The Blind Knife Sharpener By Teri Saya   I love living here in Mexico. There are always sounds in our neighborhood to announce one thing or another. I especially like the “knife sharpener’s” whistle….. A long, low fluting whistle waivers in the air.  As it comes closer, you gather up your knives.  A young boy […]

Remembering FDR By Beverly Bandler Franklin Delano Roosevelt(1882-1945)   January 30, 2014 was the 132 anniversary of the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). You’d think that the Democratic Party would note the birth of FDR, the Democratic president who led the nation out of the worst economic crisis in its history—the Great Depression, who led

Palms Up! By Alice Caldwell   I owned few books as a child, but one I treasured was a battered Atlas of the World, a hand-me-down from my Uncle Harry. When I’d read all the library books I was allowed to take out in a week, when it was too cold to swim or there

Facing Time By Bonnie L. Phillips   Thirty-year-old Agnes had vague memories of being in a stark white hospital. She remembered seeing a tunnel of brilliant white light, heard masked people giving orders, and saw rivulets of slick blood follow the contours of their gloved fingers. Around the same time, she saw a man whose

Mexico’s Daffiest Dreamer By Ilse Hoffmann   Some people think Edward James was certifiably insane because he once built outside Xilitla (in La Huasteca, in the northeastern state of Mexico, San Luis Potosi), some of the most bizarre concrete structures ever seen. Others think he was a genius who created his dream at “Las Pozas,”

Daylight Attack In The Plaza By Clare Gearhart   It was sudden, unexpected and yielded an adrenaline rush that lasted for hours.  One moment, I was sauntering into the Plaza, my taste buds anticipating the comfort of a bowl of tortilla soup, the next moment I was aware of having dropkicked a vicious pooch off

The Artistic Clay Of Tonala By Terrence Golden   All over México it is possible to find artistic clay pieces, either utilitarian or decorative. Tonalá is probably, the most artistic center of the whole country, where beautiful pieces have been made for centuries. The polished pottery produced in Tonalá today has its roots in pre-Hispanic

The Wood Carver By Roberto Moulun   He was a small man, but his hands were large and strong. Two men could not pry his fingers open from his wooden mallet. He won the bet, and that night drank at the pub forfree. Perhaps he never would have become a carver if he hadn’t lost

Imprints By Antonio Ramblés AKA Tony Passarellowww.antoniorambles.comantonio.rambles@yahoo.com Rancho de las Avestruces   I first met Sandra Luz in her market stall in Ajijic’s Friday Artisans’ Market surrounded by a seemingly eclectic combination of brightly colored feathers, candles and planters made of something too perfectly shaped to be gourds, and vials of something that looked like

LAKESIDE LIVING Sandy Olson Phone: 331-283-8529 Email: sandyzihua@hotmail.com   March 2014   PAST EVENTS Chuck Pattinian and his wife, Carol, hosted a luncheon last January 30 to celebrate the re-publication of Alejandro Grattan’s historical novel, The Dark Side of the Dream. The author fielded many questions about his career as a screenwriter/director in Los Angeles, as well