January 2023

She was in her bed when I arrived. Walking in, I gave her a long hug. The tears I was fighting back began to trickle down my face. I knew this was the beginning of the end.  “How long can you stay?” she asked with a trembling voice.  “I am not leaving until you leave, and I am in […]

Do Cats Meditate? Chris Smith Again you’re thereUpon my chairDistant in your mindWith content purrYou do not StirRighteous and DivinedWhere do you goI just don’t knowOnly can I surmiseYour natural flowWith breathing slowThe distance in your eyesIs your elevationA Feline meditationOf ancients you connectFor the great preservationOf a whole human nationEntrusting that you protect *****

Part Two Skill number one: Ask specific questions. When it was time to focus on getting a perfect for me feeling life I asked myself, “What do I need to change in my life that will make me feel better, satisfied, elated.” I kept this question in the front of my mind to ponder, while

PART I(Revisiting the past) Recent events have motivated me to resurrect and edit an unpublished memoir of my years as a mill manager in Venezuela.  I may have learned more about life in the real world in the years of 1966 to 1974 than any experience I’ve had before or after.  Now, with time for

Prophecy is between the angels and the people. —Thomas Aquinas I finally met one. An angel. I was exhausted. Depressed. Hopeless. Maybe suicidal. Sick of politics and organizing. Walking down Wilson Avenue. Out of the corner of my eye, saw an old wino approaching, not unusual on Wilson. He staggered closer, then . . .

Beginnings January is a winter month in the northern half of the world and a summer month in the southern half. The name January comes from Janus or Ianus, the Roman god of passage and new beginnings. I’ve always loved the start of a new year: new calendars, new plans, a new verdant view. For gardeners,

My 15-year-old cat Annie just peed in my shower—I mean a man-sized stream that arced up from where she was standing on the floor in front of the shower, over the 6-inch ledge and into the shower, where it ran from a couple of feet away right down the drain. I shouted, “No, no,” but

Sixteenth Century Quest Ends in Tragedy and Disappointment “One of the great tragedies of the Christian West was the almost complete destruction of the Indian cultures of America by European and Christian conquerers.” Thomas Merton When the adventurer Pafilo de Narvaez and his crew set out in 1528 to colonize a part of the unfamiliar

Possibly you yourself have been a caregiver for a family member, a dear friend, or have known a caregiver and understand this is an enormous undertaking. In my own life I have had this experience three  times – as a co-caregiver with my Mom caring for my Dad when he had Cancer, as a solo

Kim LeMieux Email: kimslakesideliving@gmail.com The Lake Chapala Society host Open Circle every Sunday at 10:30am, a popular community gathering in Ajijic, to enjoy a diverse range of presentations. Entrance by the side gate on Ramón Corona, opens at 9:30am. We recommend bringing a hat and bottled water, and please remove containers upon departure. Use of mask