Monday, June 29, 2026
– Full Moon Phase – illumination, realization, fulfillment, shadow, relationships, experience
– Moon in CAPRICORN –
– Retrogrades –
- PLUTO – May 6 to Oct 15 – This period brings intense inner reflection, shifting the focus from external societal changes to internal transformation, forcing us to confront power dynamics, subconscious patterns, and personal evolution
- MERCURY – June 29th – July 23rd
– Best Days (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Jun 29th – 30th – Mow to Slow Growth, Castrate Farm Animals, Prune Trees, Wean, Potty Train, Slaughter
– Planting Calendar (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Jun 29th – 30th – Plant late beets, potatoes, onions, carrots, and other root crops.
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Year: – 28 ARIES: a large, disappointed audience
– Sabian Symbol for the Lunar Month (GEMINI): 25 GEMINI: a gardener trimming large palm trees
– Aspect of the Aeon Sophia: (Wisdom): Kali – The Destroyer
– Aspect of the Aeon Thelete: (Will/Desire): Ian, God of the East
SUN – 08 CANCER: a group of rabbits dressed in clothes and on parade
EARTH – 08 CAPRICORN: birds in the house singing happily
Happy Monday! May your heart stay filled with courage, gratitude and deep respect for the freedom that blesses our lives today.
In my post last Friday, I talked about the reactions of people around the world visiting the United States. Most specifically, noting the level of shock these people are having to the differences they are experiencing vs what they have been led to believe from their version of mainstream media.
Rather than crime ridden, rude, obnoxious, and dirty they are finding a clean and friendly country with shockingly amazing food. They are seeing the America that we here all know. The land of the free. The home of the brave.
And you have to ask, why has the “mainstream” here and everywhere else tried to run us down?
Frankly, I am proud to be American. I was blessed to be born here and to have been able to experience so much that the USA has to offer.
So today, I am going to list some of my California experiences. They are unfiltered accounts of places people have heard about that I remember. Enjoy my little trip.
I was born in Whittier, California. I refer to it as a small town in the middle of Los Angeles. But it is not the middle it is actually on the far Eastern edge of the County and had more in common with our neighbor Orange County. So, I also say I grew up in East LA. Whittier was settled by Pennsylvania Quakers and named after the Poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Other than that, it is known as where President Nixon was born (or loved for a while – I never paid attention to that). It is also the site where the High School scenes from Back to the Future were filmed.
Growing up in California, we were exposed to many things.
La Museum of Natural History and Museum of Science and Industry – My Mom would take us there every year at least once. I had nothing to compare them to until I visited the Smithsonian when I was about 21. They were pretty good, though not as large as the Washington Museums. I did get to see the King Tut exhibit in 1978. I found out then that many of my classmates had never been to a museum.
Disneyland – I lived about a half hour away from the park We would go on average twice a year. We found that overcast and rainy days were best because the park was deserted and the lines were shorter.
Knotts Berry Farm – 15 minutes from home and were went there more often. My Mom liked to take us to Jungle Island – which was a really cool park across the street from Knotts. It was also right next to the replica of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
Magic Mountain – in the hills above LA – big park with cool rides. But not as impressive as Knotts or Disney.
Marine Land was an Ocean themed park in Palos Verdes (whales and dolphins and things). San Diego’s Sea World was bigger. I went there a few times too.
Beaches – We were closest to Huntington Beach (about 45 minutes through traffic) We preferred the City Beach to the State beach. But we went to Torrance Beach more often because my grandmother lived a mile from the beach there. Others I went to included Newport, Bolsa Chica, Seal, Manhattan, San Clemente, Doheny, Carlsbad, Pacific. Mission and La Jolla.
The Missions – California was settled by the Spaniards before it became part of our Country. They set up a series of Catholic Missions designed to convert the eathens. I have visited Missions San Diego, San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano.
My parents liked to camp, and we went out monthly with the Elks Club. So, I have seen a lot of different places that I would like to share.
The Desert – Southern California is basically a desert. If not for aqua ducts bringing water from up north, it would be just that. The LA basin is rimmed with Mountains. Everything on the other side of them is pretty desolate. We spent a lot of time in Palm Springs, and Yucca Vally growing up. But ranged all over. We visited the Joshua Tree National Monument. I was young, but unimpressed as we had been camping among yuccas for a while at that point. As I got older, I started riding motorcycles, which made the desert even more interesting. Death Valley was a littel farther than we would go. And frankly there was not a lot out there to do.
The Mountains – We camped in the LA mountains a lot. Near Big Bear Lake there were a number of different sites we would go. Once a year we would take a trip to the Sierras. Usually to Yosemite – in my opinion one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Once we went to Sequoia National Park. It was less interesting to me as we had to drive a long way to see any of the sites. I was in Lake Tahoe once, where my sister was married. I also visited the town of Bishop (on the eastern side of the Sierras where I marched in a parade.
San Francisco I have visited a few times. My sisters live there. We drove through when I was young on a trip up north. We stopped at the Winchester House – a House built by the widow of the creator of the Winchester Rifle. Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time on that trip. I have crossed it 3 or 4 times since with the most memorable being on a bicycle on my way to the top of Mt. Tamalpias.
We drove through the Avenue of the Giants – seeing the amazing old growth redwood forest. It was featured in the movie The Return of the Jedi during the scenes with the Ewoks.
I went fishing for Salmon on the Kalamath River. And a couple times I went deep sea fishing set out from Long Beach. And I visited Catalina Island on a day trip.
I worked for about a year and a half in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I worked at a group of Theaters where we handled the sales of promotional merchandise (concert shirts). Working in Hollywood definitely showed the seedier side of things – the difference between the shit and the Shinola. But I did get to see a lot of concerts.
California definitely has a lot to see. Many people have heard about and seen on TV. So much of it I am glad to say I have seen with my own eyes.