Perspective

One my favorite things to do after tax season each year is to select tomato varieties for the coming gardening season. 

Around seven years ago, before I expanded my lawn into what had been my vegetable garden area in the interest of making my house more “marketable”, I had the …

Recently my Danish ancestors have risen and, much like the ghost of Hamlet’s father, are dancing around the edges of my life. Modern social media moves to an entirely different plane when you are contacted by the descendant of a business associate of your great-great-grandfather. 

It started with an e-mail from a woman whose ancestors were also involved in the Arizona silver boom in the late 1800’s (think Tombstone in the bad old days).  She is doing research for an article on the early history of Arizona …

Last weekend I celebrated one of my favorite rites of spring – the end of “tax season”.   Instead of staying home and beginning to dig out from under my personal (and embarrassingly large) backlog ,  I dropped Blue the Schnauzer off with friends, left food for the cats, loaded Ace the Scottie into the car, and took off for Mendocino. 

The weather gods were smiling and there was not cloud in the sky as we cruised through Anderson Valley on our way north.  Apple orchards were in bloom, vineyards were coming to life, and wildflowers dotted the landscape.

Ace and I spent two …

In addition to my two dog boys, Ace and Blue, I also have two cats.  I know what you are thinking “destined to become an old woman with lots of pets”.  Yes, that will probably be me. 

Anyway, my two cats were both adopted from local shelters and have had dog siblings all of their lives. 

Cara, the elder of the two cats, is an extrovert.  She is the first one to greet me (on the front porch of my house) when I arrive home from wherever I have been.  When I have company, she hops into their laps to be petted …

There is an old saying that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade.  Last year, a new job opportunity resulted in my having to make a fairly significant daily commute. For someone whose previous “commute” was less than four miles and took about ten minutes, this could be considered a “lemon”.

My new commute from the north end of Santa Rosa to St. Helena takes around forty-five minutes. It is a route with minimal traffic but one …

When I was a child, one of the things that my favorite uncle shared with me was his love of classic movies. Some years later, when I was in college, I happened upon a class in film appreciation and I have been a dedicated movie buff ever since.

The most significant discovery I made during that long-ago film class was the genre of the silent movie. Prior to that time, my limited awareness of silent movies was due to a television show which featured silent films run at the wrong speed (with silly captions inserted) strictly for comic value.

In this film …

My Scottie dog Ace will be ten years old this summer.  Two years ago I started the process of getting him a puppy for company and to mentor as his eventual successor.  I did this with my late, much beloved Scottie Dandy when Ace came to live with us and it worked very well in a number of ways. 

The “puppy”, Blue the Standard Schnauzer, is now twenty months old and a solid 45 pounds.  It has been an interesting journey and …

This is the time of year when most of us are beginning to think about (or are dreading) the process of dealing with our personal income taxes.  In spite of the urge to get it over with as quickly as possible, just as with making a quilt, it is important that you start with a plan and all of the right “materials”.

If you have your return prepared by a tax professional, you may already have a plan available to you.  …