Operation Redwood by S.Terrell French is an excellent middle grade novel which I recently read and then field-tested on each of my three grand-children ages nine to thirteen with enthusiastic results. The characters are well drawn. The lively action begins when city boy Julian Carter-Li intercepts an e-mail meant for his uncle from Robin, a … More Operation Redwood

Before I take a two week hiatus for travel, I want to say something about a new book by science writer, explorer and conservationist Tim Flannery. It’s called Here on Earth, and is subtitled A Natural History of the Planet. Sounds ambitious, doesn’t it? I learned a lot reading this book, which is easy to … More Here on Earth

The Peace Chorale is open to everyone who wants to sing. It’s been a wonderful experience for me for the past two years. I hope some of you will join this year. Below is an invitation to the upcoming retreat. The Santa Cruz Peace Chorale invites all current & prospective singers to their annual Singers … More Peace Chorale Tenth Season

After my June trip to the Yucatan I wrote up a little report on the birds I’d seen there. I’m posting it for anyone who’s interested. I wasn’t on a birding trip, and had to fall behind whatever group I was with when I was trying to look at some bird. Also I’m an amateur. … More More on the Yucatan: birds

Patti Gay is an illustrator and author of picture books, a member of SCBWI, and one of my critique group partners. The following is an interview with Patti about her recent launch into publishing her picture books electronically. Sylvia: Patti, you’ve jumped right into e-book publishing with a couple of your picture books. How did … More Electronic publishing for children’s books? An interview with author/illustrator Patti Gay

Wow! It’s been a long time since I posted. I was getting ready for a trip, then going on the trip, then recovering from the trip. I went to the Yucatan, southern Mexico, for a little over a week. I’ve published a few photos on Facebook, so take a look. It’s a beautiful place to … More The Yucatan

The percentage of births at home in the U.S., while still under 1%, increased significantly from 2004 to 2008. See this article. Vermont had the second highest rate of home births after Montana. And also in the news this week, Vermont has just passed a law to require insurers to pay for home births attended … More Home Birth in the News

Check the Santa Cruz Peace Chorale website for information about our upcoming concerts. Tonight, April 30th, we’ll be singing and sponsoring a film about Anne Braden as part of the Reel Work film festival. Next Saturday (May 7th) is the annual concert with silent auction and strawberry shortcake. Hope you can come. This year we … More Upcoming Peace Chorale concerts

I haven’t been following the “birther” controversy too closely. It seemed ridiculous and Trumped up to create an issue of a non-issue. However, this analysis by Goldie Taylor on the Rachel Maddow show is excellent. (Sorry about the advertisement at the start.) It helped me realize what the “controversy” is really about: a racist attempt … More Obama’s birth certificate

Take a look at the Natural History Museum blog for a description and photos of Monday’s field trip for Museum docents to the Elkhorn Slough reserve. We got to see the greenhouse and participate in planting starts for a native rye grass. Winter is the season when native plants will be set out, after they’re … More Museum docents at Elkhorn Slough