Snapshot

"Healdsburg has such lovely hiking trails. It offers so many things to do to kick-off summer over the long Memorial Day weekend. The Future Farmers of America Fair and the Thursday night Twilight Parade, where Healdsburgians either join the parade or watch it... But Healdsburg also offers the possibility of stepping outside the hubbub and hitting a trail," Pierre Ratte reminds us in this week's Snapshot column...

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.

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

Pigs are smart. These two came in from the rain this week. In warmer weather they roll in the mud. Oh, that loving-the-mud thing? It’s not because they like to be dirty. It’s to prevent sunburn and cool themselves.

At 300 million years old, dragonflies are reportedly the oldest winged insect. Prehistoric ancestors had wingspans of two and a half feet. Each of four wings moves independently allowing them to hover, fly forward and fly backward.

In the granite mountains of Yosemite National Park, in the upper plateau of the Hetch Hetchy watershed, lies Lake Vernon encircled by rock walls and piney shores. It’s home to crystal clear snowmelt water and beautiful rainbow trout...

Prunes are generally an unsung fruit, but Healdsburg is singing the praises of its Prune Packers’ tie-breaking series game over the Humboldt Crabs Friday night to win the Pacific Empire League. It marks the fifth consecutive championship for the Packers in a collegiate wooden bat summer league.

Visiting Cleveland isn’t complete without checking the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame off the bucket list. If in Cleveland, it’s an easy checkmark. It’s Cleveland after all. Despite former claims to fame, Cleveland’s currency now is a museum commemorating rock music, the Rock Hall.

Living in a tech-dominated world, it’s hard to imagine a day or year without a cellphone or car, yet that is every day, every year, for the Amish.