Sylvia Patience, Author

One of the winter attractions in Santa Cruz is the eucalyptus grove at Natural Bridges State Park, where Monarch butterflies overwinter. This past week I took out-of-town visitors to see the Monarchs. We were lucky in that it was a rare (for this winter) sunny day, and the butterflies were active and flying. However, there… Read more

Whether you light the menorah, celebrate the solstice, or hang up a stocking and sing carols by the lighted tree (we do all three) or celebrate some other winter holiday, I wish you blessings in this dark time of the year. There are many traditions, but it seems almost everyone has some way of bringing… Read more

Speaking of the Natural History Museum, I just got word of an adult learning series that will take place on four Saturdays in January and February. It sounds great! Take a look. Read more

I want to put in a plug for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History , for those of you in Santa Cruz or visiting here. It’s a tiny museum, but amazingly full. The current exhibit is called: Bones:An Inside Look at Nature. It shows how bones are adapted for the various ways of life… Read more

I just looked back at my first posts on this blog back in March. At that time I wrote, “It’s just a beginning for me, but I’m excited to reach out and let you know about my writing and the other activities I’m involved with here in Santa Cruz.” I’ve been wondering, as I post… Read more

I’m sorry to have been absent from the blog for too long. Last week we celebrated not only Thanksgiving, but my birthday. I mention this because, with Facebook, it seems everyone knew it was my birthday. I kept running into people who wished me a happy birthday and I’d think, “How did they know?” until… Read more