El Ojo del Lago by El Ojo del Lago

Saw you in the Ojo

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Saw you in the Ojo

Richard Tingen

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alejandro Grattan-Domínguez Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Associate Publisher David Tingen Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Jazmin Eliosa Special Events Editor Kay Davis Associate Editor Jim Tipton Contributing Editors Paul Jackson Henri Loridans Feature Editor Jim Tuck (Honorary) Staff Photographer Xill Fessenden Staff Writers Mildred Boyd Ilse Hoffmann Floyd Dalton Fred C. Dobbs Sales Manager Tania Medina (045) 33 1140 3570 tania.medina@mac.com Office Secretary Iliana Oregel ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9am - 5pm Sat. 9am - 1pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528 Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago http://www.chapala.com ojodellago@prodigy.net.mx Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: (376) 765 3676, Fax 765 3528 PRINTING: Quadrimag S.A. de C.V. El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Out over the first five days of each month) Certificado de Licitud de Título 3693 Certificado de Licitud de Contenido 3117.

FEATURE ARTICLES

Ed Tasca ventures onto the LLT boards for the first time and lives to tell the story. It must have been a good (though semifrightening) experience because he has since sneaked his way back into subsequent productions.

8 Cover by Fessenden

28 BOOK REVIEW Pat Percival evaluates Beyond the Walls, Alison Pickering’s second photo book about Ajijic and concludes that it’s one of the finest books of its type ever published.

COLUMNS THIS MONTH 6 Editor’s Page 7

Op-Ed

Bridge by Lake

42 MEXICAN CULTURE

World of Ours

Ron Barnett examines the alluring and mysterious worlds of Shamanism and Neuroscience in an article that might leave the reader believing that there might be more to life than just what we can prove with our five senses.

Thunder on Right

Planting for Future

Child of Month

Uncommon Sense

Joyful Musings

Catherine Moore writes about a miserable man who was turned into a decent human being by a miserablelooking dog.

Faith and Fables

World of Wine

Lakeside Living

52 FICTION

Magnificent Mexico

Jim Tipton’s vignette about would-be marital bliss that is often as funny as it is sad. It seems that some marriage licenses should come with the warning: Buyer Beware

As I See It

Notes from Nestipac

Hearts at Work

Havoc in Motion

55 CURRENT SITUATIONS

Paw Prints on Heart

Kay Davis writes about a recent presentation which the estimable Todd Stong made about the infrastructure at Lakeside.

Welcome to Mexico

LCS Newsletter

44 CANINE CAPERS

Reserva al Título de Derechos de Autor 04-2007-111412131300-102 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.

COVER STORY

PUBLISHER

Index...

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

LAKESIDE LIVING

z DIRE C TOR Y z

32 MAGNIFICENT MEXICO

VOLUME 25 NUMBER 10

Saw you in the Ojo

By Alejandro Grattan-Domingez

Ajijic—The Movie! (Reprinted by Request)

rior to settling here in 1987, I had spent the previous 25 years laboring in the vineyards of the American film industry. Hollywood was then (and still is) famous for its colorful characters. However, as I already knew, Hollyweird (as it is known by some blue-nosed observers) had absolutely nothing on our own little corner of Mexico. I first visited Lakeside in 1963. Back then it was a haven for hippies, one reason being that you could buy LSD in a local drugstore! The Queen of Lakeside was the famous actress Judith Anderson, who once while under the influence, had a chair placed on a barge, and as her anxious acolytes rowed like the slaves in the movie Ben Hur, serenely set forth for the south shore of the lake as majestically as Cleopatra must have appeared as she floated down the Nile. Then there was Ray Rigby, once one of England’s top screen-writers. Having squandered his fortune, and now reduced to getting by on a pittance of a pension, he wrote in desperation to Margaret Thatcher, then the British PM. The letter purported to come from a “third-party,” and spelled out the depths to which Rigby had fallen. To my jaded eye, the note seemed something right out of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” the only thing missing an infant abandoned in a snowdrift. The letter ended by imploring Mrs. Thatcher to either drastically increase Rigby’s pension or at the least grant him an Order of the British Empire. Ray asked that I personally sign the appeal. Two months later, I received a letter marked “10 Downing Street.” It was from Thatcher’s personal secretary, advising that the PM, touched by the plight of one of Britain’s most illustrious subjects, would personally look into the matter. Six weeks later, Ray received notice from the pension department that “at the personal instigation of the PM herself, we have looked into your folder--and unfortunately find that we have been over-paying you for several years. Hence, we must deduct 25 pounds per month until the short-fall is made up.

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Sincerely Yours.” A short while later, Ray passed away. I still wonder if the two events were related. Another Lakeside character was Ian, who often spent hours in the Ajijic plaza drinking wine from a goatskin. I once asked him why he drank so much. Peering at me as if I were a retarded child, he said, “Because when I drink, things look better to me. When I drink a lot, people look better. And when I finally get drunk, even you look a little better.” I never asked my friend another stupid question. Then there was the gringo who announced that he was going to end his life by walking out into the lake. But a hundred feet into the drink, he became hopelessly entangled in the lirio and what had seemed a tragic suicide attempt instead became a slap-stick routine. Or the grande dame, (formerly a ballerina in Russia) who at age 80 rented a huge theater to render a farewell performance. The audience stopped counting after she had fallen down for the eighteenth time. Or the well-known actor who in the company of Ray Rigby was in the habit of crawling from one cantina to another. Once, told that Ray was again “thirsty,” the actor’s wife beseeched me not to tell her husband. She was tired of having them arrive at dawn on her doorstep “yammering like old Walter Brennan.” It seemed both men usually lost their false teeth over the course of an evening, and she was tired of buying her husband new dentures. Today, Ajijic is much more respectable. But every now and then, I miss the good old days. Which were never really that good—but certainly a lot more colorful. Alejandro Grattan

By Maggie Van Ostrand

Six Degrees of Separation to How a Mexican Star Became a Cajun Legend

E E

ven if you have never wondered what ties Mexico to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I’m going to tell you anyway. It begins with a poem. Longfellow’s epic 1847 poem, “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie,” is the story of an Acadian girl, Evangeline Bellefontaine (“Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen summers”), her betrothed, Gabriel Lajeunesse (“a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the morning”), and their agonizing separation when, in 1755, the British deported Acadians (Cajuns) from Nova Scotia in The Great Expulsion. (”…all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from this province be transported to other lands.”) Gabriel was crammed onto a ship bound for America, leaving her ashore, silently weeping. But not for long. In her quest to reunite with Gabriel, Evangeline follows his ship to America, and wanders on foot across mountains, rivers, and deserts, but she fails to find him. One day, strangers gave her hope: “Gabriel Lajeunesse… 0, yes! we have seen him. He is a Voyageur in the lowlands of Louisiana.” Evangeline travels through the bayous by boat, following a vision which “beckoned her on through the moonlight.” On this, as on other occasions to come, she narrowly misses Gabriel by only one day. Was she pursuing but a phantom? Evangeline dedicates her life to the quest, even as she becomes a Sister of Mercy, nurses the poor and tends the dying. At last, her long search ends and she finds her lover, but she is too late. Gabriel has been taken mortally ill during an epidemic. “Vainly he strove to rise; and Evangeline, kneeling beside him, kissed his dying lips, and laid his head on her bosom.” Highly dramatic tale to be sure, (“Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping”) and

in 1929, Evangeline was exactly the right screen role for Mexico’s magnificent Dolores Del Rio. See? I got to the Mexican part. The film, Evangeline, was directed by Edwin Carewe, who had leapt aboard a train steaming out of his Gainesville, Texas, home town, bound for California. He was probably the first hobo to become a Hollywood film director. Besides Del Rio, he discovered Gary Cooper, Wallace Beery, and other stars. But I digress and now return you to your regular programming. Del Rio was known to be much more than the most beautiful woman in the world. She was also a financial wizard, married to the man who designed the Oscar statuette (posed for by another Mexican star, Emilio “El Indio” Fernández), and was regarded as very generous. Proof of this last admired characteristic can be found two hours west of New Orleans, just off I-10 headed for Houston. Here’s where the Cajun part comes in. It was in St. Martinville, Louisiana, that Evangeline had come to rejoin her long-lost love, only to learn he had left the day before, and it is here, near the banks of Bayou Teche, an area pulsing with Cajun and Zydeco music, spicy dishes, and crawdads, that we see a gift from Dolores Del Rio: a magnificent statue of Evangeline standing just outside St. Martin de Tours chapel, the Acadians’ Mother Church. Today a major tourist attraction in St. Martinville, Evangeline’s statue was posed for by Dolores Del Rio herself, and donated to the town, giving new dimension to the very meaning of the name Evangeline: good news. What are the Six Degrees of Separation? Longfellow poem to Evangeline to Gabriel to Del Rio film to statue to Cajun legend.

Saw you in the Ojo

LEARNING LE EARNING T TO OA ACT CT A AT T THE THE LLT T By Ed Tasca (Editor ’s Note: Our thanks to Judy King whose website Mexicoinsights.com first ran a much longer version of this article.)

ne of the entertainment treasures at Lakeside is its renowned Little Theater. Recently, I had the privilege of joining some very talented people at Lakeside Little Theater and got a chance to act on stage for the first time. To truly appreciate the art of the little theater, you must understand that everything you see on the stage is fake, mostly made of Styrofoam, including, in some cases, one or two actors. Alcohol is really vinegar. Food displays are made of colored cork. Some of my hair came courtesy of shoe polish. Make-up masks the unsightly. In my case, it was so thick I believe I looked, from the audience, to be digitally blurred. Caught on the street in such garishness, I could have been left for dead by skinheads. Memorizing lines. My first hurdle was to memorize my lines. For most, myself included, this means reciting lines over and over and over until everyone who lives with you hints about taking long tours through Central America. You find yourself helplessly reciting everywhere, from the morning shower until you fall asleep. You’re talking to yourself all the time, sometimes so intensely, you could actually trigger an intervention. Blocking. Next, you learn blocking. “Blocking” is the theater’s term for assisting people in getting around the stage so that they aren’t bumping into one another or the furniture while they speak their memorized lines. For example, the actor has to learn where he’s supposed to be when he greets another actor. The line “Welcome, darling! Delighted to see you!” naturally has to be said at a place where the speaker can see and welcome his or her lover. If an actor is standing behind a potted nasturtium when he says this, the audience will giggle and start rooting for the nasturium. Projecting. Next, you learn to project. This should be self-explanatory, and readily familiar to anyone who’s ever been to a football or

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Diana Rowland and Ed Tasca in Looking Photo by Jim Stork

hockey game. Everything you say on stage, you have to shout until you’re hoarse. Even a deathbed sentiment, such as “I feel at peace now, my child,” needs to be screamed into the actor’s face loud enough to be accompanied by a spray of spittle. All this screaming is done so that the guy who’s sleeping in the back of the theater not only hears you, but wakes with a start. Costuming. Costuming is important, as anyone who has ever been to a toga party knows. Generally, the rule here is that you shouldn’t rush into accepting a costume because it’s right for your character and the period you are depicting. First concern should always be, does it fit you? When an actor is wearing a too-tight vest that allows only one breath per minute, he’s going to drop lines and possibly scenes. I myself was in the only shoes that fit the play’s 1930s setting, but which were two sizes too small, which occasionally raised my voice pitch to alto-soprano. Another thing about costumes. They aren’t washed or cleaned from performance to performance, so over the ten days of shows under torrid stage lights, costumes can actually become microbial ecosystems and begin to decompose in mid performance. After the run of the show, I felt burying some costumes was the humane thing to do. Backstage etiquette. While you the audience are watching the play unfold flawlessly onstage, backstage everyone is sitting around in nervous perspiration waiting for their next entrance. No one can speak, pace, get in anyone’s way, or do anything that might create sound or break another actor’s concentration. You go through a period vaguely similar to high school detention, but without the excitement. Then, suddenly, out of this zombie state, an actor will bound out from the wings chirping,

“There’s No Business Like Show Business” and the audience has no clue the singer had just been slapped to full alert and shoved on stage by the ever-vigilant stage manager. Quick changes. Not surprisingly, for some actors, there’s the opposite of waiting around. These are the quick changes. Sometimes, a whole stage day will go by with a curtain closing and opening in 75 seconds of real time. An actor will have to change from last evening’s tuxedo into his early morning tennis outfit within 60 seconds. The challenge in such a rush is making sure the change is complete. So that you aren’t skipping out on stage “next morning” in whites and a tennis racket and still in your black socks and Italian loafers. Superstitions. Most theater people are superstitious. Among a host of superstitions, the one familiar to most is that no actor must ever say, “Good luck,” however innocently the words may have been tripped. Such a miscue, it is believed, will jinx the entire show. The proper expression for theatrical well-wishing is “Break a leg.” I was told that this expression derives from the manner in which actors centuries ago would bow in acceptance of applause. They would bend their torsos on crooked and crossed legs (much like a curt-

sey is done today) while the audience applauded. Legend has it that one popular actor had received such a long and engaging ovation, requiring such a long and protracted bow, that he did indeed broke his leg. And so the wish today is for long applause, which might result in you “breaking your leg.” I made the mistake of blurting out “Good luck” just before one of our show-times. Everyone within hearing range flew into such a panic, you’d think I’d said, “I may have an airborne infectious disease that causes blindness.” People who are normally emotionally-stable were whirling around in an exquisite frenzy, spinning three times and throwing salt over their shoulders, much of which landed in the eyes of other actors doing the same thing. Still others rushed out for a cigarette and a chance to caress their Hamsa amulet. I was apologizing up and down for the mishap, but remained unheard and unforgiven for the remainder of the evening. The theater is a tough business, and not for the faint-hearted. The question that kept popping into my mind all the while I’d taken on this project was, “Is this how Shakespeare started?”

Saw you in the Ojo

BRIDGE BY THE LAKE By Ken Masson

(

en Masson has been playing, teaching and writing about bridge for 35 years. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Ken has been living in Toronto since 1967. He and his wife and bridge partner, Rosemarie, are now in their third year wintering in Lakeside.) This hand, played at the Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club, produced a very satisfying result for one pair due to a particular weapon they had in their bidding arsenal. Playing the popular 2/1 game-forcing bidding system, South opened 1 spade and North responded 2 hearts, a bid that committed the partnership to reach at least game. Now came the key bid of the auction: 3 spades by South. Since 2 spades would have been forcing, this pair had an agreement that a jump rebid in opener’s suit guaranteed a long, solid holding that could play opposite extreme shortness in the other hand. Armed with this information, all that remained for North was to check for first round control in clubs by bidding 4 No Trump, a form of Roman Key Card Blackwood. In the RKCB system, the King of trumps is counted as a fifth ace, or Key Card. When South responded 5 diamonds, showing 3 Key Cards, North knew that there was no way for the opponent’s to capture the first trick (except in the unlikely event of East ruffing the opening lead). Declarer should be able to establish North’s heart suit (after drawing trumps) to park any losers from the South hand, so

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

North jumped straight to 7 spades. And so it transpired. West led the club King, won in the closed hand with the Ace. Declarer now drew four rounds of trumps before playing a heart to dummy’s Ace. The heart King was cashed and when declarer ruffed a heart back to hand and the Queen fell, the rest of the hearts were now good. With a diamond entry to dummy, declarer was able to claim 7 spades bid and made for an outright top board as no other pairs reached the grand slam. Conventional wisdom states that a partnership needs around 37 points to bid a grand slam and it should not be bid without a high degree of confidence that it will make. This pair showed it could be done on as few as 29 high card points. About the only way that the contract could have been beaten would have been if one of the opponents had held all 5 outstanding trumps, or East was void in hearts and West found a heart lead, about a 10% combined possibility. I’ll take 90% grand slams any time I can! Questions or comments: email: masson.ken@gmail.com

LAKESIDE LIFE PLANNING

akeside Life Planning, a new nonprofit organization, has formed to gather, document, maintain, and disseminate information about medical issues and property matters to foreigners living in Mexico; the scope of information provided will expand over time to better serve Lakesiders. The Lakeside Life Planning Work Group (LLP) is responsible for directing and achieving the goals set forth to date. The philosophy of this work group is that “many hands make light work.” LLP is currently seeking people to help in the following areas: (1) community collaboration networking; (2) fundraising; (3) resource organization and development, and (4) mobility information (aid to adult residents needing transportation).

The LLP Workgroup meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 10:00-12:00 at the Little Chapel by the Lake on the highway near Mirasol. For general information, or if interested in serving in one of the areas listed above, please contact Eloise Hollyfield at eloisehollyfield@ yahoo.com. You may also visit the LLP website at www.lakesidelifeplanning.org (still under development).

The Medical Profession Speaks out on the Financial Bail-Out Package:

he allergists voted to scratch it, and the dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the neurologists thought the administration had a lot of nerve, and the obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. The ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted; the pathologists yelled, “Over my dead body!” while the pediatricians said, “Oh, Grow up!” The psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, the radiol-

ogists could see right through it, and the surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the plastic surgeons said, “This puts a whole new face on the matter.” The podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the urologist felt the scheme wouldn’t hold water. The anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas; and the cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no. In the end, the proctologists left the decision up to the assholes in Washington.

