Let’s Talk About Sex
Kara Haug’s big message to everyone she works with as a sexuality health educator and counselor is, “You are worth the awkward.”
The co-founder of Reframing Our Stories, an organization that provides sexual health education, resources and tools for families and communities to normalize conversations around sex and relationships, made a career of easing uncomfortable conversations.
“I became a sex educator because I don’t want people to hurt anymore,” Haug says. “The amount of shame that we hold around sexuality is immense. But we don’t need to hold onto it. It can be let go, and part of that is talking about it and learning how to be educated around it. When we do that, we’re healthier.”
Water Wizards
A cardboard box can save lives.
Don’t believe me? Ask Robert Metcalf, professor emeritus of biological sciences at Sacramento State and co-founder of International Water and Health Alliances.
With his wife, Mary Beth, a retired physician, Metcalf helps raise funds to support an organization called Friends of the Old, or FOTO, a community group in Lower Nyakach, Kenya.
The program provides reading glasses for elderly people, seeds for the neediest households, education for girls and, perhaps most importantly, water-treatment supplies.
Out And About June 2023
This post is sponsored by Out And About By Jessica Laskey June 2023 Dream On Splat studio brings families together through art Helping families connect through positive art experiences, Dipped N Color Splat Studio is the winner of the Downtown Sacramento Foundation’s...
Eaten Alive
The prey lands. A trap is sprung. The prey struggles but is no match for the enzymes that slowly digest it between vibrant green lobes with tooth-like trichomes.
No, this isn’t a scene out of “Little Shop of Horrors.” It’s the daily eating habit of a Venus flytrap, one of hundreds of carnivorous plant species that capture our imagination.
“Carnivory in plants has arisen at least 12 different times in 12 different areas around the world,” says Ron Nies, president of the Sacramento Bromeliad and Carnivorous Plant Society. “The whole idea of plants absorbing insects makes sense. They grow in areas with nutrient-poor soils, so they catch insects to supplement their needs.”
