As our beautiful Columbia River Gorge heats up, make sure that you are staying safe and cool! Columnist Erin Peters offers some great ways to identify if you’re getting too much sun, how to keep cool and even how to protect your pets on hot days.

Erin Peters takes us down a trail to some safer hiking with tips about what to do when encountering wildlife. Most of the time it ads to the adventure. But instead of fearing an encounter, put some information in your pocket about what to do. And then put on your boots and get out there.

Resistance is futile. The Wildflowers have won, and you can’t help but see them as even far-off hillsides grow yellow with petals. The glory of the Gorge is in its full magnificence, the sun beckons to kiss your face and all prospects of health and happiness are within your grasp. Your happy spot might be five minutes from your doorstep.

After 39 days into the new year, how are your resolutions or goals going? If you stuck with it for a week or two and then dropped it, think about why that is. Was your goal realistic? Attainable? Too strict? Too vague? Write down your goal (or goals) from the start of the year. Now think about how you can adjust, modify… to get it done.

Wight loss, saying no to things that make you unhappy, trying something new - are all great goals for the new year. But so are attainable goals and they are key to happiness, according to our columnist Erin Peters. When you start thinking about what you want to accomplish, try to make it something you can reach. You should be setting yourself up for success rather than failure. Read more here.

Thanks, COVID... No, really! No sarcasm here. If you ask people how COVID-19 has negatively impacted their lives, they could undoubtedly list off a slew of examples. So what about when people were asked about how COVID-19 has positively impacted their 2020 year?