Life

Fact No. 1: Bees are responsible for pollinating at least a third of our food crops.

HAARLEM, Netherlands—Not everybody likes Rembrandt. Lovely work with the honeyed hues, but overall too dark, too sombre! Try some Frans Hals, then. Hals (1580-1666) was a contemporary of Rembrandt’s and another Dutch master, but where Rembrandt was gold, Hals was silver; where Rembrandt was moody, Hals was exuberant. To some he was the first Impressionist, eschewing finicky detail for broad, confident strokes. He influenced Monet and Manet; van Gogh loved him.

The Comox Valley Classic Cruisers car club held its first monthly meeting for 2011.

Tria Culinary Studio is greeting 2011 with its new cooking class schedule for February and March.

POHNPEI, Micronesia—They call it “the lost city of the Pacific,” but in truth Nan Madol has never been “lost” in the sense of having been hidden from European eyes.

Last January marked the launch of the Science and Nature Discovery Program at the Courtenay and District Museum.

On Feb. 26, MARS will host its sixth annual Eaglefest at the Maritime Heritage Centre in Campbell River. Bald eagles are magnificent birds and just one of many species cared for at the MARS rehabilitation centre.

Thousands of people in the Comox Valley will be doing the same thing this Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. — dropping, covering and holding on.

You wouldn’t know January is a slow month in the restaurant business if you happen by the Zocalo Café & Gallery on a Saturday night.

The deafening bang of exploding firecrackers.