Columns

I recently took a college course Think Green: Sustainability for a Better World. The use of green technology and the embedded theme of creative reuse especially energized me because I’d been doing the latter...

Open... shut them. Open... shut them. Give a little clap. Open...shut them. Open...shut them. Lay them in your lap.Seems like a hundred years ago, but I can still see and hearmy Sunday School teacher reciting...

Milestones tell us where we are on life’s journey. They report how far we’ve come and how far we have to go to reach our destination. A 2010 Saveur magazine listed a few milestones for California...

Reinheitsgebot! No, it’s not a German swear word and you don’t have to reply, “Bless you.”The Reinheitsgebot (Gebot) is the 1516 German Beer Purity Law that limits Bavarian beer to three ingredients:...

You want me to stop drinking sweet tea! What? While old dogs can learn new tricks, it’s not always easy. Habits and tastes are hard to change. There is strong scientific evidence, however, that little...

At the beginning of January, my 97-year-old father died. It was nine years nearly to the day after my mom passed away. He had hoped to be 100. On the other hand, he missed my mom every day for nine years and I...

Unlike HGTV shows where home renovations are completed within 30 to 60 minutes, the Victorian house at the corner of Chestnut Place and Main Street in Danville has been under a transformation for 17 years.This...

I am no longer the smartest woman in my house. I just got canned by a talking one. Her name is Alexa. For those who don’t know her, she’s the chatting gizmo from the Internet-based company, Amazon. Alexa...

When I want to motivate myself, I open a cabinet. I’m inspired by air space--something that is sadly lacking in our cluttered house. With no air space in the cabinet, I create some by discarding items that...

Don't go to the bakery on a Friday afternoon expecting to find scones and muffins for weekend guests. They will be long gone. I went, still hopeful, but found empty display cases, except for one shelf. The...