Light/Breezes

Light/Breezes
SUNRISE AT DEATH VALLEY-Photo by Tom Cochrun
Showing posts with label echium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label echium. Show all posts

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Fresh Air

    Lana and I have chuckled about what the woman at the garden center must have thought when we showed up back in the spring of 2007 asking about a wonderful plant with which we were smitten.
  After our amusing attempt to describe it, she realized we were talking about Echium, or Pride of Madeira. 
   We moved in January, from a bleak and dreary Indianapolis winter and were bowled over by the vibrance of California winter blooms and Echium was, to our eyes, an exotic.
  When she heard we wanted to "buy" a start she said, "If you have some near by, you might just wait" for it to spread. We didn't know then what we've learned in the last 12 years-it grows mightily and has to be kept cut back or it takes over.  Still, we love it every year at this time as it displays it's arrays of color and hue.

stars of wine country
  The field crews, who work for the viticulturist or wine grower are the unsung heroes of wine country. Here they are doing a late winter/early spring trimming of the vines.
      In the fall these crews will return to harvest, displaying a skill and speed that is stunning.
    We caught these people in action in a region of the Paso Robles appellation know as Pleasant Valley, near San Miguel, north of Paso Robles and east of the 101. It was a good outing for us as we spend most of our wine country visits in the "westside." It stretched our horizon. 
     Navigators Mike and Sue tracked us to a mom and pop winery that is opened on rare days and by appointment.
     The Mom and Pop purchased the land for a retirement home, and thought they might "raise a few vines." He works for a big Winery, she's a writer in tech. Years later they still live upstate and their retirement is still a few years off. They didn't build a home, they built a winery.
   Cinquain Cellars is an award winning artisanal winemaker and is developing a loyal following. 
   The Pleasant Valley wine trail opens with wide vistas and a gentle undulation.
   And it is diverse. The Villa San Juliette Vineyard and Winery sits near more "barebones" neighbors. Out here on the east side, as everywhere in the Paso Robles appellation, there is a range of style, vibe and wine. 

saturday school
   On a recent Saturday in the westside, Denner winemaker Anthony Yount, standing to the left of the chef, conducted an introduction to winemaking and a wine-food pairing seminar. 
        Back in another era I would have bristled at the idea of spending a Saturday in school. With wine and food as the content, I bristle not so much.

land of the free, home of the brave
     Soon we may all have a chance to put our eyes on the Mueller report, at least in some redacted version. I hope everyone takes an interest. Hope so, but some will refuse to read it. Why? 

      It is immoral to separate a child from parents and have no good way to match or record keep. It is evil to keep a child from parents for two years, or longer. 

     Did you see where the American fool told people his father was born in a German village. (Would that be the Bronx?) 
     Is he truly delusional or just a lying chimeric collusion of feculence?
     Aren't either, cause enough to haul him out? Seriously.

     Can't rodent control or crime prevention or no contact with reality be grounds for impeachment? You don't think so? Why?

    Even a cat named Joy seems fed up. 

     See you down the trail.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

TAX CUTS-CIVIL WAR MEMORIES-SOCIAL BOTS-AND NATURAL BEAUTY

SHADOWS OVER THE GLOBE
       150 years after our own awful history, civil war rages in north Africa and the middle east.  We can't know the implication of regime change in these strategic regions, but we know there will be legacy affects.
        The opening salvo of our conflict will be remembered today with somber music, and an explosive re-enactment of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
        Remembering history is crucial to a republic and while reenactment helps demonstrate and can bring maps and moments of military battle to life, nothing can approximate the extraordinary pain in the loss of 600 thousand lives over the course of our 4 year struggle.  Nor can it heal.  With our memories comes residual resentment. Shadows still.
      The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has analyzed the House Republican budget proposal
and reports the plan to cut corporate taxes and to lower the rates on high earners will result in a revenue loss of $ 2.9 Trillion.  By the way, if the GOP plan succeeds the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans will be the lowest since 1931. Is this how to recover from a recession that was created by the greed of wealthy investment bankers and corporations who pay little or no taxes already?  Sorry-this all seems like foggy logic.

ARE YOUR "FRIENDS" REAL?


DAY BOOK
ECHIUM AND FRIENDS






 See you down the trail.