Columns

Fun events to kick off the Fall Season

One of the many cool benefits of living with teenagers is the opportunity to self reflect as a person. Meaning, when one of my teens is going through a bump I tend to try to put myself back in their shoes as my rebellious, crazy 16-year-old self. I figure if I can offer up advice that might seem relevant, I will try my hardest. If I can relate, I can lessen their pain and sadness. Always a Mama Bear’s job, I suppose, to bring in light when there is darkness.

Driving onto the Hawley Bradford Mountain estate 1,000 feet above sea level on a cold winter day, I thought of Premier Cru — French official classifications of vineyards that produce superior wine. Brilliant blue skies and white billowy clouds framed the rolling hills and...

It is impossible to imagine Sonoma County without its majestic redwood trees and stunning oaks. Besides giving shape and definition to our hills, valleys, ridges and rural scenery, their likenesses are etched on our county seal, town logos, highway markers, school monuments and countless commercial labels. We live in a “redwood empire” where the original people here centered their culture around acorns.

Greetings from the Library, where we saw many of you during the power outages of early October.

What do you do with 200 pounds of winter squash? Some options: build a wall to keep out rising streams or overflowing rain gutters; bake lots of pies and sell them at the farmers’ market; store them in a dry, cool cellar for “earthquake supplies.”