What a wild ride 2023 has been already. My hope is that even as the community experienced record flooding, two evacuations of the Grey Bears campus and destruction of beloved businesses, homes and natural monuments, each of you is now safe and sound.
Despite our challenges, Grey Bears stepped up to provide meals to seniors and their families during a time of need. As we enter our 50th year of support to older adults in Santa Cruz County, we intend to chronicle our beginnings and critical milestones and celebrate the golden days as we concurrently reinvest and shape our future. Those with a keen eye will notice the updated 50th Anniversary logo at the top of the page, which will be used this year to mark this momentous achievement.
With the passage of time comes a desire to not only maintain older friendships but also kindle new ones. We’ll try new ways to connect seniors this year, including our unique take on speed-dating—or friending—for the 70-plus crowd in late March.
In other news, the Board of Directors recently allocated $100,000 to make much-needed deferred maintenance improvements to keep food operations and the thrift stores humming as we embark on plans for redeveloping the Chanticleer campus.
Finally, as we embark on the next 50 years, it’s a great time to remind friends of Grey Bears that our work can only be accomplished through the dedication of volunteers, staff and support from our community. Grey Bears has been blessed with all three.
—Jennifer Merchant, Grey Bears Executive Director
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A rainstorm predicted to begin Thursday morning is expected to douse the Central Coast, raising new concerns for flooding in parts of Santa Cruz County.
The storm is expected to last through Friday afternoon, bringing an estimated 2 to 3 inches in the lower elevations and 6 to 8 inches in the mountains, says National Weather Service meteorologist Alexis Clouser.
Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin says the Pajaro River in Watsonville is predicted to reach 23 feet, well below flood stage. The San Lorenzo River, however, could reach flood stage, causing probable flooding in low-lying areas of Paradise Park and Felton Grove.
The soil, already saturated from punishing storms in January and February, will cause flooding rapidly. While high tides are expected to be higher than usual, wave heights are predicted to be significantly lower than January storms.
Forecasters also call for record-low temperatures in the middle of the week.
Clouser says the storm will be preceded by gusty winds, with temperatures ranging from the mid-40s to the mid-50s.
Commuters, she added, should be careful on their Friday morning drive.
“Take it slow, take it safe and keep an eye on the forecast,” she says.
The Sea Spirit—a 50-foot-long boat that hosts floating funerals—brings corpses from the Santa Cruz harbor to their final resting place, over three miles from shore and 600 feet below the sea’s surface. On this particular day, the 38-passenger vessel, previously used for whale-watching, is taking a group of people thinking about plans for the end of their own lives out onto the water.
Patricia Kimie, a funeral pre-planning specialist at Benito & Azzaro Funeral Home in Santa Cruz, hopes guests get a taste of what their funeral would look like. She uses the boat to host one of her seminars around Santa Cruz’s options for green burial, an environmentally-minded alternative to conventional burials and cremations.
91-year-old California transplant and ocean lover June Smith is happy to accept an invitation to explore her after-life options. In 2019, Smith wrote an opinion piece for Good Times about how she wanted a green burial after reading a 2011 article about the future of green burials in Santa Cruz. Now, she’s reconsidering her options after a cruise on the Sea Spirit.
“I feel like I’m a girl of the sea,” Smith says.
Being laid to rest at sea is just one of many options in Santa Cruz. With growing awareness of the negative environmental impacts of the funeral industry, many people are looking for a greener final act.
Now, there’s one more option in the works for California. Last September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB351, adding a new method for returning bodies to the land to existing legislation. The process is called natural organic reduction, or “human composting,” which will be available in California in 2027. While there is some excitement surrounding the prospect of this earthy process, longtime green funeral industry advocates are arguing that the greenest age-old solutions are already legal across the country. Many can be found right here in Santa Cruz County.
“There’s an older and simpler solution that’s been overlooked—it’s just not sexy enough,” green burial advocate Lee Webster says.
Going into the ground can be more complicated than it sounds. In contemporary burials, an embalmed body is set inside a lacquered wood and metal casket and often interred in a plastic or cement vault, popularized in the early 1800s to prevent grave robbing. Coffins require immense resources, and manufacturing and embalming fluids and barriers don’t prevent bodies from decaying; they just inhibit nutrients from returning to the soil.
The two-to-three-hour process of incinerating a body down to “cremated remains” is employed for over half of deaths in the U.S. It’s the fastest and cheapest way to go. Without a cemetery plot or official service, the process costs $1,300 to $2,300 on average in California, compared to the $7,000 to $12,000 price tag for contemporary burials with vaults.
While it may be the cheapest route, the actual costs are environmental. The cremation process consumes fossil fuels and releases over 500 pounds of carbon emissions per person, about the same as driving 550 miles with an average car. Mercury and nitrous oxide are also released, causing air quality concerns. Then, when ashes are improperly spread, the highly alkaline remains can eat away at plant roots and change the pH of healthy soils.
“Cremation seemed like a really good idea,” says Holly Blue Hawkins, a green burial advocate at Soquel Cemetery and Temple Beth El in Santa Cruz. “But now that we know better, it’s time to shift.”
Human composting hopes to do just that; provide an eco-friendly alternative to cremation.
“People are interested in leaving a lasting legacy that does good for the earth,” says Haley Morris at Earth Funeral, a composting company in the Pacific Northwest.
