Rob Brezsny Astrology May 17—23

 

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “A two-year-old kid is like using a blender, but you don’t have a top for it,” said comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Would you like to avoid a scenario like that, Aries? Would you prefer not to see what happens if your life has resemblances to turning on a topless blender that’s full of ingredients? Yes? Then please find the top and put it on! And if you can’t locate the proper top, use a dinner plate or newspaper or pizza box. OK? It’s not too late. Even if the blender is already spewing almond milk and banana fragments and protein powder all over the ceiling. Better late than never!

 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): My pregnant friend Myrna is determined to avoid giving birth via Caesarean section. She believes that the best way for her son to enter the world is by him doing the hard work of squeezing through the narrow birth canal. That struggle will fortify his willpower and mobilize him to summon equally strenuous efforts in response to future challenges. It’s an interesting theory. I suggest you consider it as you contemplate how you’re going to get yourself reborn.

 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I invite you to try the following meditation: Picture yourself filling garbage bags with stuff that reminds you of what you used to be and don’t want to be any more. Add anything that feels like decrepit emotional baggage or that serves as a worn-out psychological crutch. When you’ve gathered up all the props and accessories that demoralize you, imagine yourself going to a beach where you build a big bonfire and hurl your mess into the flames. As you dance around the conflagration, exorcise the voices in your head that tell you boring stories about yourself. Sing songs that have as much power to relieve and release you as a spectacular orgasm.

 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In normal times, your guardian animal ally might be the turtle, crab, seahorse, or manta ray. But in the next three weeks, it’s the cockroach. This unfairly maligned creature is legendary for its power to thrive in virtually any environment, and I think you will have a similar resourcefulness. Like the cockroach, you will do more than merely cope with awkward adventures and complicated transitions; you will flourish. One caution: It’s possible that your adaptability may bother people who are less flexible and enterprising than you. To keep that from being a problem, be empathetic as you help them adapt. (P.S. Your temporary animal ally is exceptionally well-groomed. Cockroaches clean themselves as much as cats do.)

 

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Lady Jane Grey was crowned Queen of England in July 1553, but she ruled for just nine days before being deposed. I invite you to think back to a time in your own past when victory was short-lived. Maybe you accomplished a gratifying feat after an arduous struggle, only to have it quickly eclipsed by a twist of fate. Perhaps you finally made it into the limelight but then lost your audience to a distracting brouhaha. But here’s the good news: Whatever it was—a temporary triumph? incomplete success? nullified conquest?—you will soon have a chance to find redemption for it.

 

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): While shopping at a funky yard sale, I found the torn-off cover of a book titled You’re a Genius and I Can Prove It. Sadly, the rest of the book was not available. Later I searched for it in online bookstores, and found it was out of print. That’s unfortunate, because now would be an excellent time for you to peruse a text like this. Why? Because you need specific, detailed evidence of how unique and compelling you are—concrete data that will provide an antidote to your habitual self doubts and consecrate your growing sense of self-worth. Here’s what I suggest you do: Write an essay entitled “I’m an Interesting Character and Here’s the Proof.”

 

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Leonardo da Vinci wrote a bestiary, an odd little book in which he drew moral conclusions from the behavior of animals. One of his descriptions will be useful for you to contemplate in the near future. It was centered on what he called the “wild ass,” which we might refer to as an undomesticated donkey. Leonardo said that this beast, “going to the fountain to drink and finding the water muddy, is never too thirsty to wait until it becomes clear before satisfying himself.” That’s a useful fable to contemplate, Libra. Be patient as you go in search of what’s pure and clean and good for you. (The translation from the Italian is by Oliver Evans.)

 

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): My friend Allie works as a matchmaker. She has an instinctive skill at reading the potential chemistry between people. One of her key strategies is to urge her clients to write mission statements. “What would your ideal marriage look like?” she asks them. Once they have clarified what they want, the process of finding a mate seems to become easier and more fun. In accordance with the astrological omens, Scorpio, I suggest you try this exercise—even if you are already in a committed relationship. It’s an excellent time to get very specific about the inspired togetherness you’re willing to work hard to create.

 

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In ancient Greek myth, Tiresias was a prophet who could draw useful revelations by interpreting the singing of birds. Spirits of the dead helped him devise his prognostications, too. He was in constant demand for revelations about the future. But his greatest claim to fame was the fact that a goddess magically transformed himself into a woman for seven years. After that, he could speak with authority about how both genders experienced the world. This enhanced his wisdom immeasurably, adding to his oracular power. Are you interested in a less drastic but highly educational lesson, Sagittarius? Would you like to see life from a very different perspective from the one you’re accustomed to? It’s available to you if you want it.

 

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “You remind me of the parts of myself that I will never have a chance to meet,” writes poet Mariah Gordon-Dyke, addressing a lover. Have you ever felt like saying that to a beloved ally, Capricorn? If so, I have good news: You now have an opportunity to meet and greet parts of yourself that have previously been hidden from you—aspects of your deep soul that up until now you may only have caught glimpses of. Celebrate this homecoming!

 

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I predict that you won’t be bitten by a dog or embarrassed by a stain or pounced on by a lawyer. Nor will you lose your keys or get yelled at by a friend or oversleep for a big appointment. On the contrary! I think you’ll be wise to expect the best. The following events are quite possible: You may be complimented by a person who’s in a position to help you. You could be invited into a place that had previously been off-limits. While eavesdropping, you might pick up a useful clue, and while daydreaming you could recover an important memory you’d lost. Good luck like this is even more likely to sweep into your life if you work on ripening the most immature part of your personality.

 

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Time out. It’s intermission. Give yourself permission to be spacious and slow. Then, when you’re sweetly empty—this may take a few days—seek out experiences that appeal primarily to your wild and tender heart as opposed to your wild and jumpy mind. Just forget about the theories you believe in and the ideas you regard as central to your philosophy of life. Instead, work on developing brisk new approaches to your relationship with your feelings. Like what? Become more conscious of them, for example. Express gratitude for what they teach you. Boost your trust for their power to reveal what your mind sometimes hides from you.


Homework: Imagine what your life would be like if you even partially licked your worst fear. Describe this new world. freewillastrology.com.

As Above, So Below

The Sun and the planets shift about more than usual in the following days, which means more shifting about and activity on Earth. As the outer planets are contacted, we see signs of continued transformations in our world. Mercury and the Sun change signs this week. Mercury left risk-taking Aries and entered slow-moving, Taurus (Monday night), sign of the Art of Living.

On Saturday, Sun leaves Taurus (comfort) and enters Gemini, sign of the messenger instructing humanity in communication.

