Columns

You can have chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose, but what would the holidays be without a beautiful wreath to decorate the door? Maybe you want to put together a swag for the mantle or candle holder...

I don’t grow corn in my small, shady garden, so I’m not sure how tall they’d be by now if I planted on May Day when the soil was 50 degrees, but that’s how the saying goes. And from what I’ve read about the...

As a young child. I lived in Washington State in the ’30s in a boarding house owned by my aged uncle and aunt, where eight boarders lived, all men, and many whose ages ranged from 60 to 70 years of age. One or two...

Practicing forgiveness can have powerful health benefits. Forgiveness is associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety, higher self-esteem, and greater life satisfaction. Understanding the power of forgiveness and its impact on mental well-being can help inspire you to forgive people in your life...

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” —Benjamin Franklin Death and taxes misshape the legacies we mold with our lives and values. As a widower, I advise survivors to honestly accept pain and meditate until it passes. Distraught...

I was honored to participate in a long-standing Scotts Valley tradition recently, the Annual Scotts Valley Police Formal Inspection. This tradition began in 1978 and I’m thankful it has continued all these years later. The Annual Inspection is more than the fanfare of all Police...

In the spirit of my annual New Year’s resolution to learn something new every day, I did some research on Calscape about adding butterfly friendly natives to my partly shady garden and did some reading on garden design trends for 2025. Turns out the...

The most generous country on earth hasn’t sacrificed Christmas, and the Association of Religious Data archives reports that roughly 32% of Santa Cruz County residents remain Christian. Americans donated about 2.3% of GDP in 2007, a world record. In 2000, religious Americans gave almost...

“I enjoy cooking with wine,  sometimes I even put it in the food I’m cooking.”  - Julia Child Give me a good old American-style beef pot roast, with all its dark wine-rich drippings and a crusty French roll, and I am in heaven. In just one week, my...

As a small child and living with my elderly uncle and aunt, I gave little thought to my absent father until it was time to celebrate Father’s Day at our small school in Aberdeen, Wash. Crayons of various colors were given out and most of...