While there are several different patented processes for human composting, they all follow a general framework.
Holly Blue Hawkins rests her hands on a probe in Soquel Cemetery. PHOTO: Erin Malsbury
Human Composting
Inside a futuristic-looking vessel about the size of a twin bed, layered mulch, alfalfa, straw and sawdust waits. A body cloaked in a simple cotton shroud is laid on top like an open casket. Loved ones may adorn the body with flowers and other biodegradable mementos.
Like a compost pile, the organic materials must be periodically rotated to provide oxygen to hard-working microbes. After four to eight weeks, the pod will be filled with “compost,” bones and any medical implants—like hip replacements. After bones are ground down and reincorporated into the compost, it’s tested for dangerous bacteria or heavy metals. Finally, one cubic yard of compost remains—over 10 standard wheelbarrows worth.
According to California state law, the same rules apply for spreading this human compost as we follow for cremated remains. In Santa Cruz, remains can be put in a cemetery, on your residence or someone else’s property with their permission, Kimie says. Urban human composting facilities also own conservation areas to use the soil for forest restoration. While the existing companies don’t have specific locations planned for facilities in California, they say it’s in the works.
“We don’t have precise plans for where or exactly when we will land in California yet,” Katrina Spade, founder of Recompose in Washington, the first human composting facility in the country, says. “But we worked hard to pass the California legislation, and it’s been our plan from the get-go to have a location—or two—there.”
Morris adds that Earth Funeral supports shifting the business to make human composting a mainstream option.
“We want to be available everywhere and accessible to anyone who wants it,” she says. “California is a big state, so we have to figure out a way to optimize our services.”
But current prices don’t beat the cost of cremation. Introductory package rates at the urban facilities range from $5,000 to $7,000, but some have community funds for regional residents unable to pay in full. Herland Forest, a no-frills solar-powered human composting site in Washington state, charges $3,000.
As companies expand into California and new ones open, it’s uncertain if prices will be affected. Some companies offer opportunities to lock in their current price, protecting clients from increases. Brianna Smith, CEO of the Seattle-based Return Home, doesn’t expect their prices to drop—she says the cost ensures proper care for staff is necessary. Kimie says her Santa Cruz County clientele are already writing human composting into their wills despite the cost.
Brad Angell, an architect and capital planner at UC Santa Cruz with a background in urban compost planning, says he’s wanted to be composted for decades.
“It just doesn’t grab my heart to think about being in a box and under the ground,” he says.
While enthusiasm grows locally, there are still some concerns. Lee Webster, a longtime leader in the green burial industry, points out that while the process is eco-minded and certainly greener than cremation and contemporary burials, it still involves a lot of resources and energy. Urban facilities must be built, requiring manufactured resources, and energy is used to keep these operations running 24/7. Alfalfa, a water-intensive plant grown in the water-conscious west, and other biomaterials must be grown, harvested, processed and transported to the facility. Finally, the resulting heaping compost truckload must be driven to its final resting place.
Webster also worries that spreading this compost in conservation areas could disrupt existing balances of nutrients and microbes that may ultimately hurt forests rather than help them. Human composting companies assured me they work with ecologists to care for the land where remains are incorporated.
“The plan was conceived out of a deep concern and deep respect for the environment,” she explains. “It’s just that the way to make it happen ended up not being as green as we had hoped.”
“We’re in the real baby steps here,” Webster says. “I love that California is going to wait five years.”
Billy Campbell, a physician and co-founder of Ramsey Creek Preserve, the oldest official conservation burial ground in the U.S., echoes Webster’s concerns regarding energy inputs and compost quality. He suggests that the concept could work well for specific ecosystems where bodies don’t decompose well—namely, dry soil in extremely hot or cold environments like the tundra or desert—unlike temperate Santa Cruz.
Spade says Recompose wants to provide an “ecological option” for city dwellers. However, Campbell and other opponents of the method argue that even as some companies grow their business, the month-plus process couldn’t replace quick cremations.
Smith says human composting “is the most natural way to go, second to putting you directly into a hole.” Longtime advocates are proposing just that.
An unmarked grave site at Soquel Cemetery adorned with cow lilies, olive branches and two miniature American flags. PHOTO: Erin Malsbury
Green Burials
Green burial generally refers to a less resource-intensive return that gives nutrients to the earth rather than harmful chemicals, as people have done across cultures since the beginning of humankind.
There is no cement vault, embalming fluid or industrial casket laden with lacquer and metals. While “green” burials can vary, they generally look like this:
An unembalmed body may be covered in a shroud and placed in a biodegradable casket ranging from pine to wicker to a cardboard-like substance or with no coffin. The body is lowered about three-and-a-half feet in the soil and surrounded by flowers and other organic materials. A favorite native tree or flower may be planted on top, and nature is left to take its course. Soil layers are then lovingly replaced.
Caitlin Hauke, an immunologist and the council’s president of education and outreach, assures me that chemicals leaching from contemporary burial practices are more of a concern than any pathogens from human bodies spreading into drinking water.
“When bodies are buried directly into the ground, they stay right there,” says Webster. “They don’t float around. They don’t go anywhere. All the microbes come to them to do all the work.”
