Columns

What is self-care and how many of us incorporate self-care in our lives? Self-care means a conscious act you take in order to promote your own physical, mental and emotional health. Practicing self-care isn’t always easy, but it is essential. Most of us claim we...

Hula, Rosie Chalmer’s dog, a breed of dogs known as Louisiana’s Hunting dogs, Catahoula, came into my life six months after I lost my beloved hubby Norm. But wait…this is NOT about my life, this is about Hula herself, and about Hula and her...

On this rainy day, I’m picturing my garden and deck this summer filled with colorful flowers. The bumblebees will be happy, the hummingbirds will be happy, I'll be happy. Or will I?  I recently read about a study in France that suggests that humans are...

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned these words in the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” He referred to a fateful ocean voyage in the 1800s, but it could very well reflect our need for clean drinking water today. To...

Homeowners may gloat at long-term home price growth, but others struggle to enjoy the blessings of mountain home ownership. Redfin states: “In November 2023, Santa Cruz home prices were down 20.8% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $1.2M.” With interest rates...

How many times have I uttered the words “if only” during my lifetime. I had been shopping at Safeway last week for a 10-pound pork shoulder roast, and while putting that roast into my refrigerator, I uttered, “if only” I had bought two, the price...

Gardening trends come and go. Who doesn’t love to read garden magazines with all those beautiful photographs during the winter and dream about your garden’s potential. Ditto for all the gardening blogs on the internet that are written by some very talented people who...

In this final series, I speak with Jason Borgen, the Chief Technology Innovation Officer at the Santa Cruz Office of Education (SCCOE), and with two local businesses, BraLisa and The Gather Community.  In this concluding segment of our three-part series on AI in Small Town...

2023 began with back-to-back extreme weather events that resulted in severe flooding, landslides and other impacts to our roads, neighborhoods and businesses in the mountainous Fifth District. Even as we continue addressing the damage, we are still grappling as a County with the aftermath...

The Pantone Color of the Year for 2024 is… drumroll, please… Peach Fuzz. I like it. It’s a light, delicate shade that sits between pink and orange. I rarely get a request for orange flowers to be included in a garden, so peach is...