Pag: 03 - MACDONALD’S PACKAGES DELIVERY SERVICE Pag: 42
- M.D. CARLOS ALONSO FLORES VALDOVINOS Pag: 09 Tel: 376 766-5126, 376 766-4435
* COMPUTERS
* INSURANCE
- LAKESIDE - CompuShop + Repair Tel: 33-2340-7501
Pag: 26
- TEPEHUA TREASURES Tel: 376 763-5126
Pag: 46
* CONSTRUCTION - COMFORT SOLUTIONS Tel: 33-1228-5377 Pag: 09 - GENERAL HOME SERVICES - Amancio Ramos Jr. Cell: 331-520-3054 Pag: 46 - PIETRA FINA Tel: 333-105-0996, 33-3671-1713 Pag: 43 - SERVICIOS AGUILAR Tel: 333-393-4991, 333-021-0753 Pag: 38 - SIKA Tel: 376 766-5959 Pag: 38 - WARWICK CONSTRUCTION Tel: 376-108-8754, Cell: 33-1135-0763 Pag: 46
Pag: 13
* BEER & LIQUOR STORES
- LA BELLA VIDA Tel: 376 766-5131 - MANOS DE AJIJIC Tel: 376 766-5640 - MI MEXICO Tel: 376 766-0133 - MIA’S BOUTIQUE Tel: 376-766-5706 - SO CHIC BOUTIQUE Tel: 331-762-7838
Pag: 47
* GARAGE DOORS OPENERS
* COACHING
Pag: 13
* BED & BREAKFAST
- BETO’S WINE & LIQUOR Cell: 333-507-3024
Pag: 44
Pag: 31
* CONSIGNMENT SHOP
* BEAUTY
- CASA TRES LEONES Cell: 331-350-6764
- FUMIGA Tel: 376 688-2826, Cell: 331-464-6705 - MOSQUITO CONTROL Cell: 331-498-7699
EMERGENCY HOTLINE 911 CRUZ ROJA 376 765-2308, 376 765-2553 FIRE DEPARTMENT 376 766-3615 POLICE Ajijic 376 766-1760 Chapala 376 765-4444 La Floresta 376 766-5555
- BEST MEXICO MOVERS US/CANADA: (915) 235-1951 US Cell: (520) 940-0481 - LAKE CHAPALA MOVING Tel: 376 766-5008
Pag: 16 Pag: 06
* MUSIC / EVENTS
* BANK INVESTMENT
- CHRISTINE’S Tel: 376 766-6140, 333-822-5572 - GLORIOSA Tel: 376 766-3372 - NEW LOOK STUDIO Tel: 376 766-6000, 33-3950-9990
Pag: 28
* CLEANING SERVICES
* BAKERY
- INTERCAM Tel: 376 766-5978, 376 766-4055 - MULTIVA Tel: 376 766-2499
* FUMIGATION
CHIROPRACTIC
* ART GALLERIES/HANDCRAFTS
- COLIBRI GARDEN
DIRECTORY
- LONAS MEXICO Tel: 376 766-0045, Cell: 33-3956-4852
* ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
- DIANE PEARL COLECCIONES Tel: 376 766-5683 - LA BELLA VIDA Tel: 376 766-5131
directory.chapala.com
* CANOPIES
* ADVERTISING / DIRECTORY
- ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Tel: 333-383-6598, 33-3198-6653
EMERGENCY NUMBERS
- FELIPE GONZÁLEZ-Atorney at law Tel: 376 688-4563, (33) 3632-4689 - SOLBES & SOLBES Cell: 331-520-5529, Cell: 333-676-6245
* ELECTRONICS/ TECHNOLOGY
Pag: 28
- STEREN Tels. 376 766-0599, 376 766-0630
Pag: 42
- COSTALEGRE Tel: 376 108-1087, 33-1173-6144
Pag: 09
El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
- NOE ZALAPA SOLIS Cell: 452-203-6105
Pag: 51
* NOTARY SERVICES Pag: 22
- MAQUINARIA Y HERRAMIENTAS PROFESIONALES Tel: 387-763-1232, Cell: 33-1892-2142
Pag: 16
* PAINT - L&D CENTER Tel: 376 766-1064
Pag: 38
- MADERERIA CHAPALA Tel: 376 765-2404
Pag: 41
- QUIROZ-Impermeabilizantes Tel: 376 766-2311 - QUIROZ-Pinturas Tel: 376 766-2311
Pag: 02
- BESTLAB Tel: 376 688-1174, 331-042-1411 Pag: 40 - DERMIKA Tel: 376 766-2500 Pag: 11 - DR. BEN - CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON Cell: 333-105-0402 Pag: 15
Pag: 46 Pag: 42
* PHARMACIES - FARMACIA MASKARAS Tel: 376 766-3539
* MALL / OUTLET
* MEDICAL SERVICES
Pag: 47
* MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
* OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT
Pag: 18
* FISH MARKET
Pag: 18
* LIGHTING
