Guest Column | Monterey County Free Librariesā 5 Things to Celebrate in December
December is here and we are all getting ready for the holidays. Whether you celebrate the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza the library has something for you.
1) Our Winter Reading Club starts on Dec. 1, 2025, and runs through Jan. 31, 2026. Reading...
Window on the World Column | The Masks Are Coming Off
The masks are coming off people; and what is apparent is what is underneath isnāt always that pretty. No one has been to the dentist in forever, beards are growing on the women and, even sadder, people have been hiding behind their masks for...
Funny Papers Again Column | Missouri and Florida: Never the Twain Shall Meet?
I have always enjoyed words and how they are used, but as I have not kept up on the grammatical, I frankly admit to longer being able to accurately describe, or recognize in use, the dangling participle or the gerund, nor would I be...
Letter to the Editor | South Monterey County Needs Local Animal Shelter
To the Editor:
South Monterey County has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. There are new housing developments in every city. There is an increase in shopping opportunities and all of this is good.Ā
But one area has not kept up with the growth....
Window on the World Column | Remembrance
Itās about this time of year that I look for her even more often. It is the season of the long sunny days and twinkly black-night skies. It is the season of the dragonfly. Whenever I see my first dragonfly of the year, I...
Funny Papers Again Column | Todayās Opinion Column Offers Some Opinions About Opinions and the Opinionated
āOpinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in anotherās world.ā
I donāt recall whose words those are, if I...
Worthy to Print Column | The Good Ones Always Leave Early
In 1940, American author Ernest Hemingway wrote a book named āFor Whom the Bell Tolls.ā It wasnāt his best book, but it had a few passages that reminded me this past week that he certainly had a way with words. The title of the...
Window on the World Column | The Sparkly Glasses
On the occasion of my sisterās 50th birthday ā were she still alive ā I was up in San Francisco with my friend. I really struggled with the fact that sister should be celebrating her big milestone birthday with the world who loved her,...
Window on the World Column | The Gammy Leg
āYouāre limping again,ā he said (again). āYES! FULLY AWARE AGAIN OF THE FACT IāM LIMPING. DONāT MENTION IT ALL THE TIME!ā (I donāt think he will for a while.)
Iāve had a gammy leg, as father would say, for over six months now. When you...
Guest Column | Volunteers Strengthen Our Communities
April 18-24 is National Volunteer Week, an opportunity to recognize the impact of volunteer service and the power of kind, compassionate people to strengthen and transform communities.
Our volunteers within Mee Memorial Healthcare System never cease to amaze me. They lend their time, their talent...





