Saw you in the Ojo

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

D D

ear Editor: Okay, Ah’ve had about enuff of these publications in “English” at Lakeside. Ah was happy to see in the Index of the May 2009 Ojo del Lago the article listed under the caption “Grammar Pointers” by John Ward (page 25, “A Brief History of the Non-Sexual Use and Abuse of the English Language”)! Ah have been trying for months to convince yore idiotor to run a reg’lar column dedicated to the incorrect usage of the English language in Lakeside periodicals. Ah’m specially upset when Ah see “I” when “me” is correct, a frequent malady here. Recently President Obama came under fire for saying “Michelle and I” when English grammar requires “Michelle and me”! (The President’s apologists went so far as to quote Shakespeare as having done the same, overlooking the possibility that the characters in his plays might have required the Bard to illustrate their faux elitism.) Even Hillary stated (at the Kennedy Center) shortly after Bill’s inauguration: “It is a pleasure for my husband Bill and I to be here” and escaped criticism; however, my favorite mala-

propism is Jay Leno’s statement: “Today is my wife and I’s anniversary.” But I stray from my purpose. Mr. Ward, who would attempt to edify the rest of us, states in the first paragraph of his article: “She had gone to the grocery store…” but only if you are trying to establish that this event occurred before another event to which in the narrative.” I dunno. Seems sumpin’s wrong. Perhaps the proofreader missed it? Should it read: “… before another event in the narrative”? Than theirs this: “Now we have an economy which has been destroyed by the philosophy of a free and unregulated market being able to take care of itself….” I dunno. I tho’t gerunds following nowns required the possessive form of the nown: “…market’s being able to take care of itself….” I don’t mean to be overly critical, but shouldn’t someone whose trying to ejucate the rest of us do a better job? Then, I looked on the facing page (No. 24, for those of you who are number challenged) and saw my good ole Texas buddy Jay White a-writin’ this: “I need to come out and give yawl an estimate….” Now, dammit, Jay! I growed up in Texas. I know the difference between “yawl” (a boat) and “y’all” (you all -- or in Arkansas, “you’uns”)! If yer gonna write Texan, spell it rite!!! Donald Williams Riberas del Pilar

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

THE SPEECH OF AN ANGELS NGELS By Ed Tasca

arlos Alberto Velasquez is a young blind tenor from Chihuahua. While still an unknown, he was discovered by Viva La Musica, who provided funds to tutor the boy, buy him a piano and to provide a grant to study voice and piano in Guadalajara. He is now in the big leagues of opera under the direction of the world-renowned tenor, Placido Domingo. Carlos is one of many young prospects whose natural musical talents have been identified by Viva La Musica (Long Live Music), a self-supporting charitable organization in Ajijic, established to provide financial assistance and tutoring to young opera students and to offer concerts at Lakeside. It also sponsors bus trips to musical events in Guadalajara and other cities. Additionally, it provides financial support to three organizations providing musical training. The Golden Strings of Lake Chapala, A.C., a children’s orchestra directed by Ajijic professor/composer Victor Manuel Medeles and Marvin Harthcock; The Orquesta Infantil Juvenil de Guadalajara, A.C., which trains musicians 13 to 22. The Northern Lights Festival, which arranges master classes for local Mexican music students. This year’s upcoming schedule: The Viva La Musica summer schedule begins with a June 25 Concert. A performance by the acclaimed duo Christopher Wilshere on violin and Joel Juan Qui on piano kicks off the new program. A brilliant young pianist, Joel Juan Qui, has performed with Christopher Wilshere all across Mexico. Recently, they performed the work of renowned Mexican composer Hermilio Hernandez. On July 30, baritones David Small and Luis Rodriguez from the University of Texas will perform operatic arias with members of the University of Guadalajara vocal workshop, accompanied by virtuoso pianist Jason Peterson. On August 27, the internationally recognized Jose White String Quartet will entertain with popular classical work. These players are all principals in the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra. A September 10 concert brings a “first” for Lakeside music lovers:

Placido Domingo and Alberto Velasquez

the complete opera “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti, conducted by Luis Rodriguez. Individual tickets for the Donizetti Opera are $250 pesos for members, $350 pesos for non-members. Finally, on October 8, you’ll enjoy another foray in more popular music with the Cuauhtemoc Garcia Jazz Flute combo. All concerts will take place in the Auditorium in La Floresta on Thursdays at 7.30 p.m. Advance tickets (both season and individual) are available at the Lake Chapala Society ticket booth Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm. Season ticket prices are $900 pesos to members and $1,250 pesos to nonmembers. Individual ticket prices for the other four concerts (other than the Donizetti opera) are $200 pesos for members, $300 pesos for non-members. To become a member of Viva La Musica or to find out more about us visit http://www.ajijicviva.org/. You can reserve your tickets by calling Rosemary Keeling at 766-1801 or rosemarykeeling@hotmail.com. As the poet Thomas Carlyle put it, “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”

Saw you in the Ojo

THIS WORLD of OURS By Bob Harwood bharwoodb@hotmail.com

Revising The Dream —

perceive a glimmer of light breaking through the dark clouds of the current recession. Might radical changes in both personal and public priorities revamp The American Dream and new values transform societies everywhere? The prudence of the depression generation was succeeded by the unsustainable expectations of societies addicted to consumerism. Never paid off credit card balances accumulated at outrageous interest rates. Futures were mortgaged in anticipation of ever rising values of ever larger homes. In a grossly under regulated, short term oriented market deceptively packaged derivatives wrought global havoc. But polls show Generation X on a different wavelength and Generation Y on alert. With unemployment soaring security concerns gain ascendancy over promotion, social net worth over financial net worth, family and friends over conspicuous consumption. As pensions erode there is a sense that one must provide one’s own safety net. More prudent personal planning is augmented by new perspectives on the public / private sector balance. Obama’s priorities stress broader access to education and health care and a focus on green industries and infrastructure investments for the future. Vying for the ideological or religious right is shifting to convergence on the center. On the same day veteran Republican Senator Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic party Kansas Governor

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Kathleen Sebelius was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services over anti-abortionist’s protests. Endorsement of same sex unions is spreading. Different criteria are steering career choices. Which industries are recession resistant? Is training for a trade in demand better than a general university degree? With Climate Change denial vanquished once and for all new jobs beckon there. The EPA’s labeling greenhouse gases a health hazard to be regulated is spurring Congress to move quickly on this file. New energy sources and new emissions and efficiency standards foster new opportunities, new industries. Proximity to work in more modest housing is seen as right sizing, not down sizing. For others, an inter-generational shared home, the norm of a bygone era, is coming back. Enhanced public transit emulates a long established European ethos. Obscene corporate sector bonuses, executive private jetting and gas guzzling vehicles have become anathema to corporate images. Protecting the privileges of middle income highly unionized sectors is seen as less justified than a more realistic minimum wage for the poorest. America is moving to-

ward a balance long since achieved elsewhere. And America is awakening to that world beyond its borders. On the world stage Obama is welcomed for a genuine engagement and dialogue after the unilateral arrogance of former times. With candor he apologizes for specific past American policies including the role that America played in causing the current economic crisis. This new perspective will help counter parochial cries for protectionism in a now irretrievably global economy where all are producers, all are con-

sumers. The global economic drag of reduced consumerism here and outsourcing of traditional jobs can be more than offset by (a) a switch to high tech future jobs in the First World and (b) overdue modest increases in consumerism in emerging economies where billions can be lifted out of poverty. A new American ethos at home can play a major role in shaping a New World Dream.

Bob Harwood

Saw you in the Ojo

THUNDER ON THE RIGHT By Paul Jackson paulconradjackson@gmail.com

am asked to assess President Barack Obama’s first ‘fabled’ 100 days in pow-

er.

Won’t do it. Why not? Because I’ve spent my entire adult life covering politics for big city newspaper chains and I am no longer foolish enough to make rash assessments. That said, my most positive assessment of Obama right now is that he has vindicated—and given veracity—to comedian Bill Cosby’s assertion that African-Americans should stop blaming white Americans for their problems. No black kid from now on will be able to say he steals cars, deals in drugs or robs stores because he has never been given a chance in life. Yet several points do concern me about Obama. What worries me most is his lack of knowledge of international affairs and lack of finesse. During the Democratic primaries, he didn’t know Canada had a prime minister, not a president, and he didn’t know the name of two-term Canadian leader Stephen Harper. Hillary Clinton knew. Since Ohio, Obama’s home state does more trade with Canada than almost all other states combined, surely he should have some knowledge of that nation. Apparently not. And during the presidential campaign, after labor unions had given his war chest $86 million dollars, he swore he’d tear up the free trade pact with Canada. Alarmingly, he didn’t know Canada is America’s biggest foreign supplier of oil— larger than Saudi Arabia—supplying 18% of imports. That amount is due to increase to 36% within a de-

Paul Jackson

cade and no free trade pact, no 36% of oil from a safe supplier rather than the unstable Middle East. When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the White House and gave Obama two very historic and meaningful gifts—one from a historic Royal Navy ship that battled against the black slave trade long before America banished slavery itself—the president responded with a pack of DVDs a man of Brown’s intellect would never watch. Besides which, American DVDs do not work in European players. Obama didn’t even feel it worthwhile to have a joint press conference with Brown. An Obama aide said, “Look, Britain is just one of 190 countries we have to deal with. Nothing more.” Since World War II, Britain, whether it has a Conservative or Socialist government, and whether the U.S. has a Republican or Democratic administration, has committed to standing by the American people no matter what. That’s unlike the French or the Germans, who while having received huge largesse from the U.S., never miss a chance to torment Washington. Whatever, Obama is apparently a quick learner and when given a choice between 18% of oil from Canada or 36%, quickly affirmed the free deal. Plus, when Obama realized Brown had received wave after wave of ovations when he spoke before Congress, the president finally decided he was dealing with a man of some stature. To end on a positive note, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair surely gave the best assessment of Obama’s first 100 days. Blair declared it was pointless to assess policies and programs that had not had time to germinate or show results, but that the initial hallmark of the 100 days was Obama had demonstrated an “amazing energy that appears to be infectious to all the American people.” Blair certainly hit the nail on the head with that statement.

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Planting For The Future By Judy Baehr 766-2695 jdbaehr@aol.com www.greatgreens.org

Unforeseen Events

used to think retirement would be a predictable time of life. I would live in a rose-covered cottage by the sea, bake scones, and take long walks into town. Old friends and offspring would visit at predictable times, work would occupy predictable morning hours, I would relax predictably with long-enjoyed hobbies. Even my thoughts and conversations would be on familiar, predictable topics. How silly of me. The younger generation may think retirement is predictable and thus boring, but those who are living it know otherwise. My world is speeding up, and I am hanging on for dear life. At a time when I would like to enjoy a quiet nap on the patio listening to the birds tweet, I have found it necessary to embrace spontaneity and go with the flow. Unforeseen events play a large part in life at Lakeside, and one of the happier events in my life here has been my serendipitously linking up with ACÁ. It started with my feverishly looking to replace the organic farm stands of Massachusetts and score some mesclun mix. It grew to my appreciation of all that goes into organic agriculture here and my realization of the tenuous future of traditional organic farming in Mexico, particularly the preservation of heirloom varieties of corn and other produce. I am grateful to ACÁ for all the serendipitous experiences I have

enjoyed at the farm, all the wonderful produce I have enjoyed, and all the friendships and learning experiences I could not have foreseen. If you’ve been missing ACÁ’s Eco Talks and Trips because of unpredictable events in your life, you have the following opportunities to get with the program this June: 6/20 - Food Market Tour - Abastos Trip to Guadalajara 9-4, pre-register at LCS business office. 6/30 - Honey & Bees. Eco Talks are held at the Lake Chapala Society gazebo Tuesdays from noon to 2:00 p.m. They end June 30 and resume in September. FREE ACÁ Workshops at the Farm: “Herbs and a Whole Lot More” 6/04 – Chili and Chutneys 6/11 - Fruit & Herb Conserves and Jams 6/16 - Fruits & Veggies Unique to Mexico 6/18 - Herbal Tea & Jellies 6/25 - Spices & Grilling Spice Blends Find ACÁ’s Great Greens daily at the Lake Chapala Society or stop at the ACÁ demonstration farm and Eco Center in Jaltepec (M-F 9-5, Sat 9-1). Visit www.greatgreens.org for more information.

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CHILD

of the month

By Rich Petersen

Abraham Emiliano Ramírez Rivera

W W

hile many of the children helped by Niños Incapacitados del Lago live with diseases and maladies known to most all of us, our Child of the Month this time was born with not one, but two, syndromes unknown to any of us in the organization, and probably unknown to most of you. Here you see 3 ½- year-old Abraham Emiliano Ramírez Rivera, known by his middle name, Emiliano. He lives in Chapala with his mother Ana Rosa, and up until recently, his father. Little Emiliano has symptoms of both Goldenhar Syndrome and Duane Syndrome, both of which are quite rare. Goldenhar Syndrome is characterized by incomplete development of the ears, nose, soft palate, lips and mandible. There can also be twisting of the spine. Its cause is unknown. Duane Syndrome is a congenital eye movement disorder, sometimes described as a “miswiring” of the eye muscles. The most interesting aspect of Goldenhar is that many children of veterans of the Gulf War have been diagnosed with it, so there is an association with exposure to certain toxins and toxic chemicals. You can imagine how much of a challenge Emiliano is to the geneticists and other neurological specialists in Guadalajara. They have been following him since birth and are amazed at his progress. At birth his mother was told that he might not ever walk, talk, hear or speak correctly. He does suffer from severe farsightedness and crossed eyes, 12 of his vertebrae are crushed together (no separation), his

left hand has contractures and he cannot open and close the fingers of that hand. Emiliano can walk, talk and see. He will soon be fitted with special glass to try to correct his crossed eyes; if that is not successful, he will undergo surgery. He has already had surgery on his left ear to remove excess tissue, plus the surgery on his skull, as well as left eye. His mother has kept meticulous records about these two rare syndromes and of all the treatments and care give to her son. It is almost beyond belief that he has survived so well and for so long. Just prior to taking this photograph of him in mid-May at Niños Incapacitados’ last monthly meeting, he recited his vowels and counted from one to ten. He walked with his mother around the patio and smiled at all those in attendance. Much of little Emiliano’s care has been paid for by his parents, some by the hospital itself as his case is so interesting. His parents came to Niños Incapacitados just a few months ago to request assistance in whatever amount we could with the myriad of tests and other procedures he needs. Emiliano is anxious to start school, loves to draw and to make up stories. His own story is certainly amazing. To learn more about Niños Incapacitados and the children we help, visit our website: www.programaninos.org, or write us at info@programaninos.org. The organization meets the second Thursday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at La Nueva Posada in Ajijic. Please join us there for a short business meeting and social hour. You’ll also be able to meet some of our children and hear their stories. NOTE: Meetings during June, July and August are not held due to many members’ vacation plans and travels. The next meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 10.

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UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE By Bill Frayer

It’s Easy to Identify a False Cause

o here’s the problem. You hear a report on television that a new study has found that people who take a daily multivitamin live longer than people who do not. “Wow,” You exclaim, “I better start taking a multivitamin” Simple, right? Well, not so fast. As a good thinker, you decide to read a description of the actual study, and you find, as expected, that the study asked people to report if they took a multivitamin every day, and followed them for a period of time. They eventually looked at the data and discovered that the vitamin takers lived longer. In other words, taking a vitamin correlated with a longer life. The problem is, it is impossible to tell if the vitamins actually caused the long life. It’s likely that people who take vitamins practice other healthy habits. Maybe they are more likely to exercise, eat good food, and drink the recommended glass of red wine each day. So we don’t know what, exactly, caused the extension of life. We can derive an important axiom from this example: correlation is not causation. If two events occur together (correlation) we cannot assume that the first event caused the second event (causation). Take superstitions as an example. Let’s consider a baseball player who is in a batting slump, and one day forgets to shave and gets three hits. He may (incorrectly) conclude that the growth on his face allowed him to hit better. In any event, he is unlikely to shave the next day. If his batting continues to improve, he may grow a beard. At some point we might suggest that the beard increases his confidence, thus his performance. But at its heart, this is a false cause fallacy. This fallacy is also known by its

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Latin name, post hoc, ergo propter hoc, Bill Frayer which literally means, after this therefore because of this. This is such a common thinking error, that we are all guilty of making it at one time or another. It is appealing precisely because it’s so simple. It’s easy to see what looks like the most obvious cause, an oversimplification error. Think of some examples from your own life. Here are a few from mine: I was quick to blame one of my children’s friends for my child’s undesirable behavior. It may have contributed to it, but that was not the entire story. I wore my lucky Red Sox shirt during the 2004 ACLS and World Series. Of course the Red Sox won, but it logically had little to do with my shirt. And finally, I used to take antioxidant vitamins because there were numerous reports that foods rich in these antioxidants was correlated with lower rates of cancer and heart disease. Finally, clinical research demonstrated that taking the antioxidant in pill form did not have the same protective effect, and that some supplements could actually be dangerous. People tend to make this error because it’s easy and makes them feel as though they have some control over their lives. After all, if you can assure a safe plane ride by drinking cranberry juice before you leave, why not? If it worked before, it should keep working, right? Simple answers make us feel secure, but they easily delude us. The causes of events are usually the result of many factors, over which we may have little or no control. Sad but true. Next month I will examine another oversimplification error: appeal to authority.

