Matt Fidler

Even as a girl growing up in Puerto Rico, Perla Sofía Curbelo recognized that the simple act of picking flowers for her mother to put out in their homemade everything more pleasant. This week, we continue our exploration of the healing and therapeutic effects of gardens, plants, and nature.

We’re joined in this third conversation by Perla who recently received her Horticultural Therapy Certificate from the Chicago Botanic Garden and puts it to ever greater use in her homeland of Puerto Rico. Join us!

Bryan Stevenson writes a powerful true story about the Equal Justice Initiative, the people we represent, and the importance of fighting injustice. His latest, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a New York Times bestseller and this year’s Book In Common.

Also, Author TJ Richardson captures the essence of pursuing your goals amongst hardships in Where I Wanna Be. Richardson speaks about his journey as a nontraditional student. 

Chico’s City Council meets twice this week, with officials hoping to finalize the move to district elections.

The council meets Monday, again considering a switch to district elections. Then, in a Tuesday encore, it’s set to tackle other, more mundane issues. 

Even casual observers of the night sky are familiar with the winter constellation Orion. It's two brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse and its three belt stars make it an easy one to spot. But one of them has dimmed dramatically in recent months, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse. 

In our second episode in a series around the healing power of plants and gardens in our world, we get an overview of the professional field of Horticultural Therapy and Healing Garden Design on an institutional basis with one of the field’s leading spokeswomen and researchers, Dr. Naomi Sachs, join us!

Winter is upon us. Fortunately, even in winter, when we desperately need a cure for cabin fever, most California parks are wide open and welcoming. Including our 200-some state parks, most of them still open at least for day use.

One notable, still almost a secret even in Northern California, is Plumas-Eureka State Park—a perfect summer getaway for family camping and hiking, but also a wonder in winter. Among other unique details, Plumas-Eureka near Blairsden is home to the annual Historic Longboard Revival Race Series, now in full swing.

Author and Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep details the story of John and Jessie Frémont, the husband and wife team who in the 1800s were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States.

Dave visits with neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and all-around amazing guy, Daniel Levitin. His book This is Your Brain On Music spent more than a year on the New York Times Bestseller list and his latest, Successful Aging is already on the top ten for this year's list. 

Levitin's biography thus far is nothing short of amazing. He's helped produce and consult on musical projects ranging from Steely Dan, Blue Oyster Cult and Joni Mitchell (just to name a few!) to being the music consultant for the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.

This week we kick off a series on the Healing Power of Gardens, in the series we’ll visit with Dr. Naomi Sachs, of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network, with Perla Curbelo, a recent graduate of the Horticultural Therapy certification program at the Chicago Botanic Garden, with Iain Houghton, at the Chelsea Physic Garden, one of the oldest extant botanical and medicinal plant gardens in the UK (and world), and with Matt Wichrowski, a horticultural therapy clinician and educator in New York City. 

Need a spa vacation but can barely make the rent?

I say: Head for Grover Hot Springs mid-week to grab one of those 20 first-come winter campsites near the park entrance (in summer, this is the picnic area). Then just settle in.

Just west of Markleeville, some 40 miles south of Tahoe, is Grover Hot Springs State Park, the perfect hot-soak antidote for weary skiers and snowshoe hikers.