Not only is it safe, but burying bodies naturally allows our death to bring about new life, returning nutrients to the soil. “If we’re going to look at this strictly from an environmental point of view,” says Webster, “body direct burial is still the thing that makes the most sense.”
While green burial sounds simple, the costs can vary as you still have to pay for a plot and associated fees. Along the Central Coast, plots—with their opening and closing fee—start around $5,000.
Unlike human composting and other means, green burials are legal everywhere. Individual cemeteries make the rules about what can and can’t go into the ground with a body, not the government.
Santa Cruz and the surrounding area are already home to many options for green burial.
Soquel Hybrid Cemetery
Both contemporary and green burials are welcome at Soquel Cemetery. It’s what the Green Burial Council calls a hybrid cemetery.
Holly Blue Hawkins, who serves the Chevra Kadish, a Jewish burial society at Temple Beth El, looks after Soquel Cemetery, which is owned by the temple. She takes care not only of those buried there but the land itself.
Temple Beth El has a reserved section for Jewish burials, which are inherently green, like Native American burial practices. Hawkins says over half the people who reach out to her are interested in green burial. While Hawkins is a big proponent of green burials, she provides contemporary full-body burials and cremation plots at Soquel. She hopes people will get creative with their requests for green burials, realizing they can personalize it just about however they want.
And she has big hopes for the future. “We can do it here in a very modest local way,” Hawkins says, but her dream is for Santa Cruz County to have a conservation cemetery, where bodies not only give back to the land but pay to protect it under a land trust.
Purissima Natural Cemetery
Kimie, who is helping Smith with her end-of-life plans, and her partner lie side by side in the dirt and look up at the sky. They turn to each other and laugh at the dark humor of their situation, lying on top of their future grave plots.
“It is our first and probably only ocean-view property we’ll ever own,” she jokes. “And way under a million.”
Kimie talks about the purple silk shroud and biodegradable willow casket she has her eye on like a teen getting to plan for prom. Her light attitude isn’t odd for Purissima, a once-abandoned cemetery from the 1860s in Half Moon Bay. Now, it thrives as what the council calls a “natural cemetery.” Here, only green burials are allowed. The five-and-a-half-acre property looks more like a place to hike than a rigid cemetery.
Smith had been set on the ocean-view plot at Purissima until she came across the Sea Spirit.
Burial at Sea
While all boat charters can technically spread cremated remains, Sea Spirit goes further, providing full body burial at sea as well. Miles off the coast—legally, at least three—unembalmed (and free of chemotherapy) bodies, shrouded with or without a biodegradable casket, are gently slid down a mahogany slide and guided feet first into the sea, where they will eventually rest on the ocean floor.
According to Webster, an “age-old” practice, sea burials are another form of returning the nutrients of one’s body to the earth, though it does take generous amounts of gasoline to power the 50-foot vessel.
Thanks to 150 pounds in rocks and the immense pressure at over 600 feet of water, bodies won’t come bobbing up to the surface or wash up on foreign shores, Raina Stoops, co-owner of the company, assures. Instead, nature will take its course, returning the body’s nutrients to the marine life below. At $4,800, it’s currently cheaper than most local green burial plots.
For Smith, a ride on the Sea Spirit was convincing. But she says she’s now leaning toward having her cremated remains scattered in the bay in view of her late husband’s memorial bench.
“I should do what feels right to me,” Smith explains. “Not what one of my kids says, or my neighbor.”
While Kimie advocates for green burial education and options, she says her ultimate role is to help people find the best plan for them. The number one concern end-of-life planners and service providers share is that people should have all the information to make informed choices before it burdens their families.
“If we don’t take care of this stuff, it’s really like the worst kind of littering,” Hawkins says. “Because we’re leaving a mess for people to clean up when they deserve the right to be mourning us.”
On a cold day in late February, footsteps imprinted in an inch of snow over a makeshift pedestrian crossing connecting 32 Harmon Gulch households to the rest of the world is a reminder of how much power a natural disaster can wield.
The bridge, a metal sheet anchored by concrete blocks extending over the banks of a creek, stands where an asphalt road used to sit. The section of roadway was washed out during the historic January storms that wreaked havoc on Santa Cruz County infrastructure and brought President Joe Biden to the region.
Lack of access to heating fuel has been the most serious of several problems. Propane delivery trucks usually make the rounds to fill residents’ tanks, but that hasn’t been possible due to the road damage, leaving many residents without heat—or rationing it—for nearly two months.
“Everyone’s freezing cold,” Rebekah Uccellini, a Harmon Gulch resident who’s become the point person for the community, says. “Most people’s central heating—and their water and their stoves—all run off of propane, and that ran out in January.”
Uccellini and neighbors have been calling for government agencies to improve disaster-response procedures. They asked for a drivable temporary bridge for weeks until they found a permanent solution. But county officials say the residents’ plight is complicated because they’re served by a private road, meaning they’re in charge of its upkeep.
It’s also unclear how a government agency, like FEMA, might be able to assist.
According to the residents, FEMA representatives have been trying to find a solution, but cumbersome paperwork and meeting no-shows have frustrated residents.
“Most people get a denial,” Uccellini says, noting that some Harmon Gulch residents could already count eight contacts with the agency. “Half of us got denied because the inspector wasn’t willing to walk up the road to people’s houses.”
