Is This My Best Side?

Lovely day in the Alexander Valley. Every time I visit the Alexander Valley I have the feeling that I must have spent another lifetime in a place like this. Today it is famous for vineyards and excellent vintages, but in OilMan's childhood it was full of prune orchards. His uncle managed a sheep ranch in the hills above the valley.

My mother grew up in Oregon where her father grew prunes. The story she told (often) was that it was always a faltering operation, totally dependent on the right weather at the right time for a decent crop. After a number of dismal years, they sold the farm at a greatly reduced price and the new owners had a banner year with a fine crop. The story always stopped there--I will always regret not asking what came next for the family when I had the chance.

Today we drove through the vineyards with their autumn colors of yellow and red. The harvest is winding down, the crush finished, and the busloads of wine tasters have all gone home for the winter, leaving the valley to the local people and the beautiful weather. Our destination was Diavola, a restaurant in the little town of Geyserville at the top of the Alexander Valley. There are actually geysers in the hills, but Geyserville is a sleepy wide spot in the road with a few scenic brick buildings, a general mercantile and a restaurant called Diavola which reminds us of my niece's little town of Saluzzo in Italy. Their specialty is cured pork and given his situation, the pig in the display case looks pretty content.

After lunch we met friends at Medlock Ames tasting room for a glass of wine on the deck overlooking their garden. Phil, a criminal defense lawyer, had just finished a long bike ride and looked tired, hungry and ready to go home and get out of his lycra. Liz, an artist and filmmaker was happy to be out of her "bubble" and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Hard then, not to find a certain appeal to the house we looked at less than a mile down the road, but we will remain calm....

Oilman and Ozzie await me on the deck with the last of the tomatoes on the last of the bread/toast to watch the birds and the sunset. Hard not to think how incredibly fortunate we are and grateful for it...