Ojo Del Lago

The Twisted Way We Gringos Speak By Tommy Clarkson   By way of explaining this layperson’s autopsy of “Gringo Speak” please allow the following brief explanation to, hopefully, set up what put this all in motion.  Like most folks, both my wife and I extensively use, and are highly dependent upon, our land line and

Raging Against Old Age By Bill Franklin   Raging against old age is stupid but I can’t help it. Old age won’t leave me alone so why should I let it alone. Not only do I feel like a corpse (and am mad about it) I have mirror issues. When I look in the mirror

A Cold Killing By Mel Goldberg Rolemi Publishers, 2010, 118 PagesAvailable locally at Diane Pearl Colecciones and at Coffee y BagelsReviewed by James Tipton   Lakeside author Mel Goldberg has penned and now published a collection of eight murder mysteries done in classic style, usually opening with the discovery of a body (“Something terrible has

A MONTH IN PERUPart One By Mel Goldberg Arequipa and Colca Canyon   We flew from Lima on a Lan Peru flight to Arequipa sometimes called the White City because so many buildings are constructed of white, volcanic stone. Central to the city is the Plaza de Armas, the main square, dominated by the nineteenth

Heart’s Desire A short story by Jim Tipton   At age seventy-five, Peter Larson gave away or threw out most of his old life, packed up what was left into a few boxes, got into his old red Pontiac and drove south, to Mexico, to begin a new life. It was in late spring, toward

LETTER TO THE EDITOR   Dear Sir:  No one has done more for the local cats than Barb Hess. She is an exceptional person and truly a cat lover. I am thankful that all the shelter cats are tested for Leukemia and I wish that others did this too. Maybe they do, I haven’t inquired.

HOW RUGS GET SOLD By Margaret Van Every   José the rug vendor by the side of the road will tell you he comes from Oaxaca where his family raises the sheep, dyes the wool, and weaves the rugs.   Pick your favorite, says he, gesturing at myriad rugs of clashing hues, stacked and hanging,

In Ajijic   Where everyone’s from South Dakota Except my neighbors, Jim and Rhoda.   Where anytime you hear a WOOF! You cast your gaze upon a roof.   Where gringos mangle Spanish I– No tengo dance—forgive the pun.   Where burros saben mas que tu, And several even sound like you.   Where anytime

TROPICAL GUILT By Scott Richards   It was a moonless night with only the stars to guide us. The uneven path was fraught with peril at every turn. Mangy dogs half wild from hunger and dangerously insane from the three hundred years of inbreeding prowled the underbrush growling and snapping at the wind. Thankfully we