Columns

Spring is here in Healdsburg, and that means it is time to get outdoors and celebrate the joy of reading in our beautiful community. Perhaps you have spotted our beloved blue BiblioBike around town lately, as we have appeared at Healdsburg Climate Fest and...

This past weekend included the pleasure of kayaking Tomales Bay with a youth group. It’s fun to be out with tween-agers. Their energy seems boundless. Their enjoyment rising from the moment. Their wonderment a reminder of life approached with curiosity and fully explored.  Will creatures...

Bud break is a harbinger of spring’s warming. It’s been rainy and cold the last couple of months. Now that the sun is rising earlier and days are getting longer, Mother Nature is responding. Bud break occurs when warmth and sun encourage nutrients to...

Spring is here. California’s green hills are flashing their colors, notably California’s orange poppy (Eschscholzia californica), also called California sunlight or cup of gold.    California’s heavy rains this year will likely create a “super bloom.” This occurs when deserts transform long dormant seeds to create...

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...

When our forefathers drafted the California Constitution in 1849, they included a requirement that “One or more grand juries shall be drawn and summoned at least once a year in each county.” Today, California is the last state still to have a comprehensive standing...