Columns

100 years ago – August 15, 1918

Of all the great imponderables of life, one keeps retuning to my thoughts like a poorly digested burrito. I speak not of the cosmic why of our existence, nor of the vastness of space and what lies beyond our increasingly expanding horizons. No, I refer to something far weightier: why do some pop songs have a definitive ending and some just fade out?

Finally, a common sense answer to gun violence and the seemingly weekly school massacres.

We expected this new year of 2020 to be a very full 12 months of news, it being a presidential election year, a Leap Year, the start of a new decade and the continuation of an age of digital disruption. But we didn’t also expect so much news about homelessness, endless tax questions on our election ballots and plenty of employment but not enough money to pay our rents and mortgages. And then there’s all that presidential impeachment news, too.

Happy Holidays to everyone out there. As much as I enjoy Christmas, it can be a hectic time and I’m glad to be moving forward. I’m thankful that my family spent it together, in peace and that we all enjoyed each other’s company and savored our wonderful Christmas dinner.

Seeing teachers last week picketing in downtown Sebastopol and other teachers filling seats in front of school board meetings in Windsor, Cloverdale and Healdsburg reminds us we are beginning another school budget cycle. And this being Valentine’s Day also reminds us that our most cherished sweethearts are our children. There’s no better treat we could give our children and their teachers than more support for local education.

In a few weeks all of us will mark a full year of living in this COVID-19 time of a pandemic, sheltering in place and worrying about what terrible things like more wildfires, a positive virus test or loss of a job might happen next. What has this year of disease, tension, uncertainty and new daily living patterns done to us? Are we all becoming Zoombies?

Jackson Boaz has a full schedule these days.

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my dining room, checking in with Matt (who was at work), when a movement outside the window caught my eye. I glanced up and saw a cat-like figure moving leisurely across the lawn and quickly realized it was not our cat, nor was it a cat at all. The creature was a fox!

100 years ago – June 7, 1923 Old Stream Bed Found Under City  A subterranean river which flows through the heart of Healdsburg’s business district has been discovered through improvement work going on at the First National Bank. The old stream bed was reached during excavation...