Sunday afternoon bill-paying time involved categorizing stacks into utilities, medical bills, loans and miscellaneous. I slit open the envelopes and, a little cautiously, peering inside. Sometimes I’m shocked at the amount beside the dollar sign but most of the time I know what to expect. When I unfolded the propane bill, I felt shock and…
Every day since my five-week recovery from a minor heart attack in September is one of adjusting — finding what I call gentle paths and adopting new tools to prevent another occurrence. Every day I fall back into old habits is one of regret, like Monday when I divulged in too much sweet chocolate gifted…
I feel every Tuesday like a machine takes possession of my body — gears grind through my head, torso and limbs. I almost hear the mechanisms on automatic — writing, fact-checking, editing, then printing and running from the Xerox to the proof reader, choosing photos from contact sheets and laying out the paper. That’s just…
Jack and I packed to head out on an annual trip to San Francisco for the California Press Foundation’s Winter Meeting last Wednesday. We planned to fly from Ontario and take along our oldest grandchild, a new tradition when they reach age 13. Jack finished delivering the papers just as I heard of a mass…
I hope all of you readers enjoyed Thanksgiving. We certainly did. I become quite excited weeks before, looking forward to the companionship of family and friends, especially grandchildren. I feel Thanksgiving from the moment I make out my grocery list until the last of the family leaves the house. This year, I was blessed to…
If you celebrate Thanksgiving with family and/or friends rather than commemorating the pilgrims’ feast, then you understand its true meaning. Thanksgiving is Jack’s and my favorite holiday. We have a little ritual. Wednesday night, we pull a big bucket out of a cupboard where it’s kept all year for this one occasion. We put a…
Last Tuesday, the day I went home after deadline, was my last day of feeling tired following the Sept. 25 heart attack. I woke up Wednesday feeling energized and it hasn’t stopped. In fact, I feel better than I have in years. I finally visited my new cardiologist Thursday and need to undergo some tests…
Jack, as you’ve seen, took care of my column a few times while my heart has been healing from an attack on Sept. 25. My staff and family (some of whom also are staff), ensured that I take doctors orders and rest. My heart attack was small — a takotsubo, named for a Japanese clay…
Fred S. McChesney, a professor of law and economics at the University of Miami, wrote an intelligent opinion for the Washington Post on Sept. 4. “Fewer fires, so why are there far more firefighters?” posits that many cities and towns would be better off with volunteer fire companies for infernos considering that “rapid improvements in…
By Becky Clark Editor At 4:08 p.m. Tuesday, U.S. Forest Service firefighters were dispatched to a vegetation fire off of Highway 74 in the Santa Rosa area. The fire’s size was 10-feet-by-10-feet. Two engines were kept on scene to handle the spot and all other resources were canceled. Forest Service crews also responded to a…
