(photo) As I have mentioned in previous columns, autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors, the smells, the snap in the air, the transitional nature of absolutely everything, including my self and my life on the road. It is this time when Best Beloved and I, amid fond visits by the fire with family and friends, begin to prepare for the trek to the southwest where we will spend the winter. This year in particular, the transition from Virgo to Libra, practicality toward balance and harmony, coupled with the full moon a day later, seemed an ideal combination of heavenly influences for our next to last work-related trip to the DC Metro area. We had visions of joyous reunions and much fellowship and merriment with those dear to us. We looked forward to sharing plans for the slow season in the show biz and the tattooing biz as well. We felt certain it would be a cozy, reflective and low-key visit to our old stomping grounds.

(photo) To put it bluntly, we could not have been more horribly, horribly mistaken.

This first autumn following the Grand Cross has been anything but a time of flowing transition for those around us. Our little family unit, safe and snug in our Silver Palace, is well fed, warm and living within our means, having cut out much in the way of material things in favor of space, mobility and adventure. Most unfortunately, many friends and family members still in the area of our visit have had homes foreclosed upon, vehicles repossessed, work evaporate and relationships fall apart. Loss was the predominant transitional theme at work here.

Lest you think we merely considered ourselves fortunate and shut our doors, I must tell you, dear readers, that we made the choice to set out on the road because we were quite close to such circumstances in our own lives. We chose to opt out and now we were on hand to witness the fallout we had avoided. This also put us in a position to assist where we could and with what we had to offer.

We cooked food on several occasions for our parking hosts and their employees, since we were at a place of business. We took aside the employees who were also close personal friends and offered what we could to assist them in getting through these trying times. We did these things because we wished someone had done them for us when we were struggling, and we will forever remember the few who did so. We wanted to share the moment of Zen that occurs when you realize unexpected help has indeed arrived and has relieved a burden that has been keeping you up at night.

(photo) That is a truly lovely and delicious moment, one to be savored and recalled often.

We got to watch this moment over and over again as friends entered the Airstream, sat down and breathed deeply. The stress would fall off of them, their faces would relax and break into smiles as one or both of the cats began to cuddle up and solicit attention for a moment or three. They would begin to talk about things they wanted to do, futures they wanted to have and dreams that were currently deferred. We would serve tea and snacks and, after the workday was done, beer, wine and cocktails. I created the following drink out of ingredients on hand to satisfy a request for something sweet, fruity and rummy, and gave it a name I felt was appropriate to the circumstances.

It is our hope that things will continue to transition to a place of manageability for everyone we know and love. Times are difficult for many and some are making very tough choices that will alter their hearts and lives forever. It is also our hope that we, all of us, will take the time to remember what is truly important in our lives this season, stand in gratitude for it all and pass that quiet, joy-filled moment of Zen among our fellows with genuine love for the potential for greatness we know sits within us all.

Happy Autumn, Dear Readers. May you have many, many warm and sweet moments to offset any difficulties you may encounter along your path.

TRAVELER’S MOMENT OF ZEN:
3 parts Pineapple Juice
1 part Grenadine (Always best to make your own. Gwen has a killer recipe for how to do it over here … )
1 part Sake
1 ½ parts Light Rum
½ part Triple Sec
Mix all ingredients in order and shake or stir thoroughly. I garnished this with a couple dried cranberries. As I said, sometimes, it’s about what you have on hand.

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

why, then, ’tis time to do ‘t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? aah yes… lady charon’s inner turmoil with the Mojito!

Okay. I confess. I was probably not an ideal candidate for a position as bartender in a kitschy new downtown bar a few blocks from Capitol Hill in Washington DC. What I did have were sideshow skills that fit the décor of the place, a willingness to learn a skill set that would encourage me to improve my stunted social mannerisms and a decent penchant for combining flavors. It was with enthusiasm that my trainer took me on, seeing that on a practical level I was an excellent choice for the job.

He’s a Capricorn, and has made a stellar career as an Intoxicologist not to mention earning a nice fat nest egg as a stockholder in some of the most successful bar enterprises in the District. He kept my instruction in the art clear, concise, practical and businesslike, the way only an extremely effective Capricorn can. I was in good hands and I have never forgotten one of the main principles upon which my education was based: Unless there is also food service at the establishment, tools such as blenders and muddlers should not be necessary behind the bar.

