Columns

Looking for a lost pet or a new four-legged friend? See the list of incoming strays and the selection of cats and dogs available for adoption from the Healdsburg Center for Animals.

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

For years our beautiful and majestic dogwood tree stood silent. When we first bought the farm 20 years ago, it was like clockwork, and every spring our dogwood would bloom gorgeous white flowers, right in the front of the house. Cars stopped on Yoakim Bridge to photograph it. I think it is the most beautiful tree on our property, and maybe even in the Dry Creek Valley, though others would argue that. Perfect is the shape, shocking white is the bloom. Every spring we would marvel at this gem, and it was always a trigger, for when the dogwood blooms, we know we need to begin thinning our peach trees. 

As we all begin a new year of life in Sonoma County, we should look across the local landscape and also within ourselves and count our many blessings. By the luck of genetics and geography, we live in a peaceful, plentiful and free country. We happen to also live in one of America’s most beautiful and bountiful regions. For those of us with family, a job and a home, we could not possibly be more blessed. And we don’t need to look too far to see someone who could benefit from our over-abundance of good fortune.

The last few decades have featured a slow, steady migration of personal and business communication online, a phenomenon that has left a lot of people wondering how to keep up.

When the town has a voter mandated competitive bidding process for our garbage collection, green waste and recycling and we enter into a contract pursuant to that mandate, can the town change the terms of the contract prior to the contract expiration?

Note: This column originally appeared eleven years ago. Our friends’ now-nineteen-year-old daughter—who checks straws as a matter-of-fact routine—did not know why or how the habit began. This is for you, Kate.