Friday (possible difficult day) things get all shook up due to interactions between Saturn/Uranus, Mars/Pluto and Venus/Jupiter. As above in the heavens, so below on Earth.

With Saturn trine Uranus (in fiery Sag and Aries), everything that is staid, unmovable, crystallized and locked into place is shocked into instability. Uranus doesn’t allow the old ways to hinder the new ways from forming. Uranus disrupts everything, allowing new rhythms to take shape.

With Mars/Pluto (Gemini/Capricorn), the old world comes tumbling down with a fury! Nothing seems to work. Messages (Gemini) are lost in the rubble.

With Venus opposite Jupiter (Aries/Libra), something new “over there somewhere (opposite us)” appears. We can’t comprehend it, so we ignore or destroy it. But Venus/Jupiter is benevolent, kind and expansive. They bring awareness, love and wisdom to our relationships. Eventually, we allow ourselves to see what new is being introduced. Gradually, we accept and integrate it. We always learn through conflict and chaos.

With Sun in Gemini we are more communicative, friendly, sociable, interested and curious to learn about everyone and everything. We gather information and share it. We listen to Blake Shelton’s music (Gemini Sun). And our hearts open. Why? Gemini distributes Ray 2 (Love/Wisdom) from a star in the Big Dipper.


ARIES: You may be dreaming more often, feeling more instinctive, sometimes confused, sensitive, inspired and insightful. Prayer, meditation, study, contemplation are good for you. They create compassion and a deeply caring way of being. When you find yourself in a group calling you to leadership to help create the future, the needed skills, tools and virtues appear. The new world is what you are to initiate.

 

TAURUS: You have one task now—a focus upon health. Tend to joints and bones and your heart, taking more calcium/magnesium, not allowing anxiety or stress, eating calming foods. Swimming in warm salt pools is recommended. Use practicality to care for yourself. You must choose daily—to be out and about socially, leading everyone into the future, or remaining at home, in the garden, building toward perfect health. Begin each day facing the early morning Sun. Eyes wide open.

 

GEMINI: Something revelatory happens between you and the world, you and work, and you and certain groups. You’re inspired, encouraged and guided. With careful study, years of preparation, and viewing the past in terms of cultivating your gifts, a spiritual pathway opens. Choices and commitments are more easily made, and gratitude settles in your heart. The next festival is the Gemini festival of Goodwill. Plan to participate.

 

CANCER: What have you been sensing, feeling and thinking of during these spring festivals? Do you feel you’re being introduced to new qualities within yourself, a new identity emerging? Do these days make you feel generous and at home? Is there a new reality or interest presenting itself? You want to participate fully. But you know it’s not quite the right timing. Are you gardening, redecorating, expanding your foundation? Love is close by.

 

LEO: You’re becoming more perceptive, intuitive and enlightened, and this affects those you work with. Someone, something (words, ideas, memories of someone in particular) will create a shift into greater and deeper awareness of how you have related in previous relationships. Your mind sorts through ideas of intimacy, money, sadness sometimes, and old dreams. Love is good, all the time, even when it hurts, which means you’re learning.

 

VIRGO: You will relate better with others, especially those close to you, if you offer love as unqualified and unconditional. This is something many of us need yet to learn. We don’t quite know how to love. But when we do so, we flourish and thrive and discover greater support and the needed guidance. Challenging others doesn’t work. Curiosity, listening, care and compassion do. They nourish all hearts.

 

LIBRA: Think, visualize and pray daily for all that you want and need your life to be. Include art, creativity and loving relationship partnerships. If you’re not sure of your needs, ask yourself each day, “What are my hopes, dreams and wishes? What are my abilities and gifts?” In the coming months, you become stronger, more resilient. Take cautionary care with money and resources. You need fishes in a fishbowl and an apricot canary.

 

SCORPIO: Use your resources and investments in terms of preparing for the future. Find a forward-thinking money manager. Think seriously about a new economy needing to unfold. It will look much different than our present one. Don’t speculate on the old economy. Consider precious metals. Study books on greenhouses and bio-shelters and the resources needed to create these environments. You then become forward thinking.

 

SAGITTARIUS: The planets are affecting your sense of self, your identity, your money, your family, home situation, creativity and possibilities in terms of relationships, partnerships, and for some, marriage. So many different realities pulsing about. Something kind and benevolent, something sacrificial and sad is remembered in your family. Are relatives and loved ones on your mind? Your remembering creates the needed relinquishment.

 

CAPRICORN: You’re thinking optimistically about doing something new about who you are in the world, your talents and gifts. You want to bring more grace, goodness, ease and beauty to your life and the life of humanity. You recognize everyone’s doing their very best, especially you, and you’re asking for more opportunities in the world. Begin writing (journaling) in earnest and even drawing how you want to serve the world. This is your next creative endeavor.

 

AQUARIUS: Money and resources are going through a definite change. You want adequate money in order to stabilize yourself in the future. This means more attention to the well-being of your finances. Don’t forget to always help others. When we serve others, our needs are always taken care of. The charts show a focus on home, past, present and future. Follow what calls to you. It loves you.

 

PISCES: Neptune in Pisces brings forth revelations and visions and, at times, confusion. Neptune blends many realities into one reality and specifics dissolve away. Be aware and observe this occurring. Neptune is not the planet of detail. It’s the planet of refinement, of parting the veils, of creative imagination and realms where dreams come true. Neptune transits can make us experience exhaustion. Magnesium, vitamins A, B and D3 help stabilize the body. Tend carefully to health in these times.

Preview: Kip Andersen on His Documentary ‘What the Health’

There’s a scene in the documentary Cowspiracy where director Kip Andersen charges into the lobby of the San Francisco Greenpeace office and asks the woman at the counter to see the program director. Andersen has been trying to get an appointment for two months, and wants to know why Greenpeace doesn’t focus on animal agriculture as the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace’s PR person comes out to shoo him away, saying representatives will be in touch.

Cowspiracy, which got some star power from executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, has become the most popular and arguably most controversial pro-vegan documentary of all time. That’s at least partially because Andersen doesn’t just take on the obvious targets: healthcare, pharmaceutical companies and factory farming. This is Greenpeace, after all—the same Greenpeace whose members routinely scale famous monuments to display climate change banners and put themselves in the path of whalers. But the former Boulder Creek resident is uncompromising, leaving no cow unturned—a man who, early in our interview, asks “Can you be an environmentalist and still eat meat?”

