Laura Catherine Scruggs and Adam Grant Winsett of Fort Collins, Colo., plan to be married June 26, 2010, in Fort Collins.

Does spring have you thinking about the birds and the bees? Good. As a gardener, you need a variety of insects and other creatures to pollinate your plants.

I’m always surprised when a longtime local says, “Huh?” at the mention of the Lockheed-Martin facility up on the Ben Lomond Mountain ridge above Boulder Creek. But even those of us who are aware of it tend to forget about the world’s largest defense contractor in our midst.

Santa Cruz Moose Lodge 545

The landscape is so lush in May. Shades of green are everywhere you look — apple green, grass green, forest green, spring green, pine, olive, lime, jade, chartreuse, kelp, sage. Did you know the human eye can identify more than 200,000 shades of green?

Fishing in the ocean has been good for salmon and halibut, and rockfish are showing up, as well. Freshwater fishing opportunities are open, too. In our local waters, Loch Lomond reservoir is open, and the Sacramento watershed is producing shad and striped bass.

May is a month sandwiched by two holidays that should be among our most recognized and important. Like most others, though, their genesis and intent are largely unknown or ignored.