DEAR PORTIA —Advice to the Lovelorn, the Overfed and The Deeply Disgruntled   Dear Portia: After years of widowhood, I have finally found a nice man here at Lakeside who has asked me to marry him. Like me, he has been living alone, and wants a sympathetic companion for whatever time is left to him. […]

LA CRUCE/THE CROSSROAD By Antonio Ramblés   Traffic was creeping along the divided highway into Guadalajara when Richard turned off toward Ocotlan, and his traffic jam tension evaporated as he was at last able to press the accelerator to the floor.  From time to time a heavily loaded truck slowed his pace, but he held

ACCIDENT By Zofia Barisas   She’s driving home. Her small son sleeps next to her, strapped in his child’s chair. It’s nighttime. Cars are flowing in both directions in strings of weeping lights. A car overtakes from the right, fishtails across her path, jumps across the median and plows into an oncoming car. She pulls

I USED TO BE SOMEBODY! By Sandy Olson   When I moved to Lakeside, I heard for the first time the phrase “border promotion.” Generally, the “border promotion” is harmless, but foolish statements can lead to embarrassment for everyone. Therefore, I want to offer some suggestions on how to pull it off. I’m not here

Hearts at Work A Column by James Tipton “Count Your Blessings”   In the early 50’s, when our family finally succumbed to television, each Saturday night we watched together the very popular show, Your Hit Parade. Even as a young boy I was fascinated by female beauty and so I fell in love with the

UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE By Bill Frayer Living With Risk   I am writing this in the aftermath of the utter failure of the US Congress to pass even a watered-down measure to control gun violence. It looks inevitable that we will be facing the threats of terrorism and gun violence in the coming days.  When

I’VE GOTTA HAVE A HOME! By a Mexican Opossum (Oh, and Carol L. Bowman)   “I’ve gotta have a home and quick, since my due date is fast approaching. The 2013 Honda with Mexican plates, which the gringos drove into the driveway yesterday, had real possibilities. My friends told me that this model is quite

MEXICAN  BELIEFS  AND  CURES By Ilse Hoffmann   As a social worker in Mexico I tried for many years to help develop poor communities. Among the many difficulties I encountered were the prevalent beliefs popular among poor people, especially regarding cures and medicine. The first issue I tried to solve was the dirt floors of

Anyone Can Train Their Dog By Art Hess   Dog training is the process of modifying the behavior of a dog, either for it to assist in specific activities or undertake particular tasks. If you have been a student of dog training over the past twenty or more years you have encountered things like operant

NO-TALENT-KNOW-IT-ALLS By Addison De Witt   There is a word in German-besserwisser—which translates as “know-it-all”, “wiseacre,” and “pompous ass.” In The Bunker, his perceptive book about the last days of the Third Reich, James O´Donnel shows Adolf Hitler as a classic example of the besserwisser. Late at night, to a paralyzing bored captive audience of