Andersen has taken the same confrontational approach with his follow-up, What the Health, in which he investigates the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries’ connection to our nation’s reliance on meat, dairy and processed food consumption. What the Health will be screened in Santa Cruz on May 17 followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

When you’re uncovering “one of the biggest health cover-ups in the history of mankind, how it got to be so, and what the solution is,” you’ve got to take risks, says Andersen of his scorch-earthed tactics.

He spent hundreds of hours researching, sending emails, making calls and showing up at American health nonprofits, only to have his questions ignored, he says. He claims the information he did find was tainted by questionable studies, media hype and political interference.

“It’s tough because with medical studies you have to dig really deep and go back to see how they were funded,” says Andersen. “A lot of times it’s like ‘Oh, that’s funded by the meat and dairy industry.”

Like the Siri-Tarino study, says Andersen, which was headed by Robert Krauss and sparked the “butter is back” craze in 2010 when it concluded that there was no significant evidence to connect saturated fat with an increased risk of coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease, despite studies since 1965 saying the opposite.

When the study was repackaged and released in 2014, the chair of Harvard’s nutrition department called it “seriously misleading,” saying it contained “multiple errors and omissions,” and called for the paper to be retracted. Turns out, says Andersen, Krauss had been funded by the National Dairy Council since 1989, and received support from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Robert & Veronica Atkins Foundation (if you remember the Atkins Diet from the ’90s, it was pretty big on meat intake).

“That’s what they want: ‘doubt is our product,’” says Andersen, quoting the 1969 PR proposal from Brown & Williamson, a then-subsidiary of British American Tobacco, reviewing the state of the tobacco industry’s public relations and proposing next steps. “It’s formulated, it’s perfected. All you have to do is introduce doubt, and then people say ‘Oh well, I don’t know what to believe,’ and then move on with doing what they want to do.”

With the deep pockets and long-standing influence that these industries have, says Andersen, it’s no wonder that when we think protein, we think meat, and when we think calcium, we think milk.

A plant-based diet can offer those nutrients and more, he says, but it’s the combination of mass marketing, popular myths, and enough doubt to not know the difference that keeps people reaching for burgers instead of tofu, tempeh and seitan.

Cowspiracy has been called “vegan propaganda” by critics, who claim that it’s unrealistic to transition the global population to veganism, and that some of the facts used in the film were over-hyped. Andersen sighs.

“When Leonardo DiCaprio came on board, we had two of his lawyers down our throats for 10 months making sure we had every single fact sourced, at least one or two sources,” says Andersen. “It’s all his image—he’s worth, what, a billion dollars? It is the most lock solid.”

He’s also responding to the backlash surrounding the 2006 UN study cited in Cowspiracy, which states that 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions comes from meat production. In 2010, a UC Davis researcher criticized the study’s methodology, calling the numbers into question.

When asked if he’d wished they had included a bit of that controversy in the film, Andersen says yes—there is a long footnote on the website’s fact page—but he claims that the number should actually be far higher, not lower.

“If you talk to someone who truly does not have any affiliation with the meat and dairy industry—which those FAO numbers do,” he says, referring to the 18 percent, “Then the number is anywhere from 35 to 51 percent.”

Andersen’s referring to the Worldwatch “Livestock and Climate Change” report, which asserts that the 2006 UN number should be something closer to 51 percent.

But the hullabaloo doesn’t matter to him, says Andersen, because at screenings across the globe, he’s met receptive audiences.

“We’re in a paradigm shift, I feel, as a human species,” says Andersen. “Everybody really wants to know what’s going on—they’re hungry for it—to realize that we can know the truth and move on, not rely on these powers that be and cross our fingers that they’re telling the truth.”


Info: 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 17. Nickelodeon Theatre, 210 Lincoln St., Santa Cruz. Tickets available at the door 6-6:30 p.m. and online. 722-3253. tugg.com. $10.

What the Health is also available for download at whatthehealthfilm.com.   

Santa Cruz American Music Festival’s 2017 Lineup

1

The all-woman bluegrass barbershop trio Baskery opens up the Santa Cruz American Music Festival at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 27, with an inventive sound anchored by an upright bassist and two multi-instrumentalists. The group busts out clever musical twists like banjo with heavy guitar distortion to give alt-country a fresh feel.

Next up is roots-rockers Record Company, best known for their 2016 hit “Off the Ground,” which leans heavily on guitarist Chris Vos’ bluesy slide.

The blues get into full swing after that with JJ Grey and Mofro, a Southern band pulling from influences as diverse as Otis Redding and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Grey’s charismatic, slightly guttural crooning may remind audiences of the late Joe Cocker, who actually co-headlined the festival (then called the Santa Cruz Blues Festival) in 2009 with B.B King.

Next, rock legend Stephen Stills will take the stage with the Rides, a blues outfit that features keyboardist Barry Goldberg and guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The group’s second studio album, “Pierced Arrow,” came out last year, although in concert Stills pulls out throwbacks like Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” the anti-war song he wrote 40 years ago. Melissa Etheridge (see main story) comes out last to finish a Saturday afternoon of rocking music.

Devil Makes Three Santa Cruz American Music Festival
POWER OF THREE The Devil Makes Three returns to Santa Cruz to headline the AMF on Sunday, May 28.

On Sunday, Barns Courtney’s voice rings with a timeless sound that is part pop star and part Robert Johnson. The English native guitar player, who grew up in Seattle, is up first Sunday to play viral online hits like “Glitter and Gold” and “Fire.” The Brothers Comatose, who hail from San Francisco, will take the stage with their upbeat, well-written bluegrass songs that drive forward with the energy of a steam engine.

After that comesbrothers, the Wood Brothers—guitarist Oliver and upright bassist Chris—who get deep into the roots of bluesy folk music. A couple years ago, multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix joined the group, sometimes playing his “shitar,” a beat-up acoustic with a bunch of percussive gizmos attached to it. The three harmonize beautifully.

A true highlight of the festival is 77-year-old Mavis Staples, who sang with the Staples Sisters on Stax Records, putting out hits like “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.” In her six-decade career, Staples has collaborated with Van Morrison, Billy Preston, Willie Nelson, Ry Cooder, Neko Case, Justin Vernon, Nick Cave, Ben Harper, Tune-Yards and Jeff Tweedy. The history of gospel, soul, pop, R&B and blues would not be the same without her.

Wrapping up the festival is the Devil Makes Three, the once local band that plays punk-infused bluegrass songs about religious themes, getting drunk and being messed up on drugs. That’s Santa Cruz music to raise your beer to. 


Update 05/17/17: A previous version of the article said that members of the Brothers Comatose are not brothers. Two of the band’s members are brothers. 