- CENTRO LAGUNA Tel: 376 766-5514
Pag: 49
Pag: 45 Pag: 51
Pag: 23
* LUMBERYARD - AJIJIC DENTAL Tel: 376 766-3682, Cell: 33-1411-6622 Pag: 11 - DRA. ANGELICA ALDANA LEMA DDS Tel: 376 765-5364, Cell: 331-351-7797 Pag: 28 - MOJO DENTAL - Dra. Cristina Barreto Tel: 376 688-2731 Pag: 26
- BARE STAGE THEATRE - BENEFIT AUCTION - FERIA MAESTROS DEL ARTE Tel: 333-808-3537, 331-098-4850
- RAINBOW NOTARY & NUPTIALS Tel: 904-333-7311
* LEGAL SERVICES
* DENTISTS
Pag: 14
Pag: 39
- HECHT INSURANCE Tel: 376 109-1694 Pag: 40 - LAKESIDE INSURANCE - EDGAR CEDEÑO Cell: 33-3106-6982 Pag: 13 - PARKER INSURANCE SERVICES Tel: 376 765-5287, 376 765-4070 Pag: 14 - PROTEXPLAN U.S. Toll Free 1-800-608-5743 Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6730 Pag: 10 - TIOCORP Tel: 376 766-4828, 376 766-3978 Pag: 12
Pag: 28
* REAL ESTATE - AJIJIC HOME INSPECTIONS Tel: 33-3904-9573 - AJIJIC REAL ESTATE Tel: 37 6766-2077 - AKALANI Tel: 33-3576-5658 - AZABACHE HABITAT Tel: 333-405-0089
Pag: 20 Pag: 17 Pag: 45 Pag: 25
- BAUERHOUSE PROPERTIES Tel: 33-2164-5301 Pag: 19 - BETTINA BERING Cell. 33-1210-7723 Pag: 21 - BEV COFELL Cell: 331-193-1673 Pag: 46 - CIELOVISTA Tel: 33-2002-2400 Pag: 05 - COLDWELL BANKER CHAPALA REALTY Tel: 376 765-3676, 376 765-2877 Fax: 765-3528 Tel: 376 766-1152, 376 766-3369 Pag: 60 - CUMBRES Tel: 33-2002-2400 Pag: 05 - EAGER REALTY Tel: 333-137-8447 Pag: 08 - FOR SALE BY OWNER Tel: +1 720-984-2721, +52 33-1395-9062 Pag: 44 - HAL FORSYTH Tel: 376 766-4530, Cell: 331-407-1917 Pag: 37 - JUDIT RAJHATHY Cell: 331-395-9849 Pag: 23 - KALE Tel: 33-1906-7273 Pag: 35 - KAT GARCIA Tel: 612-140-4935 Pag: 49 - LAKE CHAPALA REAL ESTATE Tel: 376 766-4530/40 Pag: 59 - ORBE LAND NETWORK Pag: 39, 47 - RAUL GONZALEZ Cell: 33-1437-0925 Pag: 03 - SANTANA RENTALS AND REAL ESTATE Tel: 315-351-5167, 315-108-3425 Pag: 51 - VISTA ALEGRE Tel: 33-2002-2400 Pag: 05
* RENTALS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT - COLDWELLBANKER CHAPALA REALTY Tel: 376 766-1152 Pag: 52 - FOR RENT Cell: 333-667-6554 Pag: 34 - FOR RENT Cell: 331-115-6584 Pag: 55 - SANTANA RENTALS AND REAL ESTATE Tel: 315-351-5167, 315-108-3425 Pag: 51 - RESPIRO VILLAGE Tel: 333-157-7790 Pag: 44 - ROMA Tel: 33-1075-7768 Pag: 49 - VILLAS DEL SOL Tel: 376 766-1152 Pag: 51
* RESTAURANTS / CAFES /BAR - AJIJIC TANGO Tel: 376 766-2458 - GO BISTRO Cell: 33-3502-6555 - LA PACEÑA Tel: 33-3743-1631, 33-3800-6263 - MANIX Tel: 376 766-0061, 331-065-0725 - MOM’S DELI & RESTAURANT Tel: 376 765-5719 - TRIPS BURGER - YVES Tel: 376 766-3565
Pag: 58
* RETIREMENT/REST/NURSING HOMES - CASA ANASTASIA - Care Home Tel: 376 765-5680 Pag: 36 - CASA NOSTRA-Nursing Home Tel: 376 765-3824, 376765-4187 Pag: 03 - NURSING HOME LAKE CHAPALA S.C. Tel: 33-3470-3470 Pag: 19
* SATELLITES/ T.V. - SHAW SATELLITE SERVICES Tel: 33-1402-4223
Pag: 38
* SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS - LOS NIÑOS DE CHAPALA Y AJIJIC Tel: 376 765-7032 - NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS
Pag: 55 Pag: 47
* SOLAR ENERGY - SUN QUEST ENERGY Cell: 331-603-9765, 331-603-9756
Pag: 37
* SPA / MASSAGE - RESPIRO SPA Tel: 333-157-7790 - SPA GRAND Tels: 387 761-0303, 387 761-0202 - TOTAL BODY CARE Tel: 376 766-3379
Pag: 51
Pag: 43 Pag: 24
