Columns

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.”

Sometimes being alive isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But yes, it sure beats the alternative.

It’s good to see former students doing well, especially when they do well in innovative ways. That’s true for Daniel Garcia, who took my classes at Sonoma State University (SSU).

Drop-in Computer Help • Monday, April 24 • 2-4 p.m.

We’ve all played versions of the good guys vs. the bad guys game when we were growing up. We played cops and robbers and cowboys and Indians. Some of us played soldier games or just “skins” versus “shirts.”

This Labor Day is unlike any other we can remember in our lifetime. There is more labor to be done than there are willing workers. It seems there is a “help wanted” sign hanging on almost every other door or store window we pass. The biggest concern for local grape growers as the 2017 harvest begins is finding enough workers to pick their crops. With the official unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, this Labor Day in Sonoma County will be marked in stark contrast to recent Labor Days that were marred by a recession when the local unemployment rate hit a high of just over 11 percent.

100 years ago – November 4, 1920

Given the events of the last month, November truly feels like a month of gratitude for our whole community.

The Zucchini Festival takes place Sept. 14 at the Healdsburg Farmers Market: zucchini decorating competitions, giant zucchini contests and zucchini car races. It is such a blast to be a part of and/or to watch.

The radio comes on at 5:15 a.m. It comes on gently, playing something classical from KDFC. It is Saturday morning and August is here.