Melissa Etheridge’s Surprising Connection to Santa Cruz

Melissa Etheridge calls it “one of the finest beverages I’ve ever consumed.”

The two-time Grammy winner loves sipping on Know Label’s cannabis-infused wine, which is made with bud from the Santa Cruz Mountains to give tasters a full-body buzz.

“It’s pretty awesome,” says Etheridge, who’s bringing her Memphis blues sound to the Santa Cruz American Music Festival next weekend. Etheridge loved the beverage—technically called a tincture because it’s only sold medically—so much that she partnered with Santa Cruz resident Lisa Molyneux in the operation. Molyneux, who runs the Greenway Compassionate Relief delivery nonprofit, ferments the wine herself with grape juice she buys from a vintner friend in Santa Maria.

“People misunderstand. It’s not like an edible at all. You’re not going to get all messed up on it. It’s more like an awesome glass of wine that makes you feel really, really good,” Etheridge tells me, chuckling.

The Know Label wine is high in CBDs, but doesn’t contain any THC, so it isn’t psychoactive at all. The drink, which Greenway delivers, varies in price from $25 to $250, depending on the variety and bottle size.

Etheridge first became a vocal supporter of medical marijuana 12 years ago, after a bout with cancer. To this day, the card-carrying medical user says pot helps her cope with some of the gastrointestinal issues created by chemotherapy.

About a decade ago, Molyneux was on the lookout for celebrities who were brave enough to speak out on the benefits of medicinal cannabis.

Etheridge caught her attention, and Molyneux started going to meet-and-greets with the singer, giving her information about the industry—then more of a grassroots effort—and showing her how to get involved. For her part, Etheridge says she had already been hoping to join the movement. The two became friends after Molyneux purchased one of Etheridge’s guitars to benefit a breast cancer charity. They’ve cemented the bond over time, with Etheridge and her wife Linda Wallem often visiting Molyneux and her wife Syndy Reinecke, who co-own Greenway. Etheridge’s performance in Aptos Village Park on Saturday, May 27 will be her first gig in Santa Cruz County.

Now launching her own cannabis line, Etheridge hopes to help Molyneux re-open Greenway’s storefront dispensary, which closed in the fall of 2015 due to a combination of financial struggles, landlord disputes and zoning issues.

Melissa Etheridge Hollywood star
STAR POWER Melissa Etheridge got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011, a symbol of her success blending activist idealism with mainstream success.

Molyneux, a fellow cancer survivor, marvels at how her friend is unaffected by the spotlight. “She gets off the stage and can be making her kids pancakes,” Molyneux says. “It’s like, ‘Aren’t you the person who was just up there performing?”

For Etheridge fans, the music is not simply a collection of songs. Etheridge has built a relationship with listeners that goes both ways, and more than with most singers, Etheridge’s shows—and her whole catalog, really—sound like a conversation.

That’s a career trademark the singer shares with Bruce Springsteen, who Etheridge calls a “top five” influence on her.

“He’s going so strong still,” Etheridge says of the Boss. “That’s what I wanted. I didn’t need to have the huge hits. As Bruce told me, ‘Hits are fine, but what you really want is longevity. You want to remain relevant and be a voice for a people.’”

Etheridge found fame for impassioned tunes like “Come to My Window,” “I’m the Only One,” “I Want to Come Over,” and “Angels Would Fall.” She’s earned 15 Grammy nominations, and won twice. She also won the 2007 Oscar for best song for “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s global warming film.

It’s easy to see what makes Etheridge such an effective activist. She does indeed seem unchanged by the spotlight, whether passionately belting out rock ballads to thousands of screaming fans or explaining to Dan Rather what it was like growing up a lesbian in the 1970s. That unassuming confidence makes her a powerful voice for the issues closest to her.

“When you don’t have another persona to try to maintain, you can just keep your truth and operate from there, so it definitely keeps you from going crazy, and is much easier to be yourself,” explains Etheridge, who grew up in Kansas. “All these places where you find me being an activist, they’re because they truly do affect my personal life. I’m an LGBT person. I’m a cannabis believer and consumer, and you’re going to find me pushing for that. And health and all those things are very personal to me. I’m able to put that out there. I’m from the Midwest, and I never thought about trying to be someone other than who I am. It’s much more enjoyable that way.”

Etheridge says “the next revolution” will be a rethinking of nutrition and what people do to their bodies by making bad food choices.

As my conversation with Etheridge winds down, I tell her about my favorite live television moment ever. I recall the 2005 Grammy Awards like they happened last night, with Etheridge, who’d just beaten breast cancer, walking onstage—her bald head glistening in the stage lights, her smile proudly beaming into the Staples Center crowd and her soulful alto voice screaming into the microphone. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone look so alive.

Etheridge thanks me graciously and even starts getting choked up, which is rather incredible considering that she mentions a minute later that people still tell her pretty much the same thing I did about once a week.

Leading up until that night in 2005, Etheridge had hardly seen anyone other than close family for three months, and she had undergone a radiation treatment that morning, before going to the awards ceremony. Etheridge, a longtime Joplin fan, confesses that she would have been crushed if someone else had sung “Piece of My Heart” in her place. While planning her performance, Etheridge had considered, for about 30 seconds, wearing a wig, before reminding herself, “Good God, no. That’s so not me.” Clearly, she had no clue that her decision to perform—shiny head and all—would make her a source of inspiration among those suffering from cancer.

For all the confidence Etheridge showed striding across the stage, she says there was a moment immediately before when she was just hoping no one would make fun of her.

“I did not realize the social impact it was going to have,” she reflects. “Sometimes when you do things in a really personal way, just for yourself, they can end up impacting the whole world. Those are special moments you can’t plan.”


Santa Cruz American Music Festival is 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, and Sunday, May 28, in Aptos Village Park. Tickets are $25-$1,000. Melissa Etheridge headlines Saturday afternoon. Visit santacruzamericanmusicfestival.com for more information.

Santa Cruz Tries Curbing Bird Poop Near Cowell Beach

Cowell Beach is famous for easy waves, gorgeous views of Santa Cruz and, unfortunately, being the “dirtiest beach in California.”

Heal the Bay, an environmental nonprofit based in Santa Monica, hands out the designation, annually ranking West Coast beaches according to the bacteria-richness of their waters. This year’s “Beach Bummer” rankings are due to arrive just before Memorial Day weekend, and city officials hope Cowell slides down the list. Their secret weapon: chicken wire. Lots and lots of it.

