Columns

August is the last official month of the summer, and the time to celebrate National Water Quality Month.

A confession – I have not voted in every election since I came of voting age. In my early 20s, I thought – like most of my friends and family – that voting was for establishment types, people who were oblivious to the truth that the system is rigged. (Sound familiar?)

The word “smitten” has several meanings, ranging from being hit with a heavy blow to caught in a trance of obsession or becoming love-struck. Here, we are using smitten as a synonym for enraptured or enchanted, like a teenager who casts a first sight on the new girl in class and immediately starts talking in nonsensical rhymes.

Chris Markell’s career as a winemaker tells a story of the evolving Sonoma County wine business throughout the past four decades. 

Local girl makes good and keeps getting better. In 1969, when Natalee was a toddler, her family moved to Healdsburg from Ukiah because her dad had bought an old building at 212 Healdsburg Avenue for his glass business. In no time at all, both Harry and Karen Tappin were firmly entrenched in the Healdsburg community, consistently involved in numerous school and youth sports activities, while their three girls — Lauree, Natalee and Cheree — were attending school. Whatever their parents were doing, whether it be girls kickball, softball, basketball or CYO sports, Natalee and her sisters joined in too.

Just before Christmas, a friend shared a hilarious find: a Fisher-Price Charcuterie Board Set for the preschooler in your life. It has “marble” plates, marble-and-wood cutting board and wooden spreaders. It has stemmed grape bunches, a wheel of brie, crackers and a small salami, sliced invitingly. Napkins say, “You’re Grape” and “Let it Brie.”

I approach what can only be described as a castle in the lovely hills just off West Dry Creek Road. It’s built of thick, grey stones with a bridge going over a circular koi pond. Also on the 56-acre property are an old gas station, a huge ceramic studio, a completely outfitted metal shop and a beautiful meditation room. Stained glass windows, handmade metal gates and railings and one-of-a-kind artwork pop out of the natural setting.