Columns

On Thursday, Oct. 24, from 7 to 9 p.m., the Windsor Democratic Club will hear presentations on how local activism improves community life.

President Donald Trump is right; there is a national security emergency. It is a public health crisis, and it is ruining big swaths of our economy. Local communities like ours feel the impacts daily. If we don’t fund billions of major construction projects, this emergency will only get worse and worse.

This is not a woe is me article. It’s proof that with belief, a willingness to fail, and some encouraging words from friends and family members, anything is possible. Quick background—by now regular readers will likely know I lost my leg above the knee two years ago due to a bad infection. Back in November 2016 I woke up from my surgery in the Kaiser Santa Rosa I.C.U to the television declaring Donald Trump the new president of the United States. Let’s just say it wasn’t the best day of my life.

Do you remember your first crush? I do, it was in 8th grade, that final year before high school and adventures beyond. A first crush is kind of like a rite of passage.     

Did you know that there is a Senior Center Endowment Fund? The fund was created by a resolution in 1997 and income from the fund is to be used exclusively for the benefit of the Healdsburg Senior Center. With the fund reaching its maturity in 2020, a group of Healdsburg Senior Citizens advisory commissioners and the Friends of the Senior Center have been working on collecting project ideas for the endowment fund to sponsor and would like your feedback.  

Here’s what’s happening at the Senior Center in July:

Ahhhhh. The sweet smell of petrichor last week was a welcome joy. Petrichor? Yes, petrichor: the pleasant, earthy odor that follows gentle rain after a dry spell. Cool word, isn’t it? Pictured above are a few drops highlighting the Crocosmia crocosmilflora, or Coppertips Montbretia....

Driving onto the Hawley Bradford Mountain estate 1000-feet above sea level on a cold winter day, I thought of Premier Cru — French official classifications of vineyards that produce superior wine. Brilliant blue skies and white billowy clouds framed the rolling hills and vineyards patterned into the lay of this land, as if planted by God.