What people yearn for the most in this extended lockdown, they say, are hugs, so here are some Everyday Hugs that might prompt you to find your own. One Everyday Hug comes in $11-dollar monthly commitments to sustain Topangan Dr. Ben LaBrot’s Floating Doctors, who started the program with just eleven dollars in his pocket! In the photo (above), Sandra, part of the Ngäbe community of Valle Escondido in Panamá, has worked as a cook with Floating Doctors since 2017. On October 27, 2020, she safely gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Sandra's positive attitude and smile always brightens up everyone's day, especially with a full house of volunteers. Ripples of Hope makes a sustained difference in the lives of their patients. To donate: floatingdoctors.com • Music easily comes to mind. Be sure to have music in your life. • My Christmas cactus is blooming more than ever before and right on schedule. • Every time I walk Tippy the dog and Tomcat follows, people smile. • A friend calls and asks “How are you?� • Topanga Whimsy (Pages 10-11) constantly amuses me and it’s everywhere. I suggest you share photos of your whimsical discoveries to us at editor@thecanyonchronicle.com, and make those hugs count for our readers, as well. • Topanga’s volunteers are the heart of the community. Volunteering can consume you if you let it but remember, “Many hands make light work.� (See pages 5, 6, 9) • Our volunteer organizations need everyone’s help. They were essential workers long before the days of pandemic and heroically carry on in spite of it. These are just a few: Topanga Community Center, Town Council, Chamber of Commerce, Women’sCircle, Arson Watch, Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness, Topanga Symphony, SAGES, Topanga COVID Coalition…and so many more. • My mother, who occasionally suffered “panic attacks,� found the remedy is thinking of and/or doing for others. You don’t have to join an organization to do that. • Laundry Day, the smell of clean, air-dried sheets and clothes, and the memory of friends who got the washer up and running for me. About Those Coyotes. Our cover artist, Ann Triplett, lives in Pacific Palisades and likes to write short narratives with each work, sometimes with whimsy and humor. “Urban coyotes are a vocal animal with a varied repertoire of calls. A long howl reports location. Short barks worn of danger. Yips reunite the pack members. They growl for dominance and whine and whimper when bonding. They use high-pitched barks to summon their pups. They are monogamous. They move silently to avoid predators by walking on the tips of their toes. They can jump 13 feet and run 40 miles an hour. Their scientific name is Canis Latrans, meaning “barking dog.� www.facebook.com/anntriplettart 2020 Year-End Report—On Hiatus to January 24, 2021 It was only thanks to community support that The Canyon Chronicle was born on June 26, 2020. People rallied to the GoFundMe campaign with start-up funding and here we are six months later, barely breaking even. Sadly, it takes just a couple of advertisers who don't pay or pay late to set us back. Editorially we are sound. Even so, as a business owner facing challenges like so many others, I continue to see opportunities in 2021 and have made plans to streamline and strengthen the business. Another goal of $10,000 will sustain us until we publish again on January 24. https://www.gofundme.com/newspaper-launch We at the Chronicle wish everyone a joyous holiday season and great good fortune in 2021 and beyond. Thank for who you are and everything you do to make things better. —Flavia Potenza