For the most part I have found this to be true, and from a practical Capricornian standpoint, I understand why with regard to the time-consuming nature of drinks that require multiple tools for their creation. From my Scorpio viewpoint, however, I immediately wanted to explore this “forbidden” side of things. He and I talked about it often during the slower late afternoons. He imparted a number of tips and tricks for when I would inevitably find myself in such a circumstance, which I did after just a few months behind his bar, at another establishment where my sideshow skill set was also marketable and desirable in a bartender. It was here I learned about blender drinks and layered drinks and ice cream drinks and a whole host of other decadent and time-consuming masterpieces of mixology that absolutely fascinated me and made me want to build drinks that were bigger, better, grander and, if possible, organic. It was also where I met my nemesis in the tippling world. Here, dear readers, was where I learned to truly detest and loathe one drink in particular in a deeply fundamental way. The copious amounts of this drink I had to manufacture in a given evening did nothing to endear it to me.

It was the Mojito.

This was the drink that, made the way the establishment wanted it made, took more time and energy than we typically had to spare on a busy evening. A single person at a 12-top would order one and suddenly I had orders for 11 more. It was nonstop, insidious and annoying. The drink had no real creativity to it at all, in my humble opinion, since it was essentially a lesser version of the Caipirinha, and those who ordered it did so because it was easy to toss back and order again quickly. As a shot drinker, this offended my Scorpio sensibilities in the worst way. The time, the effort (albeit comparatively slight) and the number of items needed to create the drink were simply wasted on these folks. If one is drinking merely to become intoxicated, there are easier ways to get there, certainly.

Not that anyone here is suggesting that. Not at all.

I blame my snobbishness completely on my Sun Sign. My Cancer Ascendant and Libra Moon grant me the appropriate amount of guilt to balance it, fortunately.

The Mojito and everything it came to stand for in my world was eventually a source of great irritation. I expressed these sentiments often following my time as a professional bartender, mostly to other bartenders as well as tipplers and non-tipplers alike. Many would agree with me, shaking their heads in sympathy, but it wasn’t until I shared the story with a dear friend who is an accomplished and talented chef that I began to think differently about it all. She, a brilliant and vibrant Aries, put forth the challenge that I rethink the Mojito entirely, to imagine what would take it from a simple tasty slightly-above-rail drink to a truly amazing and artistic cocktail, and By All The Mad Gods, to TAKE BACK MY POWER with regard to it all.

She also pointed out that getting over myself would be a good step in the right direction as well. She is a Good Friend.

Being a fellow foodie myself we spoke at length about it, comparing ingredients, contemplating substitutions, hypothesizing about methods for combining the flavors more effectively and interestingly, until we had put together the version you see below.

It is also worth noting here that all of the items listed below were readily available in one or both of our Airstream travel trailers. We were both on the road at the time and created this at a campground in the middle of a southwestern desert.

THE FOODIE’S MOJITO

Half a lime, segmented into 3 portions for easy muddling
1 part Mint Simple Syrup (combine 12 to 15 fresh mint leaves and equal parts water and sugar of your choosing, bring to simmer and let reduce for 8 to 12 minutes)
1 part light rum (I use Gosling’s Gold)
3 parts Pellegrino (or Sparkling Water of your choosing)

Muddle the first two items in the bottom of a tall glass. Add ice to fill and top with final two items. We made two versions o the simple syrup, one with raw cane sugar and one with brown sugar. Both had their pros and cons and I encourage you to experiment t see what you prefer. For an extra bonus of a summery treat, take a half handful of blueberries, raspberries or blackberries and toss them in to be muddled with the first two items. The sparkling water item is also good when of a species that adds a slight flavor infusion, such as lime or citrus.

Garnish liberally with mint leaves and serve to those you know will appreciate the effort precisely because they would go to it themselves. You know the people you thought of immediately while reading the previous sentence? Yes, them. Make a pitcher followed by a few phone calls. The sharing time of summer is worth it.