Jeep, The Grand Ol’ Fella By M.A. Porter

ld dusty Jeep sits out on the street while five Mexican kids slop rags and soapy water on him, cleaning him up a bit. The boys had knocked on my door and said they’d like to earn some dinero, so we agreed on a price and I loaned them the tools. Jeep looks pretty happy with the activity—he seems to love life in Mexico. We moved the old fella down five years ago. At first, he told us he wasn’t too keen on the topes and revolted by dropping all of his water in the parking lot of Super Lake. A new radiator was installed by Jaime next door and since then the grand old vehicle hasn’t missed a beat. Jeep was born in 1996 and started out tricked up with fancy gadgets, but he’s had a tough life. Before he was delivered into our care, he was part of a construction company up in Minnesota. He rolled up 92,805 miles in three short years. Soon he was sold to a salesman who wore out his four-wheel drive while wandering the Rocky Mountains. The salesman eventually drove him out to the Oregon coast, where they’d landed a new job. The guy metered Jeep up to 174,090 miles until he was fired from his job after he’d bedded a cute secretary in the back seat one too many times. Quite the rude treatment for such a noble set of wheels. There Jeep sat, the sea spray corroding his innards, until we welcomed him into our family because we’d bought a business and he came with the package. He did his best to carry our manager around but was treated like a garbage pit—the entire back seat and cargo area became a compost heap of McDonald’s sacks and cigarette butts. So we retired him from corporate life and decided to call him ours. Jeep’s been towed behind our motor home and, not fully understanding how you do that, we destroyed his transmission on one long trip through the American west. The replacement wasn’t as painful for him as it was for us. Jeep has bravely driven us from

northern Nevada to Ajijic four times, his air conditioning failing but not repaired. His stereo was ripped out of his chest one sleepy night here in Ajijic—we’ve left the wires hanging as a reminder for others that they shouldn’t bother. Nevertheless, he’s always picked himself up, dusted himself off and resumed his high spirits. We just love him to pieces, which is what he might soon be because, by my estimate, he’ll flip over to 200,000 miles sometime in August. As I watch the boys finish up, I can’t quite believe that I have tears in my eyes about Jeep’s looming milestone. Most likely it’s because my husband and I have the habit of anthropomorphizing vehicles; they seem to take on personalities that are more interesting than some family members. Right now there are deep dents in Jeep’s rear left side, and the one of the passenger doors doesn’t work properly. His glove box flips open at will. The cargo door is held open with a wooden pole because he no longer has the strength. Jeep also doesn’t see so well because his windshield has sand pits. But, I suppose that we’re giving Jeep a good and purposeful life down here in Mexico. After all, he’s delivered food to hungry orphans, he’s taken loads of goods to thrift stores, and many Mexicans have offered to buy him after they’ve witnessed the rev in his engine and pep in his passing speed. How fitting. And right now he’s getting the full Mexican neighborhood spa treatment. Last fall he got new tires. Next month will be an oil change. I just know the old wonder will last another 100,000 miles. I hope. I will really miss him when he goes.

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Joyful Musings By Joy Birnbach Dunstan, MA, LPC, MAC

Dangerous Liaisons

o you know anyone who leaves you feeling like you’ve just braved a tornado after spending time with them? Or maybe you realize you’re dreading today’s lunch date with a friend even though the last time you went you swore you’d never do it again. Let’s face it: some people are just not comfortable to be around even though they may have lots of other redeeming qualities. You know who I mean. That friend who is always the first to offer help when you’re in a bind, but then argues with you over everything you’re trying to do because s/he always knows better. Or that other friend with whom you need to walk on eggshells because s/he is so easily offended by unintended slights. And, of course, that person who is so critical, you feel about two feet tall after spending time together. Depending on the situation, you may choose to eliminate these people from your life or at least minimize the time you spend with them. Very often, especially in our small community, we can’t avoid these people because they’re friends of our other friends or involved with the same organization you are. Instead of trying to avoid their potential stings, how about learning not to get stung. First, and most importantly, be true to yourself. Be mindful of your own beliefs as you hear others express theirs. Don’t forget that it is your choice to adopt their ideas, use them for information, or totally disregard them if they don’t ring true. If

someone tosses out a criticism that isn’t true, don’t let it instill or reinforce your negative beliefs. What is important is what you believe about yourself, not what someone else says. As much as it may seem that way, people who are chronically negative are really not committed to destroying your good feelings about yourself. People who are unhappy in their own lives frequently try to take others down with them. Unconsciously, they use putting down others as their way to be okay and feel better about themselves. Use the qualities you notice and dislike about others as an opportunity to grow. What we see in others is a reflection of some part of ourselves. Instead of judging them, examine how you are sometimes like this. This creates compassion for the other person as well as a chance for you to work on this aspect of yourself. Don’t take the bait when someone initiates a negative message or difficult attitude. Often, they’re only trying to trigger a response from you, and by reacting, you are actually giving them what they want. Some people always want to be right. There’s not much point in arguing with a person who’s not going to change his or her mind. Ask yourself: Is it more important to be right or to be happy? Politely acknowledge them by saying, “Yes, I can see how you might feel that way,” and let it go. Trying to talk them into your way of thinking doesn’t make you any more right. Remember: what you resist, persists. When faced with negative energy, just step aside and let it flow past you. It is only yourself who is responsible for your own happiness. Other people don’t need to change in order for you to be okay. Happiness and serenity is a choice, and we can choose and direct ourselves to be peaceful inside regardless of what is happening outside. Editor’s Note: Joy is a practicing psychotherapist in Riberas. She can be contacted at joy@dunstan.org or 765-4988.

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OF O F FAITH FAITH A AND ND F FABLES ABLES By Bob Haynes bzhaynes@gmail.com

The Third Phase Of Our Lives

raveling always has the effect of broadening our view of our personal world. Such is the case for me right now as we travel from Mexico to Arkansas and then to Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky. At each stop, I find concepts never before contemplated. I’m an Arkansas guy who spent most of his life in either Arkansas or Oklahoma. Since I remarried, I’m now known as the guy who is “on the road again.” In Lafayette, Louisiana I was exposed to the wonderful taste of “crawfish.” That word should be “crawdads” since I spent my youth hunting them in creeks and ponds, but we only used them as bait for fishing. To have crawfish etouffee was a great experience. Pensacola, Florida would soon yield still other delicacies. At Joe Patti’s sea-food store the delicacies sold come from their own fishing boats. I even took pictures of the boats that were sent out each evening and returning each morning with a catch of dozens of varieties of fish, shrimp, crab and oysters. While in Pensacola, I also discovered a marvelous book of photographs and interviews with women who, the author identified as being “in the third phase of their lives.” The book is titled Wise Women, by Joyce Tenneson. It is composed of unique photographs of women whose ages range from sixty-five to one hundred. She wrote that what she found as she interviewed those women was a revolution in her thought processes. Rather than the frail stereotype of aging that our society has fostered in the past, she found women who were

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vital, energetic, and deeply beautiful, inside and out. Many of her subjects said that they had never been happier or as in touch with their deeper powers. All were keen to shed their outer facades and reveal their inner selves in the portrait process. I wish I could describe the pictures of those wonderful women but I’ll leave it up to you to buy the book. That penetrating collection of portraits and voices presented me with a new vision of what it means to be a truth-teller…. a woman of age and wisdom. Joyce Tenneson is among the most respected photographers of our time, and has been described as “one of America’s most interesting portrayers of the human character.” Her work is a combination of portraiture and mythology. She is interested in discovering the archetypes of our being. Oprah is among her admirers. A recent poll conducted by American Photo Magazine voted Tenneson among the ten most influential women photographers in the history of photography. Joyce lives and works in New York City. One of the pearls of wisdom in her book is this intriguing remark by Christine Lee who is about my age (early 70’s). She said, “The most important thing is to try and enjoy life…because you never know when it will be gone. If you wake up in the morning and you have a choice between doing the laundry and taking a walk in the park, go for the walk. You’d hate to die and realize you had spent your last day doing the laundry.” Great point to ponder, isn’t it? Shalom!

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Post From The Palace By Margie Harrell

s I sifted through the usual junk mail and utility bills one envelope caught my eye. It’s not every day you see the Queen of England’s coat of arms on your mail. If it was an advertising gimmick they had my attention. Weeks earlier, on a whim, I had dashed off a note to the Queen never dreaming it would be delivered much less that a response would follow. I was sure it would end up in the round file like most letters to Santa do, but as I gingerly opened it I could see it was the real McCoy. In place of a stamp it said “postage paid by Great Britain, Sandringham, London, England”. On the inner flap of the envelope was one word—conservation—which told me the palace had gone green. How nice. I was immediately struck

by the personal tone of the letter as it referred directly to things I had said in my letter. This was no form letter sent to the masses. As a child growing up in Canada we spoke of the royal family in hushed tones and here I was holding a “post” from Her Majesty. Mind you, not for a moment did I entertain the thought that the Queen had personally written the letter so I wasn’t surprised to see it was signed by a lady-in-waiting. Having a vivid imagination, I immediately decided she surely must be a distance relative of Anne Boleyn’s or at least Jane Seymour. For the rest of the day I read and reread my treasure until I could quote it word for word which I proceeded to do to anyone who came within ten feet of me. To others this is akin to having to watch vacation movies—boring! I have even mulled over the idea of enclosing a copy with this year’s Christmas cards. Mail from royalty tends to make some people silly and giddy I have found. Having resided in the U.S. for most of my adult life I am proud of my adopted country but as I began to hum “God Save The Queen” under my breath I knew I was still a Canadian girl at heart. I suddenly had the urge for tea and crumpets, could Yorkshire pudding be far behind? E-mails are the way to go these days but nothing can compare to holding a greeting in your hand from a “friend.” The letter is now tucked away for safe keeping for my future generations to enjoy. “Her Majesty takes great pleasure in receiving letters like yours,” it said. Believe me Liz, the pleasure was all mine. Apparently dreams really do come true Virginia.

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BEYOND THE WALLS By Alison Pickering Reviewed by Pat Percival

s you stroll through the village of Ajijic, do you ever wonder what surprises might be found beyond all those walls? In this, her second book, Alison Pickering has provided us with a guided journey through some of the area’s most enchanting homes. Beginning with entrances and ending with back patios, statuary and fountains, we view a myriad of styles and themes utilized by the owners of these homes. The architects and artisans responsible for the design of many of the homes and the works which adorn them are always identified— just in case you might want to do a little remodeling yourself. I was particularly impressed with the myriad colors and the artistic variety, from whimsy to elegance. Alison was born in Canada. Since 1983, when her parents retired to live in Mexico, she and her

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my own love affair with Mexico. Beyond the Walls would make an exceptional gift for a friend or family member and provides a great answer to the question many of us hear when we go back to visit our own countries, “Why do you live in Mexico?”? (Ed. Note: This outstanding picture book can be purchased at many of the main shopping venues around Lakeside. It sells for 500 pesos, of which Ms. Pickering will generously donate 450 pesos to the Lakeside School for the Deaf.)

husband became frequent visitors. She fell in love with Mexico and with photography, and she and her husband now divide their time between Mexico and Canada. This book is a definite cut above the average coffee table book. I have toured through the book several times—the many images are so rich and have already enhanced

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The World of Wine By Ceci Rodriguez

What About Screw Caps?

n the last 5 years, we can find in the market a lot of wines sealed with screw caps. Many people don’t purchase them because they think that these are bad quality wines. This may be because we are used to seeing coolers and sodas sealed with the same caps; however, these types of caps were initially designed for wines. Screw cap technology is continuously being tested and improved. One of the newest studies made for members of the enology faculty of the Université Victor Segalen in Bordeaux, compared the “kinetics of oxygen ingress” between corks, various synthetic closures and screwcaps over a three year period. The results were that the commonly used synthetic corks had the highest oxygen permeation. Natural corks had medium levels, and the screw caps allowed low amounts of oxygen. This low amount of oxygen preserves the wine with a greater degree of freshness. As we know, cork comes from the bark of the cork tree, and as an organic substance, cork can easy mold, and it lets air slowly seep into the bottle. Many studies have shown that at least 1 out of every 10 bottles with corks are tainted with mold. The name of this mold is 2, 4, 6 Thrichloroarisole or TCA. The wine will have a musty flavor if it is tainted. It is necessary to store our wine bottles upright, rather than lying down when corks are used. If we have a bottle sealed with a screwcap, it could be stored upright or lying down, The bottles with cork have to be stored on their sides because the tree bark could dry out un-

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less it is kept wet. The dry cork then lets in enough air to oxidate the wine, and the wine becomes less flavorful. With screw caps, it doesn’t matter. And what about aging wines? It is possible to use screw caps on wines selected to age. This is because, as I mentioned, the low amount of oxygen permits a low oxydation and that is what wine needs to age. There is the headspace gas mixture of the bottle to provide the slight amount needed for most of the aging. The settling process is done without any need for oxygen. Of course if you are a traditionalist and enjoy the cork and the ritual of cork-pulling, you are going to miss the aesthetic ceremony and formality of “uncorking” the wine bottle. But if this is the case, and the screw caps seem too modern and “industrial”, you may want to re-examine what is really most important to you. Some things have to progress with realistic re-examination. For example, the Greeks used long pottery containers called “amphorae”. They were beautiful; however the Romans developed glassmaking and glass bottles which changed storage forever. Wineries around the world have started to use screw caps. New Zeland uses screw caps in 80% of its wines; Australia now uses screw caps in about 50% of their wines. Of course, if we have a bad quality wine sealed with a srewcap, keep in mind that you don’t like it because of its quality and not because of the screw cap.

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Phone: (376) 765-3676 (Ojo office for message – I’ll call back) Email: kdavis987@gmail.com Events are listed like a calendar: past events, then those planned for the future. Some organizations offer multiple events or dates. The Culinary Association of Ajijic had a Caribbean theme for their April meeting. Island music, decorations and smells greeted them. CASA members celebrated the mood by wearing bright colors, Bermuda shorts, straw hats and lots of Mardi Gras beads. President Patrick Winn introduced new guests. Peter Palmer, owner of Pedro’s Restaurant and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris gave an informative, fun presentation on Mexico’s unusual fruits and vegetables. In Caribbean Main Dishes, Cheryl Davis won 1st place for her Mofongo Stuffed Chicken on Caribbean Black Beans. Past President and BING winner Donna Carnall won 2nd place for her Caribbean Salmon with BB Sauce and Mango Veggie Salsa. Third Place went to Corbett Merchant for his Haitian Pepper Pot. The display of mouth-watering cakes and pies awarded Joe de Leon 1st place for his Godiva Chocolate Tres Leches Cake and 2nd to Pat Carroll for Pat’s Apple Pecan Cheesecake. Kenee Campo won 3rd place for her White Chocolate and Pecan Merengue Cake. Alice Hutson won People’s Choice for her Jamaican Jerk, and Marianne O’Halloran won for her Coconut Almond Cake with Raspberry-Lime Curd filling. For more information on CASA and joining the group, call Patrick at 7664842 or he can be reached by emailing patriciowinn@ hotmail.com. The recent Chapala Country Club membership drive netted 53 new members. The club offered special, attractive terms and 53 new members quickly People’s Choice CASA Winners responded. As of mid-May there were only two available golfing memberships. Green fee play is an option for golfing non-members while social memberships are available for $100 pesos annual fee and include country club dining, social events and other social activities. The club is semi-private and nonprofit, offering a challenging golf course with beautiful surroundings and a clubhouse that includes dining facilities. For more information, contact Membership Chair Richard Belair at rlbelair@gmail.com or visit the club’s website at rtkenterprise.com/CCChapala/Golfing.asp. The recent LPGA Morelia Championship Tournament held at Tres Marias Residential Golf Club attracted the likes of Michelle Wie, Christie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and, of course, Mexico’s own Lorena Ochoa who successfully defended last year’s title by one stroke in an exciting finish. Volunteer manager John Brown led 52 Lakeside volunteers who were commended for “an outstanding performance.” The next two tournaments will be the Mexican Open and Nationwide Tour in September at El Bosque Golf Club in Leon, Guanajuato, and the Lorena Ochoa LPGA Invitational Tournament in November at Guadalajara Country Club. To become a volunteer, contact Mike Smith at mike7129@ prodigy.net.mx or John Brown at johLunch at Chapala Country Club car2003@yahoo.com or 763-5505.