Water under the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf has grown cleaner, as the city of Santa Cruz and environmental nonprofits report a decline in bacteria levels following the installation of anti-pigeon fencing just above the shoreline. Though the fencing may have come too late to repair Cowell’s unfortunate rep this year, city officials and environmentalists remain cautiously optimistic about rankings in the upcoming report.

“We’ve made incredible progress toward determining the root cause behind these elevated bacteria levels,” says Vice Mayor David Terrazas, who’s been involved in cleaning up Cowell’s waters since it first appeared on the list. “I’d like to see us clean up whatever’s causing the issue, but also to get off Heal the Bay’s list entirely.”

Though Heal the Bay names Cowell and nearby Main Beach specifically, the wharf is the true bacterial epicenter, where levels are highest in shallow waters just below the beams. Walk 100 feet past the lifeguard tower, according to city staffers, and those results dissipate, with bacteria dropping to near-undetectable levels.

Cowell first landed on Heal the Bay’s report card in 2010, when it claimed second place among West Coast beaches whose waters exceeded state standards for bacterial counts. Cowell danced between first and second place in the intervening years, and has claimed the top spot since 2014.

That same year, members of local environmental nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Save the Waves and Surfrider Foundation partnered with the city and county of Santa Cruz to form the Cowell Beach Working Group, an organization dedicated to identifying and neutralizing the cause behind the high bacterial counts.

The group began by investigating a list of prospective polluters, from leaky sewers to animal waste left by dogs, birds and marine life. The lineup narrowed as the group tested hundreds of water samples over two and a half years, which revealed basically no traces whatsoever of human or dog DNA. That left one culprit: birds.

In 2016, the group installed fencing beneath the wharf, blocking pigeons from roosting and pooping into the water below. Nik Strong-Cvetich, executive director of Santa Cruz County’s own Saves the Waves, which works to conserve coastal ecosystems around the world, says the effect was immediate.

“When I first saw the results,” Strong-Cvetich says, “I thought, ‘Is there a mistake here?’”

When compared with the city’s 2015 water samples, just before the netting was installed, bacteria levels in 2016 initially dropped by more than half in late July, and continued declining through December. Save the Waves also reported a 50 percent drop in water samples that exceeded state standards.

“You could almost compare it to a car dropping from 60 to 10 miles per hour,” says Akin Babatola, the city’s environmental compliance manager. “That’s how sharp it was.”

Whether those changes will be reflected in Heal the Bay’s report is not guaranteed. Cowell’s spot on the report will be determined by water samples collected before the netting installation, which was completed in August of last year. Even then, Heal the Bay’s report is a comparison between several beaches, so Cowell could still earn first place if other beaches make greater strides in improving water quality.

“On a sanitary basis, the improvement is clear. We’ve made it,” said Akin Babatola. “On a relative basis, it’s not that easy.”

Progress aside, Babatola takes issue with the methods used to decide Heal the Bay’s rankings for dirtiest beaches. Coastal counties are legally required to routinely test bacterial levels in beach water samples. Heal the Bay relies on those results to decide their rankings.

Many areas, including Santa Cruz County, use a test called Colilert, which detects the presence of coliforms, generally a harmless type of bacteria that indicates the potential presence of viruses, parasites and disease-causing bacteria.

Babatola described the use of Colilert in this case as “flawed,” claiming the kit test tends to overestimate, as other microorganisms can falsely trigger the presence of coliforms. Colilert was originally designed to test drinking water, Babatola says, and thus doesn’t account for microorganisms found in ocean waters.

“You’re guaranteed to get a number higher than the true number of coliforms,” says Babatola, who presented his criticisms at a May 11 meeting for the Northern California Beach Water Quality Workgroup in Oakland.

Even using Colilert alone, bacterial counts still appear to be declining. But only testing throughout a full summer season—when bacteria levels reliably spike—will reveal the full extent of progress.

“If we can count them more accurately,” says Strong-Cvetich, “then I think we should go in that direction. But there’s progress being made on the overall bacteria count no matter how you count them.”

It may seem like it took an especially long time to get to the bottom of the issue, especially considering that Steve Peters, from the county’s Department of Environmental Health, told Santa Cruz Weekly five years ago that the causes of high bacteria levels were natural and may have included birds. Scott Collins, assistant to the city manager, says the process was a matter of investigating all possible contributors and ruling out the possibility of human contamination. Strong-Cvetich calls water quality “slow, arduous work.”

An independent technical advisory committee is reviewing the group’s testing methods and findings, and will recommend next steps early next year, Terrazas says. Until then, the group plans to continue modifying the netting to exclude birds that have figured out how to roost on and around it. Collins says they’ve joked about hiring a city falcon to deter persistent pigeons, just as the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club hired Rufus, a Harris Hawk, to scare off birds lingering around the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Strong-Cvetich suspects cases like Cowell’s will become more common as environmental agencies lose government funding. Just last month, the Trump administration proposed to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31 percent.

“We might not be able to lean on the EPA to fund these types of things,” warns Strong-Cvetich. “If we want to solve environmental problems, it’s got to start locally, and it’s got to be collaborations between nonprofits and local government.”

Preview: The Stray Birds to Play Moe’s Alley

0

Richly layered vocals are a hallmark of bluegrass, from inimitable sibling harmony groups like the Stanley Brothers and Santa Cruz’s own Coffis Brothers on through to roots supergroups like I’m With Her. Rafter-raising harmonies are also heard throughout gospel music, and folk music is designed to be harmonized to, providing space for everyone to jump in and sing along.

The Stray Birds fit nicely in the long, rich tradition of American roots harmony. A three-piece originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the band members lay their voices on top of one another to create a sound that’s tight, pure and timeless. All three take song crafting duties very seriously, making sure they get even the smallest details right.

“We’re a band that has a three-headed monster approach,” says bassist and banjo player Charlie Muench, explaining that the vocal arrangements play a big role in setting the trio apart from the sea of singer-songwriter groups. “We take a lot of time to craft the music and have it be something that can resonate with people—the actual music and also the message in the music and the craft of it.”

The band, comprising Muench and singer-songwriters Maya de Vitry and Oliver Craven, was formed in 2012, but Muench and de Vitry’s friendship goes back to middle school, where the two were in the school band together. Though all three have moved out of Lancaster and now live in Brooklyn and Nashville, their hometown roots come through in their music, as they explore small-town life in post-industrial America.

