Mountain Times Volume 49, Number 13: March 25-31, 2020

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26 • COLUMNS The Mountain Times • March 25-31, 2020 Submitted Crocuses are among the first of the spring flowers to bloom, often popping up through the snow! Looking forward: seeing beauty > > from page 24 north wind on that side. The church building combined with the warmth of the sun produce blossoms much earlier than plants that are in an open area. I also try to take a couple of walks through the gardens at Rutland Regional Medical Center. They are beautifully maintained and many of the flowers and trees there have markers to identify them. The pathways are wheelchair accessible. I have gotten some ideas for my own gardens from what I see there. Many people have more “down time” now that social activities have been temporarily halted. Since we are asked to practice “social distancing” why not take short car rides, bike rides or walks and enjoy the area gardens that you may not have noticed before. Seeing the beauty of nature is a great “attitude adjustment.” An added bonus is getting ideas for bulbs you can plant in the fall. They need an extended period of cold to produce their color palette in the spring. Seeing the beauty of nature is a great “attitude adjustment.” One of my own gardens is near the city sidewalk and I often notice people stopping to take a look. When I see a photo being snapped I feel like I have done something right! The “cause” of us having more time at home may be an unpleasant one but we do have a little control over the “effect” of it on our daily lives. It allows us to spend time outside and enjoy nature. One of my favorite things to do is taking a book outside to read for awhile. Anyone can do that! You might also choose to walk in your neighborhood. This will give you a chance to chat with your neighbors, probably some of whom you have never met. No problem keeping the recommended 6-foot distance when you are in the great outdoors! Up for a little more activity? A hike in the woods is always a very peaceful way to spend time. Fortunately, Vermont has plenty of woods within its boundaries. How lucky are we? Stay tuned for more “looking forward” into the beautiful world of flowers and trees as they come into blossom. Time for me to get outside! Take care. Horoscopes: A pause in life as we know it will give birth to a new paradigm from page 23 den recesses of the mind, in any situation, if humanity is awake and aware Pluto has the capacity to illuminate us and carry mankind to the next level. If we are too asleep to see the light, he gives us Hell to pay. Not one to suffer fools, he can be ruthless and cruel. In the same way that human beings are subject to peer pressure, and known by the company we keep, like any other planet, for better or worse, Pluto is impacted by the nature of the planets he aspects. Paired with Mars, or Uranus he can dole out nothing but trouble. Fortunately, his conjunctions with Jupiter stand a good chance of having all things turn out for the best. Why is this so? Jupiter happens to be one of the nicest guys in the zodiac. Generous, high-minded, optimistic, kind, compassionate, and just, Jupiter is known as ‘The Greater Benefic.’ On his worst day he might overeat, overspend, or waste his time but mostly, Jupiter elevates and expands whatever he comes into contact with. In a conjunction with Pluto? Picture a Mafia chieftain sitting down for a cup of espresso with Santa Claus. With anyone else the mob boss might be inclined to bust heads, but with Santa? What would be the point? These two planets get along well whenever they’re in the same room together. The way I see it, this Jupiter-Pluto conjunction presents us with an amazing opportunity. In Capricorn? Essentially, the two planets are opening the space for humanity to restructure the way the collective unconscious defines the concept of ‘Power.’ Capricorn is all about the patriarchy, the male principle, and the statusquo. How human beings understand and express the concept of power on this planet has gotten really messed up in the last 13,000 years. At this point? All of the power on the planet has been perverted in ways that put it in the hands of 1% and that do nothing to support the greater good of the planet, or the people. With this conjunction holding sway right through mid- November, and with the 2020 election one of the burning questions of the day, don’t you find it interesting that we are teetering on one of those do-or-die moments where the forces of good and evil are meeting eye-to-eye? Will they find a way to reconcile their differences? The Santa-Mob Boss analogy is apt; we are looking at the last battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. How will things turn out? Remember what I said about how interpreting astrological aspects involves multiple variables? The Jupiter-Pluto conjunction by itself isn’t enough to give us the answers. Let