Harmon Gulch is about as rugged as Santa Cruz Mountains routes go, twisting its way up the hillside with ruts and rivets, past gnarled trunks and dense foliage.
When asked if it was confirmed that inspectors may have decided to skip the mile or so walk from Bear Creek Road to the rustic sites, a FEMA spokesperson said it’s entirely possible.
“If they cannot assess your home, they’re going to write in your form that they were not able to get to your home,” says Tiana Suber, a public information officer.
The safety of the contracted inspectors comes first, she adds.
Meanwhile, residents say there’s been a series of glitches and headaches along the path to receiving assistance as they struggle to access the outside world daily.
“It’s taking way too long,” Uccellini says. “We still have people who are displaced and have nowhere to go. We’ve got someone dying right now from cancer—and they’re not even covering for his hotel yet.”
FEMA COMPLICATIONS
FEMA officials are now getting up to speed with how best to help people who live on private roads; Stubber says it wasn’t discussed much at the federal agency before 2017.
“As things continue to change—and disasters become more prevalent—we’re taking the steps to learn about different situations and how to go about it,” she says. “Things that didn’t happen before are happening now. FEMA’s preparing for each one of those situations.”
FEMA will provide financial assistance to repair privately-owned routes, including driveways, roads and bridges. Multiple households that share a single access road can pool their assistance towards restoring it. However, this involves additional coordination and paperwork.
Harmon Gulch residents have found accomplishing this is easier said than done.
Some say they had to fill out the same FEMA paperwork multiple times. At least one resident has reported someone else’s information somehow ended up in their file.
“There’s a way to make it much more efficient from the beginning,” Uccellini says. “Are they open to figuring out a better way to do it?”
Suber says strict laws govern how to award disaster relief, and laws would have to be updated for any changes to the application process in many situations. But she says the agency has been working hard to make the process easier for storm victims, bringing in DMV and IRS reps to help residents fill out paperwork.
Disaster victims can also be served by a mobile intake team or visit a disaster recovery center. FEMA also has teams that go door-to-door checking on people to see if anyone, who might have otherwise been missed, would like to apply for emergency help.
“It’s more convenient for those who just can’t make it out of their home,” Suber says. “We have a lot of ways where we try to reach different communities. The process is not difficult but it can be long—we always ask for a little bit of patience.”
Kim Markey, one of the Harmon Gulch residents, says she’s trying to be patient; she’s finding out if the residents can organize to direct their individual assistance amounts towards paying for road repairs. But connecting with a FEMA inspector at her house took persistence.
One FEMA inspector she was assigned missed their scheduled meeting on Feb. 4.
“I have been pushed back and redirected today,” he says. “Can we move over to a time tomorrow, Sunday, by any chance?” The resident suggested 11am.
At 11:05am Sunday, Feb. 5, the Harmon Gulch resident checked in with the rep.
“We are here,” she texted. No response.
Finally, at 3:04pm, the rep replied. “En route,” the agent reported.
The inspector had taken so long to reply that Markey had already gone. In the end, the employee finally met her that night; however, others expecting a face-to-face with FEMA that day never got one.
COUNTY RESPONSE
Since a private road serves Harmon Gulch residents, the county believes it’s free of responsibility regarding repairs. Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin says the residents might want to consider forming a County Service Area (CSA). Rural residents could then ask the county to look after their access infrastructure in case of future road damage.
The problem with that, Uccellini says, is that it might take $200,000 worth of work—aside from the bridge issue—just to upgrade the road to the point where the county would be willing to sign off on the CSA.
The county currently manages 36 CSA road groups that want increased maintenance of their local roads. They’re funded through an annual Benefit Assessment.
Uccellini is looking into the idea. What she’s learned is that some people are happy with their CSA, while others gripe about how expensive they can be—with households sometimes having to kick in thousands of dollars a year.
“As a CSA, we’re an extension of the county organization, and we can get county support,” Jim Eckerman, head of CSA 51 at Hopkins Gulch Road, says. “I’m against CSAs because people should take responsibility for their own stuff. But let me tell you why I support the CSA. Number 1: FEMA won’t deal with private property.”
He adds that the county doesn’t have enough people on staff to find solutions for all the storm problems residents are facing this year, but the county was quick to purchase an order for some issues with their road after the storms hit.
“We went to the county and said, ‘We need an emergency PO,’” he says. “Within a day, they issued an emergency PO … If we weren’t a CSA, they’d say, ‘Go get a tractor.’”
He’s been following the news coming out of Harmon Gulch.
“To the county, Harmon Gulch is a private driveway to those homes,” he explains. “They need to do something.”
Garth D. MacDonald, a public information officer with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, says Harmon Gulch residents could apply for a loan with the agency via Harmon Gulch’s road association.
“We do everything to make the process as smooth as it can be, but at the same time, we have to work as good stewards of the taxpayer money that is made available,” he says. “That is not always an easy task.”
To get a loan, the residents would have to prove they can repay it, for example, if there’s a healthy balance in the road association’s bank account.
“We can’t really evaluate how SBA can help Harmon Gulch with their private road issues until they make a decision to apply for a low-interest loan for us,” he says. “That would be their choice.”
