August 2025

After 60 years of penning verse with no end in sight John Thomas Dodds, a Can/Am expat retired in Mexico, continues to write poetry exploring relationship, spirituality, creativity, and his romance with life. Since moving to Ajijic John has, under the pen name J.T. Dodds, published several fiction and non-fiction books. He is presently working […]

My name isn’t important because I’ll soon have a new one once my tracking chip is removed. Although I was born July 23, 2004, today, July 23, 2029, is truly my birthday. I spent the past two years incarcerated in what the authorities called the Home for Dissidents. It’s really a prison for those who

Each year El Ojo del Lago takes time to pay tribute to those who have contributed their writing skills to enrich our magazine. Anyone who has contributed an article printed between October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 is eligible to attend our awards dinner. The award dinner will be held at Tango Restaurant at

A Small Reflection I was already retired from a nearly 40-year career as a minister when I learned the truth. It came in an email from the nephew who told me that his uncle, my minister when I was a kid, had been a gay man who was “outed” only after he had died in

JOHN KEELING “if I see a need and I think it can be met, I go ahead and do it.” That explains John Keeling’s contributions to Lakeside since moving here in 2002. A British-born Canadian, John holds degrees in engineering and business studies and taught at Seneca College in Ontario for 15 years before retiring

You may know me as that Shakespeare-trivia-obsessed person. In a piece I wrote for the Ojo, I noted that Edward de Vere and his lover, Anne Vavasour, were thrown into the Tower when Queen Elizabeth discovered that her lady-in-waiting was pregnant, and by whom. I’d read somewhere that she languished there longer than the three

Those of us who come to Lakeside are among the Olympians of Aging. On average, we are in our 70th decade of life. We are more educated, more informed, more affluent, more travelled, more active, and more independent than the average senior anywhere in the world. We are also mortal beings. In Lakeside, the systems

It’s In The Details Lake Chapala has always drawn me to her shores. As a child growing up in Guadalajara, I’d visit my “wealthy” cousins at their weekend home in San Juan Cosala on holidays and weekends. I didn’t really know what to expect when my favorite cousin Lalo first invited me to spend the

Shelley Edson Email: ElOjoLakesideLiving@gmail.com From the Lakeside Living Editor: Please send information for local cultural, civic, community, or charitable events to ElOjoLakesideLiving@gmail.com by the first day of the preceding month. For example, August 1 is the deadline for the September issue. Thank you.  AJIJIC USED BOOK STORE Open Monday thru Saturday, 9 am to 2 pm

You do not have to own a cat or a dog to learn from them about life’s “survival” lessons. However, you have to be willing to be an observer of their behavior. It is sort of like being a “people watcher,” which we all do to some extent. They probably are more honest than many