* TAXI / TRANSPORTATION - ARTURO FERNANDEZ - TAXI Cell: 333-954-3813 - RICARDO RASSO Cell: 33-1766-8699 - OMAR MEDINA Cell: 33-1281-2818
Pag: 24 Pag: 57 Pag: 55
* TREE SERVICE - CHAPALA TREE SERVICE Tel: 376 762-0602, Cell: 33-1411-0242
Pag: 57
* TOURS - CHARTER CLUB TOURS Tel: 376-766-1777
Pag: 07
* WATER - TECNO AQUA Tel: 376 766-3731, 376 688-1038
Pag: 49
Pag: 07 Pag: 41 Pag: 34 Pag: 03 Pag: 45 Pag: 12
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CARS FOR SALE: 2016 Kia Sportage AWD SXL. Top of the line model. AWD SXL with 65000 kilometers. Services done at dealer, still has factory warranty. Jalisco plates, all paid. $349,000 WANTED: Want to buy 4 wheel drive with jalisco license plates. Looking to buy a 4 wheel drive with good ground clearance,could be an older jeep cherokee, ford explorer,toyota 4 runner, suzuki or tracker. Prefer to stay under 60,000 pesos in price, please p m me if you have one. FOR SALE: SUZUKI VITARA BOOSTERJET 2019. $379,990 Mexican pesos. All services in Suzuki agency, has 26,000 miles traveled. Sole owner and all documentation in order. Jalisco license plates, It has the sticker the responsible verification review required by the Jalisco government and the 2022 tax paid. CONTACT: joencoza2019@yahoo.com. Engine: 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder, Maximum power: 138 hp @ 4,400 rpm, Max Torque: 162 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm, Transmission: 6-speed automatic. Front-wheel drive, Brakes: Disc / Disc, Weight: 1,160kg, Top Speed: N.A. Acceleration from 0 to 100km/h: 9.6s. Front suspension: Independent. McPherson strut. Rear suspension: Torsion bar. Length: 4.175mm. Trunk: 375 liters. City consumption: 9.5 km/I. Consumption on the road’: 22 km/l, Combined consumption’: 18 km/l, CO2 emissions: N.A. Tank capacity: 47 liters. FOR SALE: 2016 Suzuki Vstrom 1000 cc. Excellent running order, good tires. Very low Kms. Only two things it needs is a good bath and a battery. Bike wasn’t used much during Covid. $180,000. Call 376106-1162 Ask for Ian. FOR SALE: Toyota Sienna XLE 2011, $4000 USD or $80,000 pesos. Fully loaded high end car, some minor body work, oth-
erwise in excellent mechanical condition, underpriced due to issues with ownership papers. Otherwise would be asking close to $10,000. USD or $200,000 pesos. Seats 8 people, inboard TV, etc. WANTED: Donate your car or truck to Have Hammer Will Travel A.C. woodworking school a Mexican charity. Your car donation not only helps the students at our school, but the environment as well by recycling your car! Donate that old Canadian or American vehicle that is sitting in the driveway and stop paying insurance and registration. Eliminate the cost for a car that rarely gets used or you do not want to nationalize it in Mexico. There are many reasons to donate your car or truck to the Have Hammer Will Travel A.C Woodworking School, (Escuela Artes Industriales). If you’ve never donated a car before, the process can seem daunting from the outside. However, we are here to make it easier than ever to donate your car. If you have an unwanted vehicle, just call our school 376688-1282 or stop by and see Wayne in the school office