On Friday, thanks to the efforts of nonprofit Coongie, of which Uccellini is executive director, funds from locals and a donation from the Santa Cruz County Community Foundation, Harmon Gulch finally got a temporary driving bridge in place—although the county won’t sign off on it and they had to get their own liability insurance. They still need it certified so they can drive heavier vehicles over it.
Markey says it was a relief to be able to venture out finally.
“The first thing I went to do was to put fuel in my vehicle and do a big grocery load that I didn’t have to carry over,” she says. “I felt a little normal again.”
As of press time, Markey was still appealing to FEMA, as the Harmon Gulch residents now set their sights on a more permanent solution.
Twenty years after its inception, UCSC’s Institute of Arts & Sciences (IAS) now occupies what is arguably the most interesting multi-use space in Santa Cruz.
The 15,000-square-foot building facing Delaware Avenue, distinguished by its tilt-up poured concrete walls and rooftop garden, was designed by architect Mark Primack. The IAS boasts three climate-controlled galleries, two screening rooms, spacious seminar suites and an open library, all designed to advance UCSC’s commitment to the role of art and creative thinking in transforming society.
Exhibitions and video installations are held on the first floor; the second-floor mezzanine will be sublet to another university group. With its awesome views, the third floor is being designed as an events space.
From the high-ceilinged entry, punctuated by clerestory windows, architectural glass bricks and polished concrete floors, institute director Rachel Nelson walks through the corridor of offices, curatorial planning space, conference and classrooms.
“Spaces for study groups to meet, for the community to gather, for video and installation events and above all,” she emphasizes,” a place for conversations to start, continue and move outward into the communities.”
Less than a month into its 10-year lease, the IAS is already busy fulfilling its mission. Already, 19 student interns and school groups have come for opening week visits.
The current exhibitions illustrate Nelson’s point about approaching themes from fresh viewpoints. Emphatically multi-disciplinary, the displays address the prison culture in a disarming series of image and video explorations. “How can you even imagine a world without prisons? What would it take to get there?” Nelson asks.
The IAS opening exhibition lives up to what Nelson believes to be its primary mission: whatever illuminates the issues of our time.
“We chose the prison abolition movement because research about it was born at UCSC,” she says. “There is a critical mass of people right now at the University of California Santa Cruz working around incarceration, such as IAS program designer and UCSC Feminist Studies professor Gina Dent, head of the $2 million Mellon Foundation-funded “Visualizing Abolition” program. Angela Davis is probably the most famous, but there are many others, including Nelson herself. “We have a deep rich tradition of thinking critically about prisons and thinking about the prison abolition movement.”
“Visualizing Abolition” is the theme of the first round of exhibitions connected to a vigorous public scholarship program, beginning with the work of artist-activist Ashley Hunt titled “Degrees of Visibility,” dealing with the landscapes surrounding prisons in the US.
Nelson points to the idea of the invisible prison, the fact that prisons are kept out of sight—the Marin Prison is literally underground, as Hunt’s image records. Tiny bits of text offering sobering data and statistics are paired with large neatly-framed images. Prisons can thrive because they are hidden, and Hunt’s photographs persuade the viewer. The last photo in the long hallway gallery, fittingly, is of an abandoned prison in ruins. Out of sight, out of mind.
Another large-scale exhibit, “Seeing and Seen” by Sky Hopinka, displays photographs and a wall-sized video installation exploring relationships between carceral [the incarcerated] and settler colonial history of the US.
Hopinka, a 2022 MacArthur Fellow and indigenous artist, explores the perpetual incarceration of Native Americans. A darkened screening room displays his haunting and ironic video of ocean waves outside the country’s oldest prison, in St. Augustine, Florida. This installation is presented in collaboration with the San Jose Museum of Art, one of the IAS partners, and the Santa Cruz MAH.
Nelson cited cost when asked about the historical context of the long-awaited IAS opening. The project was downsized, but the pandemic shut down further discussion. Downtown spaces were considered but came with caveats, like limited student accessibility and parking.
Then the Delaware space became available, with parking, proximity to campus and on Metro routes.
Nelson has plenty of answers regarding the inaugural emphasis on prison abolition.
Back in 2017, a conference was discussed: a three-day event around the topic of visualizing abolition.
“Covid happened. Then the murder of George Floyd and the uprisings of summer 2020,” the IAS director recalls. “And we realized that we could not let Covid stop us from doing something that our students, our community, this nation, the world was clamoring for, which is to think beyond the systems that are currently in place. To imagine a world otherwise.”
Instead of doing the three-day symposium, the school provided a weekly discussion online around prison abolition, with speakers from all over, eliciting some 30,000 tele-participants.
“Somehow, we have created a world in which gun violence, domestic violence, and other acts that we label ‘criminal’ thrive and so now we’re asking how do we create a world in which they don’t?” Nelson says.
Once past the front desk and gathering area, the visitor enters a gallery of photographic images lining both sides of the main gallery space. Up close, the images by Hunt appear to be quiet landscape studies. The captions tell a different and more shocking story, one of staggering numbers of inmates, and details of the historical roots of the prison settings, many back to pre-abolition eras.
The exhibition suggests one answer to Nelson’s rhetorical question: how can we imagine a world without prisons? Removing all inequity might be a utopian dream. Whether we can genuinely abolish prisons remains an open question. But that’s the whole point for Nelson in her role as IAS director: to keep the discussion open.
