Between Storms

It rained hard most of the day yesterday and for most of the night. OilMan had to turn off the motion sensor light overt our garage because the wind kept turning it on and it would shine right in our bedroom window. We seem to have been spared the predicted thunderstorms, since I'm pretty sure I was awake almost all night and didn't hear any thunder.

Although we are now enjoying a break between two storms, the news on other fronts has not been great. Although scheduled to install our "stacked pebble" shower wall tomorrow, the tile place informs us that our pebbles are still "at the port" and will be another "week or two". Since we don't even know what port, (Oakland, Long Beach, Shanghai?) I don't find this news illuminating, just infuriating, since this will be the third time we have rescheduled their installation.

The guest bathroom floor tiles and a task lamp I ordered are both backordered until May. I called and cancelled the lamp order. It seems to be the only way to register disapproval with whatever inventory plan these places are using. The pebbles are more problematic,c since the whole design of the bathroom is based upon them. Made in the USA is looking better all the time.

On the brighter side, we drove over to the little town of Graton (three restaurants, an antique store and an art gallery) where we met Sebastopol friends for lunch. A glass of wine, a market plate (polenta, spinach sautéed with coppa, a soft boiled egg. and plates of bread and cheese) go a long way toward improving a bad mood.

We followed up with a visit to the Red Car Winery tasting room. It is always interesting to learn about the terroir that produces different varietals and blends. Although Red Car began in Los Angeles (not much of a wine industry there), it moved to Graton in 2007, and now concentrates on producing cool climate pinot and syrah wines from costal vineyards.

I especially liked the Red Car label, which features the very trolley, known, oddly enough a, as the Red Car,, which my father took to work every day from Altadena into Los Angeles,. It was phased out in favor of freeways and cars. in the 50's. It is ironic that several places, including LA, San Francisco and Sonoma County are building new commuter rail systems at vast expense, because the freeways can't keep up with growth, cost even more than rail , take forever, and haven't solved the traffic problems by the time they are finished.

Driving back across the Laguna de Santa Rosa, I was particularly struck by how quickly the countryside has turned green. The greening vineyards and the red barns were a nice backdrop to the still lumbering vines and the dramatic sky, gathering itself for more rain tomorrow.