Columns

It was many years ago…I believe it would have been in late September, when Sister Agnes Marie corralled me, telling me to put on my “long pants” for I was going with “old” Joe, the tramp who had made a home for himself in...

I’m starting to see the beginning of fall color on some trees. It’s an exciting time of year. My friend, Kate, in Bonny Doon has an Autumn Moon Japanese maple that’s always in color, no matter the time of year. On a visit to...

Scotts Valley works hard to maintain a full complement of community-oriented police officers. This article introduces recently hired Police Officers Seavana Patzke and Vitani Harrison. It was my great pleasure to recently spend time getting to know these two individuals. Seavana Patzke Officer Seavana Patzke previously...

It’s that time again: The days get shorter with daylight savings, and poor weather conditions start to arrive. This is where seasonal affective disorder takes effect on many folks. It’s triggered by the change of seasons and most commonly begins in late fall. This is...

A recent article in the New York Times caught my eye: Hot weather cherries, drought resistant melons and six other crops that are being developed or already in the market could change how we eat in a fast warming world. In the face of...

Having been raised by an order of nuns from France, eating lentils was as commonplace as eating potatoes for me, both as a child and as an adult today. I have no recollection of anyone I know that cooks with lentils, nor have I ever...

You know it when you see it. That combination of plants that cry out “we get along.” Because it’s fall already after a way-too-short summer, I’m drawn to grasses and warm-toned flowering perennials.  I’m thinking of ways that will have any garden bursting with interest...

The Next-Door Neighborhood website, daily, has someone asking for cardboard moving boxes or having used moving boxes to give away. I smile reading those ads, remembering my own little cardboard box that I had for 40 years. Life, to me as a very young child,...

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were almost 50,000 suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2022. That's the highest number ever recorded by the CDC. The good news is that suicide is preventable. While...

The cry for help came from a new homeowner. She loves her lovely new home but feels everything in the garden is in the wrong place. She wishes to create “a haven for birds and bugs and give it a sense of life.” The...