Poetry: Hunting for the Northern Lights Near Trefor
New SLO County Poet Laureate Caleb Nichols —Previously published in the New England Review, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2023)
Poetry: Catch
Caleb Nichols at the Inaugural Poet Laureate Reading January 24, 2025 Photo by Matthew Rabago …
Video: People of Honor
Behind Barbed Wire, a look at Central Coast Japanese American life during World War II, was held on January 31 at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande. The program included…
Poetry: If I Lost My Home by Wildfire
Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash (after Betsy Kahn’s Sipping Grief*) Would my sips of loss be for family photos or for our conversation gatherings in the kitchen and living…
Personal History: He Would Be 100 Years Old Today
This guy would've been 100 years old today. I sure miss him. There was no one funnier than him, or as mischievous, or as nimble with words. I once saw…
Poetry: Scheherazade
Scheherazade, fabled storyteller of Arabian Nights, under sentence of death, told stories with no endings. Endless new beginnings, night after night, kept her alive. But stories, for all of us,…
Poetry: To The New Year
Photo by Sheila Swayze You burst from the starting gate and though I pull on the reins, I hang on for the ride, longing for 1940's snail-pace years when I…
Poetry: Salvation Army Vibes
Outside the local supermarket in my small town, Salvation Army volunteers sit beside the Red Kettle, ringing their red bells, playing recorded Christmas carols. Mostly older, they work their shift,…
Local History: Patrick Moore Believed in Education
[caption id="attachment_7634" align="alignleft" width="275"] Patrick Moore, center. After Sarah died, Moore married Mollie O’Connor, at right. At left is Annie Gray, later Annie Gray Shannon. Photo Courtesy Michael Shannon.[/caption] Irish-born…
Poetry: Shopping
It’s December, and I go to Mission Plaza to try on different lives. Inside the church, I inhale whispered prayers and notice how others do it. One woman kisses the…