Opinion

Local column by Joanne Banuelos

I cannot remember the first time I met her and her lovely husband. It seems to me that we were friends from the minute I arrived in the valley about 19 years now, so it was a good while ago; and likely at a...

Saturday afternoon around 4:30 I was 410 words into my column for this week when my cell phone rang. The choice to interrupt a train of thought while writing usually falls to the “let it ring and go to voicemail” protocol, but in this...

In my wanderings about the village, I get the occasional opportunity to get inside different buildings, some are older and designed for specific purposes as are the VFW hall, numerous SVF buildings and the MCDT studio. Many are older and re-designed from days of...

So I’m sitting in my favorite chair lacing up my tennis shoes when the phone rings. I’m only a little concerned because Lorraine pays all the bills and she has not advised me that we are in trouble. I look at the phone only...

Most of us know sunflowers. In the Salinas Valley, they are a common sight in yards and fields up and down and across the land. Many among us remember rows of the tall, large yellow blooms were spaced among the row crops as wind...

I suppose there is a time in everyone’s lives that stand out as a particularly emotional passing. Perhaps you can remember this time with a smile or maybe you get a tightness in your chest. I never have a hard time remembering times that...

“You say it’s your birthday, well it’s my birthday too, yeah. They say it’s your birthday, we’re gonna have a good time. I’m glad it’s your birthday, Happy Birthday to you. Yes we’re going to a party.” I’ve told you before that I enjoy living...

We are now one week past the Autumn Equinox, the day defined as having an equal number of hours of sunlight and moonlight. Autumn’s twin is the Vernal Equinox in March. The opposite of these days of equality are the Summer and Winter solstices...

You know I occasionally meet someone who has read my input for this fine periodical. They say something like, “Oh I love your column and my mother never misses it.” Occasionally, I even get questioned about how much the paper is paying me for...