Columns

“I am thankful for small mercies. Some people expect only the best. I found that I begin at the other extreme…expecting nothing and am always full of thanks for unexpected blessings.” —Tim Man Lee, Wildlife Photographer Since moving to my small “slice of Heaven” here...

Growing up in the 1940s, every household in my family included a chicken coop in the backyard. And when families came together for holidays there was always talk about the price of “scratch,” which was their name for chicken feed and the price per...

San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD) ratepayers soundly defeated Measure U, the proposal to roll back much of the rate increase put in place earlier this year, and elected Alina Layng and Bryan Largay to the SLVWD Board. In so doing they have sent...

One intersection with traffic lights. No high school. No movie theater. No transit center. One big shopping center. That was Scotts Valley when I arrived as a reporter for what is now the Press Banner 50 years ago. But Scotts Valley was not a one-horse...

It’s beginning to look a lot like… Fall. The weather is perfect, the soil still warm and the storm door is opening for those gentle autumn rains that do so much good for our gardens and the forest. I stopped by Mountain Feed & Farm...

When the dogwoods start to bloom, I’m torn between the flowering crabapples and cherries and wisteria and lilacs. But those huge dogwood flowers—or more precisely, bracts—get my attention every time I drive along the thoroughfares of San Lorenzo and Scotts Valley.  Most of us are...

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...

With the recent tragic shootings across the Nation including Uvalde Texas, there is encouragement with the historic bipartisan action taken by Congress. It’s been challenging to balance an individual’s 2nd Amendment rights while protecting public safety. Recent action taken by Congress will make a...

It's always a breathtaking experience taking a walk at this time of year. You might see the cobalt blue flowers of ceanothus or a stand of dicentra formosa with their dainty pink bell-shaped flowers backlit in the spring sunlight. Coral bells are in full...

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...