Harmony Outhouse by Kevin Cole
Cedar Waxwing by Cleve Nash
"Seasons Come, Seasons Go" by Judy Sullivan

Peregrine Falcon Image on Banner by Cleve Nash

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Ask the Doc by Dr. Robert Swain

Q. Am I burned out or overwhelmed? A.  These terms are often confused.  Burnout is when you think there isn't much left to do except keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Sometimes you feel pessimistic about the future, detached, or disengaged.  Not a great place to be.   Read More

Best Friends by Malcolm Riordan, DVM

When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not passing time with me rather than I with her? - Montaigne  Read More

Beyond the Badge by Richard Hannibal

I begin with a quote I heard recently, "Cops wake up every morning different than the rest of us. Our worst nightmare is their Wednesday."

Unlike many of my brother and sister police officers, I have come out of a 30-year police career relatively unscathed. However, many retired officers are not so fortunate. Like military veterans, they suffer the ravages of war, especially those who policed larger urban areas. Read More

Coastland Contemplations by Michele Oksen

 If you can take your eyes off Mar Pacificum for a moment and look at the ridgeline of the Santa Lucia Mountains you'll see the silhouettes of Coulter pine trees. They tickle the clouds as they reach for the sun. Read More

Dear Abe by George Zidbeck

SQ: Excuse my inflection, Abe, but I hope you’re happy over what you did.
Abe: You’ll have to give me a clue on what you mean by that statement. Sounds like you’re blaming me for something. Read More

Double Vision by Shana Ogren

I love an excuse to get better.  Isn’t that what a New Year’s resolution is for?As you prepare to enter the year of 2014, do you plan to succeed in new ways?  Will you accomplish your plan?  Read More

Feel Better Forever by Brian Dorfman

Claire had been experiencing pain, tension, headaches and popping sounds from her jaw for over ten years. She believes these symptoms originated with treatment she had sought for back pain in 2000. Her neck became a focus of treatment even though she was not experiencing any pain or discomfort in that area at the time.  Read More

Northern Chumash Tribal Council by Fred Collins

The City of Morro Bay was built on, around, and near the Chumash Village of Chicqwat'.  The beautiful and peaceful village of Chicqwat' has been broken apart, chopped up, built upon, dug up, had sewer plants built upon, had Chumash cemeteries built upon, and displaced the Chumash native peoples. If one were to go back and look at all the houses, buildings, stores, businesses, refineries, power plants, highways, roads, trails, sacred Rocks, places of ceremony, and places of traditional gathering, they would find that the Chumash have been disgracefully abused in the land use process of the City of Morro Bay. Now, once again the wheels of disrespect are grinding out their words of abuse and destruction, for the new "Number One" prospect for the proposed waste water treatment facility.   Read More

Observations of a Country Squire by George Zidbeck

I begin this letter by thanking(!!!!!) you for allowing me the space, since February of 2010, to publish a monthly column that featured wildlife observations, essays, editorials, and a mish-mash of advice plus bits of memoires. Read More

A Roe Adventure by Yeager

Fog can put the happiest person into a funk or serve as an absolute relief from the intense heat of the valley.  It all appears to be each persons perspective at any given moment.  I personally have experienced both. Read More

Surfing Through Life by Paul & Katie Finley

I feel I have always been drawn to the more basic things in life. Not that I do not necessarily appreciate complexity and making all the pieces of the puzzle fit, but I truly find joy in simplicity and forms of raw functionality. That being said, I do enjoy and find the added aesthetic of art and color , which really advance functionality in no way, to be delightful and almost a necessity in my life. Finding the balance between these things will be a lifelong pursuit for me. Read More

Double-crested, Brandt, and Pelagic Cormorants by Maggie Smith