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Morgan Hill
January 15, 2026

Technology takes center stage at wineries

I was a young kid back in the 1960s, growing up in Cupertino when it was surrounded by acres of fruit orchards and cutting ’cots (apricots) for a summer job was a rite of passage. I remember my older brothers racing home on their bikes - out of breath - after being shot at with salt pellets from a BB-gun-wielding farmer for stealing a handful of cherries. Our fertile Santa Clara Valley, filled with a profusion of spring blossoms, was dubbed the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.”

Victoria, British Columbia: Diversity with elegance

Got a hankering for a taste of British hospitality? Save your air fare to the U.K. and visit Victoria, British Columbia's capitol and the second largest city of that province. Named for Queen Victoria, it can be found on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. You don't get more British that this delightfully charming city and it all comes without the stiff upper lip or the stuffiness that is some time associated with our friends across the great pond.

The painful truth about wrist rests

Your wrists are hurting. You buy a wrist rest. Problem solved? Maybe not. Most people don't need to use wrist rests in front of their keyboards and almost no one needs one for the computer mouse. In fact, you may actually make your pain worse by using a wrist rest.

Put your tax refund to work

Not everyone gets one, but it’s always a welcome sight – a tax refund. If you receive a refund this year, how can you best put it to work?

Son’s college campus tours are making me feel old

It's time for that annual rite of passage - college tours. Yes, my son - who was in kindergarten when I started writing this column - is now old enough to tour college campuses. This is strange to me because in my day, we didn't tour any campuses. We just filled out an application for any college we felt would ignore our hideous math scores … oh, wait. Maybe that was just me.

GoPro and really eliminate all those annoying TV commercials

Of course I know it’s Monopoly. Can’t you forgive even one little mistake? I was going to say it was a test to see if all of you, my loyal readers, noticed that I said the iron and now the cat were Clue tokens when everyone knows full well that they are Monopoly tokens. But I cannot tell a lie. I was so fixated on General Chipotle that I just plain screwed up. And for the thousands of you (make that a few dozen) who just had to point out the errors of my ways, well, uhhh, thank you. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s great. Let’s just keep it that way.

Getting Out: Take in view, history at Sweeney Ridge

In June 1769, a Spanish expedition led by Gaspar de Portola left San Diego in search of Monterey Bay. On the way north, the expedition passed by the bay, failing to recognize it.

Churches to partner in disaster preparedness

Morgan Hill is a wonderful place to live. The climate is pleasant; the small town ambiance is inviting, and access to beaches, mountains, and big city culture is easy. But, like all of California, it is a dangerous place to live. There is a constant threat looming of damage from earthquakes, floods, wildfires and man-made destruction such as train-derailments.

Cookie time: It’s the Girl Scout ‘gotcha!’

The powers that be at Girl Scout headquarters aren’t dumb. They know that, at about this time, New Year’s Resolutions we so devoutly made at the onset of January are becoming a bit threadbare. We’ve been to the gym, eaten carrot sticks, even gone to bed early (before dinner?) to avoid those late evening snacks. And then?

Observing Lent? Try this shrimp recipe

For those who observe it, we are now in the season of Lent, a time of reflection and sacrifice. One of the sacrifices I grew up with is abstaining from the consumption of meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays. This meant, in most cases, my family had fish – and my favorite was always shrimp. One fantastic and simple recipe for shrimp is a method my mom learned from my aunt.

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