![Michael Parker, owner of HR Sports Cards and Collectibles, holds up some of the shop’s card packs that still sell for $1. (Photos by Steve Martarano)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0321_blog_photoessay_cards2.jpg?1616791842)
Photos: Not Just a Hobby
Amid a surge in card collecting, a few shops still survive in the Capital Region
Card shops have been declining in number the past 20 years, but
there’s a gold rush in the industry today.
![Anthony Cannarella partners with Isabella Velasquez in a pose in front of the mural “It was only a dream” by Miles Toland on R Street in Sacramento in March. “We created this project called Dance Graffiti that fuses mural art and dance,” Cannarella says. “We think that the combination of murals and dance paints a grittier picture of what ballet can be, but still allows it to maintain its grace.” (Photos by Sara Nevis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/dance1.jpg?1616693595)
Photos: Art in Motion
Dance Graffiti creators Anthony Cannarella and Isabella Velasquez juxtapose ballet and street art
Sacramento Ballet dancers Anthony Cannarella and Isabella Velasquez started Dance Graffiti in January 2019 to make ballet more accessible to the general public.
![San Mateo snowboarder Lexington Castiglia checks out the scenery on board the aerial tram at Squaw Valley on Feb. 17. (Photos by Steve Martarano)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/5-february_17_2021squaw_valley.jpg?1614107158)
Photos: Hitting the Slopes
Visitors head to Tahoe’s ski resorts with new COVID restrictions in place
California’s Sierra Nevada ski resorts were officially open in
February 2021 after shutting down in March 2020 due to COVID-19
restrictions.
![This modern home in Davis designed by
Sage Architecture incorporates undulating,
curving roof lines that open to the sky and
mimic the nearby hills. (Photo by Abraham & Paulin photography, courtesy of Sage Architecture)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0121_feat_architecture_abraham--paulin-photography-courtesy-of-sage-architecture_lead.jpg?1611003689)
Distinctive Dwellings
Architects and homeowners use the modernist template to design dwellings that are a departure from the norm
Once considered a stark and cold aesthetic, today’s residential modern design employs variety and warmth. Here are some of the Capital Region’s modern homes and the architects who designed them.
![(Photos by Wes Davis)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0121_dept_tbs_wesdavis_lead_1.jpg?1610733010)
The Bright Side: Manual of Style
On Oct. 12, 2020, hair-care brand R+Co came to the Federico
Advanced academy in Sacramento to present R+Co Drive-In, a
socially distanced drive-in and livestreamed educational
hairstyling event.
![(Photos by Karlos Rene Ayala)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1220_dept_tbs_karlos-rene-ayala_lead.jpg?1607367396)
The Bright Side: A Spin on Tradition
Community members created decorative altars in the Marketplace 99 shopping center parking lot in Elk Grove for a family-friendly, socially distanced Día de los Muertos drive-thru display and contest Nov 1.
![(Photos by Ashley Hayes-Stone)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1120_dept_tbs_ashley-hayes-stone_lead.jpg?1605282115)
The Bright Side: Shelter From the Firestorm
Wag Hotels, a chain of companion-animal boarding facilities, decided to offer a free week of board for cats and dogs at its nine locations across Northern and Southern California in response to the LNU Lightning Complex fire that began in August.
![Cars and Coffee Group Folsom holds Saturday morning meetups (this one is on Oct. 17) at the El Dorado Hills Town Center, featuring custom cars and their owners from across the Capital Region. (Photos by Steve Martarano)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1120_blog_photoessay_cars4.jpg?1604517069)
Photos: Collecting Craze
Local custom vehicle enthusiasts take advantage of pandemic downtime
Shelter-in-place orders this year have given the Capital Region’s custom collectible cars community more time to buy, sell and restore their vehicles.
![(Photos by Ashley Hayes-Stone)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1020_blog_nov_sacedibleyards.lead_.4383_0.jpg?1603133992)
The Bright Side: Down to Earth
Sacramento Edible Yards, a father-and-son organic-gardening
business, helps people learn how to grow their own food at
home.
![(Photos and captions by Hector Amezcua)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1020_dept_tbs_hectoramezcua_lead_0.jpg?1602532212)
The Bright Side: Harvesting Community
A buyback program is helping microfarmers from the Southeast
Asian community feed families and recoup their losses from a drop
in sales.