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Recently I discovered that I have thumbs. Wait. I mean I always knew I had thumbs, obviously, but I recently discovered that my thumbs were terrible at texting. I think it’s because my thumbs aren’t 17. They haven’t spent their entire existence clicking away on a phone. So when I text, I use a painstaking method called “hunt and peck” with one finger.

Last weekend, South Valley was bustling with wine lovers as visitors to the Wineries of the Santa Clara Valley Passport Weekend made their way to the area for the two-day event. Wine tasters arrived and ventured along the trail as they got to visit and taste at any of the 18 participating local wineries, and got their passports stamped to denote those they visited.

After years of writing this column, I sometimes feel a little cocky thinking I know virtually all the nearby parks and preserves. A couple weekends ago, I led a trip into the remote east side of Henry W. Coe State Park. A woman who was on the trip told me about a preserve I had never heard of in Watsonville that she loves and hikes regularly. So much for my comprehensive knowledge.

As the skies begin to open up and bless us with some rain, the reality is that our water supplies are so depleted that even a normal rain year would not be enough to end our local drought conditions. So we will all need to continue the water saving practices we have started. If it’s another dry year, we will need to save even more.

Despite the injection of more than $35,000 in the coffers of the campaign in favor of Measure F—mainly from developers and car dealers—Gilroy voters spoke and the half-cent sales tax increase fell short by more than 550 votes, based on unofficial semi-final results from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

When presented with the idea of traveling to Africa last summer to offer her skills at a school in Awaso, Ghana, second-grade teacher Noreen Kakalec would be the first to tell you she didn't immediately rush off to pack her bags.

Sisters Nora and Delia Ephron took the book “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” by Ilene Bacmerman, added stories of friends and their own experiences and came up with a delightful production that hits home with most women and can tickle the funny bone of the guys in the audience. Sadly, Nora Ephron died a little more than two years ago and left an enormous library of plays and books, including “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and this play.

The Gavilan College men’s basketball team hasn’t won a conference game in two years.

South County residents will have an opportunity next month to honor U.S. veterans buried in local cemeteries. Remembrance ceremonies will be held in Gilroy and Morgan Hill on Dec. 13 at 9 a.m. simultaneously with a national observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

It appears an injured great blue heron found Oct. 27 near the Ridgemark community was shot with pellets from an air rifle, and there is a $5,050 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible.