March 2009

Havoc In Motion By Jay White Mama and the Garter Snake   When I was a schoolboy in Sonora, Texas, we lived near an enormous elm tree. At sundown, sparrows, thousands of them, would conspire to set up the most garrulous din imaginable—quarreling over roosting rights, you see, and Mama never failed to remark about it. “My Lord,” she would […]

THE RIGHT OF CONQUEST By Ronald A. Barnett   (Ed. Note: Our thanks to Mex-Connect, which first ran a much longer version of this article.) An article by Mr. Morgan Bedford entitled “New Spain’s Fifty Magical Years (1492-1542) appeared in the July, 1999, issue of the El Ojo del Lago. A more accurate title would

Have Walker, Will Travel By Mildred Boyd   Tulum, standing as it does atop the highest point of the Caribbean coast, was easily visible from far out to sea. Consequently, it was one of the first Mayan cities sighted by the Spanish as they explored the mainland of the New World. Juan Diaz, the chaplain

IN PRAISE OF PASOS MILAGROSOS By Elena Cooper   Two years ago we began our program with six students and a lot of trepidation. Today we began our third year with a total of twenty students, three of whom started today with another one to join us next week. What a day it was! We had

WE NEED YOUR HELP!   Getting old, infirm and being without adequate financial resources can be the final indignity of life. There aren’t many services here for the elderly in those circumstances. Casa de Ancianos is the only non-profit home for the elderly, and is a safe port in a storm for those of limited,

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR   Dear Sir: As a three year resident of Ajijic, I am writing to support the opinion of Randy Kent is his Letters to the Editor. While most of the articles are interesting, amusing, informative, and an enjoyment to read, I find that the political slant has become extreme, boring, and

Find Feathered Friends By Allen C. Turner and Judy Boyd  Field Ornithologists Mockingbirds: Pirates of the High Cs   “Tra la la, tweedle dee dee dee It gives me a thrill To wake up in the morning To the mockingbird’s trill … On Mockingbird Hill” —Vaughn Horton Gray with two white wingbars, the Northern Mockingbird

AS I SEE IT By Henri Loridans A Grand Dilemma   It is estimated that there are between ten and twenty million people who are residing illegally in the United States of America. They have come from many countries seeking the American Dream. Most are honorable people, but they are illegal nevertheless. The problem has

OVERHEARD SOMEWHERE IN THE AFGHANI DESERT As Told to John Ward   I am a Moscus Domesticus, also known as a household fly, although I prefer the Latin name for reasons of self-esteem. One day, in the early fall of 2008, I was carried aloft into the sky by a mighty wind. I was helpless

Those Who Forget History… By Fred Mittag   With some arrogance, we ignored the lesson from history that the French experience in Vietnam should have taught us. The French tried to warn us and we laughed at them because—well, they’re French. The result of our disdain was well over a million Vietnamese deaths, 58,000 American