During the May meeting of the British Society, Libby Colterjhon (photo center) gave a presentation of do’s and do not’s when a spouse or partner dies. Also, during the meeting a new Union Jack Flag was presented by Lady Mary Flemming (right), representing both herself and Tad Davidson, to Ceri Dando (left) and to the club. The flag and its base were purchased with monies raised from the 50/50 raffle organized each month by Lady Mary. The British Society meets at 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month at Manix restaurant. For more details contact Alicia McNiff at 765-4786 or Ceri Dando cpdando2000@yahoo.com. May 3, 45 Cruz Roja personnel enjoyed a five-hour Fiesta to thank them for their efforts during the Cruz Roja Mexicana National Colecta. They were served a full meal with dessert and soft drinks. The pool, Jacuzzi, and lawn football were part of the fun. The person collecting the most money during the Colecta was awarded $500 pesos, and the next five runners-up were awarded $200 pesos each. Juan Notenius, president of the Cruz Roja Chapala, presented the awards. Many members of the Cruz Roja Chapala Consejo were present to congratulate the winners. The Fiesta and all award expenses were paid for with personal funds from the members of Cruz Roja Chapala Consejo. No Cruz British Society receives new flag Roja money was spent for the fiesta or the awards. On June 14 at 2 p.m. Los Cantantes del Lago, founded by Millicent Brandow, will present some of their wonderfully talented singers at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Riberas del Pilar. The concert is to benefit Los Cantantes’ Central Mexico Tour 2009. Joining Millicent are Timothy G. Ruff Welch, music director of Los Cantantes, Amy Friend (who will sing the blues with Tim), John Jones, Mac Morison (he and Millicent will sing “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera), Amaranta Santos, Bill Vincent and Noé & The Classics. It promises to be a magical afternoon. Tickets are $150 pesos and will be available at LCS from June 1 – 13. Call Patricia at 766 – 5744 or Millicent at 765 – 5074. A cash bar will open at 1 p.m. The Ajijic Writers Film Forum will show Chicago (2003) on June 23, 2009 at the Plaza Jardin Restaurant and Theater at 12:00 noon. Doors will open for seating at 11:30 a.m. Food and drinks can be ordered (not included in admission fee). After the movie, there will be discussion on the story and characters, and of course, audience appeal. Participation from one and all is encouraged. Chicago With all the “razzle dazzle” of the stage musical, Chicago centers

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Way back in 1952, when Yuri Knorozov made his breakthrough

discovery that the Mayan glyphs were mostly syllabic, not phonetic, most Mayan scholars failed to believe him. Michael Coe, David Kelly and Floyd Lounsbury were among the few exceptions. Since that time, thanks to those old-hand epigraphers and such relative newcomers as Linda Schele and Peter Mathews, steady progress has been made in deciphering the wealth of Mayan texts. Though these numerous inscriptions tell us nothing about what the common people were up to, we are now able to read and understand a little of the fascinating history of important rulers like Pacal, King of Palenque, and his lifelong struggle to prove his right to the throne. K'inich Janaab' Pacal was born on March 23, 603 CE, the son of Lord K’an Mo’Hix and Lady Sak K’uk’, the reigning Queen of Palenque. Because the royal family claimed the throne through the First Mother, affectionately known to scholars as Lady Beastie, theirs was one of the few pre-Colombian dynasties that allowed a woman to take the crown in default of a male heir. Even so, she was expected to step down the moment any son of hers reached maturity. Pacal, whose name means “Shield” in the Mayan tongue, was crowned king by his mother on July

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29th, 615, shortly after his 12th birthday. The passing of the crown from mother to son was not unknown. It had taken place not many years before when Pacal’s great-grandmother, Lady KanalIkal was queen and her son, Ac-Kan succeeded her. Despite this precedent and the fact Pacal proved to be an unusually wise and capable ruler during his long reign, his right to rule at all was always in question. Since, in all other matters of inheritance the Palenque society property and titles passed only from the father to his heirs, other noble houses felt their claims to the throne to be more valid. Apparently to refute such claims, Pacal and the son who reigned after him, K'inich Chan B'alam II, kept adding magnificent buildings to their capitol city. Every new temple and pyramid prominently displayed images of the Kings and glyphic texts proclaiming their Royal lineage. Most of the existing structures on view today date back to their combined reigns during the seventh century CE. Chan B'alam II was

responsible for the construction of the Temple of the Cross, the Temple of the Foliated Cross and the Temple of the Sun. This trio of lovely buildings crowns the slopes overlooking the Palace Complex. Pacal himself commissioned the building of such major works as the Temple of Olvidado, the Temple of the Count the Royal Palace. This huge complex has many surprising architectural innovations. The roofs were mansardtype, with overhanging eaves to protect the outer walls which were studded with bas beliefs of gods, kings, priests and important ceremonials. The numerous rooms with interior courts overlooked a four-story tower which probably served as both lookout and observatory. The most unusual feature was a long, corbelled vault through which an underground stream flowed assuring the occupants a constant supply of fresh water, an engineering feat of no mean caliber. Pacal’s greatest architectural triumph, however, was the magnificent Temple of the Inscriptions. This, like the Great Pyramids of Egypt, was de-

signed as the King’s last resting place. The tomb chamber lies below ground level and was completed, with the massive sarcophagus in place, before the towering temple structure was built over it. Everything was provided for, including a speaking tube leading to the upper temple through which the deified king could communicate with his priests and advise his people from the otherworld. All was in readiness long before it was needed. Pacal lived long enough to see to the expansion of Palenque’s power over the western part of the Lowland Maya territory and preside over a veritable florescence of arts and engineering. Pacal the Great died on March 31st, 683 at the ripe old age of 80. He had ruled Palenque for 68 years. Even his sarcophagus was designed to bear witness to Pacal’s right to rule. The flat, heavy lid of his sarcophagus shows the dead King falling toward the Xibalba. (Not an astronaut at the controls of a spaceship as Eric von Daniken’s book, Chariots of the Gods, proposes.) The sides and ends, however, are carved with a royal portrait gallery showing the kings and

queens who had ruled before him. His mother and father are there. So are Lady Kanal- Ikal, her son Ac Kan and others from far back in time. All this came as a surprise to 20th century scholars. An actual burial in a pre-Columbian monument was unheard of before 1948 when Mexican archaeologist, Alberto Ruz, raised a stone slab set in the floor of the temple to find a steep flight of steps with 18 inch risers leading precipitously down into the bowels of the pyramid. The passage had been sealed with tightly packed rubble throughout its narrow, twisting descent to the tomb chamber. Removing this fill took Ruz and his crew another four years. It was not until 1952 that they cleared the elaborately decorated burial chamber and found Pacal the Great, together with the richest treasure in grave offerings ever found in Mesoamerica. The jade portrait mask that was still in place and the full suit of jade plaques connected with gold wire that still covered his ancient bones alone were worth a fortune.

the tomb is really Pacal’s. The wearing down of the skeleton’s teeth, they say, indicates a man half the age of the King at the time of his death. Several farfetched reasons are offered to explain the anomaly--a mistake in dates, another king of the same name, etc. The most logical explanation is that, having spent his entire life as either Crown Prince or King, he was not confined to the common man’s diet of gritty, stone-ground maize, stringy root vegetables and tough meats. Royal personages would certainly have always dined on the softest and most refined of foods. Perhaps it is more surprising that a person 80 years old and had any teeth left to be examined. At any rate, the majority of scholars agree that it was indeed Pacal who was found in Pacal’s tomb. Considering the length of his reign, Pacal’s propaganda campaign can be considered an unqualified success. He also succeeded in making his name as permanent and unforgettable as his architecture.

There has been some debate as to whether the body found in

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on Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, two criminals-of-passion on death row in 1920s Chicago. Velma, a vaudevillian, and Roxie, a housewife with aspirations, fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. The film stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, and Richard Gere, also featuring Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski. Songs include “All That Jazz ,” “Funny Honey,” and “Nowadays.” Run time 113 minutes. Food and drinks can be ordered (not included in $50 pesos admission fee). There will be a discussion of the story. Proceeds help fund a scholarship program through Los Niños de Chapala y Ajijic for a creative writing student. Tickets at the door or through Pat Percival. Contact Victoria Schmidt at 765–5858. May 16, 2009 the American Legion Post #7 paid homage to the men and women of America’s military with a special “Armed Forces Day Salute”. The event was held at Morelos #114 in Chapala, home of Post #7. The honors began with a presentation of the colors by the Chapala Police Department color guard in their seldom seen fulldress ceremonial uniforms, which were quite handsome. The flag presentation was followed by retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain Marty Flesh who spoke about “The U. S. Coast Guard: America’s most versatile service”. Dinner offered sweet and sour pork, AWFF film showing stir-fried vegetables, rice and dessert. Lakeside keyboard favorite Ricardo played for listening and dancJune 23 ing. According to newly-elected Commander Tom Keehnen, “Some people will always squabble over the logic behind the wars throughout our history, but all of those presently serving, as well as our veterans, deserve the recognition and honor that can be bestowed upon them.” Pictured are Jami Keehnen, Auxiliary 1st Vice President, Mary Pumiglia, Auxiliary President, Tom Keehnen, Post #7 Commander, and Dan Williams, Past Post Commander and Legion Second Vice PresAmerican Legion and ident. El Ojo del Lago praises these patriotic Auxiliary Chief Officers members for dedication to their nation and their charitable work in Mexico. The American Legion schedule for June: June 1 11 a.m. Legion Executive Board Meeting June 2 11 a.m. Auxiliary Executive Board Meeting June 3 9:30-11:30 a.m. US Consulate & Social Security June 5 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Yard Sale June 25 3 p.m. Lone Star club–be a Texan! June 28 12:30 p.m. Doggie Day, special guest–Lakeside Spay & Neuter July 1-3 p.m. Canada Day, special guest–Kathryn Aleong, Cdn Consul Lakeside Little Theater has two summer programs, one for potential directors, the other for actors, culminating in a public presentation of the play Passengers. Graham Miller, a five-year veteran of the LLT, will conduct the workshops. Emphasis will be on directing and acting techniques specifically useful here at the LLT. All workshops and auditions are 10-1 p.m. Play performances are 7:30 p.m. except Sundays at 3 p.m. June 1-5 Director’s Workshop (this is full, space only for auditing) June 8-12 Acting Techniques June 12 Auditions for Passengers (open to all members) June 15-19 Scene Rehearsals June 22-28 Scene Rehearsals & Public Performances

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

June 29 Private Director’s Critique For more information, contact Graham Miller at 765 – 3693, email milrau@laguna.com.mx. The 2009 – 2010 Season Audition and Performance Dates: 1. Regrets Only, a political comedy, runs September 26 – October 4; auditions are August 7 & 8, 10 a.m. sharp; for scripts, contact Trish Conner at 766 – 5233 2. The Mousetrap, an Agatha Christie mystery, runs October 31 – Nov. 9, no performance November 2; auditions Mexican Color Guard are August 28 – 29, 10 a.m.; for sing national anthem scripts, contact Diane Jones at 765 – 2414 3. Don’t Dress for Dinner, a comedy, runs December 5 – 13; auditions are September 11 – 12, 10 a.m.; for scripts, contact Roger Tredway at 765 – 2427 4. The Dresser, a drama, runs January 16 – 24; auditions are September 25 – 26, 10 a.m.; for scripts, contact Larry King at 764 – 0381 5. The Boy Friend, a musical, runs February 27 – March 9; auditions are October 30 – 31 at 10 a.m.; for scripts, contact Allen McGill, aljons@yahoo. com 6. Dracula, a thriller, runs April 3 – 11; auditions are November 13 – 14, 10 a.m.; for scripts, contact Tod Jonson at 766 – 1981 Mexican Holidays for June: June 11 Corpus Christi falls 60 days after Easter, which was April 12 this year. June 13 San Antonio Tlayacapán celebrates fiestas patronales honoring Saint Anthony of Padua. Carry an umbrella. The rains are early. June 21 Día de los Padres (Father’s Day) coincides with the beginning of summer this year. June 29 San Juan Cosalá and San Juan Tecomatlán celebrate fiestas patronales featuring Saint John the Baptist. Open Circle at LCS on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m.: June 7 Bill Sanders June 14 Susan Reynolds June 21 Dilia Suriel – Mid-Life Radiance June 28 Patsi Krakoff July 5 Dionne Reid June 7 at 6 p.m. VIVA! La Musica will attend the performance of Madame Butterfly at the Degollado Theater. Tickets are $600 pesos for members, $700 for non-members. To book a seat, contact Marshall Krantz at 766 – 2834. Eat early, no time for dinner in town. The summer schedule: June 25 Concert: unforgettable duo performance by Christopher Wilshere on violin and Joel Juan Qui on piano. July 30 Concert: returning Lakeside, baritones David Small and Luis Rodriguez from the University of Texas, performing operatic arias with members of the University of Guadalajara vocal workshop, accompanied by virtuoso pianist Jason Peterson. August 27 Concert: internationally recognized Jose White String Quartet with all principals in the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra. September 10 Concert: A “first” for Lakeside music lovers: the Opera The Elixir of Love by Donizetti conducted by Luis Rodriguez. October 8 Concert: Another romp with Cuauhtemoc Garcia Jazz Flute combo. Season ticket prices will be $900 pesos to members, $1,250 pesos to non members. Individual tickets for the Opera in September will be $250 pesos for members ($350 pesos for non members) and the other four concerts will be $200 pesos for members ($300 pesos for non members). Concerts at the Auditorio, Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.

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AS I SEE IT By Henri Loridans RLMSC@prodigy.net.mx

That White Stuff

he United States is pretty much divided on its president’s decision to declare that water boarding is torture. A slim majority back the declassification of photographs depicting the CIA and other agencies utilizing water boarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques. A majority oppose the president’s suggestion that high ranking officials may face prosecution for authorizing such procedures. I am with the president on the first two mentioned above. I hope that the third does not take place. I believe that activities of a government should be open and public except for rare occasions where national security would be endangered if certain information were released to the public. And, when the risk has passed, John Q. should become aware of what his public servants have been up to. An uninformed citi-

zenry cannot make wise decisions in selecting its leaders. Some who oppose the prosecution of higher ups make the argument that criminal charges were not brought against U.S. presidents who ordered atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; who bombed Dresden; and who impounded innocent Japanese-Americans. So in hindsight, why should anyone be prosecuted for actions many now believe not to have been worthy of that shining city on a hill? I agree, but the bombings and impoundments were not done in secret, and the publicity of the horrors of nuclear warfare has led to non-proliferation treaties; the world condemns those who wage war with no regard for civilian casualties; and apologies and compensation have been made to those Americans of Japanese ancestry who were wronged during World War Two. Water boarding can be traced back to the Inquisition, and the question of whether it is torture reminds me of a riddle we posed to city boys when I was a kid back on the farm: “Do you know what that white stuff is in chicken shit?” When they could not answer, we let them know: “That white stuff is chicken shit too.” So it is with absolute and irrefutable logic that I say: water boarding is torture.

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

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Notes From Nestipac By Phyllis Rauch rauchlosdos@yahoo.com reprinted with the permission of the Ajijiccityguide.com

The Call of the Cicadas

his time of year, one of the most distinctive sounds, overriding even the propane gas truck’s “zeta zeta zeta gas”, is the ear-splitting, nerve grating call of the Mexican giant cicada: chic-chic-chic-chic-chic-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Visiting a recently transplanted retiree to Mexico, I asked the whitehaired dowager how she liked her new home. “Oh it’s quite wonderful, “ she said. I love the flowers, the people, and the weather. If only someone would do something about those terribly loud electric wires!” Smiling, I replied, “You will be much less bothered when I tell you that your electrical wires are, instead, the song of a famous seasonal insect, the cicada or the “raincaller.” The cicada orchestra starts to tune up around Easter. At first I’m delighted to hear the first screeches of what are variously known as rain-callers, rainbirds, and in Spanish, chicharras, I’m delighted with this first sign of the approaching rainy season. As they continue, first just sporadically, then growing to hundreds or thousands, my initial joy becomes a very different feeling. This year I finally made my peace with the yearly concert-racket. I even decided to learn a little more about this quite fascinating insect. After

all, “to know is to love,” right? Here are a few facts: 1. Size: head to wing tip can be up to six inches! 2. Cicadas are the loudest insects known to man. 3. Etymology: Some claim the origin is from the Latin cicada (seems pretty obvious, huh?) Others claim the word comes from the Greek word giga. A few years ago I purchased a small broche in Provence, where it’s a beloved symbol standing for nonchalance or insouciance. Tres Francais I’d say. Cicadas aren’t the same as locusts, a variety of grasshoppers. This common misconception originated with early American settlers who, referring to their Bibles, decided that a very large amount of any insect must be a plague (which cicadas aren’t) and the Bible referred to “plagues of locusts.” The only giant cicada predator is the giant cicada wasp or the large preying mantis. The cicada’s 13 or 17 year breeding cycle is a fairly successful effort to avoid or fool their predators who have a 3-5 year cycle. Since 13 and 17 are prime numbers the cycles seldom cross. Well, perhaps you are now falling in love with the cicada, but, if not yet smitten, when you next hear your thousandth: chic-chic-chic-chicchic, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, stop for a Buddhist moment of presence and think of all the history, mythology, etymology represented by one very large and rather homely insect who is not rubbing his fore or hind legs together, but rather expanding and contracting his abdomen like a lonely, love mad bongo drum!