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

Spring is in full force now that I’ve trekked from the desert back across the continental divide. I’ve watched trees go from buds to fresh green leaf, plants from bulbs and shoots to full flower and animals grow amorous to the point of being somewhat careless with life and limb. With the exception of the suicidal animal tendencies, it is difficult NOT to feel inspired to do something of the same thing. Love is definitely in the air, and if you are a fellow allergy sufferer, it is also in your sinuses. It is the time of year that makes me grateful for the hairlessness of my cats.

Yes, cats, plural. We have a new addition here in the Silver Twinkie, and he is a very, very gregarious red-headed Libra with a Sagittarius Ascendant. We’ve named him Cesare.

He’s into absolutely everything, with all of his senses, and wants to get up close and personal with all things new, be they people, food or other sundry items found in the Airstream. He’ll make a toy out of anything at hand and never gives up trying to play with our resident Virgo, our dear, sweet Brundlefly.

To her credit, Brundlefly has been reasonably tolerant of the new addition to the family, not biting hard enough to leave marks and only hissing twice or three times per day. Her Scorpio Ascendant has puffed her up with jealousy, so I’m careful to give her all the loving to which she’s become accustomed, and then some. She’s so very much the embodiment of her sign right now that one feels very privileged when she comes and sits in one’s lap, even moreso if she then begins to purr.

Cesare is, of course, oblivious. He’s very, very busy figuring things out and just really doesn’t wish to be bothered until he’s done with whatever he’s investigating, playing with or sniffing to within an inch of its life. His new life is an endless series of amusing items to be befriended and won over and this includes Brundlefly, who, aside from us, is the center of his Universe. He loves her, wants to play with her, snuggles up to her when chilly or sleepy or simply feeling amorous in his neutered-male sort of way.

She, for her part, is quite clear that all of this activity this will take place on her terms and on her terms only. As I write this, the negotiations are ongoing.

The contrast in personalities is making me painfully aware of my own tendencies for a short temper and overly critical point of view. I watch Brundlefly growl and hiss and generally expend an enormous amount of energy on accentuating the negative points of the new addition. It makes the times she accepts his snuggling, or seeks him out for a snuggle during a mid-afternoon catnap marathon seem positively effortless and carefree. In turn, I examine my own habitual routines of doing just that, ignoring the beauty of the paradise about me, wherever we may happen to be, and instead concentrating on the one semi-annoying piece of news received in that week’s mail drop. More damaging still, I watch Best Beloved wilt with resignation as this ongoing cycle generates more negativity and less joy in the moments we share out here on the road.

It’s enough to make me come to this month’s column with a great big Mea Culpa and an apology for Best Beloved that I know won’t make up for anything in the long run. But Cesare, who is worming him way beneath my arm and shoulder at this very moment, has a lesson for me in all of this: Persistence in Positivity. No matter how many times I place him on the floor, he is back up on my keypad, purring, ready to engage and play. No matter how many times Brundlefly swats him away, he finds a different vantage point from which to stalk and pounce in an attempt to begin games anew. No matter how cold it gets at night he snuggles contentedly beside us both, a low rumble always in his chest. No matter how harshly we call his name to chide him for playing with the garbage r some other such nonsense, he responds with a raised tail, wide trusting eyes and a loud, steady purr.

In short, he is all joy, all the time. And I could do with his reminder to stick with my initial thoughts and impressions of the spring season, to follow his example of striving to find the positive in every moment, even if it is fleeting and rare, and greet my days and my Best Beloved with persistent affirmations of joy in the moment and with the company.

It is on this note, dear readers, that I give you a very simple and delicious recipe for a springtime cocktail that I have affectionately named the Cat Toy. Enjoy with someone you love who loves you back with an unconditional joy that reminds you to savor every moment of every beautiful day.

CAT TOY
1 part Triple Sec or Orange Cointreau
Splash of vanilla vodka
2 parts pineapple juice
1 part sour mix* (Make your own! MUCH better than purchased!)
1 part orange juice

I garnish this with a piece of fruit, an umbrella and a gummi worm, the combination of which truly resembles a moderately expensive cat toy.

