Opinion

This “Teacher's Perspective” column was difficult to write today – not because I didn't have enough to say, but from the sad content of what I did have to say. I’m distressed on a number of levels that are related to our school district and our community.

Cheers to the Cochrane Plaza Farmers Market that opened last month in the parking lot of the Cochrane Plaza shopping center, and boosts 32 registered vendors with the potential for 50, with a variety of colorful fruits, seasonal vegetables, flowers, honey and a farmers market favorite, fresh-popped kettle corn.

What does it mean when a wine is “balanced?” It’s a wine that incorporates all its main components – tannins, acid, sweetness and alcohol – in a manner where no one single component stands out. Tannins come from grape skins, seeds, stems and oak barrels - it’s the astringent taste you get when you have bitten into a grape seed. Tannins give body and structure to the wine - too much tannin can be mouth-puckering and drying. The right amount of acids give wines their characteristic crisp, slightly tart taste. Too much acid and the wine can taste sour. A wine with too much sugar will taste cloying and sugary and will not be refreshing. A balanced wine is when all the components work in harmony.

Morgan Hill's Shadow Mountain Baptist Church (17810 Monterey Road) recently announced several special events.

A vital component of effective community leadership is getting feedback from the people who are most impacted by the quality of that leadership. Leaders need to know if what they are doing is working and taking the community in the right direction. If it isn’t working, they need to know the reasons for that failure. They also need to be open to hearing ideas from the public that can improve their organizations.

Come and walk on the ocean floor and experience a colorful, spiritual adventure that is also dramatic, romantic, mysterious and entertaining. This is what the Monterey Bay Aquarium offers in all its wonder. This is a place to savor and enjoy over and over again.

The year was 1991 and it could be summed up in one word: Anticipation. It was exciting, but I knew it would take time for the San Jose Sharks to build some credibility, to build a team that was a contender for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

There’s an old saying that tells us a dog is man’s best friend. But new statistics indicate that this just ain’t so anymore. Today, the pet dog population in the United States is more than 67 million. But listen to this; there are more than 83 million cats living with human companions. Those darn cats. Somehow, they snuck up and took over as the most popular pet in America. Only fish outnumber them (there are an estimated 170 million pet fish in the United States), but that’s only because a lot of fish can fit in one small aquarium. So it seems that cats have it when it comes to being “top dog” in our homes.