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

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Shamanism S hamanism a and nd N Neuroscience euroscience By Ronald A. Barnett

he term “shaman” comes from a Siberian complex of languages and signifies ‘one who knows.’ As a form of religious or magical ecstasy found in many parts of the world it is one of the earliest forms of religion. Shamanism involves an out-of-body experience in which it is believed a male or female practitioner enters the spirit world and returns with a message for the people. The shaman receives instructions from the spirit world through dreams, visions, and trances. In order to make contact with the appropriate spirits the shaman makes magical journeys in the spirit to the “real” world of the supernatural beyond this ordinary world of cause and effect. Hallucinogenic drugs or trance states may sometimes be used to help achieve the desired result. A shaman is thought to be in direct contact with the spirits and able to influence them either for good or for evil. A shaman may function as priest, healer, and counsellor. Diseases are believed to be caused by the presence of evil forces that separate the sick person from society. It is the job of the shaman to restore the equilibrium of the patient. The curative value of various forms of traditional medicine has been well-established, especially with those who believe in the power of the shaman as medicine man. Several different classes of healers or shamans still practice in Mexico. Curanderos (“healers”) use a wide variety of herbal remedies, with or without magical accoutrements. Brujos and brujas (“Wizards and Witches”) may practice white or black magic. Neuroscience is the study of the relationship between the mind as mental phenomenon and the brain as

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

the physical basis of mind. By placing electrodes on certain parts of the brain in order to evoke specific subjective experiences, such as feelings, emotions, and concepts, scientists believe that they can prove that the mind and the brain are identical. If so, then all subjective mental states, including feelings of religious transcendence and the out-ofbody-experience of the shaman, can be reduced to that pulsating mass of nervous tissue we call the brain. This effectively does away with the belief that God, spirit, soul, whatever you will, somehow “exist” outside this material world. Some scientists claim that all supposedly subjective states of mind can be explained solely in terms of these physical functions of the brain. Attach the electrode to the right spot in the brain and PRESTO we have a born-again Christian, or a shaman. This is an over-simplification but does the scientist really know which neurons are firing up in his or her own brain at the moment of attaching the electrodes to the subject’s head and eliciting the expected response? Or why this happens at all? I once attended a Huichol curing ceremony. The patient was a woman attended by a marakame or Huichol shaman-priest and his assistant. The head shaman began chanting in Huichol while holding his muwieris, the sacred prayer arrows, by the side of his head. He was communicating with the spirits. Then the woman sat on a mat and the shaman brushed the muvieries over her entire body. The assistant shaman, who spoke Spanish, explained to us that the marakame was turning over the pages of the life history of the patient searching for the cause of the illness. When he found it he sucked the top of the patient=s head, removed the evil particle that had made the woman ill, and ceremoniously dropped it in the fire,

thus consuming the evil and freeing the woman of the illness. The head shaman insisted we all take part. As I sat on the sacred mat and the shaman waved the magic prayer arrows over me I passed from objective observer to subjective participant. I felt as if I had been born a Huichol. I did not try to analyse my feelings or state of mind, I was floating in that “collective consciousness” of the human race that transcends Darwin and his devotees. Afterwards I did not enquire after the woman patient but we all left with a soothing sense of well-being. A regular priest could have done no more.

What would a behaviourist psychologist have made of the “publicly verifiable empirical evidence” of my inner mental state? If we can infer another person’s state of mind only through objective observation and interpretation of outward signs and behaviour, then obviously we cannot fully participate in the subjective experience of another person. Did the shaman’s spirit leave his body and ascend to the spirit world or did a fortuitous series of neurons in the shaman’s brain propitiously fire up simultaneously producing the “illusion” that he apparently experienced? You would have to ask the shaman.

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THE T HE O OLD LD M MAN AN A AND ND T THE HE D DOG OG By Catherine Moore

ad had been a lumberjack. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and the shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess. The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn’t lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later I saw him straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age. At sixty-seven, he had a heart attack. He was lucky; he survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. Offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm. The number of visitors finally stopped. Dad was left alone. My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week, I regretted the invitation. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Alarmed, Dick set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session we prayed, asking God to soothe Dad’s troubled mind. I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. Each pen contained five to seven dogs. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front and sat down. He was a pointer, one of the dog world’s aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly. I pointed to the dog. The kennel officer shook his head. “He appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we’ve heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.” “You’re going to kill him?” “Ma’am,” he said gently, “we don’t have room for every unclaimed dog.” I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. “I’ll take him,” I said. I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn

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twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. “Look what I got for you, Dad!” Dad wrinkled his face in disgust. “If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones.” Anger rose inside me. “You’d better get used to him, Dad. He’s staying!” We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw. Dad’s lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal. It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together he and Cheyenne spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet. Dad’s bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne’s cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father’s room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night. Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered

Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad’s bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad’s peace of mind. The morning of Dad’s funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his tribute to both Dad and the dog

that had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article. Cheyenne’s unexpected appearance at the animal shelter, his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father, and the proximity of their deaths. God had answered my prayers, after all.

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Hearts at Work —A Column by Jim Tipton

Can You Walk a 1000 Miles?

akeside with its lovely little villages, its malecons, its gentle mountains, and its wonderful climate, is a walker’s paradise. One need nothing more than a good pair of shoes. We have all read that walking is good for us, that over time our blood pressure will drop to normal, our circulation will dramatically improve, and our hearts will become healthy once again. (The New Journal of Medicine reports that women who walk more than 5 hours/week reduce their heart attack risk by 50%.) You will develop strength and endurance (both on and off the walking path.) Fat people attract fewer love opportunities than people who are not fat. Furthermore, fat people have a harder time performing well sexually. When you walk regularly and begin to “look good” you will begin to “look good” to yourself as well, giving you a confidence and radiance that just might be irresistible! Keep in mind that a 180 pound person walking at a moderate pace--3 miles/hour—will burn 320 calories per hour. Walking is a good way to meet people. We naturally bond with other people who are doing the same thing we are. Find those trails that feel good to you and that are popular with the type of people you would like to attract. About a month ago I began, with a buddy, walking three days a week for at least one hour (usually more). We usually walk at least three miles during that time. We usually walk on the nice paths down by the Chapala malecon, to be near Lake Chapala, but we also like to walk through Cristianía Park in Chapala and we walk the village streets as well. And the off days I have been walking as well, and I usually walk at least five or six miles during a day. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” What the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu actually said was something more like, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin where you stand.” The “first step” is actually making the decision. It was Lao-tzu, incidentally, who wrote the Tao Te Ching (the Book of the Way) and who was the founder of Taoism. A 1000 miles sounds like a significant journey. The circumference of the earth, measured between the North and South Pole, is 25,000 miles, and so a journey of a 1000 miles is four

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h circumference i f h percent off the off the earth. That’s a lot of walking, isn’t it? The distance between Denver and Chicago is just a little over a 1000 miles. The distance between Flagstaff, Arizona, and the tropical resort of Mazatlan, Mexico, is just a little under a 1000 miles. The distance between New York City and Fort Lauderdale is a little over a 1000 miles. A 1000 miles. Yes, that’s a lot of walking. Or is it? 1000 miles isn’t much at all when you walk a little each day. Lots of walkers do at least 1 hour a day at a decent pace, managing around 3 miles in that hour (serious walkers often clip of 3.5 to 5 miles per hours). In 365 days, that 3 miles adds up to a whopping 1095 miles. Cut out the extra 95 miles by taking a month off, and you still come in at 1,000 miles. So call up your walking buddies, buy some pedometers if you enjoy using them (or measure out a walking course in advance or simply count the hours) and hit the trail, whether that be a wooded one, or sidewalks in a city park, or a country road at sunrise. Jot down the date and distance, including the cumulative distance for each month and ultimately for the year. You may find yourself jotting down other things as well, so that this expands into your own “Walker’s Journal,” filled with memories, conversations, sounds, the changes in the seasons, poems, new companions, old companions…your life. And pick up a copy of local walker Gerry Green’s book, Walks & Trails around Ajijic. A “journey of a thousand miles?” A good annual goal…and for most of us this is easily achieved when we decide that walking may have more benefits than watching one more graphic episode of Law & Order or one more re-run of Friends. Jim Tipton

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Havoc In Motion By Jay White

hen Mama was eleven years old she taught her pet chicken to walk backward. It was a black, bandy hen with delicate curlydown feathers from its elbows to its toenails, which items Mama had painted with pink fingernail polish. Grampaw and I were down at the tank fishing and he was telling me about it. “Well, sir,” Grampaw said, knocking his pipe out on the pine stump that was his fishing seat, “nobody knows how your mama done it.” He said this squinting into the bowl of the pipe to see if there was any fire left inside. Satisfied he wasn’t about to self- immolate, he tucked the pipe in the bib pocket of his overalls and pulled in his line to see if his bait (piece of liver) was still on “...But it took her a solid year. That little tow-headed gal would go off with her pet under her arm and a look on her face and stay all day in the meadow behind the barn. It was a secret, don’cha see?”

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Jay White I said I did see, so he went on. “Then one morning I was feeding the shoats--just standing there shaking out slops, and blamed if that little hen didn’t just come a-wandering around the side of the pig pen backward, singing her sweetest song, and that was that.” “Well, I swan,” I said. “If the bidnis had ended right there, why, nobody would have thought much of it, but it didn’t, and so here come old tragedy.” “What happened, Grampaw?” “Well, all the other chickens on the place got to watching that little bandy hen walking around back-

wards getting all the attention. When word got out there was a backwardwalking chicken on the place, neighbors stopped by to see it, naturally. Even folks from town come driving by real slow with their faces stuck out the windows of their automobiles to see if they could spot that backward-walking chicken.” “…As I say though,” Grampaw went on, “when them other chickens saw what a hit she was, they commenced trying to ape her—Lordy! them big ol’ fumblebutt chickens was falling over sideways, getting their legs all tangled up, running into stumps and posts and one another and just generally causing havoc on the place; but then, one after another, blamed if they didn’t start to get it! And, before you could scratch a chigger, ever dern bird on the place was walking around backwards just as if that was what God intended in the first place.” “What happened then?” “Oh, the hoopla died down after awhile. But then in the fall of that year the cows came up at milking time one evening and two of them walking backward and I knew the little black hen had to go.” “What did you tell Mama?” “I told her a possum got it.”

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El Ojo del Lago June 2009

PAW PRINTS ON MY HEART By Gudrun Jones, Co-Founder & President of the Lakeside Spay & Neuter Center

here are times when I wonder how my heart can keep on beating, it has been broken so many times that I think the cracks will make it crumble and it will no longer function. Sometimes I wish that I could put an iron cast around my heart so it can feel no more. Today again I felt the pain of a breaking heart when I had to retrieve a little dog that only a few days ago had found a home of its own. “It doesn’t work out,” I was told over the phone. When I arrived at the home and rang the bell the little dog greeted me at the door. With a wagging tail and happy little barks he ran around the room picking up various items that he deemed to be his, showing me all his treasures. He ran from me, back to his owner, back to me not sure where to place his allegiance. On the way to the car, tail still wagging, he kept looking back for his master, not wanting to go anyplace without him. At the Ranch it finally dawned on him that he was no longer wanted, the tail stopped wagging and in the darkness of his eyes I saw the question “Why?” I could not answer it; all I could do is hold him and cry with him. At the Ranch he will be wanted and loved by a few wonderful volunteers who will care for him. It is not easy to be a volunteer at an animal organization. It takes commitment. Once a day is pledged it must take precedence over anything else that arises except a serious illness or a real emergency. Animals are living, breathing creatures and can not be put aside and tended to later in the day. The Lakeside Spay & Neuter Center, A.C. (“LSNC,A.C.) is always

looking for volunteers and if you decide to join us whether it is with an offer to help clean the Ranch, collect money, be involved with our fundraisers or come to spend time with the dogs that otherwise will be forgotten, you will be an important member of our organization. When you help collect money remember that every peso counts; when you help clean the Ranch—remember that every hand counts; when you spend time with the dogs—remember that every minute counts; and if you take part in the fundraising—remember that every idea counts…. If you are a volunteer and give help to the neediest of needy then know that without you the LSNC, A.C. could not function. Even though the work you do is rewarded only by the knowledge that you heal broken hearts and broken trust, it propels you into a league of your own and makes you a person that knocks on the door of greatness. For how greater can a person be then the one who gives of himself, respects all life and knows that the well being of a breathing living thing can never be replaced by worldly goods. Out of many only a few will shine and you, the volunteer, will be the bright and shining light of the LSNC. Become a Volunteer, learn dog language and make your life count. For more information call Gudrun Jones 766-3813

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Howard and Helen Play House By James Tipton

H H

elen had not been the same since Howard had hit her in the head with a can of tuna. Yes, that was Howard as in “husband” Howard, the same Howard who liked to tell Helen that she needed to change her hair, that he wanted her to look more like Betty Crocker on the cake boxes after the “big” war. Helen, twenty years younger than Harold, had no idea what Betty Crocker’s hair looked like after the “big” war. All she knew was that Howard was a little boy then and that he had waited every day for four long boy years before his father finally came home, only to leave again, a couple of years later, and that time it was forever. Helen’s head had hurt now for over two weeks. Howard had been mad because Helen once again had started to chop celery and onions to make tuna fish sandwiches for supper. Howard hated tuna fish sandwiches. How-

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

ard had hurled the unopened can of tuna at Helen, but he had not, he said, intended to hit her. He thought she would catch it. She caught it all right, right in the middle of her old forehead. Helen slumped to the kitchen floor and leaned against the cabinets. The white terry cloth towel Howard handed her turned red. When she could finally stand and the bleeding seemed to have stopped, Howard helped her to his leather Lazy Boy and turned on her favorite channel, Animal Planet. He ordered a pizza, double pepperoni. He paid outside the door and returned to Helen. Around her eyes and across her forehead she was already beginning to turn a dark and ugly blue. “I think you need to stay at home and rest for a few days,” Howard said. “Howard…tomorrow is the day I go to get my hair done.” “Your hair looks terrific Helen, it can wait a couple of weeks.”

“I want to go tomorrow, Howard.” “You can’t go looking like this!” “I’ll tell them I ran into a can of tuna.” He put two slices of pizza onto her best china and handed it to her. She waved it away. Now, two weeks had passed. The dark blue circles were lighter and the wound on her forehead had begun to heal. Her hair had never looked so good. But that tuna can had also hit Helen’s heart. That wound had not healed at all. And Helen was beginning to hate

The Animal Planet. Howard was standing in the kitchen chopping celery and onions to make tuna fish salad, Helen’s favorite. Helen ordered a pizza, double pepperoni. Her battered green American Tourister bag she had purchased shortly before the wedding stood hidden behind the bushes just outside the door. When the delivery boy arrived, she set the pizza inside and offered the boy $10 to take her to the bus station. As Helen picked up her bag she realized she had packed it years ago.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Sir: The ACLU won a case in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act for the release of dozens of photographs held by the Department of Defense. These pictures are not more of the same from Abu Ghraib, but are from several other prisons. More prison locations indicate that it was not a few low-ranking “bad apples” as President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed, but instead was characteristic of a wider policy for which Lynndie England and her fiancé became scapegoats. Today there was a news alert from the Washington Post that President Obama has reversed himself and will oppose the release of the pictures, because he “strongly believes that the release of these photos ... would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing US forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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First it was a preemptive invasion of a sovereign country, based on lies, and without a declaration of war from Congress. Then it was occupation, abuse of prisoners, and even torture. Our own behavior has endangered us and now we must hide it. President Bush set us on a “slippery slope” at a steep angle. Obama’s slight to the Freedom of Information Act illustrates just how difficult it is to regain the lofty citadel of rule by law. Fred Mittag Villas de San Pablo

TODD STONG, PhD, PE ON LAKESIDE INFRASTRUCTURE By Kay Davis

n April 5, Todd Stong answered questions at Open Circle with the direct, yet oddly oblique, responses so common of Casey Stengel, long time manager of the New York Yankees. Not that Todd was trying to evade answers. It’s just that sometimes the answer involves a question not yet raised. For instance, why aren’t sewage capacities up to par? Answer: the airport. What was that? It turns out that when turbines are sitting on the concrete, waiting for parts, customs may be backed up at the airport. In short, simple answers don’t apply to interrelated issues, and sewage is one such topic. How about expanding the carretera along the north shore? There has been plenty of talk about alternative routing but lately nothing about using Ocampo for eastbound traffic while 16th provides westbound flow. There is talk about using a high road farther up the mountain, a choice not favored by home owners high up. And any discussion of extending the Libramiento to the water’s edge and running alongside the lake front or over the water east-west has been ended by the contract with WalMart. Cobblestone streets are a related issue. Todd would prefer the stones were surrounded with concrete so the cobblestones would stay in place, much as is being done in Jocotepec. Joco is putting in sewer pipes deep under the streets that are being redone. In time all streets will have this improved method of servicing public needs within town. Toxicity in the lake is another question related to sewage if it is leaking into the lake. However, the water here is healthier than in northern lakes like the Great Lake system. Toxic materials are found only within the organs of fish that feed off the bottom while the white meat is unaffected, therefore good to eat. A bigger problem is over-fishing, an education issue. Old ways are slow to change. Crime and drugs are another education issue. Our local community is better than many others, but Mexico still rates a sixth grade education as “literate.” For many Mexicans, assuming they can afford schooling at all, sixth grade is all they can manage. Raising expectations will come as more jobs become available. Meanwhile skills training, English training and athletics are areas that ex-pats can help with by volunteering knowledge and time.

