A Balloon in Cactus
By Maggie Van Ostrand
October 2010 Meant For Each Other
August 2010 Bosom Buddies
July 2010 Broken Berlitz
June 2010 “A Mexican Village”
May 2010 A Balloon In Cactus
April 2010 OP-ED
March 2010 The Naked Oscar
February 2010 Mexico’s Gift to Opera, Rolando Villazón
January 2010 Maya Doomsday
December 2009 The Crookedest Christmas Tree
November 2009 Why Can’t Congress Be More Like a Dog?
October 2009 Milo Valenzuela
September 2009 Tourism in Ajijic
August 2009 You Got To Know When To Fold ‘Em
July 2009 OP-ED
June 2009 Six Degrees of Separation to How a Mexican Star Became a Cajun Legend
May 2009 Mexico’s Seabiscuit Connection
April 2009 Cejas and the Great Escape
March 2009 Juanita and the President
February 2009 From Conspicuous Consumption to Conspicuous Frugality
January 2009 Wishes Instead of Resolutions
December 2008 My First Christmas in Ajijic
November 2008 The Burning Bush
October 2008 The Six-Word Memoir
September 2008 Is McCain’s Lacing His Gruel with Tranquilizers?
August 2008 OP-ED
July 2008 Ajijic: The Way We Were
June 2008 The Widow Tamez, Accidental Expatriate
April 2008 The Ajijic Two-Step
March 2008 Honeybees: Have They Fled to Mexico?
February 2008 Joaquin Murrieta—Robin Hood or Just Plain Hood?
January 2008 How the Mexican Fire Plant Became the Poinsettia
December 2007 Christmas Shopping With The Sliding U.S. Dollar
November 2007 A Modern-Day Ferry Tale
October 2007 Ghosts, Goblins and Gonzales-Gonzales
September 2007 Elvira Arellano
August 2007 The Fence
July 2007 Say Bartender, Make Mine Tuna on

June 2007

 AJIJIC—God’s Green Room
April 2007 Going To Oaxaca
March 2007 The Corn is as High as an Elephant’s Eye
February 2007 Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto
January 2007 Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions
December 2006 Deporting Santa
November 2006 Fencing Politicians
October 2006 Dying to Be an American
September 2006 A Little Head
July 2006 How My Mexican Relatives Came to California and Saved the U.S. Economy
June 2006 CANTINFLAS: Super Comic, Super Star, Super Man
May 2006 Four Part History of Mexico: Part Four
April 2006 Four Part History of Mexico, Part Three
March 2006 Four Part History of Mexico, Part Two
February 2006 A One-Part History of Mexico in Four Parts
November 2005 Bringing Your Dogs to Mexico
October 2005 Mexican Army Storms Katrina
September 2005 Three
August 2005 Dateline: Ajijic, June 2005
July 2005 The Shrewdness of Mexican Women
June 2005 Mexican American War of Ought Five
May 2005 “Superman Is An Illegal”
or Humor and Satire in the Corrido
April 2005 Fry Me to the Moon
March 2005 Ninotchka 
February 2005 Mexican Beauty 
January 2005 New Year’s Resolutions
December 2004 Las Posadas
November 2004 Winner of U.S. Presidential Debate #1
October 2004 Man Stores
September 2004 A Prudent Use of Guilt
August 2004 Old Friends Ask About Mexico
July 2004 The Biggest Mistake I Ever Made In Mexico
June 2004 Small Towns
May 2004 An Evening In Paris With Mom 
April 2004 Mexican Samurai
March 2004 There’s Something About Mexico
February 2004 El Taxi, or El Toro?
January 2004 Mexican Eye For the Gringo Guy
December 2003 A Visit
November 2003 Day of the Dead or Alive
October 2003 Mr. Charm Is Penniless
September 2003 Where Did the Word “Gringo” Come From, Anyway?
August 2003 Put Yourself In Reverse
July 2003 Mrs. Baldwin of Missouri Teaches All About Mexico 
June 2003 How To Correct Misconceptions About Mexico
May 2003 A Balloon In Cactus
April 2003 The Bride Wore Green, and White, and Red
March 2003 Josefina, a Woman of Mexico
February 2003 Mextra-Sensory Perceptions
January 2003 Books in the Wild
December 2002 Holiday Toast
November 2002 Set An Empty Place
October 2002 Meant For Each Other
September 2002 Bosom Buddies
August 2002 Accommodations To Die For
July 2002 Trolling for Truth
June 2002 Broken Berlitz
May 2002 Nine Steps To A Happy Life In Mexico
April 2002 Have Ashes, Will Travel
March 2002 A Phone Call From Andy Rooney
February 2002 A Mexican Village
January 2002 An Open Letter to Sigmund Freud
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A BALLOON IN CACTUS By Maggie Van Ostrand Reprinted by Permissionof Maggie Van Ostrand   Ed. Note: As with the late Mildred Boyd, it seems our
Wordwise With Pithy Wit By Tom Clarkson   This morning, my pal F.T. – who shared the Iraq experience with me during my third trek there – forwarded
  VICTORIA SCHMIDT   Column: Editor’s Page   Website:   Victoria Schmidt came to Mexico with her husband, in 2007. 
    MOONYEEN PATRICIA KING   Column: Profiling Tepehua   Website:   Settled in Mexico 13 years ago.  The
  KEN MASSON   Column: Bridge by the Lake   Website:   Ken Masson has been playing, teaching and writing about bridge
  ALEJANDRO GRATTAN-DOMINGUEZ   Column: Editor’s Page   Website:   Wrote/directed first movie about Mexican-Americans, Only
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