I must have struck a chord with some folks in HOA neighborhoods in one of my last columns. You know, those neighborhoods where you pay anywhere from $20 to $400 per month to the Home Owners Association so they can tell you how treat you own property. I’ve lived in such a place. In Virginia. Nice brick...

Being a native of the Santa Clarita Valley, I can never understand how folks get lost in our hills. If you have water and it isn’t dark, just head down the hill and you’ll run into a road or highway, eventually. Our hills aren’t that high, and being nearly treeless, you can see forever. Just take...

Sometimes I just can’t think of a subject for this space and I cruise Facebook, newspapers and magazines and sit in restaurants listening to conversations. This past week was an example of that phenomenon. I caught only small pieces of conversations, but I think I got the idea of what was being said. “Is...

It has been an exciting week here in the SCV. Election signs are up, and in a little over a month the election will be upon us. City Council may change a little. Later, we will get a new face in Congress. So at the monthly breakfast meeting of the Hart High Friends yesterday, we managed to solve all...

Rain. Lots of rain with a little bit of lightning and thunder. We also had rocks and mud dropping or flowing on our roads and hillsides. Even our river had water in it. Glorious rain. The smell of just-washed sagebrush is something that lets me know I’m in my hometown. Sometimes it doesn’t get better...

I keep seeing and hearing a commercial for a way to whiten your teeth. “Two shades at the first application and seven shades lighter in a week.” Just one question: How much is a “shade?” Goes along with the “Free gift if you act now” and order … whatever. Let me see. A few things wrong...

We have been blessed with perfect Chamber of Commerce weather: mild, warm temperatures during the day, cooling off at night. I like to think we have had some evenings perfect for holding a special someone close. We have also had good temps for hiking our many trails and pathways of the SCV. Looking ahead,...

I’m still laughing about the comments to the Facebook status update I posted Tuesday. I was at Newhall Refinery having a late lunch-dinner and reported the following: “At Newhall Refinery. Blue Balls.” The menu calls them that. I find them delicious, and only at Newhall Refinery can you get them. If...

What is next? Just read a piece about how restraints or seat belts are going to be required for dogs riding in cars. Something that we’ll have to buy and have installed and will become part of the inspection process to get your vehicle registered. Even if you don’t have a dog, you’ll have to get...

This past week, we had an event happen that we’ve seen much in maybe a couple of years. That event? Rain. Measurable rain. There was even a little snow in our mountains. Wow. The drought is still with us, and we’d need a few weeks of rain like we had to end it, but at least some local children will...