Once upon a time there was a young maiden with a gentle golden heart waiting to be swept up onto the magic carpet of her dreams. The tale of the magic toad was told to me, and it seemed to be the only means to get to the beloved, that one holding my heart throughout time. But alas, there are so many toads. How do I find the one that may be my prince? Perhaps the painting on my wall of The Frog Prince will give me a clue.

Where is the most peaceful place to visit on the Central Coast ?
Melanie Reese Senn
Nighttime, the picnic table in my own backyard, sans children.
Leslie St. John
The Hydrolucinogen room at the sanitarium in SLO–cool blues, purples, white-silvers; watercolors, thick linens, a deep metal tub; and the room has a private deck. It’s an oasis in town, a quiet place to reconnect with my own voice (all the other “should/should not” voices are momentarily shushed). There, she speak in poems, paintings, dance…
Christine Dewart
Morning hikes up Bishops during the week were a great …

There have been some exciting new developments recently in our town which will broaden the choices for women and families. A long-standing desire by mothers and midwives is coming to fruition: a new birth center is in the works at the San Luis Business Center where Higuera meets Los Osos Valley Road. Dr. Tiffany Dietrich and Edana Hall are teaming up to provide what is essential to healthy birthing for mother and child with all the comforts and warmth of home.

“How’s the old boy doing?” I ask as I drift to a stop alongside Riley and his owner. I am out for a morning bike ride and Riley is out for his morning walk. I’ve met up with him before. “He’s doing great!” the handsome man whose name I do not know answers with a huge grin. I love dogs. I especially love old dogs. I always stop to say hello and share a moment with the owner’s permission. This man tells me, with both pride and incredulity, that Riley will be seventeen on December 5.

Saturday, August 14th 2010 * Mission Plaza * 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

This year marks the 36th year of Day with Creative Women, sponsored by the Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo County and joined this year, by the SLO County Commission on the Status of Women. Applications for a vendor booth are now available and space is filling up fast!

Summer is in full swing, and I’m loving it. My tomatoes are starting to ripen, my zucchini is overwhelming my actual love of squash, and little eggplants are starting to form. My garden is what keeps me refreshed every summer, and though I’m no master gardener, I love how much I learn each year about the life process of plants. It’s also a good reminder about life in general—birth, growth, mistakes, disease, and eventually death. I feel like I understand the universe so much more after summer ends.

As I write this article, I am settling back into my daily routine after having spent ten relaxing days on the exquisitely beautiful island of Maui. Even amidst the business — and some resistance — of returning to my regular routine, I am grateful for the spirit of “aloha” that still lingers within me. “Aloha” means much more than a common greeting and expression of farewell. The idea of aloha is so important in Hawaii that the “Aloha Spirit” is part of State law. The statute reads in part:

As a baby, Angie would get a ‘Queen Victoria-I-am-not amused’ expression on her face while sitting in her high chair when the world didn’t please her. I have the photo to prove it. At about age ten, her friend’s mismatched tube socks pained her. As a teacher, she enjoyed planning, arranging, and decorating her classroom. When the cancer spread to her lungs, Angie worked full-time but her house, and the landscaping and gardening around it, ran to seed. Nobody cleaned the rooms she’d painted and furnished. It looked and felt like a toxic-waste dump. She moved out.

Welcome back to the circle. By now I hope to have given you a sense that a personal drumming practice can be an extraordinarily empowering experience. But this aspect only hints at the energy that is derived from group participation. For at least as long as we have been human, we have engaged in collective rhythmic practices. To drum together can be a deeply bonding act, especially when this is the intention. In the ancient world, such circles were an integral part of every celebration and event, be it seasonal, rite of passage, healing, or the start or resolution of conflict. In remaining tribal cultures, this is still the case.

There’ve been some changes on the business end of the Women’s Press designed to make life easier for our wonderful volunteer editor, Courtney, so we can keep her talent and dedication. To help decrease her workload and prevent burnout, the board is now responsible for the non-editorial parts of the paper (like the accounts), but it took a while until some of the affected people knew where to send bills, etc. One casualty of this switchover was you, the subscriber, who expected to get your paper in a timely fashion.