next to S&S auto This means 100% of the proceeds from your vehicle goes to support our empowering women’s woodworking spring class. Help our school pay rent, salaries for our teachers,. wood, tools and supplies etc. Avoid the hassles of selling the car yourself. Donate it to Have Hammer Will Travel A.C. Woodworking School in Riberas Del Pilar. Prefer a car that is drivable and has proper facturas. If you donate a car or truck in good condition and we can drive it to the USA. It may be possible to get 501c3 USA tax deduction if you itemize on your tax return. COMPUTERS FREE: I have a bunch of brand new CDs still in the original packaging. I will give them away to whomever wants them. If not for computer use, a creative person
The Ojo Crossword
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El Ojo del Lago / July 2022
can do something else with them. FOR SALE: Selling our Internet routers. TP LINK, and UBIQUITI routers. My Internet tech knowledge is next to nothing, so I’m refer you to Luis at Lakeside Computer Repair and Service in Riberas next door to Panchos Deli. You can see them in person at his shop. Two routers are brand new in the box. The third router is slightly used. Why are we selling these? Because I bought the wrong devices for our new house. FOR SALE: EPSON PRINTER XP 211 214, works but needs ink. I have the empty cartrages to refill, 600 pesos. Call 376 7661095. Will also through in some paper. PETS & SUPPLIES FOR SALE: Retractable Dog Leash. Flexi, 5 meter Classic Retractable Leash. $350. 3317857185. GENERAL MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: Wheelchair - Never been used! Awesome chair. Never been sat in! Owner never had the opportunity to use it. “Active Xtreme” model. Lightweight. Cool fold back sides for unobstructed access! No more cramming your loved one into the chair like a sardine. Works as new of course (Milage is 12 feet). Paid over 6700 pesos on Mercado libre. Asking 4700 pesos (225 USD). Get a new wheelchair and save 50 bucks! This is evidently a “sport” model (street reflectors and a sticker that says it’s fast). Please obey all traffic laws and speed limits. Located at Brisas de Chapala, Brisas del Norte #7. PICK UP ONLY. Price is firm (it will go very fast). Don’t miss out! Send PM. WANTED: Golf cart in decent shape. charlesgreth@aol.com FOR SALE: Proform 325 csx recumbent bike, two years old in excellent perfect working condition. Smooth magnetic resistance. $6000 pesos ($14,000 new). Sunny Rowing machine, 4 months old. like new $4000 pesos ($7000 new). Send PM. FOR SALE: Archery Equipment Package/Bows, Arrows Much More!!! Details: 35 lb Bear Montana Longbow new never fired. I Paid $400.00USD 30 lb Bear Minute Man Takedown Recurve Used I paid $120.00 USD Custom hand made leather shoulder quiver new. I paid $120.00 USD Arm guard new, I paid $45.00 USD 24 bamboo arrow blanks Arrow knocks Arrow tips Arrow feather fletches BPE - Series AF-1 Professional fletching jig 1 spool of bow string 1 spool serving line The WHOLE package only $10,000 Mexp for Everything! WANTED: Need a recliner, not leather, that reclines into a sleeping position. Cell: 331-116-6081 FOR SALE: ShopSmith MK-IV Complete Woodworking System. I not only have the base system machine as seen in the link above but also the accessory items of the scroll saw, band saw, jointer and Vac system with cyclone prefilter. Many extras to be thrown in. $1600.00 USD. Call 376106-1162. FOR SALE: Inogen one G4 portable oxygen concentrator. It weighs less than 3 lbs. I bought it gently used for 1800 usd and will sell at same price. It can be used on airplanes and has a jack for the car. And a
