May 2022

In this month’s Ojo you will see two pages dedicated to poetry. It is the Poetry Niche, and we have added Mel Goldberg to the staff as the poetry editor. As you will learn, Mel has an extensive background in teaching as well as writing and is an international award-winning poet.

On 13 August 2005 two scholars, Eduardo Neves, a Brazilian, and James Peterson, Anthropology Department chairman at the University of Vermont, visited a roadside restaurant in the Amazon jungle. Two gunmen walked in and demanded their money. As a departing afterthought, one shot the American in the abdomen. Peterson died before Neves could get him

Recently, Judy and I celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary. The event prompted a number of queries from folks wanting us to share some wise words on long-term relationships, queries that caused both of us to ponder the past. “What are the reasons for our marital longevity?” I asked. She hesitated, then mused, “Have you ever

Daria Hilton shares her story of a neighbor who became a father figure to her. She starts by saying: I was in California for Thanksgiving when I got the text … My neighbor Rogelio had died. The tears came quick and fierce. All of my Chapala neighbors had made me feel welcome in the barrio, but none more than Rogelio.” A touching and heart-felt story.

Next year on Mother’s Day, take a bunch of flowers to the village and give one flower to every old woman you see. Perhaps you’ll bring a smile to her face. Great Grandma Jarvis, who lived in the United States in the late 1800s, had 13 children, of whom only four survived. One of the survivors

Judit Rajhathy shares her memories of being a young Hungarian war refugee running from the Russian invasion with her parents, a sibling and her grandparents.

It happened February 18th after coming off the graveyard shift, muscling freight, outside, all night, on the dock. Ragged, cold, and tired, Mr. Z unlocked the door to a quiet home and sat at the kitchen table for a drink. He looked out the window at the freshly fallen snow. “It looks nice, before the

Celebrate The Solstice With A Full Day Of Gardening Tuesday June 21, 2022 is this year’s summer solstice, which marks the longest day of the year. The term “solstice” comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) or stitium (stopped). Close to the Arctic Circle we would find 24 hours of sunlight with which to

Maximilian There are no streets in Mexico named for Maximilian, but there ought to be. Certainly no Mexican history would be complete without him. Maximilian was an eminently likable, admirable, but hapless fellow. He was born second-in-line to the Austrian throne, and so believed he would never rule. He made the best of things, though,