*SOUR MIX: a mixture of 50% simple syrup (equal parts sugar/water) and 50% fresh squeezed clear citrus (lemon or lime)

Enjoy!

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

Change and Resistance: Uranus and Saturn Face Off

One rushes on stage with new concepts and shocking evolution while the other clings to the status quo and suppresses rash behavior. The last time they played together Americans elected the first African American president while a “mavericky” woman and her old-school running mate kept things strange. It’s not surprising our president is a liberal thinker (Uranus) who is forced to work within old structures (Saturn).

Now they’re back. What do they have in store for us? It was 45 years ago, in and around 1965, when these two last danced. We know what happened then: civil unrest, riots, burning bras, drug use, war resistance, assassinations, free sex, and liberation of people in ways we hadn’t seen before. What will these two bring this time, especially when Pluto, who is hanging around behind the curtain, comes on stage this summer to add his part?

When the idea for change comes from within ourselves, we usually like it. It is inspiring. But when change comes in as an independent with a mind of its own (Uranus) it can seem like a rebellious teenager. Just when we think things are calm it sulks around, keeps us awake at night, and makes us want to gain greater control.

Wise souls among us know that change is all we can truly depend on. We can’t escape it, though we try, and in many cases we must let it be. Mostly we try to avoid change because we have no idea what is in the future and we really don’t want to alter our world view. We decide it is best to keep things as they are, or how they used to be (Saturn). Plus, we don’t want to experience the feelings of loss (Pluto) that often accompany change. What if we terribly miss what we had?

(image) The idea of change, and change itself, brings up unnecessary fear which then causes unwarranted stress on the body and mind. One of our tasks as human beings is to overcome fear, especially the useless fears that pervade our modern lives. I see fear restricting the body, mind, and spirit, shrinking one’s life experience into an uncomfortable little box. It takes our minds to dark narrow places where we lose a broader, more balanced perspective.

We have the unknown future in front of us, unpredictable circumstances will occur, our country and its people will do or say things we don’t like. We can either grow our fear or live every moment as if it were sacred, remembering that even the most unusual of circumstances can be profoundly healing and enriching, bringing in higher wisdom and understanding.

One way to overcome fear is to develop a sense of trust and faith in something greater than yourself, such as a belief that there is something beyond the ordinary mundane life. World religions and philosophies have sought to provide this for people, but many of them have fallen short of actually teaching a person how to be free from useless fears. The responsibility is on each individual.

One way to reduce fear rather than expand it is simply to become aware of it, knowing that the wiser path welcomes change, accepts the inevitable, and chooses not to fear it. By becoming aware of our habitual reactions to the unknown future, by acknowledging our resistance to the feelings loss brings, by being aware of the times when someone says something that refutes our world view and ignites our own fears, we can approach life in a more balanced way.

When we try to keep our lives, surroundings, and viewpoints the same, Uranus and Pluto will surely come along to roll them around a bit, and thankfully so. Do we really want to live a life so thin and safe that there is no new experience, expansion, or advancement of the mind and spirit? In these rapidly changing times, which are just gaining momentum, the more we can flow with change and allow our minds to be free, the better off we will be. Perhaps in the process, we can grow calmer, wiser, more mature, and more peaceful. Cheers, Christina

a note from gwen: i’m proud to bear the middle name of sutherland, which is the family crest of SANS PEUR (without fear.) this motto relates so well to christina’s article that i just had to include it! that the mascot is a wild cat, makes me like this logo all the more… just remember everyone, FEAR is an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” this valuable snippet of information was channeled from ascended master, HILARION.

if you’re brave enough to try some classic cocktails, these two would be an honorable place to start:

ROB ROY (courageous scottish hero who gwen’s related to way back)
1.5 oz Scotch
0.5 oz sweet Vermouth
Fill a mixing glass with cracked ice. Add Scotch and sweet vermouth. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

TRINITY (sexy, fearless heroine of the gwen’s favorite movie, the matrix.)
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz gin
Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Dr. Christina Grant is a holistic healer and spiritual counselor who uses astrology in her work to help people better understand their purpose and life circumstances. She works in person and by phone. She has helped hundreds of people attain physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being through personal transformation. Her writing is published nationwide. To learn more, see WWW.CHRISTINAGRANT.COM

meet IZ’s newest guest blogger: the lovely dr. christina grant!