me break it down into layman’s terms: The Mars-Pluto conjunction was essentially a meeting > from page 5 obscured by the poor state of the books inherited by Concessi when he assumed responsibility, Smith said. Smith’s promise on March 9 to give the Board two important pieces of information at Monday’s presentation – an estimate of where the deficit might be going as FY2020 is finished, and a short list of ways in which the district might solve the deficit problem – was not fulfilled. The Mountain Times contacted Smith for clarification, but he did not respond in time for publication. During the meeting Woodstock representative Sam DiNatale asked the Board to consider releasing a $50,000 grant supporting the new On his worst day he might overeat, overspend, or waste his time but mostly, Jupiter elevates and expands whatever he comes into contact with. build awarded by Woodstock Economic Development Commission, as the EDC has other current needs. “They promised [the district] would be at the top of their grant list next year,” DiNatale said. The third issue that the WCUSD Board faces is the possible loss of Banios as superintendent as she is hoping to win a similar position with the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District in Massachusetts. This issue was hardly discussed at Monday’s meeting. However, according the Hamilton-Wenham website, final interviews for candidates for their superintendent job is March 24. There is no between the collective ego (Mars) and its higher self (Pluto). This conjunction happens every two-and-a-half years or so. It marks a moment in time when the collective ego gets a wake-up call from the higher mind and an opportunity to fall in line with whatever is in the best interests of mankind (Or not). Ordinarily Mars, or the ego, is like an out of control teenager who is hell bent on doing whatever he feels like doing. Mars happens to be ‘exalted’ in Capricorn; this means that the collective ego is feeling less selfish, more mature, and more willing to follow the dictates of the higher self – this is a good sign. As soon as Mars is done with Pluto, he will conjunct Jupiter. This means that right after Mars gets his instructions from ‘Mr. Big’ he will hook up with Santa, the forces of light, a.k.a. Jupiter and say: “I have just had my regular pow-wow with Pluto. Do you have any advice for me? Can you add anything to my ability to act in the highest and best interests of mankind?” In astrological terms, Mars will confer with Pluto, ‘collect light’ from Jupiter, and move on. By the last day of March, Mars will meet with Saturn. Saturn is the warden and the time-keeper in this dimension. I find it interesting that what first appeared to be just about Jupiter and Pluto, has turned out to be a beautiful mixture of archetypal forces, doing everything in their power to make things work. So, now that Mars has been straightened out by Pluto and uplifted by Jupiter, he is in good shape to deal with Saturn. Saturn is the foreman here. He will most likely help Mars organize his course of action and come up with the best possible plan for humanity. With Saturn ready and waiting to install a new set of rules, and Mars more than clear about the fact that he has to act in the best interests of mankind, the higher forces that watch over this planet are 100% there for us. All we have to do is wake up, smell the coffee, and start walking our talk. Jupiter and Pluto will be dancing around and holding space for all of the above through Nov. 12, 2020. This gives us close to nine months to rub the sleep from our eyes and birth the new paradigm. Our current state of affairs, with the coronavirus and all? Like so many other things, it is exactly the opposite of what it appears to be. We are in a gestation period. This quarantine is akin to the space between the in breath and the out breath, or the great void out of which all things emerge and begin again. It would be great if we could pull ourselves together, eliminate all distractions, and prepare for a whole new ballgame – because we are moving out of the darkness into the light – and no matter how the gap between faith and fear calls us to spin it, the best is yet to come. Let me leave you with that and invite you to take what you can from this week’s ‘scopes. WCUSD: School board faces three challenges with board members, budget deficit and superintendent indication when the decision might be made. Chairman Sammel told the Mountain Times no steps have been taken to search for a replacement for Banios, who is under contract until June 30. Sources close to Banios say she would like to return to Massachusetts for family reasons. Banios didn’t respond directly to an email asking if she would stay in her present position if she isn’t chosen by Hamilton-Wenham, or if she might seek an alternative job outof-state. She did state that issues surrounding the coronavirus crisis are taking up all of her time at present.
