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To appease clientele dining in a restaurant while waiting for their food to be served, a basket of bread or rolls along with a dish of cubes of butter is generally brought to the table. If you are in an Italian restaurant, often you...

Most of us around here either live in a forest or near one. We are no strangers to nature as some city dwellers might be. We often spend time on a trail. You know the feeling you get when you are out walking slowly...

Severe storms that have pelted Santa Cruz County for the last three months have caused a great deal of damage to public and private property, resulting in prolonged power outages and difficulty traveling throughout the San Lorenzo Valley. I invite you to a joint SLV...

Why is everyone talking about housing? Housing is too expensive and there are not enough homes. Many Scotts Valley workers cannot afford to live here, which increases traffic and makes it harder for businesses to hire and keep good staff.  Some residents would like Scotts...

I received a phone call just at sunset from my friend Rosemary “Rosie” Chalmers two weeks ago. Usually Rosie is in bed at that time as she rises at 3 a.m. Monday through Friday in order to open her broadcasting studio by 5 a.m. Rosie...

Nature is amazing. No matter how heavy the rain or gusty the wind, flowering trees and shrubs haven’t missed putting on their much-awaited spring show. The nectar these flowers provide for bees and other insects is indispensable for nesting birds and the human spirit....

They say you are what you eat, and what we eat plays an important role in our mental health—everything from how we sleep, to how we handle stress and our overall mood. It has even been shown that dietary improvement can reduce symptoms of...

It was cold and raining (when hasn’t it been?) as I stepped from my warm car in front of Stagnaro’s Fish Market on the Santa Cruz wharf yesterday.  Usually, I love to spend an extra minute or two, perusing their showcases filled with seafood straight...

Spring IS here, at least according to the calendar. Weather Underground has predicted rain or the chance of rain for many of the remaining days this month.  There are so many things I want to do out in the garden, and the weather is getting...

Wearing something green on St. Patrick’s Day has been a tradition since emigrants, particularly in the United States, transformed the holiday into a largely secular event celebrating all things Irish. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants staged parades going back to 1737 in...