click to enlarge
Josephine Occhiogrossi being vaccinated in February at the Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh. She turned 100 on March 21. There s nothing special about Greenburgh, a suburban town of about 88,000 in Westchester County, to suggest that it would be the incubator for one of the state s most ambitious pandemic volunteer projects. Unless you count Paul Feiner, the town s indefatigable supervisor. Feiner has helmed town government in Greenburgh for 30 years, re-elected again and again on the strength of an old-fashioned belief: that government ought to fix people s problems. It s easy to spot Feiner s car around town: It s the one with a taxi-style roof sign on top, printed with Feiner s cell phone number and the slogan Mobile Problem Solver. He s like the ice cream man, but for community outreach, says Kenny Herzog, a volunteer with Greenburgh s COVID Angels. In January, the group was barely an idea. By March, it was a national model,
click to enlarge The Moon passing through the closest distance to the Earth. Regardless of the weather, emotional springtime is here. The Sun in exuberant Aries through April 18 makes you want to run maskless through the streets crying Free at last! Free at last! Fighting impatience while gauging the risk/reward ratio takes a lot of energy. With Mercury in assertive Aries April 3–18, patience is in short supply. Last Quarter Moon in Capricorn April 4 soberly reminds us: We ve come this far why blow it when the end is in sight? 2021 s theme of radicalized traditionalism is on display with the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Uranus in Taurus, squared by Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius, from April 20 through May 3. Grid-optional lifestyles become respectable choices. After Mars enters Cancer on April 23, Herculean efforts are expended to secure the homestead, be th
(July 22–August 23)
Sun in Aries through April 18 is your annual period of spiritual renewal. The Sun sextile Mars, and Jupiter April 13–15 supports powerfully enhanced understandings of your own transcendent energy; but does this idealistic vision of yourself hold up under ego stressors when the Sun squares Pluto on April 16? Sun conjunct Mercury on April 18 creates combustible communications. Sun enters Venus-ruled Taurus April 19, followed by First Quarter Moon in Leo April 20. This turns up the heat in anticipation of the Sun/Uranus conjunction April 30, sparking originality. Genius loves company so prepare to win a plethora of popularity contests.
click to enlarge I had a visitor to my office recently from out of town. As I rarely receive guests anymore, it was quite a treat, especially given that I got to show off our new digs in the Fuller Building, a renovated shirt factory here in Midtown Kingston that s smart in that industrial chic way. As we sat in the luxurious confines of the Place Where the Magic Happens (aka my office), my visitor asked after the state of Kingston. (Rest assured we were masked, gloved, gowned, and double-bagged.) While she didn t live terribly far away Woodstock, in fact she had not been to Kingston for many months and was curious to see what all the fuss was about.
A review of Jo Ann Beard s
Festival Days, an anthology of 30 short stories, essays, and plays, plus five short book write-ups for your April reading
By Diana Testa