In 2016, the Stray Birds won Song of the Year at the Folk Music Alliance’s International Folk Music Awards for “Best Medicine,” a song about a record store in Saskatchewan, New York, that, with the area’s fading industry and economic struggles, was holding on for dear life. The song, which was written by de Vitry and appears on the Stray Birds’ album of the same name, is a snapshot of the town that speaks to the importance of art and music, even when times are hard. It’s a tribute to a man named Kurt Hellijas, who had unfulfilled ambitions to be a music teacher, and now owns the record store.

“Kurt was carrying on his passion in this place where there’s no economics for this sort of thing, and he’s doing it anyway,” says Muench. “The whole Best Medicine record is sort of dedicated to him. He gave it a vision.”

For years, the Stray Birds has been a folk and roots trio. On the band’s new release, titled Magic Fire, however, the members stretched their musical bounds. They brought in electric instruments and drums, layered tracks in the studio and pushed the Stray Birds sound into a new arena. They also brought in producer Larry Campbell, who has worked with Bob Dylan and Levon Helm, to help them go beyond simply reflecting what the band does on stage. The experience, says Muench, was “way beyond what we were expecting or thought was possible.”

“The studio is an instrument, just like the bass or guitar or voice is an instrument,” he says. “The possibilities are so great. We were trying to open up to that and try something that was a little bit more experimental in nature. Larry just kept saying, ‘Don’t limit the scope of what anything can be in the studio.’”

Of working with Campbell, Muench says he “bent things in a way that we wouldn’t necessarily have done,” and that “he’s the dude you want in there trying to create with you.”

While the album marks a stylistic change for the Stray Birds, what shines through is a commitment to crafting the melodies, instrumentation and harmonies down to the smallest detail.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘precious,’” says Muench, “but it’s so important to us to get the music right. That ambition and care and urgency is very easy to feel and see.”


The Stray Birds will perform at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $15/door. 479-1854.

Lunch at Buttercup Cakes and Pintos and Pinots in Watsonville

With its checkered tile floor and dreamlike display of otherworldly confections, Buttercup Cakes and Farmhouse Frosting is one of those special places to take your friends and family when they come to town, as well as a saving grace for anyone in charge of bringing the dessert. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find myself there last week, eating a salad, of all things, on my lunch break. The Salad Medley ($8) on Buttercup’s recently installed lunch menu is a heap of fresh greens and thinly sliced fennel and cabbage, and a seasonal menagerie of toppings that included, on this particular day: slices of ripe, sweet strawberries, candied almonds, Gorgonzola, and pickled beets. Buttercup’s salads are boxed—with the toppings and a light apple cider vinaigrette packed separately to avoid mushiness—and ready to go to the park, beach, or (hopefully not) back to the office.

Its “Toast of the Town” offerings are made with Kelly’s French Bakery sourdough bread, and include a vegan beet hummus ($8) or cured salmon and herbed cream cheese ($9) option.

But back to Buttercup’s main attraction. A thrilling discovery: the 50-percent-off “Misfits” bakery case. Seriously, there was nothing aesthetically wrong with the large ginger cupcake crowned with Buttercup’s signature voluptuous dollop of handcrafted chocolate frosting and candied ginger ($2.25), but if there had been, it would be forgotten at first bite. Brunch available from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday and lunch 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. farmhousefrosting.com.


South County Highlights

After hiking in the serene Byrne Milliron forest on the outskirts of Corralitos, a friend and I stopped at Windy Oaks Winery on the idyllic Hazel Dell Road. We tasted several acclaimed Pinots, and found the 2014 Estate Wood Tank ($58), fermented in French Oak, to be our favorite. The dry and refreshing 2015 Bastide La Combe Rosé ($19)—made from 100-percent Grenache grapes grown in the Cedar Lane vineyard in Arroyo Seco was also a highlight on that hot day. I recommend the hike, the wine stop, and continuing into Watsonville on Casserly Road, which turns into East Lake Avenue. Stay in the right lane and keep an eye out for the towering Santa Fe Market sign, then throw on your blinker, grab your shopping bag, and save on a vast selection of inexpensively priced produce (five avocados for $5) and traditional Mexican ingredients, like a 4-pound bag of dried beans for 99 cents, dried chiles, spices, and Jamaica for iced tea. Prepared hot foods satisfy more immediately: a hot, double-corn tortilla taco of carnitas will set you back $1.69, and is a filling flavor bomb of cilantro, spicy salsa, and lime wedges. Or, take home a pint of creamy refried beans, and definitely do not miss the selection of more than a dozen salsas—the pico de gallo and salsa de guacamole took my lunches to the next level all week.

If you’re hungry now and have time to spare, stop at Taqueria Tecoman, on the left just past Santa Fe Market. Here, an order of sopes ($8) will fill you up for hours with two hand-shaped rounds of thick masa layered with refried beans, tomato, crema, Cotija cheese and your choice of meat (shredded chicken goes well.)


Dessert of the Week

On the spectrum of flan—which seems to travel from light and egg-centric to floury cake-like slabs—the one made in-house at Jaguar on Soquel Avenue falls in the heavenly balance. A medium-bodied custard served in a sublime pool of orange glaze and accented with citrus twists. It’s not the only reason to visit the cozy hole in the wall formerly occupied by Lillian’s, but it’s an unforgettable highlight.

Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project Tracks Local Culinary Traditions

It was almost a hundred years after her family came to Santa Cruz that Live Oak native Sierra Ryan first held her great-grandmother’s recipe book in her hands. The worn, tattered book bore her great-grandmother’s maiden name, Libbie Gilmour, and a handwritten date: 1908. In addition to the delight of holding a physical piece of family history, Ryan’s interest was piqued by the food they were eating and the references to friends and neighbors.

“There are all these recipes from when my grandmother was small that refer to other people, like ‘Mrs. Thompson’s Chili Sauce Recipe,’ and other friends and neighbors. I loved that there were so many people from the community featured in this book.”

Ryan had co-authored Lime Kiln Legacies, about another major industry that helped shape the region, and was inspired to explore Santa Cruz’s agricultural history more deeply. She and fellow amateur historians Liz Birnbaum, Jody Biergiel Colclough and Katie Hansen formed the Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project and began combing local archives. Over the last three years, the self-proclaimed “Heritagistas” have explored how local foods came to Santa Cruz County, who cultivated them, how they were used and how they were grown through the extensive archives available at the Agricultural History Project in Watsonville, the Pajaro Valley Historical Association, the Museum of Art & History, the history museums of Capitola, San Lorenzo Valley and Soquel, the public library and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Santa Cruz Food Heritage Project - Santa Cruz Jane
Santa Cruz held the National Egg Laying Contest from 1918-1931 to promote the local poultry industry. In 1924, winner Santa Cruz Jane laid 303 eggs in 365 days. The back of this photo claims that, “Little Nancy feeds Santa Cruz Jane daily.” PHOTO: COURTESY OF SIERRA RYAN

This summer, the Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project will release a cookbook filled with agricultural history and 25 historical recipes. They will be celebrating the release with a series of events over the summer, including at the Third Friday event “History Jam,” on Friday, May 19 at the MAH.