Security will come when police are on the street rather than in the backs of trucks. But to achieve that change depends on politics, much dependent on election cycles, as is every other project related to our local infrastructure. The budgets are based in Chapala and Jocotopec, which come, in part, from Jalisco funding. How many politicians directly affect whether the malecon and beach developments at Lake Chapala are ever completed? Quien sabe? (Who knows?) What we do know is that there is a threeyear cycle, or term in office, to local politics. The first year, the politician learns, establishes contacts and begins to build long term plans. Year two, he gets done, and the media praises him. Year three, he needs to run for office so he will have a second term in which to carry out all that planning. Not much else gets done in year three. Assuming that he gets reelected, some of that cycle is shortened and more work is actually accomplished unless he is the kind of politician who seeks to gain personally from the position, in which case the whole community loses. Sounds like back home, doesn’t it? About a generation back, the same issues were being worked on up north. Now their infrastructure is in place. And knowing that gives me hope for our infrastructure at Lakeside.

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Welcome to Mexico! By Victoria Schmidt

Lessons Learned

had an abrupt education on the lifestyle of some of the less fortunate families in our neighborhood in one of our first homes in Mexico. Our bedroom window looked out over the top of the wall, which separated our property from our neighbors, and we couldn’t help witnessing this family as they went through their daily routines. The mother started out her day very early—often before daybreak. I imagined she was the first to rise, as many moms do, to get the family ready for their day. She would be outside watering the potted plants (I think she was raising them to sell.) Or she was washing clothes in an outdoor sink, by hand. She would scrub those clothes on a washboard, rinse, and wring and hang them on the line to dry. We couldn’t see their house, only the edge of the building where there was an outdoor sink. As time passed, I began to realize, that she did her dishes in that outdoor sink, and still later, I realized that she was cooking outside as well. The edge of the house that I could see I had always imagined as a bodega. But later I came to the stark realization that the “bodega” was in actuality their home. I think it may have been a oneroom structure. Our window didn’t afford us a view of the access to this property, but I believe I discovered it one day when I found a cluttered footpath that lead in the general direction of their property. I know they had at least one child, probably two. I know one was a girl, as I was delighted in hearing a back-yard birthday party complete with giggles, laughter and singing. All were young girls having a deliciously silly time. The father almost always came home after midnight. Wether he worked

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

that late or not, I cannot say, but his ancient pick-up truck always rattled in past midnight. I thought about this family often. In the USA, I did not see this level of poverty in my zoned, trimmed, and secured suburban neighborhood. I was not privy to the daily insights of the lives of those who had so little. But here in Mexico our homes were back-to-back, and as I did my own laundry, I thought about the mother scrubbing her fingers raw on the rippled washboard. When I cooked, I found myself thinking about her cooking outdoors, and as I washed my dirty dishes inside my spacious kitchen in my thoroughly modern home, I thought about her washing her dishes in the sink outside. When our maid cleaned twice each week, I thought of the mother in our back yard that worked so hard at her house before she left for her job. Was she someone’s maid? Did she clean a house like mine? Where did my own maid live? What was her home like? When I would think about these things, I would experience mixed feelings. I would feel blessed for all that I had, awe at the grace with which this family led their life, guilt at how unfair life can be, helpless in my inability to lend assistance, and shame at the disparities in our lives and grateful for the education given me. We have since moved to a different home at Lakeside, but I carry the lessons I learned from this family with Victoria Schmidt me every day.

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(From a recent 60 Minutes TV program)

“A

s I grow in age, I value women who are over 50 most of all. Here are just few reasons why: A woman over 50 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, “What are you thinking?” She doesn’t care what you think. If a woman over 50 doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And it’s usually something more interesting. A woman over 50 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 50 give a hoot what you might think about her or what she’s doing. Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated. A woman over 50 has the selfassurance to introduce you to her female friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn’t trust him with other women. Women over 50 couldn’t care less if you’re attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won’t betray her. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50. They al-

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

ways know. A woman over 50 looks good wearing bright red lipstick! This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, or if you are acting like one! You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we can praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, wellcoiffed, hot woman of 50+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow polyester pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress. Ladies, I apologize for all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” Guys, here’s an update for you. Now, 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage....”

LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY 16 DE SEPTIEMBRE #16-A AJIJIC, JAL, MX WWW.LAKECHAPALASOCIETY.ORG

News

June 2009

President’s Message for June As June begins, I hope the rainy season will start soon! We had a little taste of it in May, but that was just a teaser! Soon we will forget all about the dust in the very air we breathe and covering every surface a few minutes after they are cleaned. Only the fresh smell of the rain will occupy our minds, now that the swine flu seems to be behind us! Thanks to the decisive action of the Mexican authorities, it became a non-problem for the most part, in our part of Mexico anyway. LCS cancelled a few lectures and movies and moved small groups out into the open as we closed the Sala in accordance with the Health Department guidelines. But we really didn’t suffer much here, thank God, to keep the virus from spreading. I want to announce the change from Jon Pace to Tom Keane as Video Director. Jon has served in that capacity very ably for over three years now, but he and Arlene are moving to their dream home in Manzanillo, so he resigned in May. He recommended Tom Keane to replace him and the LCS board agreed wholeheartedly with that choice. Tom has been in charge of scheduling video volunteers for awhile now and I am sure will do an excellent job as director. Allan Flaa will remain as video volunteer trainer. The upgrading process is continuing for the LCS grounds. A new brick walkway now joins the front booth to the smoker’s patio and another provides access from the Volunteer Patio behind the fishpond to the existing walk leading to the rear of the property. Using these new paths allows our members a different way to get from the main gate to the Neill James Patio and Sala without passing what can often be a bottleneck in front of the library, especially in the high season. You may also notice more light filtering down to show you the way, since the tree surgeon diagnosed six or seven trees at LCS with a parasite similar to mistletoe. This meant some limbs had to be removed to save the trees and now more sunlight is getting through the canopy to the plants below. Between the added sunlight and the rains, the plants all over the LCS grounds will soon be growing like crazy! Planning of the annual July Fiesta, scheduled for Saturday, July 25, is beginning. Volunteers are needed for this BIG job, so please let me know if you want to be part of the planning of this major LCS fundraiser for the year. With your help the July Fiesta will be better than ever! I hope everyone enjoys the summer! ~ Nancy Creevan, President ~

July 25th - Annual FIESTA on LCS Grounds

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LCS

News MONTHLY SCHEDULED EVENTS LCS Board Meeting: 2nd Wednesday at 11:30

INFORMATION SERVICES

• LCS Office, Information desk, library and video library Monday thru Saturday 10 - 2 • Insurance Information AIG Insurance – Friday, 11 - 2 BUPA Medical Ins. – Wednesday, 10 - 12 NY Life Insurance – Tuesday & Friday, 11 - 2 • Immigration & Legal Info – Monday & Friday, 10 – 12 • IMSS - Monday & Tuesday, 10 -1 on the St. Anthony Patio • LINK – Monday, 10 -12, November thru April • Talking Books Library – Thursday, 10 - 1 • U.S. Consular Visit – 1st Wednesday of each month, 12 – 2 and the list sign-up begins at 11:30 on the Neill James Patio • San Javier Hospital Rep. - 2nd Weds. at 11

LESSONS

• Country Line Dancing, Tuesday & Thursday, 10 -11 • Spanish (5 levels) - Beginner class sign-up in office • Yoga – Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, 2 - 3:30

GROUPS

• Alcoholics Anonymous - Monday & Thursday, 4:30 • Chess Players - Wednesday, 2 - 5 • Computer Club (Linux) - Monday, 9:30 - 10:30 • Computer Club (MAC) - First Monday, 12 - 1:30 • Computer Club (Windows) - Monday, 10:30 - 11:45 • Digital Camera Club - Wednesday, 10:30 - 12 • Film Aficionados - Thursdays, in the Sala, 2 - 4 • LCS Learning Seminars - Tuesday, 12 - 2, Sala • Mah Jongg - Friday, 10 -2 • Needlepushers - Tuesday, 10 - 12 • Open Circle - Sunday, 10 - 12 • Scrabble Group - Monday & Friday, 12 - 2:30 • Genealogy - last Monday, 2 - 4 • Tournament Scrabble - Tuesday & Thursday, 12 - 3 • Quilt Guild - 2nd Tuesday, 10 -12

June 2009 LIBRARY NEWS The Library continues to receive new books by members bringing them in when they travel home. A recent trip into Guadalajara to Sandi’s Bookstore resulted in the purchase of about a dozen titles the library had on its wish list and the prices were very reasonable. A relationship with Sandi’s will be explored to see if they can meet the LCS needs for newly published titles at a good price. Please take a minute to fill out the reading request sheets on the main library door, or you can use the suggestion box on the wall by the Reading Room. In the Reading Room there is a computer available for access to the internet. Members can use this to read emails, newspapers or do reasearch. Please be aware that others will be wanting to use the computer so limit your time appropriately.

SPANISH PROGRAM Registration for advanced Spanish classes (levels 2 through 5) will be held the week of August 10. Classes will begin the week of September 14. There will be online registration available, payment to be made by Paypal. Watch the Spanish section of the website for more details.

FOOD & OTHER EVENTS

LCS GROUPS USE SURVEY

NOTE: Times and offerings are subject to change.

A survey is available in the Services Area to all members who wish to participate in the assessment process regarding external groups usage of the LCS grounds and facilities. Please find a minute to stop in and fill out the survey, your input is needed and appreciated. The survey time ends on June 4th.

• ACA Fresh Veggies – Tuesday, 11 - 2 in the Cafe • Children’s Art Classes – Saturday, 10 - 12 • Exercise - Monday, Weds & Friday, 9 in the Gazebo

Check with the LCS office if you have questions. Send changes to binkcaldwell@yahoo.com.

www.lakechapalasociety.org

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LCS

News

June 2009

Film Aficianados - at 2 PM Thursday in the Sala 4 June - FURY - (1936) Directed by Fritz Lang, his first American film. One of the great films of all-time it made Spencer Tracy a star. How could there be an Abu Ghraib? A Nazi Germany? See this film and have enough food for thought fit for a banquet. 11 June - THE PAGE TURNER- (2007) A French thriller.......originally scheduled for April. 18 June - FROZEN RIVER - (2008) Filmed in Canada and upstate new York. The story of a woman’s fight to survive, illegal immigration and a lot more. The Film series is on vacation through July and August. The next film will be on August 27th. Suggestions for films may be made by submitting the suggestion to the suggestion box located outside the Library Reading Room in the white Buzon.

SUGGESTION BOX NEEDS YOUR SUGGESTIONS THERE IS A SUGGESTION BOX LOCATED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE LIBRARY READING ROOM. YOU CAN ASK IN THE SERVICES OFFICE FOR PAPER AND PENCIL, OR YOU CAN USE THE PAPER AND PENCIL LOCATED AT THE BULLETIN BOARD. ITS IMPORTANT TO LCS TO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND WHY. IF YOU DESIRE A SPECIFIC ANSWER, PLEASE GIVE CONTACT INFORMATION IN YOUR SUGGESTION.

LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY 16 de Septiembre #16-A, Ajijic, Jalisco LCS Main Office: 766-1140 www.lakechapalasociety.org Office and services open Monday – Friday, 10 to 2 and Saturday 10 to 2 Grounds are open until 5

LCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President - Nancy Creevan Vice-President - Richard Bailey Secretary - Mary Ann Waite Sr. Director 1 for Buildings & Grounds - Kenneth Caldwell Sr. Director 2 for Finance - Rick Feldmann Sr. Director 3 for Services & Activities - Karen Schirack LCS Education Director - Mary Alice Sargent Business Office Administrator - Terry Vidal THE LCS NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS THE 15TH OF THE MONTH PRECEDING PUBLICATION. NEWS ITEMS OR CORRECTIONS MAY BE LEFT AT THE LCS OFFICE OR E-MAILED TO BINKCALDWELL @YAHOO.COM NOTE: THE EDITORIAL STAFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO COMPLETE EDITING PRIVILEGES. ARTICLES AND/OR CALENDAR EVENTS WILL BE INCLUDED ACCORDING TO TIME, SPACE AVAILABILITY AND EDITORIAL DECISION ON THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION.

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR LCS CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEBSITE WWW.LAKECHAPALASOCIETY.ORG

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Service

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

www.tel.chapala.com

DIRECTORY - EMU OIL

ADVERTISING

Tel: 766-3626

Tel: 765-2233

Pag: 42

Pag: 11

* BED & BREAKFAST

Tel: 765-3676

01 (33) 3677-1713

Tel: 766-0050

Pag: 40

* BEER & LIQUOR STORES - BETO’S LIQUOR

Tel: 762-1646

Pag: 61

- MODELORAMA

Pag: 18

- LAKESIDE SPAY & NEUTER CENTER, A.C.

Tel: 765-5882

Pag: 47

Tel: 765-3540

Pag: 37

- ARTE AMANECER Pag: 56

Tel: 765-2090

Pag: 30

- RICARDO FERNANDEZ

Tel: 765-2224

Tel: 766-5149

Cell. (045) 331-135-0763

Tel: 766-2678, 765-2055

- DEE’S PET CARE

Pag: 47

- SURO & ARCINIEGA - ARQUITECTOS - WARWICK CONSTRUCTION

Tel: 766-5420, Cell (045) 333-507-3024 Pag: 51

* FURNITURE

- ARDEN MEXICO

Tel: (33) 3823 7295, 3817 0299

* ANIMAL CLINICS/SERVICES

Tel: 766-3062

Pag: 59

- AJIJIC ART & DESIGN Pag: 43

- PISAFIRM Tel: 766-5008

Pag: 33

- ANIMAL CARE

Tel: 766-1946, Cell. (045) 333-369-3737

Pag: 57

Tel/Fax: 01(33) 3628-4919,

- AMERICANAIRLINES

766-1760 765-4444 766-5555

- PIETRA FINA

- CASA DEL SOL

* AIR LINES

066 765-2308, 765-2553 766-3615

- INSTALA Cell: (045) 33 1440 6905

- EL OJO DEL LAGO

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

Pag: 52

Pag: 58

Pag: 39

- TEMPUR Tel: (52) 333-629-5919, 333-629-5961

Pag: 60

* DENTISTS

- TEQUILA EL VIEJITO Tel: 33-3812-9092

* GARDENING

Pag: 25 - AJIJIC DENTAL

Tel: 766-0821 - PET SHOP

* BLINDS AND CURTAINS

Pag: 51

Tel: 766-3682

Pag: 13

- C.D. MARÍA LUISA LUIS VILLA

- SALUD ANIMAL Tel: 766-1009

Pag: 55

- CABO DO MUNDO - INTERIOR DESIGN

Tel/Fax: 766-2428

Tel: 766-0026

- C.D. SANDRA ANAYA MORA

Pag: 19, 38

Tel: 765-3502, 765-5444

* ART CLASSES * BOUTIQUE / CLOTHING STORES Tel: 766-0734

Pag: 14

- CUGINIS OPUS BOUTIQUE

Tel: 766-1816 Tel: 766-1153

Tel: 766-2845

Pag: 40

* CEILING FANS

Pag: 24

Tel: 765-5097

- HEALTH AND BEAUTY Pag: 21

- DR. FRANCISCO CONTRERAS

Tel: (387) 763 0448

Pag: 59

- HYPNOSIS - AUDA HAMMETT

Pag: 53

Pag: 18

Tel: 765-3193, 765-6974

* HEARING AIDS Pag: 08

- VENTILADORES DEL OCCIDENTE

- GUADALAJARA AUDIOLOGICAL SERVICES

Tel/Fax: (33) 3631-6619, 3634-9982

- THE AJIJIC ART HOUSE

Pag: 05

* HEALTH

- DR. HECTOR HARO, DDS.

- EL PALOMAR Tel: 01 (33) 3635-5247

Tel: 766-0880, Fax: 766-2440

Pag: 07

- DR. ALBERTO DON OLIVERA

Tel: 765-5757 Pag: 45

- FERRETERIA Y TLAPALERIA GALVEZ

Tel: 766-2881, 766-0075

Tels: 765-4838, 765-4805

- DIANE PEARL COLECCIONES Tel: 766-5683

* HARDWARE STORES Pag: 15 Pag: 10

Cell: (045) 333-108-7727 Pag: 24, 55

- LEATHER GALLERY Pag: 28

Pag: 19

- FIAGA BOUTIQUE

- CATHY CHALVIGNAC

Pag: 59

- DRA. DOLORES RUSSELL D.D.S.