The new IAS home exists to help deepen relationships with other museums and other educational institutions and, as Arts Division Dean Celine Parreznnas Shimizu believes, to deepen opportunities for people to work together “for equitability and to advance excellence.” Developing multi-sited exhibitions and programming with partners, including longtime collaborators San José Museum of Art and MAH, IAS intends to promote the region as a destination for innovative arts programming and new modes of experiential arts education.
A final look at Hunt’s Holman “Correctional Facility” photograph reinforces the open discussion vision. In it, a dirt road cuts through a vast panorama of cotton fields, beyond which the existing facility sits far in the distance. According to the caption, the facility imprisons 2,799 men, including 158 on Death Row.
The UCSC Institute of Arts & Sciences galleries are at 100 Panetta Ave., Santa Cruz. Open Tuesday-Sunday, noon-5pm. Free. ias.ucsc.edu
Rachel Nelson’s quote, “Somehow, we have created a world in which criminals thrive…” was adjusted to; “”Somehow, we have created a world in which gun violence, domestic violence, and other acts that we label ‘criminal’ thrive,” at her request after Good Times went to print.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Repressed feelings and dormant passions are rising to the surface. I bet they will soon be rattling your brain and illuminating your heart, unleashing a soothing turbulence of uncanny glee. Will you get crazy and wise enough to coax the Great Mystery into blessing you with an inspirational revelation or two? I believe you will. I hope you will! The more skillful you are at generating rowdy breakthroughs, the less likely you are to experience a breakdown. Be as unruly as you need to be to liberate the very best healings.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You finally have all you need to finish an incomplete mission or resolve a mess of unsettled karma. The courage and determination you couldn’t quite summon before are now fully available as you invoke a climax that will prepare the way for your awe-inspiring rebirth. Gaze into the future, dear Taurus, and scan for radiant beacons that will be your guides in the coming months. You have more help than you know, and now is the time to identify it and move toward it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Our sun is an average star in a galaxy of 100 billion stars. In comparison to some of its flamboyant compatriots, it’s mediocre. Over 860 light years away is a blue-white supergiant star called Rigel, which is twice as hot as our sun and 40,000 times brighter. The red supergiant Antares, over 600 light years away, has 12 times more mass. Yet if those two show-offs had human attitudes, they might be jealous of our star, which is the source of energy for a planet teeming with 8.7 million forms of life. I propose we make the sun your role model for now, Gemini. It’s an excellent time to glory in your unique strengths and to exuberantly avoid comparing yourself to anyone else.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The philosophical principle known as Occam’s razor asserts that when trying to understand a problem or enigma, we should favor the simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions. While that’s often a useful approach, I don’t recommend it in the coming weeks. For you, nuances and subtleties will abound in every situation. Mere simplicity is unlikely to lead to a valid understanding. You will be wise to relish the complications and thrive on the paradoxes. Try to see at least three sides of every story. Further tips: 1. Mysteries may be truer than mere facts. 2. If you’re willing to honor your confusion, the full, rich story will eventually emerge.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “There are no unsacred places,” wrote Leo poet Wendell Berry. “There are only sacred places and desecrated places.” Poet Allen Ginsberg agreed. “Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!” he wrote. “Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy the cafeteria! Holy the mysterious rivers of tears under the streets! Holy the sea, holy the desert, holy the railroad.” With Berry’s and Ginsberg’s prompts as your inspiration, and in accordance with current astrological imperatives, I invite you to invigorate your relationship with sacredness. If nothing is sacred for you, do what it takes to find and commune with sacred things, places, animals, humans and phenomena. If you are already a lover of sacred wonders, give them extra love and care. To expand your thinking and tenderize your mood, give your adoration to these related themes: consecration, sublimity, veneration, devotion, reverence, awe and splendor.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): My favorite Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, wrote the following: “In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence. To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by and disappears.” I bring this meditation to your attention, Virgo, because I hope you will do it daily during the next two weeks. Now is an excellent time to cultivate an intense awareness of your feelings—to exult in their rich meanings, to value their spiritual power, to feel gratitude for educating and entertaining you.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): How might your life come into clearer focus when you uncover secrets that inspire your initiative and ingenuity? What happens when resources that had been inaccessible become available for your enjoyment and use? How will you respond if neglected truths spring into view and point the way toward improvements in your job situation? I suspect you will soon be able to tell me stories about all this good stuff. PS: Don’t waste time feeling doubtful about whether the magic is real. Just welcome it and make it work for you!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It’s not the best time to tattoo a lover’s likeness on your abdomen. Maybe in May, but not now. On the other hand, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to see if your paramour might be willing to tattoo your name on their thigh. Similarly, this is a favorable period to investigate which of your allies would wake up at 5am to drive you to the airport, and which of your acquaintances and friends would stop others from spreading malicious gossip about you and which authorities would reward you if you spoke up with constructive critiques.