The book includes chapters on wine, wheat and potatoes, hops and beer, dairy, sugar beets, apples, artichokes and Brussels sprouts, berries, poultry and eggs, Pismo clams and dry-farmed tomatoes—all of which left a unique historical mark on Santa Cruz County. At the onset, the team wasn’t sure what sorts of stories would emerge from the dusty pages of notebooks and farming records, and many of their findings surprised them. Birnbaum, who works in the ecological agricultural industry, didn’t expect to learn that potatoes were grown in the San Lorenzo river floodplain, in what today is downtown Santa Cruz.

“It was the first thing that put Santa Cruz on the map as an agricultural hub in the 1860s and it coincided with the Gold Rush,” she explains. “A local historian has deemed it the ‘Spud Rush.’ It was a huge deal for three years, and then nothing. There was a boom and total bust.”

Although most of the agricultural products they discuss in the book are no longer produced locally, they have left a geographic mark on the local communities, if you know where to look. For example, the long, narrow lots used for poultry during the turn of the century influenced the layout of Live Oak, and are referenced in street names like Chanticleer Avenue, which is named after a rooster. Brown Ranch Marketplace in Capitola sits on the site of the former site of Brown Ranch, whose pioneering founder James Brown was an international producer of begonia bulbs in the 1920s and the inspiration for the Begonia Festival. While researching the chapter on sugar beets, Colclough was amazed to discover that the Watsonville city seal bears a sugar beet to this day.

“I was amazed that Santa Cruz county residents had the foresight to save, organize and archive fun tidbits of news articles, brochures and ephemera that we could just easily access and enjoy decades later. I truly appreciate all of the people who work in our local history venues who preserve the past just in case anyone is curious in the future,” says Colclough.

Santa Cruz Food Heritage Project recipe book
The recipe book kept by Sierra Ryan’s great-grandmother.

For Ryan, learning about the history of recreational clamming in the area was the most astonishing revelation. Combing local beaches for Pismo clams and enjoying huge clambakes was a popular recreational activity for more than a hundred years in Santa Cruz until the 1970s, when more than a century of over-foraging—the legal limit was an astounding 200 clams per person per day—precipitated a steep decline, and the activity was banned.

“The history of clamming was the most shocking thing I uncovered. I was at least aware of a history of the other crops,” says Ryan. “I wanted to include a fishery, and was researching things to consider. I thought about abalone, but that was really more Monterey, and whaling, but that wasn’t really for food, it was for other resources. Somebody was talking to me about one of the other chapters and it just came up. I had never heard of it, and as soon as I started looking I was blown away. As soon as we started talking to some of the older generation of Santa Cruz, everyone had stories.”

Covering sensitive topics related to agricultural history, like labor and social justice issues, was a challenge for the Heritagistas. While these stories are intertwined with the history of the area, they weren’t necessarily the stories they set out to tell. While researching the chapter on the local berry industry, Hansen uncovered that the berry farmers of Japanese descent were sent to internment camps during World War II. “I agonized over every word on that part because I was so concerned about doing right by those who had been imprisoned,” says Hansen. They were forced to ask questions about how to portray history gleaned from racist and sexist quotes. “How do you handle an account like one we have about hops pickers, where they say they didn’t want to use ‘these people,’ so they used ‘those people’? Finding the balance of ‘this is what happened,’ but not condoning it was hard to grapple and frame,” says Birnbaum. Ultimately, the team tried to strike a balance of acknowledging the stories while not deviating from the side of agricultural history they were trying to reveal.

Ryan hopes that the Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project cookbook will help readers understand the role they play in determining how the current chapter of Santa Cruz food history is written. “Santa Cruz has a really rich history that I think both people who did and didn’t grow up here might not know. People connect to where they live on a deeper level if they know about the history,” she says. “There’s a story of food in Santa Cruz and it’s an ongoing story. We’re all a part of it. There’s a history of people who came and shaped what we’re now experiencing through their innovations and interests, but we have the capability of shaping the future of food history in Santa Cruz. That will reverberate across social aspects, the economy and environment.”


STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE RECIPE

This recipe came from the Baldwin Collection at the MAH and was in the home economics notebook of a student at Santa Cruz High in 1911. I love it not just because it’s one of the more delicious recipes that we’ve tried, but because it also listed all of the pricing associated with each of the ingredients. Because it was part of a home economics class, it wasn’t just how you cooked but how much it cost—that was the job of a homemaker at the time. The total cost for this recipe was about 8.7 cents.— Sierra Ryan, Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project

For the shortcake:

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ cup butter

¾ cup milk

 

For the filling:

2 tbsp sugar

2 pints of strawberries

Macerate the strawberries and sugar for 15 minutes.

Sift dry ingredients, cut with butter or mix it with fingertips. Add milk to make a soft dough. Divide into two parts. Roll each to fit pan or roll and cut into eight individual cakes. Brush the lower cake with melted butter. Bake about 20 minutes at 375. Serve with strawberries. Cut and let stand in sugar of other fruits. Sift powdered sugar on the top cake.

 

Esoteric Astrology as news for week of May 10, 2017

The Message of Wesak—a Seven Day Festival

 

The Wesak Festival (May 10), the Taurus solar festival at the time of the full moon, is actually seven days long. It is a time of the greatest spiritual opportunity of the year for humanity. For Buddhists, Wesak marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. In the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the Wesak festival is a living actual event, when a blessing from the Father is distributed to Earth by the Buddha. This blessing results in an extraordinary inflow of Life, Will and Spiritual stimulation, vitalizing Goodwill in all people everywhere. Accompanying the Buddha are the Forces of Enlightenment dispensing the Wisdom humanity seeks.

 

Legend speaks of Wesak (holy waters) as a sacred ceremony in the Himalayas in which the Buddha, the Christ and enlightened beings of all faiths gather, receive, hold and radiate a special blessing to the world. As we all link with this event, a great Light is created on the Earth that uplifts all the kingdoms to the Kingdom of Beauty.

