Neptune Landing

                There’s a small exercise you can do when you are seeking periods of growth and action. Sit in lotus position facing south and make an oval with your two hands over your solar plexus. This is the area above your belly button and below your breast bone. Imagine a yellow ray of light shooting through the portal and ask God, the Universe or The Great Spirit for cooperation in achieving your goals. Better yet do this in the sunshine as this third chakra activity feeds on fire and sunny self-esteem. Customize your prayer or wish and do this every day for a week. You’ll be amazed at what happens.  So it goes with the emboldening energy of the South direction. In California there is even a whole wild region that caters to growth and action. Starting one hundred and forty miles south of San Francisco on coastal Route 1 is an area known as Big Sur. The Spanish explorers named this pl...

The Mission District has historically been a middle-class Mexican and Latino neighborhood. Certain parts, since the 90's, have been anglicized with hipsters and restaurant entrepreneurs. It's a fun, colorful neighborhood in which to stroll, thrift-shop, dine and grab a drink or coffee. The best and cheapest Super-Veggie burritos can be found here in places like Pancho Villa Taqueria   and Taqueria Cancun . "It's always sunny in the Mission" is a truism that bears fruit for this flat, large, heavily populated area stretching over a hundred blocks. To the West ascends the tempestuous Castro District and to the East stands Portero Hill with her high cheek bones. The Mission, or what some dare to nickname "The Mish," is well-served by BART and several bus lines. There can be some post-apocalyptic aspects like the characters hanging out on the corner of Mission and 16th. The Mission, along with maybe Lower Nob Hill, resembles the feel of New York ...

Fall in Boston is delivered by a frenzy of fresh-faced college kids (and the cavalry of Uhauls they drive) followed by the sun-draped discoloration of our red maples and yellow birches. Here is San Francisco fall is known by the light. It's far sunnier in early September compared to the moodier August but it's a light that is steady, golden, slanted. Seasonal changes here are subtle and I'm told there is no noticeable change in color and that the leaves stay green year-round. With my rudimentary science, I know that conifers are green and that deciduous trees lose their leaves. Does this town buck the basic laws of botany? In many native american cultures, the direction of the WEST corresponds to the element of WATER which corresponds to the season of FALL. According to Bear Heart who wrote the wonderful tome, The Wind Is My Mother , "West is the direction of gratitude. When the sun goes down in the West, it's the benediction of another day. At the end of eac...

California has a way of pulling people to grow into their best selves even when the reality here hits the pavement. Bryan McPherson, a fiery and folk-playing Dorchester native was called west in July of 2010 and set to work on themes of conscience and injustice that the Occupy movement would soon make national. McPherson's sound is a blend of harmonica, acoustic guitar and lyrics that are full of heart, like a Bright Eyes or Ryan Adams on a social justice rampage. At times he's a more aggressive, amplified version of Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan or Tracy Chapman, although the occasional quiet ballad like Lonely Streets provides a nice counterpoint to his usual marching orders. Mad as hell is one way to describe his music as he contours all the interconnected way in which we Americans are losing our liberties. There must be some serious fire in his chart, a red-hot theme that bubbled continuously through our recent conversation. I first heard Bryan play in the winter of...