On occasion I have patients present to me with the sensation that a pill was stuck in their throat. This is not an uncommon occurrence. A number of people do have problems swallowing medication in tablet or capsule form. When a pill actually does get stuck it is usually not really in the throat but in the upper esophagus just below the throat.

- Submit Datebook items to pbeditor@pressbanner.com or drop off press releases or photos at 5215 Scotts Valley Drive, Ste. F, Scotts Valley 95066. Deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Entries are subject to editing, and publication is not guaranteed.

Kiwanis Club of Scotts Valley

Here in Ben Lomond, our star jasmine is blooming above our front porch. Each time we get a breeze, its’ scent permeates our home, sending my thoughts back to the 1940’s. 

I started writing this column in October 2005. I remember the day the editor of the paper at that time gave me the go-ahead and bestowed upon me the title, “The Mountain Gardener.”  I was so excited. I immediately started writing down every subject I could think of. In the world of horticulture there are myriad subjects to write about and nearly as many different plants. I'll never run of ideas.

The morning fog still veiled the coast as boaters steamed in with limits of huge Chinook salmon, the filet tables were abuzz with stories of big salmon caught and bigger ones that got away! The setting may sound like it took place in Alaska; it was actually here in Santa Cruz.

- Griffin Shelby Dunnewas born at 1:15 a.m. June 28, 2013 to Angelina Louisa Murzi and Peter Francis Dunne of Boulder Creek. He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz.

I did it again. I had another fall.  No, not from a ladder this time, (I think I learned my lesson), but from my bicycle. Thankful to be alive. Saved again from my own carelessness. How many times is it going to take to figure this out?