 

“ … at the Wesak Festival the Buddha returns to Earth to bless and convey the message of Wisdom, Light and Love to humanity. The Buddha comes from the very Heart of Deity, God the Father (Shamballa). The Buddha’s blessing at Wesak is the outer evidence and guarantee of inner divine guidance and revelation in this present world cycle of suffering and crisis. Year after year the Buddha returns for a brief eight minutes. He reminds us that God exists and loves us; that He is not unmindful of His people; that the heart of the universe is compassion and that we are not alone.” – Alice A. Bailey


ARIES: In these special and sacred days, tend to all promises, follow all rules, act like a Taurus (which may feel a bit restrictive) and make sure that no aversion or opposition colors your attitude and ways of being with others. Honor is most important, and one progresses more easily when the virtues of patience, understanding and grace are cultivated. Like a garden of graces.

 

TAURUS: Your energy is up and down, high and low, there and not there. Your responsibilities, however, remain, and each day more and more appear. You would rather turn away, find friends to chat with, take short trips to the bank and back, garden, and either envision or research all that’s needed for the future. When responsibilities and the need for freedom collide, it’s best to simply focus on goals. Or garden. Then you can continue to dream.

 

GEMINI: Heavens! There are two distinctly polarized situations occurring. One keeps you behind the scenes and the other out in the world where all your values can be seen. So you talk about them because they define you. However, you’re also pulled into quietude and silence, a sort of repose before the storm of new Gemini energy coming. Perhaps it’s a lot of praise. Or a move. Or a revelation.

 

CANCER: You consider your resources and wonder if they need redirecting and you wonder if you’re using them efficiently for both long and short term needs and then family needs crop up and you worry and fret and don’t sleep nights and the past reappears and you’re hurting sometimes and sometimes need help. It’s hard to ask for help. And hard to trust it will come. But ask. It will.

 

LEO: Each day more clarity about work and purpose and resources occurs and each day you feel more courage to pursue unusual goals, to fight for what’s right, to realize that a values shift is taking place in your life and this shift may create a future you only hoped for. Your hopes are calling up all the hidden dreams and wishes you’ve ever had. They ask you to follow and open your heart of 12 petals.

 

VIRGO: The past years have been perplexing, puzzling, demanding and challenging. There’s been a shifting of structures, a sense of being captured by a taskmaster giving you many responsibilities to tend to. After all responsibilities are completed and lessons learned you will feel freedom and relief from the taxing demands and tests You should quietly celebrate. And tend now to that new state of awareness growing within.

 

LIBRA: A more strict and sober view of life is quietly taking hold of your thoughts and feelings. This is good. However, it could feel restrictive. Simply consider it as another step in growing up, being responsible, learning how to tend to the demands of life and how to act with more grace and refinement. There’s a struggle for balance, a struggle to be heard and understood. There is no compromise. Be strong and call forth daring, valor and courage.

 

SCORPIO: You had obligations and responsibilities. Then your dreams came and nestled amid your obligations. And you had to choose. And then relationship issues (questions?) cropped up and you had more than you could handle. Something is changing you. It’s pushing you to break the mold and all previous patterned ways of being. Follow this urging. It’s a call from your future compelling you onward. Don’t resist.

 

SAGITTARIUS: Tremendous work was called for this month and it will continue. If you take each day and work slowly through it (like a Taurus), then you will come to the end of each day with feelings of great success and pride of accomplishment. First the Dweller then the Angel of the Presence contacts you. Tend to resources (you as resource) and money very carefully. Be prepared, after a small respite, for new creative endeavors to appear. Rest now.

 

CAPRICORN: Your creative force can be found in the garden, woods, fields and meadows. It can be found with hands in the Earth, growing plants with deep roots, and building a pantry filled with sweet and savory edibles. These comforts will safeguard you in the times to come. Are you called to be out and about and present something to the world? You work hard for all that you have. There’s so much good around you to be passionate about.

 

AQUARIUS: The focus is on communication, how and with whom. It’s also on short distance travels, here and there. And siblings. And how you learn. Are many people in your life seeking your attention? Do you feel a bit jittery and unsure, then both delighted and confused (wondering about the future)? Don’t be unkind to those who disagree or think at a different pace than you. You want both beauty and security with all interactions and relationships.

 

PISCES: You are being urged into a new state of independence. Know that you are fully capable and have the essential qualities and gifts to rely upon yourself, to move forward into your future and make correct decisions based upon your needs and no longer the needs of others (which Pisces looks to first). Courage is presenting itself. Wear it like a shawl, a mantle and a crown.

 

Rob Brezsny Astrology May 17—23

Astrology, Horoscope, Stars, Zodiac Signs
Free will astrology for the week of May 17, 2017

As Above, So Below

risa d'angeles
Esoteric Astrology as news for week of May 17, 2017

Preview: Kip Andersen on His Documentary ‘What the Health’

What the Health film director Kip Andersen
Fiercely passionate ‘Cowspiracy’ director Kip Andersen comes to Santa Cruz for screening of his latest film, 'What the Health.'

Santa Cruz American Music Festival’s 2017 Lineup

Mavis Staples - Santa Cruz American Music Festival Lineup 2017
The all-woman bluegrass barbershop trio Baskery opens up the Santa Cruz American Music Festival at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 27, with an inventive sound anchored by an upright bassist and two multi-instrumentalists. The group busts out clever musical twists like banjo with heavy guitar distortion to give alt-country a fresh feel. Next up is roots-rockers Record Company, best...

Melissa Etheridge’s Surprising Connection to Santa Cruz

Melissa Etheridge
The American Music Festival headliner talks about music, politics and her local ties

Santa Cruz Tries Curbing Bird Poop Near Cowell Beach

Cowell Beach Bummers bird feces
How a little chicken wire will hopefully get us of the “Beach Bummers” list, which comes out soon

Preview: The Stray Birds to Play Moe’s Alley

Stray Birds at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz
The Stray Birds carry on a roots tradition of crafting dazzling harmony

Lunch at Buttercup Cakes and Pintos and Pinots in Watsonville

Buttercup Cakes Lunch
The 'Misfit' case at Buttercup Cakes, a flan to write home about, and a few must-stops in South County

Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project Tracks Local Culinary Traditions

Santa Cruz Heritage Food Project Heritagistas
It was almost a hundred years after her family came to Santa Cruz that Live Oak native Sierra Ryan first held her great-grandmother’s recipe book in her hands. The worn, tattered book bore her great-grandmother’s maiden name, Libbie Gilmour, and a handwritten date: 1908. In addition to the delight of holding a physical piece of family history, Ryan’s interest...

Esoteric Astrology as news for week of May 10, 2017

risa d'angeles
Esoteric Astrology as news for week of May 10, 2017
17,623FansLike
8,845FollowersFollow