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The two subjects, as sometimes happens in life, collided in my brain and made a connection. Years ago with Miss Jenny, we were fortunate to take a trip to see her “Granny.” Thelma Hudson hailed from Fairhope, Alabama. She wasn’t really her grandmother, but Thelma, who resided in Gilroy with her pastor husband for many years before retiring to the south, took care of Miss Jenny as her “Granny Nanny” when she was a youngin’ and Miss Jenny’s parents were both hard at work supporting the family.

Three nestling Bullock’s Orioles open their bright pink mouths and demand to be fed, in this case by volunteers who feed them a special passerine diet every hour from sunrise to sunset.  They were orphaned mid-July after a windstorm broke the tree branch holding their nest and were brought to the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center still snuggled inside their hanging nest made from fibers, grasses, and bits of soft feathers.  Sporting gorgeous amber-yellow breast feathers, they are growing up fast and have just begun eating juicy mealworms.  When they’re released back to their summer habitat in Gilroy sometime next month, they will dine on wild bugs such as caterpillars and spiders, as well as fruit.  They will also drink from hummingbird nectar feeders in backyards, as well as enjoying halved oranges and suet put out for them.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Christian practice of baptism, focusing on a type known as “proxy baptism.” This allows people who died without accepting Jesus as Savior to have another opportunity for salvation. While this practice has raised some controversy, during the course of my research I discovered that the traditional baptism practiced since the early days of church is also becoming controversial.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival this weekend will bring tens of thousands of people to our region to experience the culinary delights of America’s most famous food festival. Even though the festival casts a spotlight on the South Valley as a gourmet haven, there are plenty of food eating opportunities than just the garlic-laced ones here. Morgan Hill Access TV’s very own Judy Keyes has a regular show called “Cooking for All Seasons” where she helps local residents appreciate the art of preparing delicious meals.

What do you get when you take 49 stunning, superbly trained horses (11 breeds), that live with gentle love and care, while consuming 17,500 bales of hay, 36,500 pounds of oats and of course 1,750 pounds of carrots annually? Add 120 performers and handlers, a 10-story tall white big top, a specially equipped Boeing 747 (for horse transport), a stage as wide a football field, a stable that spans more than 16,500 square feet and 2,500 tons of sand and you get “Cavalia” – a sensational experience like no other.