Editorial

December 25 is, of course, Christmas Day, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that this birth is the turning point, the very center of human history. From it we count the years forward and backward, B.C., before Christ, and A.D., Anno Domini, Year of our Lord. We believe that the baby born in Bethlehem is Emmanuel, God with us, fully human from the flesh of His Mother Mary, and fully God by the power of the Holy Spirit. We also know, along with this and because of this, that every birth is sacred. Carl Sandburg, in his uniquely down to earth way, said that a baby is God’s opinion that life should go on. When my older brother’s first child was born he called me in the middle of the night to tell me that his son’s birth, at which he was present, was the closest thing to a miracle he had ever seen. I had the joy of witnessing the births of my five children and I agree with Carl Sandburg and my brother and certainly with Mary and Joseph. Birth is a miracle, it is God’s opinion, it is God with us.

It’s “back to school” time again and that means shopping trips for new school clothes, buying new notebooks, pens and erasers for the backpack and complaining about how early the first class bell is scheduled to ring.

Living in the Russian River Watershed is a gardener’s dream come true. However, with California in its fourth year of drought, it is increasingly important that community members act collectively to decrease landscape water usage. Planting low water-use plants at our homes and businesses is one way we can reduce our impacts on this vital resource.

Editor: This is a letter of thanks to two beautiful young ladies