December 2018

Editor’s Page By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez A Mexican Christmas Story   There’s a joke Mexicans like to tell on themselves. It seems that when God was putting together their country, He invited several prestigious people from other lands to watch the process. Almost immediately, they commenced to complain. “Dear Lord, no disrespect intended, but is it

All I Want For Christmas… By Carol L. Bowman . . . are my ten bottom teeth! I noticed the contorted expression on my husband’s face through the dim cabin light on our overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany. His eyes were closed but he was whispering this children’s Christmas jingle, changing the words from ‘two

When The Mississippi Flowed North: The 1811 New Madrid Earthquake —Hurricane Florence Recalls North America’s Worst Natural Disaster By Dr. Lorin Swinehart   By fleeing inland to the mountains ahead of waves of other refugees last month, my wife LaVon and I narrowly avoided the catastrophe inflicted upon our coast by Hurricane Florence. Among the

Front Row Center By Michael Warren PROOFBy David AuburnDirected by Randy Warren   In 2001, this play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and also the Tony Award for Best Play. It’s an interesting play, but it does have some serious drawbacks. It fails to resolve the central issue – and indeed the main character

Angels On High By Julie Galosy We were lying on the beach. Directly on the beach actually, couldn’t be bothered to put down a blanket or a towel. Intertwined like the lovers we were, we were content in our isolation with the soft sand supporting every curve. The night was deep blue-black and clear, with

A 9/11 Essay By Chad Olson   My uncle Gaylon’s birthday is September 11. He’s now 98 years old. Seventeen years ago he wrote the following essay: “Today, 9/11/2001, is my birthday. It is the only unhappy one of the 81 logged and, I fear, I won’t be around long enough to see the end

A Haunting Memory By Margie Keane   George was sitting up in bed, sipping from a brandy snifter. For some reason he was thinking about his late wife. Maybe because it was Halloween, and it was a year ago to the day that she died. Not that he was sad about it. A malevolent smile

Profiling Tepehua By Moonyeen KingPresident of the Board for Tepehuamoonie1935@yahoo.com   November is nostalgic. Eight years ago (2010) a small group of people decided to change their little part of the planet. And they did. By opening a Community Center for the poor and Indigenous.  It was slow at first, as natives and strangers danced

What A Mess, or Mass! Did you ever wonder why things that are static and basically accepted are vulnerable to change? Part of it may be that humans get bored, or simply just want to rock the boat. Lately we have seen great disruption in a time-honored standard at sports events by opening with the

LIZ WHITE: 1930–2018An Appreciation   Elizabeth (Liz) Pendleton White passed this September in Riberas after a brief illness. Liz was a multi-gifted lady of the Arts and Humanities, one of life’s fortunate people who recognize and act on their own personal callings from a young age. An accomplished stage actress, backstage maven, a published poet,