The Mountain Times • March 25-31, 2020 ROCKIN’ THE REGION • 27 Rockin’ the Region By DJ Dave Hoffenberg In this Covid-19 world we’re living in, sadly there are no music shows you can go to. But, you can catch many performers doing Facebook shows live with Venmo tipping so please support them when you can. One of those performers, Jim Yeager, has his second solo record coming out on April 17. It’s aptly titled “Identity Crisis” and relates very well to the world we’re currently living in. Yeager said, “This is weird how it’s happening.” You’ll be able to get it on Bandcamp, Artistree when they reopen and at his shows (if there are shows in the world). He will be releasing three singles from the album on all the social platforms and I had the pleasure of previewing them. Yeager has been writing for 30 years and started writing the songs for “Identity Crisis” in 2017 and recording them in October 2019. It was recorded at The Underground in Randolph and Würks Güde Stüdios in Hartland. It’s being mastered at Robot Dog Studios in Burlington. Yeager said, “The interesting thing about these 10 songs is they were all written at different times, about different things. As I started seeing these songs come together and collecting songs for a record, I saw these songs had a theme to them. It’s hard to explain because I went through this weird spiritual awakening in 2018. That’s when these songs all came together and I realized this is supposed to happen. It’s a concept record.” Most of the listings I have for Jim Yeager are in an acoustic setting so it was a welcome change hearing his first single, “Polarity.” It starts out really rocking. Yeager said it’s in-your-face heavy and I agree. His singing mixes well to make it a good rock and roll song. There’s some recorded talking at the end that gave it a cult of personality/Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” feel for me. > Rockin’ the Region with Jim Yeager (digitally) I interviewed Jim Yeager, 51, last October so I know he’s into classic rock and was a metalhead that shows here. Yeager said, “I grew up on classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and all that stuff. I’ve always been wicked into music. I did my first professional gig when I was 17.” Yeager said “Polarity” is about society being polarized. He added, “It’s this whole thing right now about left vs. right, blacks and whites, snowflakes and xenophobes. It’s also about being polarized from our own selves and losing who we are as people.” Yeager just did his first Facebook live performance last week. He did a whole Pink Floyd set because he wanted to do something different than what he regularly does at his shows. Yeager said, “It was nice and people are pretty generous now.” He’s also a massage therapist, or was since that’s on hold too, but music is something he can’t survive without. He moved to Vermont 10 years ago and loves it. He currently lives in Woodstock. “The whole record is going to be very different,” Yeager said. He added, “The first two are bangers and there’s really only one other on the record that’s close to being that heavy. It’s really all over the place.” There are 10 tracks in total. I really dig the second single, “Born With a Ladle.” It has a bit of a grunge rock feel to me. Yeager started playing solo in the 90s and covers Nirvana. The song came from something his mom used to say to him. Yeager said, “She said I was born with a ladle in my hand. You really know how to stir the soup.” Something he knew I could relate to. He added, “It’s really about me having the power to do whatever I want. In the beginning of the song it says I can lead a horse to water and a pig to slaughter, all this mean stuff. As the song goes, it gets more light. It says together we can do this, we have the power. We’re stronger than we think we are.” The third single, “Bow My Head,” is a mellower song that goes back to the acoustic side of him. I really liked his singing on this one. The song had me foot tapping along. It had a perfect blend of instruments and vocals. Yeager said, “This one is about me going to everybody in my life that I’ve ever done wrong, or perceived to have done wrong. Me saying I’m honestly and truly sorry for what I’ve done wrong. I’m really doing it to let it go and let it go for myself, too. I bow my head to you. There’s no grudge, there’s no fight. I want to kind Red-winged black bird: Display their colorful feathers as a mating sign and to protect territory from page 24 defend their territories and to attract mates. Indeed, the bright color seems critical to both purposes. In studies when researchers have blackened the red feathers, those male birds are likely to lose ownership of their territories. Conversely, when the red coloring is enhanced, Yasukawa said, birds are more often challenged by their male neighbors. “It seemed as though the brightened males represent a great threat to their neighbors, who evict them to prevent females from mating with them – something like a preemptive strike,” he said. Red-winged blackbirds will cover their epaulets, leaving only the yellow border visible, when trespassing onto other territories – either foraging or seeking to acquire new territory. They’ll also hide the bright red “This is not the time to bash each other and not the time to be political.” - Jim Yeager feathers when they perceive a threat, like a Cooper’s hawk flying overhead. Male redwings have already appeared in parts of southern and central New Hampshire and Vermont, and females are starting to show up, too. In my more northern neck of the woods, though, I’m still waiting. Soon, I know, they’ll call out from their roadside perches and puff out those epaulets to full display, claiming their place in a landscape gradually transitioning to spring. Meghan McCarthy McPhaul lives in Franconia, New Hampshire, and is the assistant editor of Northern Woodlands magazine. The illustration for this column was drawn by Adelaide Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation: wellborn@nhcf.org. Flowers are everyday occasions! 200 Main St. Poultney 802.287.4094 Delivery Available Arrangement by Emily Stockwell of be reborn from all this.” The guitarist on this song is guitarist Val McCallum from Jackson Browne. Yeager said, “We met through some people and we’re friends. We’ve jammed together a bunch of times. He’s been my guitar player and I’ve been his drummer.” Other artists on the album are drummer Titien Tolbert, bassist Jeff Stedman and Steven Pixley on accordion. Yeager has a message for everyone, “Let’s come together and stop bashing each other. This is not the time to bash each other and not the time to be political. It’s the time to help each other out. It’s important to me because it has a lot to do with the album itself and what it’s about. Jim Yeager’s album “Identity Crisis” is a theme album worth listening to. Wedding Flowers ♦ House Plants Secure 24-hour ordering online: everydayflowersvt.com Submitted
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Mountain Times Volume 49, Number 13: March 25-31, 2020

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