Photo by Mike Baird:     Surf Girls

Photo by Kevin Cole: Harmony Outhouse

Photo by Cleve Nash:        Cedar Waxwing

Photo by Earthly Images: Montana de Oro

Photo by Maggie Smith: Three Cormorants - Double-crested, Brandt, and Pelagic

Photo by Chuck Abbe: Back Tomorrow

Best Friends by Malcolm Riordan, DVM

There is no dog, or breed of dog, that does not shed. You may have a Chinese Crested or a Mexican Hairless Chihuahua, but what little hair they all do have still goes through the universal hair cycle. Each hair has a phase of growing out to a certain length, a phase of remaining in place but no longer growing, and then finally each hair is shed from the skin. Read More

Body, Mind, Spirit by Nancy Ballinger

Please don't tell her, but I'm creating a blanket for my nine-month old granddaughter, River, for her first Christmas. It is a tradition I startedyears ago with her big brother, Ryan.  The design of the blanket is simple; two equal lengths of fabric anchored together by hundreds of knots around the border. As I twist and secure the cloth, I feel the connection of the old and the new. I sense the presence of ancestors who have gone before and the generation just arriving.  Read More

California State Parks

A Sense of Place - Your California State Parks

As you probably know, Prop 21—Yes For State Parks, failed on November 2, 2010.  No one views this in any way as a negative comment on the value of State Parks. Rather, analysts are seeing the defeat of Prop 21 as sending a message to Sacramento legislators to do their job.  That being said, nothing has changed. Read More 

State Parks Events

The Morro Bay Museum of Natural History has a collection of approximately 2,000 volumes of books and other educational materials on a great variety of natural history topics in its downstairs library.  Check It Out

Mind Walks

Mind Walks are a fabulous opportunity to broaden your horizons and learn more about your community and the world at large.  Mark your 2011 calendars! Have a Great Mental Adventure

Double Vision by By Shana Ogren

Tikkun olam (תיקון עולם ‎) is a Hebrew phrase.  The word tikkun means "repair," and olam means "world."   When we say tikkun olam, it translates as "repairing or fixing the world." The action of "world repair" is believed to be either the spiritual or social responsibility that directs the purpose of life.  Read More

Exploring the Coast

Christmas is nearly upon us and every year at this time the National Audubon Society sends hordes of people out in all kinds of weather far and wide to count birds. The annual Christmas Bird Count— that replaces an old tradition of shooting birds on Christmas Day—gives biologists some idea as to the health and well being of the myriad of bird species in this country. Read More

Far Horizons

Thank goodness the recent agonizing, torturous, and hateful political season is over. It was a long season, filled with lies, name calling, distortions, and angst that filled the days and nights with lots of muckraking but few workable ideas. Read More

Let's Go Green

It was a tumultuous time for our country and the world.  1967.  Mr. McGuire pulls Benjamin Braddock from a bustling cocktail party to have a word with him outside, just one word actually.  Plastics.  That's right—a young Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate) gets the tip of a lifetime. Read More 

Medical Myth Busting by Dr. Steven Sainsbury

With the holidays upon us, there is a frequent tendency to eat and drink in excess of our normal routine. New Year's Eve has always been a traditionally terrible time to work in the ER— I can vividly remember more than one December 31st night filled with alcohol-induced tragedies and mayhem. This month's column will hopefully make you think twice about some aspects of alcohol use. Who knows? The life you save may be your own. Read More

Observations of a Country Squire by George Zidbeck

I've walked many fields in many countries o'er hills and dales, mountains and prairies, at different times for different reasons. Regularly crows, jays, magpies, and their ilk heralded my presence to the countryside. Singly, or en masse, they screeched and cawed as if Mother Nature specifically anointed them town criers. Until recently, compared to all the other feathered species, they rated poorly in my mind. Moreover, given their rapacious reputation for nest robbing, I took a special dislike for the blue jay species labeled, Cyanocitta stelleri—Steller's Jay. Read More

Surfing Out Of The Box by Katie Finley

There is a difference between people who surf and those who are true surfers. A person who surfs might be wearing the newest surfing fashion craze, but probably has not gotten in the water for weeks. Read More

Under the Tongue

If you're like me, a self-proclaimed villager, you possess the natural instinct to hunt and gather these tales. My hunting grounds vary from coffee houses to neighborhoods to shop aisles in Cambria. For instance, last Sunday at Lilly's Coffee House in Cambria's East Village . . . Read More

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Peregrine Falcon image on banner by Cleve Nash