Tel/Fax: 766-1790

* ART GALLERIES/HANDCRAFTS

Tel: 765-5973 Pag: 17

- DRA. ANGELICA ALDANA LEMA DDS Tel. 766-5374

- ARTELAURI

- GARDEN CENTER

Pag: 06

* DRY CLEANING/LAUNDRY

Cell. (045) 33-1511-4088

Pag: 61

Pag: 22

* CHURCHES

* HOME APPLIANCES

- DEL MAR Tel: 766-4278

* AUTOMATIC DOORS

Pag: 12

- LAKE CHAPALA BAPTIST CHURCH - AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS Tel: 766 - 4973, Cell: (045) 33-3157- 6536

Tel: 765-2925

- EL TIO SAM Pag: 56, 58

- INTERCAM

- HANDY MAIL Pag: 49

- GRUPO OLMESA Pag: 46

Pag: 24

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER

Tel: 766-0647, Fax: 766-0775

Fax: 001(623) 327-1277 Pag: 58

- LINEA PROFESIONAL

* COMPUTING SERVICES

Pag: 17

- AJIJIC COMPUTING Pag: 60

Pag: 16, 53

- HOTEL AJIJIC

Tel: 766-2914

Tel: (376) 766 0383

Pag: 40

Pag: 42

- LA NUEVA POSADA Pag: 26

- MONEX

Tel: 765-4156

Tel: 766-1444, Fax: 766-2049

Pag: 03

- LOS CROTOS

Tel: 766-4202

Pag: 67

- CAFE INTERNET AJIJIC

* BANK INVESTMENT

Tel: 766-1500

- LAKESIDE MORTGAGE CONSULTANTS

Tel: 766-5876 Pag: 50

- CASA BLANCA Pag: 12

- MORTGAGES IN MEXICO LLC

- RON YOUNG-MECHANIC Tel: 765-6387

* HOTELS / SUITES

DAVID LESNICK CFP

- MAILBOXES, ETC. 761-0363, Fax: 761-0364

Pag: 20

Pag: 49

- LAKESIDE FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Tel: 766-3813

Tel. 766-2555, Fax. 766-0066

Tel: 765-4266

Tel: 766-5978

- CAR CITY

Pag: 23

- TECNICOS UNIDOS

* COMMUNICATIONS

Tel: 766-3780

Tel: 766-5664

Pag: 40

* AUTOMOTIVE

Tel: 765-2550

* FINANCIAL SERVICES

Tel: 764-0067

Pag: 55

- MIS AMORES

Tel: 766-3626

* FITNESS CENTER

Pag: 11

Tels: 766-4640, 4641, 4642

Pag: 26

- VILLAS DEL SOL

- MULTIVA Tel: 766-2499

* CONSIGNMENT SHOP

Pag: 19

- CHANGE OF PACE Tel: 766-5800

- SUZY’S CONSIGNMENT SHOP

* BAKERY

Tel: 766 1152

* INSURANCE

- STANDBIKE

Tel: 766-5458

Pag: 45

Tel: 765-6271

Pag: 39 - EDGAR CEDEÑO

- BRENDA’S BAKERY BOUTIQUE Tel: 765-2987

Pag: 48

Pag: 09

* CONSTRUCTION

Pag: 27

* FUMIGATION

Cell: (045) 33-3106-6982

Pag: 20

- LLOYD

* BEAUTY - DEPILARTE

Pag: 25

- CABO DO MUNDO- INTERIOR DESIGN

- FUMIGA

Tel: 766-0026

Tel: 762-0078, (045) 33-1155-7059

- CONSTRUCTION & REMODELING

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Pag: 19,38

- FUMI-TECH

Tel: 766-0152, 766-3508 Pag: 60

Pag: 26

LEGAL SERVICES - MAGO’S OFFICE Tel: 765-3640

Ilse40@megared.net.mx

- ROMA

www.mexicoadventure.com/chapala/guadalajara.htm

Tel: 766-3163

Tel: 01 (33) 3647-3912

- VILLAS DEL SOL

- IMAC Pag: 18

Tel: 766 1152

Pag: 08

Tel: 52 (33) 3613-1080

Pag: 45

- INSTITUTO TERRANOVA Pag: 48

Tel: 766-2401, 766-3999

Pag: 47

* PHARMACIES * REPAIRS

* LIGHTING & DECORATION

* SECURITY SYSTEMS / WIRE FENCES

- FARMACIAS AHUACATLAN Tel: 765-6771

- LIGHTING & DESIGN CENTER Tel. 766-3506

Pag: 38

Pag: 28

- FARMACIA CRISTINA

Tel: 766-4586, 765-3949

Tel: 766-1501

Pag: 51

- GRUPO PIX Pag: 60

- WATCH & CLOCKS

Tel: 766-0656

Pag: 12

Tel: 766-2085 Tel: 765-4921

Cell: (045) 33-1331-9226

Tel: 766-1614, 766-4069

Pag: 57

Pag: 54

Pag: 65

* SELF STORAGE

- FARMACIA MASKARAS

- TONY’S

Pag: 27

- S.O.S.E

Tel: 765 5190,

- FARMACIA EXPRESS II

* MEAT/POULTRY/CHEESE

- SERVICIO BELTRÁN

Tel/Fax: 765-5827

Pag: 53

* RESTAURANTS/CAFES/CLUBS - SELF STORAGE-BODEGAS CHAPALA

* PHOTOGRAPHY

* MEDICAL SERVICES

- AJIJIC TANGO

Tel: 766-0661, Tel/Fax: 766-1045

Tel: 766-2458 - MICHAEL’S PHOTO STUDIO & GALLERY

- CASA WAFFLE

Pag: 54

Tel: (0133) 3122 3976,

Tel: 766-1946

Pag: 54

- PHOTO STUDIO SHERMAN

- BODY SENSE CLINIC Tel. 766-6080 Tel: 766-1198, 765-2400

Pag: 46

Cell: (045) 331 229 8972

- DERMATOLOGIST

Tel. (376) 766 1000

- DERMIKA

* SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pag: 03

- CHAC-LAN

- ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Tel: (387) 761-0111, 761-0326 Pag: 20, 38

Tel: 766-2341

Tel: (33) 38 134 706,

- HACIENDA AJIJIC STEAK HOUSE

Dr. J. Manuel Cordova

Cell: (044) 3338 212 378

Tel: 766-2777, 766-5611

* REAL ESTATE - 1ST CHOICE HOMES LAKESIDE Tel: 765-2484

Pag: 16

Tel: 3813-0042 Tel: 01 (33) 3825-4365

Pag: 41

Tel: 766-5478

Pag: 38

- MEDICAL AND NUTRICIONAL CARE Tel. 01 (33) 3146-0256

Pag: 53

- OCCIMEDGROUP Tel: (01) 33-3825-0000

Pag: 42

- LOS TELARES Tel: 766-0428

Pag: 26

Pag: 50 Pag: 42

Tel: 766-4440

Pag: 58

Tel: 766-6195

Pag: 50

Tels: 01 (33) 3810-4859

Pag: 09

Tel: 766-5008

Cell: (045) 33-3463-5181

Pag: 56

Pag: 14

Cell: (045) 33-3463-5181

Pag: 51

Tel: 01 (33) 3603-0000, 3603-0256

Pag: 12

Pag: 13

Pag: 17

Tel: 766-0040 Cell: (045) 331-437-0925

- BALLET FOLCLORICO INFANTIL UdeG Pag: 31

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY - RIVIERA ALTA

Tel: 766-1801

Pag: 44

* PAINT

Tel: 766-1169

Tel: 766-1069

Pag: 43

- THE GARDEN

- DWZM - Santiago Méndez Pag: 39

Cell: 333-559-4908

Pag: 54

- TONY’S

* TREE SERVICE

Pag: 57

- YVES’ Pag: 46

- CHAPALA TREE SERVICE Tel: 762-0602

Pag: 60

* WATER

Pag: 48 - LA CASA NOSTRA Pag: 60

Tel: 765-4187, Fax: 765-5815

Pag: 06

Pag: 44

Tel: 762-1425

- TECNO AQUA Tel: 766-3730, 766-3731

- LA SAGRADA FAMILIA

Pag: 15

Pag: 52

* WEAVERS Pag: 28 - TELARES LOS REYES

Pag: 03

* SATELLITES/ T.V.

Tel: 766-5640

Pag: 22

Pag: 59 - SATELLITE SYSTEMS OF AJIJIC

Pag: 39

* RENTALS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Tel/Fax: 766-1117, 766-3371

Pag: 15

- SATELLITE SOURCE

* PERSONAL ASSISTANCE - COLDWELLBANKER CHAPALA REALTY

Tel: 766-4327, (33) 4624-1838

Pag: 57

Tel: 766-1152,

- JUSTUS HAUSER

movile: (045) 33-1175-9632

Tel: 763-5333, Fax: 763-5335 Emergencies: 01 (33) 3441-8223

Pag: 26

* TRANSLATION SERVICES

Cell: (045) 33-1343-6179

Tel/Fax: (376)766 3596,

Tel: 01 (387) 76 31989

- TALENTO

- PRIVATE ELDER CARE

- VILLA OLIVIA

Cell: (045) 33 11515525,

Pag: 50

Tel. 766-5249 (home) Cell. (045) 33-1 298-5722

Movil: 33 1062 9852

Pag: 11, 56

- PEDROS GOURMET

- TOM AND DIANNE BRITTON

- PINTURAS FMC

Pag: 09

* RETIREMENT/REST/NURSING HOMES

- REAL ESTATE - INSURANCE SALES - VIVA LA MUSICA

Tel: 766-5563

- REHABILITATION & PHYSICAL THERAPY

Pag: 02

- RAÚL GONZÁLEZ M.

* MUSIC/THEATER

- MOM´S DELI & RESTAURANT

Tel: 766-1851

- LLOYD REAL ESTATE AJIJIC

- STROM- WHITE MOVING Tel: 766-4049

Tel: 766-2129, 766-2077

- PROFESSIONAL REHABILITATION Pag: 14

Tel: 766-1614, 766-4069

- GEORGETTE RICHMOND

- SEYMI

- MELANIE’S

Tel: 766-1381

- FOUR SEASONS

- LAKE CHAPALA MOVING

Pag: 55

Tel: (33)3915 3565

- FOR SALE BY OWNER

- BALDERAS

Pag: 10

* THERAPISTS

- MANIX

Tel: 766-4747

- FOR SALE BY OWNER

* MOVERS

Pag: 53

- TOTAL BODY CARE Tel: 766 3379

Tel: 765-5719

- FOR SALE BY OWNER

Pag: 21

- SILUET CORPOFACIAL

Pag: 30

Tel: 766-4253 Pag: 02

Pag: 29

- RESPIRO SPA

Tel: 766-5867 Pag: 24

Tel: 766-0061

- EL DORADO

Pag: 54

- MONTE COXALA

Tel: (045) 33-3157-7790 Pag: 20

Tel: 766-4296

Tel: 766-2177

Tel: 766-0040

Tels:765-2308

Pag: 68

- AFRODITA

Tel: (387) 761-0111, 761-0326 Pag: 20

- LA VIEJA POSADA

- CHULA VISTA NORTE

Tel: (314) 120 3878

- RED CROSS

- “LA TAVERNA”DEI QUATTRO MORI Tel: 766-2848

Pag: 05

* SPA / MASSAGE

Tel: 766-6187 Pag: 27

- LOS MOLLETES

Tels: 765-2877 Fax: 765-3528

Tel: 765-7793

Pag: 25

Pag: 03

- LA TASCA

Tel: 766-1152, 766-3369 Fax: 766-2124,

- DISCOVER MANZANILLO

Tel:766-5513

Pag: 70-73

Tel: 766-0821

Pag: 13

Tel: 766-0744

Cell: (045) 33-3841-8867 Pag: 25

Tel: 766-1140

- LA NUEVA POSADA

- COLDWELL BANKER CHAPALA REALTY

- PINTO OPTICAS - PLAZA LA MONTAÑA

Pag: 59

Tel: 766-5269

- ALL IN ONE REAL ESTATE SERVICE Tel: 766-1161, 766-2007

- L. T. “DOC” MCGEE, N.D.

Pag: 61

- LAKESIDE SPAY & NEUTER CENTER, A.C.

