Snapshot

New England has deciduous woods. Colorado has quaking aspens. And Sonoma County has its straw hills and live oaks framing red, yellow and green vineyards. Mixed together, it's home.

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...

Amazingly, lavender is in the mint family. Mint is known as a pick-me-up while lavender is a relaxant despite coming from the same botanical family: Lamiaceae.

Pierre reflects upon chance, perhaps in recognition of casting a vote. In times past, leaving decisions to chance was not unusual. The practice is mentioned over 85 times in the Bible. In a famous instance, Judas’ replacement was chosen by lot.

Pumpkins have been associated with Halloween since the 1800s when vegetable-carving traditions accompanied Irish immigrants to America. But pumpkin carving on Halloween stems from Celtic traditions to ward off evil spirits with figure carvings on root vegetables.

The name of the comet comes from China’s Tsuchinshan Observatory, which means “purple mountain.” It was discovered in January 2023. A month later South Africa’s ATLAS telescope observed it. Hence, two names for the comet given the close timing of discovery.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the U.S., and on the second Monday of October in Canada. In the U.S., the date of Thanksgiving varied by state until it was proclaimed a federal holiday on the last Thursday of November by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

By Pierre Ratte These are just a few of the 100-plus people who came together two weeks ago at Lambert Bridge Winery to celebrate Healdsburg Forever. Healdsburg Forever? What exactly is Healdsburg Forever? It’s kind of a charity’s charity. Say, what? It’s kind of a “fund...

'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...'

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.