Vineyards, Hills and Sky...

I see. them every day, though not these very ones. They are always the same, yet ever changing. The leaves on the vines are turning red and yellow. The grapes have all been picked and are aging in barrels, but new leaves will appear in the spring and new fruit will follow. New houses are appearing on the hill which was affected by the Kincaid Fire in 2018 and occasionally there is snow on Mount St Helena.

The sky is clear blue and cloudless today, unusual for November, but not unheard of. and It will soon  it will be cloudy, foggy, or rainy, and we can have beautiful fiery sunsets, rosy dawns. and star filled nights.

In Berkeley we lived in what was called a one and a half story Craftsman house with dormer windows which looked out onto the sloping roof. It was surrounded by classic Berkeley brown shingles a full two stories high. As a result, we really couldn't see the sky. It was one of the first things I noticed after we moved here and has been a source of continuing pleasure for me to be able to see the sky from every room in the house.

After seeing Kathy this morning I came home to tackle the pruning of the olive tree next to the outdoor dining table. I don't know much about pruning trees, but I made up a few guidelines as I went along and relied on a few things my brother, the one-time farmer told me. Cut off branches that cross over each other, thin out branches that, er, branch out on the ends and try to reveal the basic structure of the tree. I called on John to help me with the taller bits that I couldn't reach but that didn't go so well as it was hard to point out from a distance which small branches/shoots I wanted cut. It's still a work in progress but I think we're on the right track. And the best part was being outside in just about perfect weather...warm enough for t-shirts but not hot.

I have tracked Dana and Jim from Santiago to southern Patagonia, back to Santiago, up to the Atacama Desert, back to Santiago onward to New York and finally to San Francisco. They are now driving up the 101 highway and are 45 minutes away. They have had quite the adventure. I'm sure their animals will be happy to see them and so will we! 

I don't know if we will need company tomorrow or even if we will turn on the television for election returns. Probably we'll have it on in the background with the sound turned off. It's not going to be over tomorrow night and the National Guard is standing by in case of unrest. It feels more like a third world country than the world's greatest democracy....