Magazine

Garden art mixes whimsically with daffodils and other bulbs that rebloom every year. Tanya Kucak/ Special to the Town Crier

Liz Calhoon loves flowers.

When she moved to her Los Altos home several decades ago, she grew fuchsias and even served as head of the fuchsia society.

Town Crier File Photo
Sliding glass doors bring the outside in, providing additional living area without disrupting usable floor space.

As Californians’ passion for outdoor living continues to grow, many homeowners crave a stronger integration of their indoor and outdoor spaces.

Tanya Kucak/Special to the Town Crier
Creating a permeable path enables stormwater to recharge the water table rather than running down sidewalks and streets into the bay. Above, several inches of mulch, though packed down, allow water to infiltrate. The mulched path flows nicely into planted areas.

Despite the healthy amount of rain last winter, Los Altos still has a summer-dry Mediterranean climate, and conservation is still the cheapest and easiest way to save money on your water bill as well as to ensure that we all have enough water for essential needs.

The drought is not over: Recurring droughts historically have been part of the Bay Area climate, and the summer-dry pattern means that if you have a garden, you need to pay attention to watering.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Local seniors with a wealth of experience and years lived abroad gather weekly to discuss foreign affairs and current events.

The morning after the United States launched a missile strike on a Syrian airbase, only hours after Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court, nearly 30 Los Altos seniors packed a classroom at Hillview Community Center.

The Foreign Affairs class had not yet begun, but the room was alive with chatter: Did you hear about the terror attack in Sweden? What will the filibuster-killing "nuclear option" mean for the future of Senate collegiality?

I think you and I have discussed poetry contests before. As you’ll recall, the really good stuff (ahem!) never wins - the judges are always young English professors who think blank verse or haiku is au courant. And there I stand, wistfully clutching my verses that rhyme and have meter.

Such was the case when, some years ago, Caltrain sponsored a poetry contest linked to Valentine’s Day. The rules: 100 words, love, trains. I could do that, and I did.

Gary Anderson/Special to the Town Crier
Seniors sing carols at the Grant Park holiday party. The Senior Commission aims to expand such programming.

When the new Senior Commission was seated in July 2016, with two members named by the Los Altos Hills City Council and five members named by the Los Altos City Council, we were reminded by the chairs of the two previous Senior Commissions of the three key foundations for living a long and satisfying life: Maintain an active social life, exercise appropriately and on a regular basis and exercise the mind as much as the body.

These three principles were incorporated from the outset in the commission’s work program for 2016-2017, with its primary focus on the programs and facilities for seniors at the Hillview and Grant Park community centers.