Snapshot

One-room schoolhouses were standard around the turn of the century. The Felta School was built in 1906. There were reportedly 132 other one-room schoolhouses in Sonoma County at that time.

'On cool days, their spot is on this hillock. On warmer summer days, their spot is beneath a shade tree. So regular are they, that anyone driving past the intersection of Mill Creek Road and Mill Creek Lane after 3pm will likely see them standing together or nuzzling...'

Happy Valentine’s Day, Palentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or Self-Love Day. Whatever floats your boat or blows your hair back, it’s great to live in Sonoma County!

Julia Child was 6 feet 2 inches tall. During World War II, she joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA. She worked directly for General William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan in top-secret research and records. In the OSS, she created a shark repellent from kitchen ingredients to deter unintended detonations of undersea mines. She later became a chef.

Fun Facts: The Grange’s full name is: National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.  Eight individuals sitting around a wooden table started it in 1867. The eight founders of the Grange are memorialized with a marker on the National Mall; it is the only private marker on the Mall.

This bad baby rolled in from Colorado. It’s the Acela Monterra XL 6x6. The Bozeman, Montana-based company says it is “born from a desire to exceed current industry standards for reliability and durability.” Can’t even imagine an RV class for this thing...

"Look! It’s a two-eagle barn!” That’s what Dick said to Jim after passing an old barn and estimating the width of its central opening in Golden Eagle wingspans." - So begins Pierre Ratte's meander through history, philology, and ornithology in this week's 'Snapshot'...

Backyard yoga started for Shelley Gilbert in February 2020. On Valentine’s Day, around a dinner table of eight, Shelley quietly shared her Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis. Because exercise is essential in managing Parkinson’s neurodegeneration, Shelley and a friend decided to do intense but slow exercise: yoga.

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.

"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...