Mother Teresa said it best: “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with love.” One of the rarest commodities for many today is time, and giving of our time to volunteer is very precious indeed, but it is the best way I know to do small things with love. So […]
Commentaries
Posted inOpinion
Be thankful for government regulations
You don’t want Santa Barbara County to be like 1980s Mazatlan, do you?
I frequently travel the breadth of Santa Barbara County on highway 166, from the Santa Maria Valley to the Cuyama Valley, and I am always struck by the immense diversity of this road trip and the beauty that makes our county what it is, a wonderful place to live, from the rolling, sometimes green or […]
Posted inOpinion
Presents of Christmas past and present
From Father Christmas to Christmas wrap, she’s seen it all!
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and I wrapped all the gifts while he snored like a bear!* Charles Dickens wrote, “Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back the delusions of our […]
Posted inOpinion
Ali Langford
It’s been said that the greatest athletes in the world play basketball. Maybe that’s why Ali Langford took up the sport. The athletically gifted sophomore out of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been an Allan Hancock College Bulldog for only 10 weeks, but he’s already made quite an impact. Langford has been named a team […]
Posted inOpinion
Gobble, gobble, toil and trouble!
Oh, the efforts we make for the gravy to bubble
I want to give thanks to the late artist, Norman Rockwell, for ruining Thanksgiving for the rest of us with a few stokes of his brush. He’s the guy who painted that lovely scene of several smiling people seated around a table as a blushing grandmother presents a perfectly cooked, golden brown turkey. Rockwell even […]
Posted inOpinion
See that 500-pound gorilla?
Reduce military spending to reduce the deficit
We are a small-town coffee klatch: One guy is a tea bagger, two others are very conservative Republicans. Two are moderate something-or-others, and I am the lone progressive. We are talking about the federal budget deficit and the burgeoning national debt. We all agree something has to be done, and it would be immoral to […]
Posted inOpinion
Falling in love with fall
Reminiscing about golden seasons passed
Did you feel it? That chill in the air, dense with the mist of morning fog? Did you smell it? The scent of burning leaves, cinnamon and vanilla, and pumpkins lit on a Halloween night? Did you taste it? The heat of spiced cider taking the chill off your innards and the rich warmth of […]
Posted inOpinion
Falling in love with fall
Reminiscing about golden seasons passed
Did you feel it? That chill in the air, dense with the mist of morning fog? Did you smell it? The scent of burning leaves, cinnamon and vanilla, and pumpkins lit on a Halloween night? Did you taste it? The heat of spiced cider taking the chill off your innards and the rich warmth of […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t axe me, I just lurk here!
How one writer got in the spirit by selling Halloween
OK, baby boomers, take a little walk down memory lane with me. Remember when we used to make our own Halloween costumes? We’d go through our mothers’ costume jewelry and makeup or our fathers’ shirts, hats, and ties, and come up with clever costumes in which the neighbors wouldn’t recognize us (or at least we […]
Posted inOpinion
Keep the left lanes on freeways for passing only
Washington prohibits drivers on highways’ left lane except for overtaking slower vehicles; California should do the same
It’s not unusual to see drivers speed onto the freeway, then immediately steer to the outermost left lane and remain there, refusing to relinquish it when a faster car closes, even though no one occupies the lane to the right. No one in power seems to care about this dangerous behavior. If you could do […]
Posted inOpinion
Get me to the airport on time
How flying the friendly skies meant one wild ride
I hate airports. I loathe them not because of the long lines for tickets, security screening, and check-in. Nor do I hate them for the noise, solicitors, or over-priced food and coffee at packed eateries. I abhor airports for one simple reason: I am virtually always “The Ride.” Those of you who have been “The […]
Posted inOpinion
Art must not flinch
Turn your back on insanity by aligning yourself with the natural order
We live in an insane world. There really is no other way to describe it. And it is we human beings who are responsible. For we humans invented insanity. There is no insanity in nature. Although we, as humans, are a part of nature, we do not embrace what nature does. As a whole, we […]