According to scientists (yes, those people), summer ends on September 22 or thereabouts, when the sun crosses the celestial equator resulting in a day and night that are nearly equal in length. For most humans, however, summer ended when the kids went back to school.  ... Continue

Holocausts, Shrinking Wine Sales, Dipping Gun Deaths, Meager Rain, Seismic Faults and Epstein Agonistes Your correspondent senses that these are very trying times for many in our Valley. Trying, because many are just trying to ignore how trying Life has become, what with the unending... Continue

 ~"Cecil was a beloved African lion who rose to fame in 2015 after he was lured outside the protected area of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, and killed by an American trophy hunter named Walter Palmer."~ Robyn White, Newsweek Journalistic ethics has required your correspondent to... Continue

As this issue hits the streets, Sonoma and the entire nation is preparing to celebrate yet another bombs-bursting-in-air Fourth of July, replete with exuberant flag-waving, bands, parades, fireworks, speechifying and wine, until dawn’s early light. Given the political drama of current times, no one should... Continue

Your correspondent rigorously strives to remain absolutely politically neutral and unbiased, if not oblivious, when providing the must-have information presented in these spaces. Readers can therefore imagine my surprise to hear that households throughout our Valley are home to more dogs than Republicans.  That may... Continue

‘Tis the season that locals and tourists alike look forward to with excitement, fear and trepidation: Wildfire Season.   For weeks now, every entity responsible for preventing, fighting or talking about wildfires has urged residents to “Keep your Go-Bag at the ready!” and “Be prepared to... Continue

“. . .  dear old golden rule days, Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic, Taught to the tune of a hick'ry stick, You were my queen in calico, I was your bashful barefoot beau, And you wrote on my slate, ‘I love you Joe,’ When we... Continue

Imagine how difficult life would be today if, instead of tapping a cellphone to call friends or pay bills, we still had to get out pen and paper, write and mail a letter or check; or dial "the operator" to connect us to "long distance;"... Continue

Older readers will remember that young Juliet Capulet fell in love with Romeo Montague, an affair complicated by the fact that their families had long been at war with each other. Weighing the implications of Romeo being a Montague, she voiced that now-famous line: “What's... Continue