The weather has been oddly cold this summer, and it has caused local grape growers to wait longer than usual to harvest their grapes. Santa Cruz County grapes will most likely be harvested about three weeks behind schedule. If the weather stays good, that won’t be a problem. But there is one guaranteed problem: the European wine moth.

After a consistent run of salmon in Monterey Bay, the season came to an end Monday, Sept. 6. When one door closes, another opens, and salmon fishing will be available in the Sacramento, Klamath and Trinity rivers.

The 2010 influenza season officially begins in October, but cases of flu in some areas of the country have already been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infection usually peaks in January, February and March and usually ends by May. It is impossible to predict ahead of time how bad the flu season might be, but as we learned with the H1N1 (swine flu) last year, it’s best to be prepared.

Marilyn Jean (Zonker) Kelsen

I want to dedicate this column as a thank-you to the people who live up in Bonny Doon.

Those lazy, crazy, foggy days of summer are behind us now. What a strange summer it was.

When I was working as a grocery clerk in my late teens, I saved up $1,000 and opened an account with my father’s stockbroker in Los Gatos. When he asked about my goals, I said, "Just find me something that will go up."

Twin girls Taylor Lynn and Mallory Rose Friedrich-Anderson were born at 11:35 and 11:36 a.m. Aug. 17, 2010, to Nicole Ann Anderson and Greg Friedrich of Brookdale. Taylor weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces and Mallory weighed 6 pounds at Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center in Santa Cruz.

Harvest is fast approaching, and it is certainly the most exciting time of year in the world of the vintner.