special backpack extra. FOR SALE: Liquidation Sale - Prices in MXP. Deering Sierra Resonator Banjo as new, less than one year old and played very little - skin is still white $48,000. 54 inch Sanyo smart TV also 1 year old $14,000 new from Costco $10,000. Xbox One S $7000 new -$ 4500. GTA and StarTrek and Tanks games. Motorcycle riding gear pure leathers jacket and chaps size XL-Tall $3000 High top touring boots used little $1400. Honeywell standing swamp cooler/humidifier $1000. Samsung front loading washing machine 2 years approx $8000. Kitchen ware, pots pans, full cast iron set including dutch oven mostly old quality only one Lodge pan, crock pot, All American Pressure Cooker, Pesto Pressure Cooker, Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and accessories. Lodge brand cast iron Hibatchi BBQ $1200. Akorn Brand insulated charcoal smoker/cooker/BBQ $4000. Call 376-106-1162 ask for Ian FOR SALE: Versa 2 Chargers. My Versa 2 died on me and the charger doesn’t fit the Sense. So I have 3 Versa 2 chargers for anyone that wants them (free). I hate to just throw them out when they work well. 332-617-3588. Note: if I don’t answer, please try the house phone, 376-765-5085. FOR SALE: CCTV security system; 8 cameras and CPU. New in box. Works fine (I tested the CPU and 1 camera). You can install yourself if you are a decent handyperson, or get it installed by someone else. There is one place in Ajijic, but I did my own 5+ years ago and no problems. In Chapala Haciendas. $4,120.55 firm price. Well less than Mercado Libre. 376765-6348. Talosianx@protonmail.com. Mexican pesos, CDN or USD. No Rubles. FOR SALE: WORKFORCE tile saw, THD Model 550 with spare ever used blade. Works fine. I did my job and don’t need it anymore. Has guides, straight and angles. In Chapala Haciendas. $2,750 (No rubles). Price firm. 376-765-6348. Talosianx@protonmail.com. FOR SALE: Makita 12v electric drill. Adjustable. With charger, case and new battery. Works fine. Used but not abused (Like my ex-wife). In Chapala Haciendas. 376-765-6348. $1,250.00 firm. FOR SALE: We have a queen size Mattress topper for sale, for a queen size Bed. asking 250 pesos, and a Brand New coffee Maker Cuisinart from the states, it makes 12 cups and I payed 129.00 dollars for it asking 800 pesos. If interested call 3767664971. FOR SALE: SKILSAW. 7”. Professional model. Heavy. Near two-dozen blades for metal/concrete. Old, dirty, and works great. $1,000.00. In Chapala. Email 1988jeopardychampion@gmail.com FOR SALE: Antique oak writing desk/ table with carved drawer. 29” (74cm) high x 36” (92 cm) wide x 19” (50 cm) deep $5,500 pesos firm can deliver. Email: marjane2021@outlook.com FOR SALE: Hoover Presto Stick 2 in 1 cordless vacuum with attachments. Model 440002095. $1,700. 331-785-7185. FOR SALE: Portable Propane Space Heater. Lennox Model LE150HD. Includes one extra propane tank. $3,000. 331-7857185
