Columns

In support of IOLERO

The holiday season is in full swing, which can be a mixed bag because all that holiday cheer costs time and money that most of us don’t have, but even the Scroogiest person has to admit, there’s something magical about it all coming together.

Some of you may be familiar with the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon. The idea is there is a small elf doll that appears in your home the month before Christmas, and each night he reports back to Santa on the naughty or nice behavior in your home. You know he went to the North Pole because he is in a different place each morning. It’s magic!

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

In support of IOLERO

In support of IOLERO

For those born here and for the rest of us who now claim Sonoma County as our home, we share a sense of pride and place we like to call the spirit of Sonoma.

An open letter to the city council

“Always be funny,” directed a customer/reader at a farmer’s market one day, years ago. Ironically, it is funny that I can’t recall the person’s name or face but I can’t forget the wistful directive.

Looking for a lost pet or a new four-legged friend? See the list of incoming strays and the slideshow (above) of cats and dogs available for adoption from the Sonoma Humane Society, Healdsburg Center.