Columns

It’s October, and I’m finally getting to my Market Report. For those of you who read this, I apologize for not getting a September report in. The fires and subsequent smoke and air quality issues, plus upcoming events and changes, kept me hopping the entire month.

The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Welcome 2021 — a new year that comes with new resolutions and reflections on the past year. For many, the past year dramatically changed how we live our lives and where we live it. Those lucky enough to have a garden, lawn or greenspace have found a place for gatherings, play and relaxation. However, a lawn can have unintended environmental consequences, especially in California’s semi-arid climate where it needs frequent watering and provides little biodiversity for native species to thrive.

A month after the Walbridge Fire destroyed our home at the end of Palmer Creek Road, I finally had a chance to hike beyond the rubble of our house to see what effect the fire had on the 55 acres of forest my husband and I had bought back in 1989, the forest where we'd lived ever since.

Maybe it was irresponsible. But I was recently within earshot of the following comments at an outdoor event at which I was the only one wearing a mask an hour after reading in the morning paper that COVID-19 cases were spiking in several states, including California, and several counties, including Sonoma: 

If you know my family, you know we love to go to yard sales and flea markets. Some time ago we found an old brass plaque at a sale. It is titled “The Farmers Arms” and it has a poem below. Embossed in the brass is a man and a woman churning butter and working in the fields. It has a coat of arms with many of the symbols I recognize from being a Windsor Grange member and below a banner that says, “In God is our trust.”