I was standing in the Cherry Block vineyard, once the pride and legacy of the Sebastiani family, reaching back 100 years into a family history every non-family resident knows by heart, as if they owned it. It was mid-August and Sam Sebastiani had just pulled... Continue
Columnist
We never thought Sam Sebastiani would leave us – and Sonoma. But he has, and not exactly by choice, at age 85. His fine reputation and accomplishments will last forever. I will leave to others the facts of Sam’s education, military service, many experiences, and... Continue
Life is artful; it has to be. At once both particular and universal, manifesting as individual lives while simultaneously functioning in a species-wide manner, life navigates through living and non-living environments; through its collective experience, life finds ways to endure. Artfulness is available to all... Continue
By Steve Barbose Many people are thinking about and discussing the possible closure of Prestwood School. I think the decision to close Prestwood instead of one of the other schools makes the most sense given that only about 100 of the total of approximately 400... Continue
My brother Larry thought Mom was a good mother, but he had a different childhood than we did. My sisters were convinced otherwise: Carleen complained Mom was thoughtless and self-centered, Betty resented her for abandoning us, and Claudia simply thought she was weak—all of which... Continue
Don’t swat. That’s the advice. But when a yellowjacket starts buzzing around like a tiny whirling drone on a mission, all you want to do is swat. Get away from me! Primal instinct? Swatting just makes them mad. These scary yellow-and-black striped torpedoes show up... Continue
The idea of Samsara generates considerable confusion, an ironic condition since the essence of Samsara is confusion. Although we humans are a clever lot, there’s far more that we do not know or understand than there is that we do. We are profoundly ignorant. In... Continue
SDC Demolition By Norman Gilroy Sonoman Norman Gilroy is an architect and urban planner who has worked locally and around the world. One of many projects he designed is Larkspur Landing. An activist, he spearheaded the “Cows Not Casinos” campaign, and organized the successful opposition... Continue
These days the media is awash in rants about hate speech. It seems everyone is saying how nasty things have become, how hate speech is tearing our country apart, provoking widespread violence and spitting, and that ‘it must be stopped!’ Easier said than done. Certainly... Continue
There’s a convoluted conversation unraveling through the shadowy corridors of political conversation about the need to tone down hateful rhetoric as violence bleeds out of the twisted psyches of deeply tortured people with guns. Which brings us first to Charlie Kirk, whose assassination by a... Continue