Editorial

The term “rain garden” is being used more and more by landscape architects and gardeners alike. It is a fanciful term that conjures images of a garden that magically creates rain. What a rain garden is, however, is one of many landscape features that fits into the category of “low impact development for storm water” or LID. Like many other LID features, rain gardens gather, hold, filter, and slow storm water runoff.

It was not too long ago that I listened intently to updates of the Lake County fire.

Did I read it someplace, or did I just dream it? At this stage of life it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference, but somehow I got the impression that older people are now forming virtual retirement villages. These villages exist on the Internet by means of social media, I believe.

It was one of those great Sonoma County spring mornings. Sun shining, wind blowing. Pollen – and hope – in the air. I walked out on my veranda overlooking the nine-hole golf course I recently completed. I relaxed, with mimosa in hand, while watching the kids frolic on the water slide they crafted for a science fair project at school (using only recycled water from our indoor waterfall) and smiled knowing that my family is set financially for the rest of our lives, and my children will be attending the finest colleges in the land with perhaps some overseas study to broaden their understanding and appreciation of different cultures.

A well-attended forum