Look Before You Leap
Welcome to February 2012, the month that plays host to Leap Day. Back in 1988 (another leap year), the small town of Anthony on the Texas/New Mexico border claimed February 29th as its special day...
Rain, Rain, Go Away Come again another day. Here we are back in the midst of a brand new rainy season. But rather than fall into some kind of gloomy “down with rain” melodramatic funk, let’s accentuate the positive an...
Glaedelig Jul! Cards sent? Check. Decorations up? Check. Parties, baking, shopping, wrapping, menus? Check-check-check-check-check. Risengrod for the Julenisse? Coming right up. On Christmas Eve in Denmark, Dani...
Whales Eat Krill For Paula Ota of Pleasant Hill, that phrase plus 174 more entries rhyming with Pleasant Hill rocketed her into an historic first place win in the Pleasant Hill Rhyming Contest. Fresh road kill, ou...
It’s That Time of Year Again! Yep, time to get ready for that special event combining medieval history, woodworking, physical science and our favorite member of the cucurbitaceae family, the pumpkin. Mark your calendar for th...
Time to Turn Your Brain Back On – It’s Contest Time! Just when you finally relaxed and gave into the sweet summer heat, perhaps napping in a hammock or enjoying a cool drink with your feet in the pool, along comes the rude awakening. It’s time for ba...
Us Versus Them
Every Thursday morning from nine until noon, I volunteer at the wildlife rehabilitation hospital at Lindsay Wildlife Museum. It is a remarkable place. Each year, the hospital treats more than 5,500...
Hats Off! I first heard of Jorge Gomez Montoya just over a month ago and would like to share his story with you. Jorge came here from El Salvador at the age of 14. He spoke no English. Four years later, he...
An Irritation, Pearls and the Month of June I just got off the phone from talking with my older son, who called to chat and ask about my day. I told him my day had actually been very irritating in oh, so many ways, followed by a brief Dane C...
I Wonder if Alice, Darlene and Kristin Have Green Thumbs From electric lime to olive drab, reader Alice Heinig of Walnut Creek was out to make the competition green with envy. Alice submitted a list of more than one hundred shades of green (yes, really!...
I Say Semicentennial, You Say Quinquagenary I was just taking a look at the most recent issue of “The Outlook,” the newsletter sent out to residents by the city of Pleasant Hill. The front page lists a host of terrific events, contests and p...
Here Comes the Sun, Solstice and a School Bond Measure Writer James Dent has summed it up: “The perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.” Aaaah, summer. But before the s...