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. They may grow as high as 350 feet. Their roots are shallow, though, reaching down just six to 12 feet before spreading out 60 to 100 feet horizontally. And yet the trees are sturdy, rarely susceptible to being toppled by high winds and floods. What’s their secret? Their root systems are interwoven with those of other nearby redwoods. Together, they form networks of allies, supporting each other and literally sharing nutrients. I endorse this model for you to emulate in your efforts to create additional stability and security in your life, Sagittarius.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What’s the best way to be fulfilled? Hard work and discipline? Are we most likely to flourish if we indulge only moderately in life’s sweet pleasures and mostly focus on the difficult tasks that build our skills and clout? Or is it more accurate to say that 90 percent of success is just showing up: being patient and persistent as we carry out the small day-to-day sacrifices and devotions that incrementally make us indispensable? Mythologist Joseph Campbell described a third variation: to “follow our bliss.” We find out what activities give us the greatest joy and install those activities at the center of our lives. As a Capricorn, you are naturally skilled at the first two approaches. In the coming months, I encourage you to increase your proficiency at the third.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Mackerels are unusual fish in that they must keep swimming nonstop. If they don’t, they die. Do they ever sleep? Scientists haven’t found any evidence that they do. I bring them up now because many of you Aquarians have resemblances to mackerels—and I think it’s especially crucial that you not act like them in the coming weeks. I promise you that nothing bad will happen if you slow way down and indulge in prolonged periods of relaxing stillness. Just the opposite in fact: Your mental and physical health will thrive as you give your internal batteries time and space to recharge.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A financial advisor once told me I could adopt one of three approaches to running my business: 1. Ignore change; 2. always struggle with change, half-immobilized by mixed feelings about whether to change or stay pat; 3. learn to love and thrive on change. The advisor said that if I chose either of the first two options, I would always be forced to change by circumstances beyond my control. The third approach is ultimately the only one that works. Now is an excellent time for you Pisceans to commit yourself fully to number three—for both your business and your life.
Honey B Market owner-operator Katie Belanger is about her craft. Talk to her for more than a minute, and she might dive deep into her thoughts on how tempeh should be made by hand in an unpasteurized way that doesn’t kill off helpful bacteria. Or how fermenting foods is a spiritual endeavor. Or how grains and their healthful qualities are often misunderstood.
“The overall mission is creating a higher standard of what we think of as ‘food’ in our food systems,” she says. “It’s about connecting people back to why they eat—nourishment and breaking it down to the fundamentals of cooking. Fermentation was how we preserved our foods back in the day, and a lot of that was lost in the industrial-convenience ‘revolution.’
“It’s our duty to reverse that.”
Another way to understand her passion: Simply try, say, the signature cinnamon snail.
Its ingredients and flavor profiles shout “Hand-crafted!” and “Thoughtful!” Note the house-fermented sourdough milk bun, cinnamon date swirl and probiotic cashew icing.
Belanger’s route to Santa Cruz—which feels like fate—was not a straight line, but the same applies to the path to enlightenment.
She left Chicago because she’d had enough cold and wind and took a job at Whole Foods in Southern California but soured on its iffy adherence to true whole foods principles—then won $75,000 on a TNT cooking game show called “On the Menu” that funded her startup.
Honey B has been open for two months and it introduced its spring seasonal menu last week. The menu includes a breakfast burrito wrapping tempeh-lentil chorizo, avocado salsa and spicy cashew cheese in hand-rolled whole wheat tortillas fresh off a two-day ferment; expanded grab-and-go items like kimchi noodle salad and oyster mushroom ceviche; and pantry essentials like sprouted almond butter, chimichurri and dog treats.
A penultimate note here, in the form of a riddle: What’s better than the plant-forward fever dream that is Honey B? Honey B plus a resident coffee program, Conspiracy Coffee Co., by coffee industry vet Eddie Alaniz, who launched the startup amid Covid.
He prioritizes single-origin beans, cold brew and real-deal coffee that will raise eyebrows as much as Benager’s life-forceful foods.
And one final note: Honey B is open 9am-4pm Wednesday-Sunday at 1005 Cedar St. It’s good to get there on the early side, as items sell out—and given their slow ferments, they can’t be whipped up to order.
And … Action!
Good Times wrote a love note about Buzzo Pizza’s imminent opening on Valentine’s Day, only for the much-much-delayed opening to be, yes, delayed further. The good news is that it is now finally dishing seductive pizzas charred at temperatures exceeding 800 degrees. buzzopizza.com
Wise is Good
FishWise, the Santa Cruz-based sustainable seafood consultancy outfit, has announced Jenny Barker as their new executive director. She’s done heroic work for FW’s Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability. FishWise has been going for 20 years and advises over 4,500 grocery stores across the U.S. and governments and nonprofits in 89 countries.
Friends came for dinner recently—a good time to open a celebratory drop of bubbly. We all enjoyed La Crema’s Brut Rosé Sparkling wine ($45). Made in the Méthode Traditionnelle technique with fruit from their fertile Saralee’s Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, you can’t go wrong with offering this delightful sparkler to your guests.
White flowers, Braeburn apple and crushed oyster shell delicate aromas, followed by flavors of lemon meringue, wild strawberries and fresh ginger, add up to a vibrant lingering finish that will please even the pickiest fan of sparkling wine.
A visit to La Crema is a lovely experience. A premier destination for wine education and cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, their well-known Saralee’s estate includes a historic barn dating back to 1900. Open daily by appointment, the “Tour & Tasting” is $40 per person. Or you can reserve a picnic table and take your own food. A golf-cart tour is also offered for $85—a relaxing way to explore the vineyards and take in the beautiful vistas of the historic estate. A tasting awaits you at the end of the tour. Check their website for more info and to see upcoming events.
