Sep 27, 2020
Reminiscent of New Orleans, the upstairs balcony of the 1950 Land Park home is ideal for enjoying Sacramento’s cool breezes and waving to neighbors from a social distance.
“We sit out there every evening,” homeowner Tamara Kaestner says.
Rocking chairs, three long rugs and a row of potted and hanging plants add to the convivial atmosphere. Look up and marvel at a starlit night sky hand-painted on the balcony ceiling by Tamara’s husband, Ken. “It was just dead space,” he says. “So we said let’s turn it into another room. Now we spend more time up there than just about anywhere else.”
Sep 27, 2020
In 1996, California voters approved a citizen-sponsored initiative—Proposition 209—that added the following words to the California Constitution: “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”
Sep 27, 2020
Dr. Carl Shin has made a career of bucking the traditional medical establishment when it comes to pain management.
“After managing chronic pain for 20 years, I’ve discovered that I’m in a field where we do the same things over and over without really getting results. Since outcome and results don’t seem to drive the pain-management business, I sought a better way,” Shin says.
Sep 27, 2020
A rodent with a remote control. A ring-tailed lemur rowing a boat. A chameleon climbing a cake. These whimsical beasties aren’t from a fairytale, but rather from the wildly talented mind of ceramist Julie Clements.
Clements’ ability to render animals in such exquisite detail is no accident. The Georgia native was exposed to art early on by her grandmother who did china painting—Clements was fascinated by the detail—and she went on to study art while an undergrad at Emory University, followed by a yearlong internship at the renowned Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta. She even started a master’s degree in ceramics at the University of Georgia.
Sep 27, 2020
Weathered, wrinkled and wrapped in a headscarf, the face was all smiles. Cupped in outstretched hands were three cucumbers. “You?” she asked. How could I refuse?
Thanking her, I felt a twinge of guilt for not being able to match her generosity. A language barrier limited communication, but I knew from past growing seasons that she coveted the cantaloupes growing a few feet away in my community garden plot. None were ripe that day, but there would be cantaloupes to share in days to come.
