Lard can be a touchy subject for many cooks who have or have not cooked with lard over the past 50 years, especially if you have not brought yourself up to speed with the new way pigs today are being raised on sustainable farms — such as Flying Pigs Farm in upstate New York.

Inspiration Point — the beautiful overlook between Felton and Santa Cruz along Highway 9.

I love my smart phone. I can’t imagine a day without it. A friend of mine told me that I would discover uses that I could only have imagined when I first got it. One of the simple things I use it for is taking pictures.

“Natural history isn’t just science, it predates science,” says Chris Lay. “It’s the observation and interpretation of the natural world from a personal perspective. It could be a scientist or an artist or a writer.”