Columns

100 years ago – April 12, 1923 Fitch Mountain Tavern Season to Open  Fitch Mountain Tavern will open for the summer season on May 1, according to an announcement by A. M. Ewing.  Numerous improvements have been made at the resort, situated a mile up Fitch Mountain...

Last week, it was cheese. This week, it’s nuts. No, not crazy. Not nutty. Nuts—like almonds, like walnuts and pistachios.  Much was made of almonds’ water usage, requiring one gallon per nut. Whoa! That is a lot of water! A question might be: Compared to...

This spectacular table setting was at Bricoleur. Brie–co–leur comes from the French bricolage, which loosely means “something constructed from available materials.”  In English, one might say “cobbled together.” But in French, the expression can denote a compliment, as it includes concepts of improvisation and ingenuity.   These...

100 years ago–March 29, 1923 Current From Geysers to Be First of Its Kind in U.S. Within 30 days, electricity generated by steam from the bowels of the earth will be in practical use for the first time in the United States, officials of The Geysers...

Lots going on this week and last. St. Patrick’s Day last Friday, the first day of spring Monday and more rain—yeah, there’s that. Mother Earth drinking it in, replenishing underground water tables.  Rain can be good for farmers; however it can also be ruinous. During...

100 years ago – March 22, 1923 Style Show Scores a Hit  The fashion show staged by Rosenberg & Bush in their big West Street store was well received by Healdsburgers and visiting out-of-town people Friday evening and Saturday. The house was packed during the periods...

Over the last month, Sonoma hasn’t experienced the sunshine that Californians are used to.   With day after day of rain, it was especially uplifting to look out the window to sun beams backlighting this orchid, turning petals translucent purples and leaves light and dark contrasts...

Spring greetings from the staff at the Healdsburg Regional Library.  We have been overjoyed to see the growing number of visitors to the library over the past year—our current numbers are inching closer to those we used to see pre-pandemic. As always, we’re here to...

Last week’s column mistakenly identified California Spanish moss as Spanish moss. Oops—apologies.  What commonly hangs from trees in Sonoma is lace lichen (Ramalina menziesii), officially designated the state lichen by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016. Lace lichen, also called fishnet lichen, is mistaken for Spanish...

Epic conditions in Sonoma County this past week. Snow warnings for one to two feet possible at elevations above 1,500 feet. Healdsburg’s elevation is 100 feet, Cloverdale’s about 350 and Hopland’s 500.  Snow the prior week fell to about the 300 foot elevation, and four...