Snapshot: Signs and Songs of Spring
Warmth and water are most always welcome in California. These happy spring flowers, coppery mesemb, Malephora crocea, cheer up spring gardens with wild pops of color, like so many little suns. They are succulents in the ice plant family. Native to Africa, this plant is considered a noxious weed in some areas and a perfect garden addition in others.
Snapshot: Nothing Like a Super Bowl
The e first Super Bowl took place in 1967. The Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10. There were 32,000 unsold seats; tickets cost about $11. This year’s average ticket price tops $8,000 and more fun facts from Pierre Ratte.
Snapshot: Wisps of Wisteria Signal Spring
Wisteria is associated with romance and spring, and it turns out spring love is more than a romantic idea. Longer days and increased warmth boosts phytochemicals in plants and hormones in animals. Plants transition from vegetative to reproductive growth (blooms and flowers) when Flowering Locus T (FT) is released.
Snapshot: From Baker Beach to Black Rock
The Burning Man Project has had a 35-year run. With 35 years, isn’t it time to think about morphing into inclusivity? Burning Woman 2026? She/Her/They? But why mess with success?
Snapshot: 40 Days of Lent
San Francisco, the “City by the Bay,” was named after St. Francis, a wealthy, gregarious Italian. The son of a wealthy silk merchant, he was known for his love of earthly pleasures and spendthrift ways. Kind of appropriate for a big-city lifestyle...
Snapshot: Luck of the Irish
Fun facts: The chances of finding a four-leaf clover are reportedly about 1 in 5,000. Luck is involved. Clovers, or trefoils, can have more than three leaves. Five-leaf clovers are two times rarer than four-leaf, and the most leaves ever found on a clover was 63, discovered in Japan in 2023.
Snapshot: ‘One if by land…’
"One if by land, two if by sea.” Longfellow immortalized Paul Revere’s ride for freedom, which took place 250 years ago, on April 18, 1775. Revere’s mission was to alert Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming to Lexington and Concord to destroy military supplies.
Snapshot: Palace of Fine Arts a lasting monument
Recognized as a perfect blend of classical architecture and landscape, the colonnaded pergola and vaulted ceiling-ed rotunda is surrounded by a lagoon on three sides. Architect Bernard Maybeck designed this S.F. landmark in the Beaux Arts style, characterized by grandiose structures with symmetrical styling often including elaborate detailing, classical columns, pediments, friezes and cornices.
Snapshot: Have a sensory sound bath
If you like to meditate and enter a profound connection to the hear and now—pun, drum flair—consider a sound bath. Although there are many ways to enter a meditative state, such as following the rhythm of one’s breath, another easy way is to focus on a single sense. Sound is often chosen because it is uniquely immersive
Snapshot: Sipping a summer sour
During 2020 and the pandemic, cocktail books flew off the shelves. Books like Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails; The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartenders Guide; Spirits and Cocktails from Around the World; and Artisanal Cocktails - Seasonal Drinks Inspired by the Bar at Cyrus by Healdsburg’s own famous cocktail baller, Scott Beattie, experienced a significant uptick in sales.
Arts & Entertainment
Christmas music like it used to be, with swing
Now widely known as “The Harlem Nutcracker,” Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn wrote it for Columbia Records, along with film scores and other work. It was met with a sensational reception






