FOR SALE: Honeywell Portable Evaporative Cooler. Model CS10AE with remote control. $1,800. 331-785-7185 FOR SALE: Pendant Lamp. New in box. Modern white pendant light fixture 30 cm (11.8 inches) dia. 1/2 globe shape suitable for any room. $600 pesos. WANTED: If anyone has an inversion table in good condition they are not using and would like to sell it, please contact me. FOR SALE: Quetzals for trade. If anyone needs some Guatemalan currency I have some. I am willing to trade for US or MXN. FOR SALE: BBQ set incarrying case. Excellent condition Offers on $650 pesos. 376 766 3170. FOR SALE: Like New Bissell Cordless steam multi surface vacuum. Used twice: Ideal for tile floors and can be used also on wood. Highly rated. Model number is 2544A. Reviews on the web and videos at Bissell .com Selling at $200 USD. Call Roger at 333 173 6605. FOR SALE: SHAW satellite TV receiver DVR-630 used in excellent condition. Includes 320 gb digital recorder function. Activated, can demonstrate on our antenna. Some programming available $4,000 pesos. Brand new Shaw dual LNB $2,500 pesos. 376 765-3030. Jonathan Kingson jkingson@newmexico.com WANTED: Old used bike for stationary
bicycle. I need an old used bike to make into a stationary bicycle. Doesn`t have to look good at all. One you have around that you thought would never sell, one you were about to throw away, been in your garage forever. It does have to have a back wheel and tire, chain and pedals and does have to work for my size but that`s about it. Send PM. FOR SALE: Karastan-America’s Finest Power Loomed Rug -Kirman #717, 12” X14’ $1,000 USD. FOR SALE: GULDMANN d 2000 Patient LIft. Perfect for a disabled person with motor control. Ceiling mounted, hanging bolts, remote control, 2 slings, 35 feet of straight and curved track. $3000 USD. FREE: Shaw/Motorola 630 HDPVR – Free. Used for a few years, top condition, it has been deregistered so it is ready to be registered by a new owner, no antenna. The rubberized coating on the remote has developed the “stickies” but still works fine. Just not using it any more. PM me if interested. FOR SALE: Needlepoint Supplies. Tons of beautiful color fibers, silk, wool and cotton. 1,200 pesos. I also have other supplies and completed and incomplete hand painted canvases. FOR SALE: Oriental rug. Beautiful, hand knotted oriental wool rug. High thread count. $400 USD Size is 114 cm x 179 cm
aka 45 x 67 inches. FOR SALE: Qty 2 Yamaha BR15 loudspeakers and qty 2 On-Stage SS8800B Crank-Up loudspeaker stands for sale. All in excellent condition. Loudspeakers 6000 pesos, stands 3500 pesos. Call 332-1564264 or 375-766-4389. FOR SALE: Push mower. Great shape. 1000 pesos. FOR SALE: Wrought Iron Marble Top Coffee Table, End Table, And Lamps. 1
Marble Coffee Table 36”W X 51”L X 18”H Top 3/4” Thick. 2 Marble End Tables 23” X 23” Square 22”H Tops 3/4” Thick. 2 Lamps 16”H X 11” Diameter (No Lamp Shades). All Five Items For $10,500.00 Mm. Call Richard At 33 2264 8972.
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