With sheltering in place and not working for the past three months, I have had the opportunity to better notice the natural rhythms of my body. I’m surprised to discover that my energy is not consistent, but ebbs and flows from day to day. With time on my hands, I am able to honor these natural rhythms, and I am feeling so much more balanced, healthy, joyous, and calm. This made me think of all the times I have forced my body or my mind to be in a place that, naturally, it is not. How many times, because of my busy schedule, have I jacked myself up with caffeine, dark chocolate (my drug of choice), carbs, or sugar to get my body and mind to perform at the same high level every day?

In 2019, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and other California utilities instituted massive preemptive power shutoffs in 30 counties, designed to prevent wildfires during strong and dry winds.

Santa Cruz County historians have a few bragging rights regarding famous residents of the past.  Zasu Pitts and Alfred Hitchcock represent the movies; Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Neil Young left us a musical legacy.  Sports not so much.  A few baseball players reached the big leagues.  Harry Hooper eventually was enshrined at Cooperstown—Hal Chase will never be.  This year, however, we can applaud another Hall of Famer—a golfer—and it’s about time. 

We are in a “new normal'' this summer. Understand that it is okay to feel a sense of loss around the change and the loss of normal life and life events: The “new normal” we are navigating means things we looked forward to during the summer months may have to be postponed or canceled. Graduation looked different, the wedding you’ve dreamt of your whole life will have to be different or postponed. Children are coping with the loss of summer camps and birthday parties while also missing friends from school.

Approximately 30 to 40 percent of our population eat gluten free food for reasons unrelated to gluten intolerance or sensitivity. There's no evidence that gluten, a protein found in wheat and some other cereal grains, causes digestive problems in people who don't have a gluten related disorder, such as celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

As we head into summer, all of us need a little sunshine, literally and figuratively. This spring tested our resolve in ways we couldn’t have foreseen, but it also presented new opportunities to work together for the greater good of our community.

Who doesn’t love corn on the cob fresh either from the garden or farmer’s market? But this column isn’t about growing corn or about patriotic deer, it’s about climate smart plants that hold up to the heat. So let’s get started. s