Just when I think there isn’t anything new going on, I get to awaken to a fresh perspective. I recently spent a weekend with a group of 80-somethings. Well, not the entire weekend, but a good portion of it. My mother-in-law, Sue, a gentle-but-mysterious Scorpio (who has never had to color her long dark hair) is now 80. We surprised her one moon-lit Friday night with a party attended by a group of about 50 people. “Amazing an 80-year-old has so many friends!” I heard someone quip. Most of the attendees were indeed her friends, the others were family and her sons’ friends who she knew since they were in grade school.
photo credit
I got to meet many of Sue’s friends, a couple of whom had difficulty navigating the few stairs leading up to the party venue, but all of whom were as mentally spry and fun-loving as teenagers. Dollie, a direct and sassy Aries, is one of Sue’s Stanford friends that lives, not surprisingly, on her own in San Francisco. Just like a ram, she still hikes Bay Area trails. Hip, fashionable, and smart, she wasted no time starting up conversation. “You know what I did last April when I turned 80 to avoid a surprise event like this?” she asked me. “I ran off to Egypt.” Egypt? At 80? Later, I told a friend, “I wasn’t aware of the prejudice I’ve had. I bought into the assumption that we all get decrepit and senile, presumably around age 75.”

But Sue, Dollie, and the others taught me otherwise. Wise and loving, sparkling eyes standing out in wrinkled, knowing skin, I learned some things from my elders this weekend. I learned that life can be fun and interesting and engaging well beyond middle age. Maybe more fun than it is right now. That friendships can last forever. I learned that it isn’t unusual for an 80-year-old woman to be beautiful, stylish, engaging, smart, interesting, funny, and in-the-know. And I had been concerned about entering my mid-40s.

The following night we hosted a smaller dinner party at our house in Sue’s honor. Guests included her 84-year-old sister Claire, here from Geneva nimbly traveling the States visiting friends and family, and 80-year-old Trudy, another one of Sue’s best friends. Nothing about these women was any different than the rest of us except they are calm, patient, and wise. Nothing got past them, either. There is something reassuring about being with these capable, aged women. If they haven’t seen it all, they’ve at least heard about it. As the evening wound down, I was sad to see them go, Claire promising we’d meet again soon.

Many times I’ve considered writing about honoring our elders, because it is something our society doesn’t do. Instead, we ignore them, toss them aside; they are the invisible ones in our worship-the-youth culture. Is this practice we have of valuing youth over wisdom enlightened? We need our elders to teach us, to fill the great void of depth and meaning our culture faces, to be our stability just as they are in indigenous cultures. When will we let them?

I had the great good fortune that weekend of spending time with folks who grew up during the Great Depression, lived through World War II, educated themselves, then experienced decades of interesting events and change while keeping hopeful and engaged in life. If only I could see them on a regular basis, perhaps I’d never think that there isn’t anything different going on in life. No, Dollie would have Egyptian adventures to tell while knowing the best plays and museum exhibits in the city, Sue would know why Stanford beat Cal and why Obama had to send a few more troops to Afghanistan, Claire would demonstrate how at 84 one can keep her mind as spry as a college student, and Trudy would exemplify how to remain calm through anything while preparing crab (“do you have a hammer?”) for a friend’s birthday dinner.

in honor of the gin in this cocktail… how sick is this necklace? buy it! in celebration of women’s golden years, let’s toast with the MERRY WIDOW…cheers to ageless living!

MERRY WIDOW NO.1
0.5 tsp Benedictine
1.0 dash Orange Bitters
1.25 oz. Gin
1.0 each Peel Twist Lemon
0.5 tsp Sambuca
1.25 oz. Dry Vermouth

Stir all ingredients (except lemon peel) with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add the twist of lemon peel and serve.

Dr. Christina Grant is a holistic healer and spiritual counselor who uses astrology in her work to help people better understand their purpose and life circumstances. She works in person and by phone. She has helped hundreds of people attain physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being through personal transformation. Her writing is published nationwide. To learn more, see WWW.CHRISTINAGRANT.COM