Sometimes a Great Notion

Sometimes a Great Notion

By Karen MacNeil February 13, 2026 It began with a mountainside. A mountainside so remote and rocky that few believed anything would thrive there except for the old oaks that twisted themselves along the canyons and contours of the mountain.The following content is...
In Pursuit of Beauty

In Pursuit of Beauty

What Matters When You Taste Wine By Karen MacNeil   I once had an employee (a woman who was smart and knew a lot about wine) who, when she loved a wine would always describe it as “pretty.”  It drove me crazy. Just about every time she used that descriptor, I’d...
HIDING GUILT AND RACISM

HIDING GUILT AND RACISM

I live in California which has the highest share of undocumented crop workers in the country. But California is not alone. In the U.S. as a whole, 42% of agricultural workers are undocumented according to the USDA.The following content is accessible for members only,...

A. The medieval French word for a small village, similar to the Old English “burg” 

B. A nomadic German tribe which once settled in the area

C. The Latin word Burgarius which was the name for a Roman province that once extended over most of central France

D. The name for early French rural governing bodies which were made up of noble councilmen who were known as Burrs