October 2023

My name is Christina Small shortened to Chris Small after I moved to Ajijic, Mexico with my husband Jim Small ten years ago. Our marriage lasted thirty wonderful years—twenty in Marin and Sonoma counties, California. We met at a writer’s workshop in Mill Valley. When Jim died four years ago, I experienced an awakening.        […]

Some Reflections Upon Man’s Relationship With His Fellow Creatures “One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is shut their eyes to facts.”C.S. Lewis For nearly all of his working life, my grandfather devotedly farmed his 72 acres in rural Ohio. My Uncle Edgar labored away on his 82-acre spread approximately two miles away

My car was behind a very old car driven by a very old woman. Among the numerous bumper stickers on her vehicle was one that made me take notice. It said: “90% ANGEL.” Because we both were waiting to make a turn into a hospital parking lot, I wondered if the “90% ANGEL” meant that

Anyone who has spent time in Mexico knows what bribery is about, and, as one who has spent the better part of four decades in Washington, D.C., I also know what it is when I see it, even if it is called something else. Most definitions of bribery say that it is giving that there

Many of the exact details of the first 40 years of Francisco Urzua’s life are sharp in his mind, but mental health struggles have scrambled their order and lent significance to them in a haphazard manner. The thread that runs through all the multihued shards of memory is the understanding that weaving stills his mind

Cempasúchil Cempasúchil or Marigolds are a versatile, radiant flower with deep roots in practice in ancient religions: Aztec, Christianity and Hinduism. Marigolds are known as the “Herb of the Sun.” The Welsh believed that if marigolds were not open early in the morning, then a storm was on the way.  Marigolds were used in pre-Hispanic

Recently, I read a book called A Man Called Ove. In this story, Ove’s wife has died, and Ove, the curmudgeonly, husband, missed her so much that he could not go on living. He decided he would end his life and hoped she would forgive him. He tried several times, but each time was unsuccessful.

Thank you, Hollywood Ah, the movies. How we love ‘em. As kids, we showed up faithfully at our local movie theaters on Saturday afternoons, and with the cost of admission, a quarter—or even a dime!—were transported to the wonders of Hollywood’s imagination. When the curtain went up, first came the black-and-white newsreels. Nobody paid any

When worlds seem to collide and life as you know it changes in a nano second, it is devastating, confusing and knocks the balance off what once made sense. Stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and death, and as we tend to live longer, fuller lives, the sudden plunge into reality is even harder to bear. Is

De las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas began as an unlikely hero. In 1502, at the age of 18, he arrived on the island of Hispaniola and quickly reaped the benefits of the encomienda system Columbus had established there: Las Casas became a feudal lord of not only a land grant, but of all the