It seems to me that folks living in the villages of Lake Chapala experience more traditional “old Mexico” culture then those who chose homes higher on the mountain. The folks in gate-guarded homeowners associations usually miss seeing the parade of vendors that circulate through the center of town displaying their wares from house to house.

Watching information flow and ebb across my desk and into each issue of the Guadalajara Reporter is fascinating. Of course, each of the organizations and their special events are interesting, but far more startling is how unrelated groups move in the same direction all at the same time.

Each year at 11 p.m. on September 15, residents of Mexico’s villages, towns and cities gather in the squares and plazas to reenact Father Miguel Hidalgo’s grito, the impassioned cry to arms, that launched the 1810 war of independence. The new world insurgents fought fiercely for nearly a decade before Spain released Mexico from the grip of exploitation and oppression that had held the country for ten generations.

No song at Disney’s theme parks creates stronger emotions than “It’s a Small World.” Park guests either adore the song or quickly realize its repetitive melody is grating on their nerves. Still, if the foreign population of Lake Chapala was to choose a theme song, few popular tunes would be more appropriate.

Have you noticed the recent subtle shift in the weather? The skies are bluer, the morning light has a different quality, the nights are cooler, and there’s something about the air that just says, fall. The calendar insists that the equinox, first day of fall, isn’t until September 22. Still, with back to school, preparations in the U.S. and Canada for the last of summer weekends to celebrate the federal holiday, Labor Day, on Monday, September 1, for all intents and purposes fall has arrived.

A new variation on the familiar “mustard” scam was at work in Ajijic on a recent weekend. A pair of ladies, longtime lakeside residents, entered La Nueva Posada for lunch and paused at the registration desk to greet the founder, Judy Eager. As they chatted, two couples entered the hotel and were walking toward the restaurant when they stopped to tell one of the Ajijic ladies that she had blood on her skirt.