Columns

A quiet revolution is underway in Santa Cruz Mountains’ lush valleys amidst the towering redwoods and winding creeks. It’s a tale of resilience, community and the enduring power of connections—the resurgence of networking in the San Lorenzo Valley (SLV). As we gathered together after the...

Living in an ordinary house with today’s average number of rooms, I spend the greater part of the day in my kitchen.   My kitchen has a view over my long dining room table to my garden outside, which is filled with a fountain for the...

A friend of mine lamented that she didn’t have many bees in her garden yet. I reassured her they are out and about and will soon visit her garden. She was worried that our bee population was declining dramatically. And while it is true...

“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...

In our fast-paced world, productivity often takes precedence, meaning sleep is often undervalued. However, sleep has a huge impact on our overall well-being and maintaining both our physical and mental health. This article explores the relationship between sleep and mental health and the importance of...

You can hear them a long way before you see them. I’m talking about the hundreds of honey bees feasting on the nectar of the Flowering Plum blossoms. I confess I don’t know a lot about keeping bees. I even had to look up...

“Easter is the only time when it's perfectly safe to put all of your eggs in one basket.” —Evan Esar, an American Humorist Of all the holidays we celebrate in America, 12 of these are National and five are Occasions, with Easter being my favorite Occasion....

I’m so proud of myself. I write about all the important things to do in the early spring garden but often I don’t get to them myself. Seems there’s that book I’m reading or birding, hiking or wildflower walks that take priority. But this...

Some Santa Cruz Mountain residents have taxes so simple they fit on form 1040 alone—wages and pensions—and they don’t need an alphabet to complicate their taxes. The IRS divides income into three “baskets”—ordinary, capital gains and passive—and discourages offsetting losses from one basket from...

How’s your stretching game? Think of how your body feels waking up each morning. Now, try bending down. Are you able to pick things up with ease? If you move around each day with a stiff body, that can all change with a few...