Tel: 766-1444, 766-2049 Pag: 14

- AJIJIC REAL ESTATE Tel: 766-2077, Fax: 766-2331

- HOSPITAL BERNARDETTE

Tel: 765-3147 - LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY

Pag: 45

Tel: 766-1002 Pag: 48

- AJIJIC HOME INSPECTIONS Tel: 766-2836

Pag: 16

Pag: 61

- LA BODEGA

Dr. Héctor Manuel Alvarado Soria - HOSPITAL ANGELES DEL CARMEN

Tel: 766-4906 Tel: 766-0437

Pag: 09

- GYNECOLOGY & OBSTETRICS Cell: (045) 33-3626-7957

Pag: 12

- JOHANNA’S

- DRA. MARTHA R. BALLESTEROS FRANCO Cel: (045) 333-408-0951

Pag: 40

Pag: 38

Tel: 766-5961 - EL BAZAR DE LOS NIÑOS

- PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Pag: 30

Pag: 29

- DAVID’S CAFE

- INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST & GERIATRICS

Tel: 766-2500

Pag: 27

Pag: 22

Pag: 05

Pag: 52

* SCHOOLS

- RENTAL LOCATERS

- NEWCOMERS

Tel: 766-5202

ILSE HOFFMANN

- RIBERA RENTAL CENTER

Cell: 33-3157-2541,

Tel: 765-3838

Pag: 20

- BAILA ARTE ESCUELA DE DANZA Cell: 33 152 06 891

Pag: 57

Pag: 54

- COLEGIO DE AXIXIC Cell: (045) 33-1467-7995

Pag: 57

Saw you in the Ojo

AA- Meets daily at 10:00 am. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 4 pm. Marcos Castellanos 51-A. 766-5961. ACÁ- Teaches youths, families sustainable agriculture, Joco and Jaltepec. Meet 14th of month. For more Information 387 763-1568. A COURSE IN MIRACLES- Saturday 2:00 pm 16 Sept #34, Unit 6, 766-4882 No charge. Ongoing. AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA 904 WING- Meeting 2nd Friday of every month in May, June, July & August. From September to April we meet the 2nd and 4th Friday. Contact Don Slimman 765 4141. AJIJIC QUILT GUILD - Meets second Tuesday monthly. Guests & New Members Welcome. ajijicguild@gmail.com AJIJIC SCRABBLE CLUB- Tuesdays and Thursdays noon-3 pm at LCS Ken Gosh Pavilion. Dan Stark 766-0411. AJIJIC WRITERS’ GROUP- Meets 1st and 3rd Fridays at 10 am. New Posada. Coffee. Meeting followed by lunch at the New Posada. AXIXIC MASONIC LODGE #31- Meets 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 5:00 pm. Contact the secretary at 763-5346 for details. AMERICAN LEGION OF CHAPALA POST- #7 General Membership meets 11 am 2nd Thursday. Tel: 765-2259. AMIGOS INTERNACIONALES- Every Wednesday 6 to 8 pm, Nueva Posada; informal friendly group meet to make new friends. AMIGOS DEL LAGO A.C.- Working to improve the ecology. See www.amigosdelago.org or contact us at info@amigosdelago.org. AMITIES FRANCOPHONES- Meets every 3rd Saturday at 1 pm contact: Roland and Camille at 766-0149. rvanhoudt@prodigy.net.mx. ANIMAL SHELTER- Provide shelter and new homes for dogs and cats. Tel: 765-5514. ANITA’S ANIMALS- Free loving dogs and cats. call (01 387) 761-0500. www.anitasanimals.com. ASA- Ajijic Society of the Arts. Meets every 1st Monday of the month at Nueva Posada, 10 am. BRIDGE AT OLD POSADA- Monday 1:15 check in. Mary Andrews 766-2489. BRITISH SOCIETY- Lunch meeting the 1st Saturday of each month, 1pm at Manix Rest. 765-4786, chapalainn@prodigy.net.mx. CARD & DOMINO CLUB- Wednesday, Friday & Sunday. Call for times. We will teach; make friends! Tel. 766-4253, Cell: (045) 33-1295-6485. CANADIAN CLUB OF LAKE CHAPALA- Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, September through April. Social hour: 3:00 pm, program 4:00 pm. Visit www.canadianclubmx.com. CASA DE ANCIANOS- Provides support for elderly citizens, 765-2497. CENTRO DE DESARROLLO AJIJIC- Provides family planning and reproductive health education. 766-1679. CHILI COOK OFF- Providing a carnival for residents raising charitable funds, 763-5038. DAR- (Guadalajara)- Daughters of the American Revolution, meets monthly Sep. through June. Cell:333-897-0660 or Tel: (376) 766-2284. DAR- (At Lakeside)- THOMAS PAINE CHAPTER meets every 3 Wednesday at 12:30 noon, September thru June. Tel: 766-2981 or 762-0834. EASTERN STAR ESTRELLA DEL LAGO CHAPTER #10- 1st Wed. at 1:00 pm at Hotel Monte Carlo. 766-3785, www.oesestrelladellago.org. E.R.I.C.- Provides support for the construction and renovation of educational buildings. 766-2866. GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS- GA Meeting held every Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 PM in the Doctor’s office at the Lake Chapala Society Charlie K. at cell: 331-445-2136. GARDEN GUILD- promoting the interest in the development of local gardens with an accent on the exotic species available in central Mexico. GERMAN MEETING- 2nd Thursday, 1:00 pm. La Nueva Posada. Call Thea 765-2442 or Hannes 765-3094. GOLDEN STRINGS OF LAKE CHAPALA, A.C.- Rehearsals at auditorio de la Floresta. Tuesday & Friday, 3-6 pm. HASH HOUSE HARRIERS- Every Saturday at 8:30 am at La Nueva Posada. IRISH SOCIETY OF MEXICO- Meets second Monday 4 pm at La Nueva Posada, Ajijic. Contact Brian Cronin, at 765-5071. JUNIOR LEAGUE DE GUADALAJARA A.C.- Av. San Francisco #3332. ligagdl2@prodigy.net.mx, Guadalajara, Jal. Tel. (33) 3121-0887. LAKE CHAPALA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB- Meets every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 1:15 p.m.. www.chapalabridge.com. LAKE CHAPALA GARDEN CLUB-Promotes an interest, appreciation and better understanding of botanical subjects. 766-2637. LAKE CHAPALA SHRINE CLUB.- Meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 1 pm in the Nueva Posada. Perry King at (376) 763-5126. LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY - LCS- 16 de Sep. # 16-A Ajijic, Open Monday - Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm. www.lakechapalasociety.org. 766-1140. LAKESIDE COMMUNITY AWARDS- We benefit all the community by honoring lakeside’s most talented. 766-3232. LAKESIDE LITTLE THEATRE A.C.- Balanced theatrical entertainment, English-speaking, 765-5942. LAKESIDE SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF- The 4th of each month. Nueva Posada 10:30 am. Call 766-2280, www.lakesideschoolforthedeaf.org. LAKESIDE WILDLIFE RESCUE & REHABILITATION- Rescue & rehabilitation of wild animals. 765-4916. LAKE SPAY AND NEUTER CENTR A.C.- Provides shelter and helps curtail the over-population of animals. 766-3813. LCS EDUCATION CENTER- Provides classes in language and other topics for both Anglo and Mexican community. 766-0499. LCS STUDENT AID FUND- Provides financial support to area students to enroll in university, vocational and high school program. 7660716. LINK- Assisting foreign community. Desk at Lake Chapala Society-Monday, 10 am-noon. LITTLE BLUE SCHOOLHOUSE- Provides financial assistance for students at school for disabled children in Chapala 766-1552. LOS NINOS DE CHAPALA Y AJIJIC, AC Providing educational scholarships to Lakeside children 376-766-1688, www.lakesideninos.org. LOVE IN ACTION- Shelter for abused and abandoned children. For volunteers and donations. Anabel Frutos 765-7409, cell: 331-351 7826. MAS- Music Appreciation Society. Concerts from fall to spring. Classical music and dance concerts. For info call Beverly Denton, 765-6409. MISION SAN PABLO- Helping 60 orphaned children ages 2-14 yrs, 7662551. Beaupaton@yahoo.com. www.misionsanpablo.org NAVY LEAGUE, LAKE CHAPALA COUNCIL- Meets the third Saturday for lunch at 1 pm, Manix Rest. 766 4750 or 766-1848. NEEDLE PUSHERS- Benefitting low-income schoolchildren. Every Tues. 10 am at LCS. Call Lynne at 766-5116. NIÑOS Y JOVENES CARAVAN- Delivers foodstuffs and used clothing to orphanage in San Juan. Call Reuben Varela, 01-387-761-0828. OPEN CIRCLE- Fostering body, mind & spirit, every Sunday at the LCS from 10 am to 12 noon. 765-3402 or frankdburton@yahoo.com. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS- Every Tuesday & Friday 12 am at Marcos Castellanos 51-A, in Upper Ajijic. Tel: 766-2575 or 766-1626. PROGRAMA PRO NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS DEL LAGO AC.- Assisting Lakeside disabled children www.programaninos.org , 763-5010. PASOS MILAGROSOS (MIRACULOUS STEPS.)- Helping Handicapped Children Through the Magic of Horses. Saturdays 8-2. www. pasosmilagrosos.com RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS- Meets 1st Wednesday at 2:00 pm at the Sala LCS. New members welcome. ROTARY CLUB OF AJIJIC- Meets every Tuesday at 2:00 pm at Old Posada. Contact Diane at 766-1215. SCIENCE OF MIND STUDY GROUP- Ajijic Center for Spiritual Living. Tuesday 10 am. Call for info: Ann Brandt 765-2037 or email tim@revdoctim.com. VILLA INFANTIL ORPHANAGE- Provides financial support for children. 765-0093. VIVA LA MUSICA - Bus trips to the symphony, summer concert series, call Rosemay Keeling 766-1801. www.ajijicviva.org. VOLUNTEER HEALTH RESOURCE GROUP- Meeting last Saturday of each month at LCS in sala, 10:30. VOLUNTEERS OF THE CRUZ ROJA- Sponsors fund raising events and provides administrative and support services to the Delegation.

(NOTE: If there is any change in the above, please advise us so that corrections may be made. Call: 765-2877)

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

All Saints Lutheran Church Worship Service 11:00 am 4600 Avenida Tepeyac, Guad. Tel. (01 333) 121-6741. Abundant Life Assembly of God Carr. 140 next to Mail Boxes etc, Tel: 766-5615. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Services in English and Spanish, 10 am, Riberas del Pilar Bishop Wyvell Tel. (376) 765-7067, Bishop’s residence (376) 766-1532. Church of the Holy Spirit Services Sun. 10 am, Albaro Obregon #119, Chapala Tel. (376) 765-4210. Grace Baptist Church 5th Sun. Evening service 6 pm, Pedro Buzeta No. 970, Guad. Tel. (013) 641-1685. Lake Chapala Baptist Church Mid-week service, 9:30 am, worship service, 10:45 am. Santa Margarita #147, Riberas del Pilar, Tel. (376) 765-2925, 766-5234. www.lakechapalabaptist.com. 7th Day Adventist meet at Madeira 12 in Rancho del Oro, 9:15 am to Noon. Potluck follows. 765-2165. Little Chapel by the Lake Sun. services 11 am, Chula Vista,. Jal, Tel. (376) 763-1551. Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation Santa Margarita 113, Riberas del Pilar, Tel: 765-6968. For infor–mation and service times, please call Pres. Elliot Gould. contactus@lakechapalajews.com. Web site: www. lakechapalajews.com. Lakeside Fellowship Sun. worship 11 am, Javier Mina #49 Ajijic, Tel. (376) 766-0795. Saint Andrew´s Anglican Church Calle San. Lucas 19, Riberas del Pilar, Sunday services, 10 am. www. standrewsparish.net. San Andres Catholic Church Services 9:00 am. Ajijic, 766-0922. St. John’s Catholic Church Between Av. Vallarta & Av. Lazaro Cardenas, Guad. Sun. 11am. (013) 121-8131. The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center behind Mateos in Riberas del Pilar (Santa Margarita 113). For additional information call Steve at 766-5507 or email: trudycrippen@ earthlink.net. Check out our website at www.lcuuf.org.

CARS WANTED: Suzuki jeep type vehicle wanted. Or any similar, soft top. Mechanically sound, appearance not important. Contact: Iain Morris FOR SALE: Car, 5 speed manual trans,4 door, cloth inter as new condition, Mexican plated, great economy, clean as new condition, $5,900USD. Call: Ceri Dando @ Cell: 3331394314 FOR SALE: Classic 72 VW Kombi Van. This Classic Van runs great. Rebuilt engine, new tires, carb, muffler, brakes, etc. Full length popup camper with screens. $32,000pesos Call: Allen Turner @ (376) 766 2759 WANTED: Motorscooter, Looking for excellent condition Honda Silverwing. Would have checked by mechanic. Lower mileage preferred. Contact: Robert Hamilton WANTED: Want a set of HIGH BACK seats out of a VW bug (71 works), with the tracks if possible, but if not, that’s OK. Call: David @ (376)763-52-48 WANTED: I am looking for a set of front seats from a 1971 VW bug (High Back) or any other model that I can swap out for what I have now. Other makes OK. Contact: David @ (376) 763-52-48 FOR SALE: New fully enclosed trailer used once.4x8 white with new spare tire. $18,000.00 pesos.765-7494. Pat or Mike.

COMPUTERS FOR SALE: Multi Task Print/Scann/ Copy New Hp Multy Task (PRINTER/ SCANNER/COPIER) Includes Color & B/W Cartridges. $1300pesos. For more information call Claudia @ 7662612 (1-5) or 7621363 (After 7 p.m.) or e-mail: graccocyd@hotmail.com FOR SALE: High DefinitionVideo Projector. I have a very lightly used. Full High definition projector. Looks amazing with blu ray or dvd. $650usd. Gareth, cel phone also is +33 12372990. Open to reasonable offers. FOR SALE: Wireless Equipment. Linksy’s (Division of Cisco) Wireless-N PCI Adapter. Wireless-G Range Expander . Never used. Bought in March for $3,828 and will sell at $2,500. Call: Julie Hensley @ 765-4590 FOR SALE: Digital drums, Casio mod: LD80, Bought 3 months ago. $2300 pesos Call: Cathy Chalvignac @ 766 1153 FOR SALE: Flat Screen Monitor. Paid US $300 - used two months. Virtually new - perfect condition and working order. With Quick Start Guide. $ US $150.00 Contact: Allen McGill FOR SALE: 1.84 ghz PC Complete. Comes with Windows XP Pro, AMD 2500+ Processor 1.84 ghz, 756mb of Ram memory, DVD ROM Drive, CD Burner, 17” Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse, 3 pc speaker set. $4000pesos. Contact: Barry Semeniuk. FOR SALE: High end printer. Excellent condition with power supply and USB cable. Some ink left in cartridges and one extra (full) color. $500

p. Contact: David FOR SALE: Sanyo VHS tape recorder.little, used Good wkg order with manual 50usd. Contact John @ 765 5622 FOR SALE: Printer hp deskjet 810c. All good wkg order with manuals. $ 50us. Contact John 765 5622

PETS & SUPPLIES WANTED: German Shepherd male/ female, 1 year old or less, puppy at 8 weeks, good home. Contact: Jack Koppelman.

GENERAL MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: Electronic Keyboard Casio. Include built-in speakers, a headphone/line out jack, and Transpose & Tuning controls. The LK-35 operates on AA batteries or an optional Casio AD5 AC adapter. $150 US. Call: Larry @ 7662227 FOR SALE: Entertainment Center. “Muebles Rustico” Custom Ent. Cntr. for Large Screen T.V. 2 Lg drawers/2 cabinets, more. Moving Must sell. $4000pesos/OBO. Contact: Rafael Terracino FOR SALE: Whirlpool Washer. “Professionl Care” Washer 12 Kg (white) still under warranty, less than 8 mos old. Moving must sell! $5,000pesos. Contact: Rafael Terracino FOR SALE: 27” T.V. and DVD player 4 y/o Exc. Cond. $2,200pesos. Contact: Rafael Terracino FOR SALE: Tipador. I have a single bottle chrome plated tipador for dispensing water for sale, $150pesos. Please call me at 765-7196 or email me at gary0131@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: Sony Home Theatre, barely used. 5 Double Speakers, 1/10” Sub Woofer, 900 Watts Power. $5,800.00 pesos. For more details call Claudia: 7662612 (9-5) or 7621363 (After 7 P.M.). or e-mail: graccocyd@hotmail.Com WANTED: need a push lawn mower for the small bits of grass left by the dogs. Call Helen @ 765 2614 WANTED: need a new or used pump to fill a tinaco on the roof. I need a quiet 1/2 horse power or stronger, in good condition. Contact: Lauri Jenson WANTED: I need a used washer and dryer in good condition. Any brand name as long as in good condition. Contact: Lauri Jenson FOR SALE: High Def Video Projector. High definition panasonic video projector, excellent condition. Looks amazing with Blu-ray or DVD will also connect to dish network etc. Call: Gareth Davies @ Cell. 33 1237 2990 FOR SALE: 4000 clay roof tiles, almost new,already dipped in sealer. 1.5 pesos each, new 2.6 pesos plus sealer: call: Tettah 765-7746 FOR SALE: 6 ft x 12 ft cargo tailer; used once to move belongings to Mexico. $1500.00 Call Rick or Eleanor at 766-0926 in Mexico or 215-352-5224 from the US. FOR SALE: Hot Spring 2006

Jetsetter J HydroTherapy Spa. 115/230. Silent heater, extra filters. (cost was $91,000 pesos new) $32000 pesos Call: Allen Turner @ (376) 766 2759 FOR SALE: Child Booster/High chair. Attaches to a regular chair. Would fit a child up to about 2 years as a high chair, and well over as a booster. Good condition. $300pesos, e-mail bmertenscpa@yahoo.com WANTED: Good Used Golf Cart. Must have new or nearly new batteries, preferences include split windshield, 48 volt system, good tires and paint. $20,000pesos Contact: Mike Briscoe WANTED: Bycicle, for women Used! Call: Cathy Chalvignac @ 7661153 FOR SALE: Fire Engine Red 3 wheeler electric SCOOTER, comes complete with electric lift for you VAN, and 2 sets of aluminum ramps. $3000uds, e-mail: ssnnkenn7@aol.com or Call: Suzi Klein @ (376) 766 4456 FOR SALE: Price Reductions Sofa, Bed, Dini. Contact: Ann Thorkildsen FOR SALE: Frigidaire 16 Cu Ft Upright Freezer in excellent condition. For further information $200 Call Patsi Dunn @ 376-764-0083 FOR SALE: Chocolate brown wood multi purpose cabinent. Is 70” wide by 67” tall by 33” deep. asking $500 USD. Call: Donna Kucy @ (376) 766-4636 FOR SALE: Lipitor #90, 80mg, From California. Can be cut in half to make 180 pills at 40mg each. Not out of date. $750pesos Call: David @ (376) 763-5248 FOR SALE: King Size Bed includes Headboard, Sturdy Frame and Mattress. Good condition. $5,000pesos Call: Ann Thorkildsen @ (376) 766 1549 FOR SALE: Electric Wheelchair: Invacare Pronto M-94 with SureStep. Great condition. $4000 USD. Comes complete with removable foot rests, head rest, charger and manual. Leather “van chair” seat. Contact Victoria Schimidt @ 765-5858. WANTED: Kayak, two seater. Please email me with price/condition. Contact: Ruth Donnalley WANTED: set of car stands (put under your car after jacking it up) and/ or a set of ramps. Advise price please. Contact: David @ 376-763-52-48 FOR SALE: Sawzall heavy duty. Works great; lots of blades for wood and metal. Includes carrying case. US$60. Call: David @ (376)-763-52-48 FOR SALE: King Tut Sarcophagus 6’ + Go out in style with this great reproduction. See it on eBay; just input 230331819977 into the search box. US$750. Call: David @ (376) 763-5248 FOR SALE: Car top carrier for SUV. Extra large car top carrier. Moulded plastic. Locks etc. $150, Contact: Corbett Merchant FOR SALE: Brother Model 190 Fax/ Phone. In excellent condition. $65 p OBO. Call: David @ (376) 763-52-48 FOR SALE: men’s leather jacket. Beautiful, heavy. good for Canada winters. $100US. One year old. Purchased in Italy for E100. Call Arnold

Smith @ 376-765-6812 WANTED: used doors and windows, any bldg supplies and gas powered generator, tejas, tiles, plumbing or electrical supplies, economical please!!! Contact: Dusty Ward. WANTED: Oil paints, brushes, painting knives, palette, easel, etc., and all other related art supplies and books. Contact: Jack Koppelman. FOR SALE: Fisheye lens FC-E8 for Nikon CoolPix digital cameras. Originally developed for scientific or industrial applications, Fisheye lenses are now also widely used in advertising, commercial and general photography. $100usd. Call David Tingen @ (376)765-3676 FOR SALE: TDK CD burner. Works well Complete with accessories and manual. 50usd. Contact John 765 5622 FOR SALE: SONY camcorder. Sony camcorder with tapes. good condition with manual, 95usd. Contact John 765 5622 FOR SALE: YAMAHA YPR-50 pianoorgan with chair and manual. Little used. 295usd. Contact John 765 5622 FOR SALE: One bathroom comode, raised toilet seat and shower seat, $60 usd. Contact: Susanne Birchenough-Tur

COLLECTABLES FOR SALE: Huichol yarn art. This Huichol piece of art is 4 ft. X 4 ft. $1000 USD. Contact: Reginald Harris Tel. 7662122

Saw you in the Ojo

El Ojo del Lago June 2009

Saw you in the Ojo

El Ojo del Lago June 2009