Surf Girls by Mike Baird

Harmony Outhouse by Kevin Cole

Cedar Waxwing by Cleve Nash

Montana de Oro by Earthly Images

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

Back Tomorrow by Chuck Abbe

Best Breakfast Around!

Peregrine Falcon Image on Banner by Cleve Nash

Behind the Badge by Richard Hannibal

It was a chance meeting as I drove my patrol car through Albertson's parking lot. First there was suspicious eye contact followed by faint smiles. I stopped, rolled down my window, and said, "How ya doing?" Here I was, an aging police officer looking into the soft brown eyes of an aging dark skinned black man with white beard and dreadlocks. We exchanged tentative but pleasant words and went on our way. Thus began a brief friendship and a long evolution of thought.  Read More

Best Friends by Malcolm Riordan, DVM

Have you ever wondered which music dogs would like, or if they are affected by the music we play? Perhaps dogs would gravitate toward country music? The nature of dogs seems to fall right in with Nashville's straight-forward basic emotions, simple belly pleasures, and the ensuing regrets.  Of course dogs don't really get much out of song lyrics, but it does indeed turn out that our dogs do respond to certain elements within music itself.  Read More

California State Parks - A Sense of Place

Pecho Ranch Day will be held Saturday, July 9, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM at the Spooner Ranch House at Montana de Oro State Park.  The event features Living History and early settler crafts, tools, and games representing the late 1800s-early 1900s.  There will be special activities for children of Junior Ranger age, 7-12 years old.  Homemade refreshments will be available and we'll be selling Cal Poly ice cream. Learn and Play More

Double Vision by By Shana Ogren

I hate doctors.  I always have.  I hate someone else being in control of my body.  It is typical for me to ask many, many questions during appointments – "What is this for?  What's the purpose of this?"  I only want to be a patient in the same way that I am willing to be a student in a classroom—actively, interactively, and collaboratively.  Read More

Far Horizons by John Bullaro

Reading a daily newspaper or watching a CNN news sows dissatisfaction in me. At these times I want to hide under a rock or run away to some remote place to feel safe and less vulnerable. At other times I yearn for a past where I imagine (erroneously) that life was less stressful.  Yet over time I have learned a strategy that relieves my stress and restores hope. My secret: indulge in pure recreation as part of my recreation curricula.  Read More

Feel Better Forever by Brian Dorfman

My son Avery jammed his thumb when he was about two years old.   I'm embarrassed to admit that it took a while for my wife, Nicole, and I to notice, and then wonder if he was actually born with a crooked thumb – (photos attest to the fact that he did once have a perfect thumb).    At the time we realized there was a problem the top joint of Avery's less-than-three-years-old right thumb was completely immobile.     Read More

Free Live Music by Steve Key

Miss Lola's Southside Diner opened last month in Morro Bay, in place of the Pelican Grill at 560 Embarcadero. Free live music is out on the patio, Saturday and Sunday noon to 3pm.  Burgers, meatloaf, mac & cheese—yep, sounds like a southside diner.  And yes, that's the same Miss Lola—as in Frankie & Lola's Front Street Café—their other restaurant on the other end of The Embarcadero. Read More

Go Green! by Lawson Schaller

Looks like progress is being made toward the investor owned (not municipalities, etc.), utilities being required to buy back excess or surplus power generated by those utilizing renewable energies—i.e. wind and solar.  The excess power produced is fed back to the grid and resold by the utilities.  Recently the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a proposed decision establishing a rate for excess power via distributed generation (i.e. homeowner rooftops as opposed to the utility sized systems such as the one proposed at Carrizo Plains).  This took place on June 9, 2011 and fulfills requirements of Assembly Bill 920. Read More

Grow, Learn, Eat by Gibsy Beckett

Consider this picture a metaphor for the gardening project my neighborhood has embarked upon in the spirit of Sunset Magazine's One Block Feast.  Here in Morro Bay, summer arrives not in the form of hot sunny days and warm evenings, but quite the opposite, making vegetable gardens a test of will and creativity.  The menu boasts arugula salad with garden ripe tomatoes, herbed chicken, fresh caught lingcod and halibut, and a myriad of other mouth-watering dishes.  But looking at the picture above makes all that seem fairly impossible and downright frustrating.  A concrete garden beneath a cold gray sky screams "Raise your white flag, surrender now." Read More 

Medical Myth Busting by Dr. Steven Sainsbury

A certain subset of Americans love to exercise. Go to the gym and you will hear the trainer's frequent refrain, "Drink up, people. Stay hydrated." Cyclists, joggers, and hikers are everywhere—look closely and many are constantly drinking water. Even non-exercisers are told to drink water regularly, whether they are thirsty or not. Much of this emphasis on water intake stems from the myth that we need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Read More

Observations of a Country Squire by George Zidbeck

Do not be misled by the title. I am not an astrophysicist about to lecture you on the derivations and consequences of E=MC2. I simply want to introduce you to a most disconcerting event arising from a homegrown calamity. No, not the mundane matter of a painful hemorrhoid or a stubbed toe eliciting cries of anguish. And certainly nothing related to earthquake temblors. My calamity—fully local and personal—primarily grew from my own lack of concentration.  Read More

Surfing Out Of The Box by Paul Finley

A Few Things to Consider Before Buying Your Next Board - A Video Article Read More

Under the Tongue by Christine Neilson

Coastal gloom and dripping fog led to a philosophical conversation on a Cambria coffee house's patio. Bundled together under an outdoor heater, this group of baby boomers recounted the highs and lows of their romantic encounters over four decades—long term marriages, divorces, dating, and being single became the hot topics. Read More

 

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