Francesca Lichauco and her son Zephyr Bolaños, 4, ride the carousel at Castle Park. (Courtesy of Francesca Lichauco) Have a photo that captures the spirit of Riverside? Share it with us and help celebrate the beauty of our community!
Sunday Gazette: May 10, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Mother's Day to every mom reading this morning!
Today we're sending a special shout-out to Francesca Lichauco — the mom behind our story a couple of weeks back about her four-year-old, Zephyr Bolaños, and his run at the National Wildlife Federation's Jr. Ranger contest. Thanks to your votes, Zephyr has advanced to the quarter finals — and because the brackets just reset, every new vote counts in this round. Cast yours, free, daily at jr-ranger.org.
See you tomorrow!
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Thank you to the Subscribers who became paid supporters this week: Leanne Austin, Maricela Cisneros, Christine Petzar, Julie King, Victoria Macpherson, Karen Tilson, and Bill Wilkman. Your ongoing financial support is vital to our success in serving Riverside with the news it deserves!
Tips on what to plant, when to pick, and what to watch out for in your home garden.
Planting a spring garden just in time for Mother's Day at the home of fellow Raincross Gazette reader Dawn Carter. (Kim Malstrom)
May is when Riverside gardens really begin to shift gears. The cool-season crops are still producing, but the warmer days and mild nights are inviting in summer favorites. Right now, the question I'm getting asked most is: "Is it finally time to plant tomatoes and peppers?" The answer is yes — and they are loving this heat. My garden boxes are quickly filling with tomatoes, peppers, and squash, and everything is starting to take off with the longer days.
One of the best things you can do this month is focus on companion planting. I always tuck basil and onions alongside my tomatoes. Basil is said to enhance tomato flavor while also attracting pollinators, and onions can help deter certain pests in the garden. Pairing plants intentionally helps create a healthier, more balanced garden ecosystem and makes the most of every inch of space.
As warm-season crops go in, don't forget about succession planting. Instead of planting everything all at once, stagger quick-growing crops every couple of weeks to keep your harvest going longer. I'm continuing to add lettuce, cilantro, and peas where I have space so I can stretch the season before summer heat fully arrives. If you pull out a spent crop, try not to leave bare soil behind — open soil invites weeds quickly this time of year. Pop in a fast-growing herb, flowers for pollinators, or another round of greens to keep your beds productive and healthy.
This is one of the most exciting months in the garden. Everything feels full of possibility.
Riverside Author Brandi Mays Publishes Children's Book Built Around Big Words
The 40-page picture book follows a lonely ear of corn through a vocabulary-rich garden adventure designed for readers ages 4 to 8.
Forlorn Corn: A Farm Fresh Adventure for Kids Who Love Words, written by Brandi Mays and illustrated by Anupam Dey. (Brandi Mays)
Riverside resident Brandi Mays has published her debut children's book, Forlorn Corn: A Farm Fresh Adventure for Kids Who Love Words, a rhyming picture book that aims to build young readers' vocabularies through story and character.
The 40-page book, published in January and available on Amazon, follows Forlorn Corn through a garden where he meets a cast of alliterative vegetable characters: Zany Zucchini, Timid Tomato, Oblivious Onion, Considerate Carrot, and Boisterous Beet. Each character's name introduces a new vocabulary word, and a recurring guide character, Literate Ladybug, defines the words in speech bubbles throughout the story. A glossary at the back defines additional terms, with notes encouraging adult readers to follow a child's curiosity rather than stick to a script.
Mays, who has lived in Riverside with her husband Tom for 28 years, said the book grew out of watching her youngest child, Dexter, develop an early obsession with language. As a toddler, he peppered adults with questions about unfamiliar words. Dexter, now finishing a teaching degree, inspired his mother to ask whether other children shared that same hunger for vocabulary.
This week, we’re moving from snack wrappers to the tiny symbols we liberally sprinkle across our modern messaging: emoji.
Emoji are one of those inventions that seem decorative and optional until you try to imagine texting without them. I send a naked “okay” reply to my wife and it sounds harsher every time I reread it. Add a 🙂 and it becomes polite. Add a 👍 and it becomes efficient. Add a 😬 and it becomes a tiny apology.
The original emoji set was created in Japan in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita; tiny 12-by-12 pixel symbols designed to make mobile communication more useful and expressive. The word “emoji” itself comes from Japanese words meaning “picture” and “character,” not from “emotion” as I thought before writing this column.
Which emoji you use, avoid, misunderstand, or aggressively repeat can say a lot about your age, your friendships, and your work/life balance. Some emoji have near universal meanings, others adapt readily in new environments. Some have meanings that change by generation, community, or time of day (or night) the message is sent. This makes them similar to the words they try to help—alive, shared, misused, reclaimed, and occasionally dangerous in the wrong hands.
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