Community

We are in a “new normal'' this summer. Understand that it is okay to feel a sense of loss around the change and the loss of normal life and life events: The “new normal” we are navigating means things we looked forward to during the summer months may have to be postponed or canceled. Graduation looked different, the wedding you’ve dreamt of your whole life will have to be different or postponed. Children are coping with the loss of summer camps and birthday parties while also missing friends from school.

Who doesn’t love corn on the cob fresh either from the garden or farmer’s market? But this column isn’t about growing corn or about patriotic deer, it’s about climate smart plants that hold up to the heat. So let’s get started. s

Approximately 30 to 40 percent of our population eat gluten free food for reasons unrelated to gluten intolerance or sensitivity. There's no evidence that gluten, a protein found in wheat and some other cereal grains, causes digestive problems in people who don't have a gluten related disorder, such as celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Santa Cruz County historians have a few bragging rights regarding famous residents of the past.  Zasu Pitts and Alfred Hitchcock represent the movies; Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Neil Young left us a musical legacy.  Sports not so much.  A few baseball players reached the big leagues.  Harry Hooper eventually was enshrined at Cooperstown—Hal Chase will never be.  This year, however, we can applaud another Hall of Famer—a golfer—and it’s about time. 

Last Friday morning, June 19th the SV chamber and owners of Erik's DeliCafe, re-created the days of 1973, when Erik opened his first Deli in Scotts Valley! We were able to get some new friends from Aptos to bring their beautiful horse and pony with old school trotting cart and help us re-imagine those days.

Highway 9, the main connection between most of our communities, functions like San Lorenzo’s symbolic heart, propelling and dispersing individuals to vital parts of our community. As such, the highway greatly reflects our collective identity. Recently, tragic and tumultuous events have crafted subtle changes in our everyday thoroughfare.  While some newer additions on the road focus on past trauma (and rightly so!), Jill Chambers has developed a beautiful and inspiring message for the future of our community.  Looking North from the busy intersection of Graham Hill Road and Highway 9, her mural at Mystic Studios “encourages hope and community.”  Chambers’ “idea came to me in a dream, actually.  I just woke up sometime in February when things started to get scary.  I’m situated in such a fun location, with a lot of traffic and a big sign.  I love communicating through art and wanted to help others feel connected during this isolation and separation.”  Chambers owns and operates both Mystic Studios and Alternative Legal Services in Northern Felton.  She’s been in the “legal business for 26 years, in family law particularly.”  She’s been a legal document assistant in Northern Felton since 2016, with “the objective to keep families out of court and get them to negotiate and settle… Because of my family law legal business, I see a lot of people hurting.  That inspired me to open Mystic Studios, to get families to open up with dance, art, dream interpretation, all sorts of expressive opportunities.” Although Chambers put up the mural in March, her gratitude for the piece has grown over time. “I didn’t really know that the shelter in place would affect us so much.  The other parts of what our community is going through adds so much weight to the burden.  People need to see hope, be encouraged, know that this isn’t the end of the story.  As a community, this time is our opportunity to write a better story.” The first mural depicted a tree with the inscription, “Change Brings Growth, Don’t Lose.” The current mural is directed towards the class of 2020, with the world sprouting colorful wings and encouraging message, “We’re in this together.” Chambers is working on her newest mural, “the next piece, will display flowers, blooming from seeds, and ‘We will arise,’ lettered at the top.”  Chambers has occasionally reached out to others, in the hopes of receiving art pieces from the community to display as well.  “I don’t care if you do stick figures.  I want all levels of artists in our community to express kindness on this mural. It’s more about the message than beautiful art. It’ll be beautiful no matter what it is.”  So far, Chambers received “a lot of encouraging responses, but no one has stepped up.  There’s so many wonderful artists in our community, but it’s only been my art.” If you’d like to submit art for the mural, Chambers has these requirements: a maximum size is 4’ x 6’, but 5’ x 4’ is preferable.  She’ll accept slightly smaller pieces, but “bigger gets the message across better!”  The art must include “a brief encouraging message, something light, hopeful, and uplifting.” It also must hold up against the elements, since the space is not protected.  Other than that, she’s open to any mediums, “even sculptures, if they can hang!” If you’d like to help Chambers provide, “a small gesture to the community, to say ‘You’re not alone,’ send her an email at [email protected]. 

The death of George Floyd was an event that traumatized our whole nation.  We were shocked by the arrest of a man by an officer who exercised his authority in a callous, brutal and almost cruel fashion.  The act was universally condemned and not just by citizens, but by police officers who felt betrayed by this officer’s egregious disregard towards another human being.