La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard, 3575 Slusser Road, Windsor, 707-525-6200; lacrema.com
Santa Cruz Mountains’ Best
The March Elevated Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains dinner will be held at Regale Winery. Enjoy a tasting reception with wines by Regale Winery, Muns Vineyard, Burrell School Vineyards, Wrights Station Winery, Gali Vineyards and Roberts Ranch Vineyards. The four-course wine dinner will be paired with “Brutta’s contemporary Italian cuisine”—conceived by Chef Amelia Telc. This series, organized by Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains, runs through November.
Elevated Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains happens Friday, March 31, 5-9:30pm. $175. Regale Winery, 24040 Summit Road, Los Gatos. scmwa.com
Santa Cruz native Jason McKay spent several years as both a front-of-house and back-of-house employee, locally and around Tahoe. Nine years ago, he and his wife, Keikilani, decided Aptos needed a gathering place with good wine, beer and food. They wanted to open a spot where they would hang out, somewhere like Cantine Winepub.
Jason highlights their beer and wine selection, which features local and worldwide favorites. He defines the vibe as “casual, classy and comfortable with a living room atmosphere.” The menu offers small plates like cheese and charcuterie boards, savory and sweet burrata pairings and housemade soups like the popular butternut squash. They also serve larger dishes, including sous vide selections such as duck confit, lamb chops and beef short rib. The crowd-pleaser dessert is the molten chocolate brownie. Other standouts include pinsas, a Roman-style flatbread similar to pizza, and comfort dishes like chicken pot pie, lasagna and meatballs.
Hours are Monday-Friday, 3-10pm (Saturday and Sunday, noon-10pm). Jason described the idea behind Cantine and why it’s great for private events.
How would you describe Cantine’s concept?
JASON MCKAY: It came about from my wife and my travels throughout Europe and the types of establishments we frequented. We aim to bring that leisurely European-style food and wine culture of slowing down and savoring the moment to our community. Everybody has such a hectic life. We are happy to offer a respite and a chance to relax and unwind.
Does Cantine host private parties?
Cantine has become really popular for parties and large events. The space lends itself well; guests have remarked that it never feels too loud or crowded. [We] offer a variety of areas to fit guests’ needs, whether they are looking for a quiet, intimate corner, the buzz of a bar space or a natural outdoor vibe on our patio.
Record collectors rejoice! After a month of renovations, the intimate record boutique at the corner of 320 Cedar St. in the heart of Downtown Santa Cruz will finally reopen on Saturday, March 11. In an ironic twist, it’s transcending its meta-ness while maintaining its community roots.
That’s right. Metavinyl is now Redwood Records.
“The idea behind the rebrand was to make it fully ours,” says co-owner Rudy Kuhn. “There was no offense to the previous name.”
Business partner, Tyler Davin-Moore, agrees.
“It took about six months, but it all came together,” laughs Davin-Moore.
The two initially met while working in the beer industry and quickly bonded over their love of music, live shows and record collecting.
They were both ready for a new project, and after a couple of ideas, they heard rumors that Metavinyl was looking for new ownership. Both were regular customers and had known the previous owner, Paul Speraw, for quite some time.
“It was really put in front of us and very serendipitous,” Kuhn explains.
They purchased the business in May of 2022 and used the next six months to ease into their new venture.
“There was a concerted effort to not change it right away,” Davin-Moore says. “We wanted to respect the place, get to know the customer base and shop.”
Founded as Metamusic Records in 2005 by original owner Jonathan Schneiderman, the name was changed to Metavinyl in 2010 and was purchased by Speraw in 2013.
True to their roots, Davin-Moore and Kuhn have kept the massive, metal chaos start that served as Metavinyl’s logo hanging on the wall of their new interior, front and center for customers to see first thing as they walk in the door. They’ve also opened the space by moving the checkout counter to its original position and shrinking the backroom storage space, meaning more room for records, turntables, HI-FI speakers and DJ equipment.
“There’s a young contingent of kids making beats and playing house parties,” Davin-Moore describes the analog DJ accessories. “So, this will be a jumping-off pad for them.”
The duo also plans to host in-store performances regularly. Also, they recently had a soft opening that included the beginning of a month-long art exhibit by local photographer Colton Bills—featuring a who’s-who of familiar faces in the local music scene—and music by local sludge blues group, the Bad Light.
“In some ways, the store is coming full circle,” Speraw says. “Jonathan used to have in-store performances all the time, and I continued that for a while after I took over. The counters are also back to where they used to be 10 years ago.”
Next month’s music showcase will feature Dead Nettle and alt-folk band Are We Hunting; Redwood Records plans to continue to be a part of the music community with the monthly “Beers with Friends” at Lúpulo Craft Beer House.
“It’s an all vinyl, DJ set,” says Kuhn. “And we get to dive into our past lives in the beer world and reach out with a new brewery each month to feature new draft beers, which is neat for a bar that always goes deep on the beer menu.”
Redwood Records celebrates its grand opening on Friday, March 24, at 320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz. DJ set by Nate LeBlanc, live music by Angelica Rockne and more. downtownsantacruz.com/go/metavinyl
