Columns

Psychology Today says, “community provides belonging, support and identity.” Indeed, Santa Cruz County understands the power of community. We have united in the face of earthquakes, fires and Covid-19, to mention a few significant challenges. Through these tribulations, we have come together with collective...

The theme for Earth Day 2025 is “Our Power, Our Planet,” emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and aiming to triple global electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. Earth Day is a day of education about environmental issues. Celebrate it in your own backyard...

Even though my kids are all-grown-up, nothing pleases me more than hearing them tell me how much they love my cooking, and often they will comment on the food they are eating, food that tastes “just like Grandma used to make.” Grandma Anna, my mother-in-law,...

I lost a dear “friend” sometime during the storms in January, which day or night I’ll never know…I wasn’t privy to its demise. I only know the evening during which I realized my friend Snag had disappeared from the horizon. My hubby Norm and I...

It happened last Sunday morning at 2am. That’s when daylight saving time ended and clocks went back an hour. Sure I got an extra hour sleep, but the end of daylight saving time signals to me that autumn is really here in our mild...

California’s Arbor Day is celebrated on March 9 this year. It’s actually a whole week in honor of famed horticulturist Luther Burbank’s birthday. The day is celebrated on different dates around the world because one of the features of Arbor Day is the planting...

So many power outages these days. I’ve needed to set up a portable propane heater as well as start a fire in the fireplace to keep warm. I know even with ventilation there are lots of potential pollutants that have found their way into...

The blouse was grey, and the most beautiful blouse that this little 8-year-old girl had ever seen in her short lifetime. The blouse had ruffles on its sleeves and a ruffled ascot at its neckline; I couldn’t take my eyes off the blouse that...

I was talking to someone recently who said she lived in Bonny Doon. When I told her I used to live on Robles Drive but lost the house in the CZU fire, she asked, “Did you live in the house with that huge Tasmanian...

Starting one’s own business is an archetypal American dream and I have personally prepared Schedule C proprietorships as small as part-time jewelry sales gigs or as large as a property management business that pulled in over a million dollars a year. Twenty percent of returns...