A stone maze

Calistoga, California

Labryinth:

1. An intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find ones' way or reach the exit.

2. A maze of paths for the amusement of those who search to find a way out.

3. A complicated or tortuous arrangement, as of streets or buildings.

4. A confusingly intricate state of things or events; a bewildering complex.

When you walk a labyrinth, you meander back and forth, turning 180 degrees each time you enter a different circuit. As you shift your direction you also shift your awareness from right brain to left brain. This is one of the reasons the labyrinth can induce receptive states of consciousness. It can also help to balance the chakras.

Each person's walk is a personal experience. How one walks and what one receives differs with each walk. Some people use the walk for clearing the mind and centering. Others enter with a question or concern. The time in the center can be used for receiving, reflecting, meditating, or praying, as well as discovering our own sacred inner space. What each person receives can be integrated on the walk out. Your walk can be a healing and sometimes very profound experience or it can be just a pleasant walk. Each time is different.

From, The Sacred Labyrinth

Art on the doorstep

Autumn
John William Godward
1861-1922

John ordered this framed print from a place in Georgia called the Illusions Gallery. Printed on stretched canvas with added brush-stroking; it looks as real as any reproduction can. But what's slick about Illusions Gallery is you can pick the frame online and see in advance how it will look with your print. We sure don't need more pictures, but John said it was an impulse purchase and it's fun looking at something new. I found a nice place for it in a corner of the bedroom.

The story of this artist is a sad one. He was late to the pre-Raphaelite party, and his style of painting was falling out of style when he got started. Picasso came on the scene and was suddenly hot stuff. Godward's family disapproved of his art career and broke off all contact with him when he moved to Italy with one of his models in 1912. Most of his paintings feature women in classical settings-- ancient Rome was a major source of inspiration. The poor man committed suicide at the age of 61 and wrote in his note that "the world was not big enough" for him and Picasso. His family destroyed all this papers, but fortunately not his art. There are no known photographs of him.

Leisure Hours

The Tambourine Girl

Memories

A Pompeian Lady

A Souvenir

Defiance gardening

It sounds very well to garden a "natural way." You may see the natural way in any desert, any swamp, any leech-filled laurel hell. Defiance, on the other hand, is what makes gardeners.

Henry Mitchell
Washinton Post, Earthman

Our oldest lily bed has been looking a bit ragged, so the other day I dug it up. I was surprised how many layers of bulbs I found under there-- it was like archeology. Not just lilies but alliums, tulips and scillia. That's what happens when you plant bulbs on top of bulbs for 30 years. Some of the lilies had petered out, but others just needed dividing so I salvaged about 20 big healthy ones and got them back in the ground.

Yesterday I went out to plant a few more tulips, and there were the lilies on top of the ground. Some squirrel had gone to the trouble of digging out the biggest ones. They probably tasted bad or he would have chewed them up. I guess squirrels search for freshly-dug soil as they nose around, or they're attracted by planting "debris" like scented bits from bulb bags. Having all the time in the world for mischief, they dig down to take a look. Some people resort to putting chicken wire over their bulb beds, which sounds like a lot of trouble.

Isaac Stern's violin, etc.

Last week we watched this amazing old music documentary called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It was filmed soon after Richard Nixon made the first official visit to the People's Republic of China. Hardly anyone had been to China in 1979-- the country was isolated and the Chinese still in their Mao suits. The violinist Isaac Stern was invited to collaborate with the China Central Symphony Orchestra. With all his big heart, he taught and explained (through translators) violin technique and the art of musical expression. Many of the Chinese musicians were already playing classical music well, but mechanically. What comes across is his honesty and caring as he connects across the cultures. Isaac Stern passed away in 2001 at age 81.

Just by coincidence, at the Seattle Symphony this Sunday the guest violinist Renaud Capucon was playing Stern's personal favorite instrument-- the "Panette" violin, made by the Italian Guarneri del Gesu in 1737. Stern treated his violins with respect and care, still it's hard to imagine this precious instrument has been changing hands for almost 300 years. When it was made, where we sit in Benaroya Hall was an unexplored wilderness! This violin has a long provenance, but most recently a Northwest violin collector named David Fulton owned the Panette from 1994 until 2005. It was sold to a Swiss bank and is now on loan to violinist Renaud Capucon.

After 26 years of Gerard Schwartz as director of Seattle Symphony, we now have a new French conductor. The young maestro's name is Ludovic Morlot (he likes to be called "Ludi") and he's only 37 years old. He comes across as energetic, good-natured (he smiles a lot) and most importantly, the orchestra seems to like him.

Morlot conducting in New York

One of Ludi's ambitions for Seattle is to bring a younger, more diverse audience to the symphony. This is a good thing, because if you look around at the demographics of the audience, most of us won't be there in 20 years. Under Ludi's direction we'll be hearing more French music, and along with the usual Beethoven one of the surprises on the program Sunday was Frank Zappa's Dupree's Paradise. The couple next to us were either talking or texting through the whole concert-- I guess just listening to music was apparently not enough to keep their attention. So we'll see how this goes...maybe Ludi will give a lecture on audience etiquette to the younger demographic?

And when we get too old and cranky to make our way downtown for live performances, we can always stay home and listen to John's collection of classical CD's.
:-)

Gratitude

West Seattle horse barn
June 2009

Saturday was warm and humid in Seattle, but the weather changed drastically overnight. Early Sunday morning it felt like someone suddenly turned on an air-conditioner when cold, damp wind started blowing in the bedroom window.

I didn't sleep much and in the morning drove over to the West Seattle barn where I used to keep Sizzle. I was there even before the early staff, and there was much neighing and nickering when the horses heard my footsteps in the parking lot. Where's our breakfast? I missed seeing Othello the rooster, but he passed away a few months ago at a ripe old age. Luna the three-legged cat was still there, and she came out to greet me.

Sizzle and Othello
April 2009

The wind was blowing the leaves off the trees and it was starting to rain, but last September 25th was a beautiful Indian summer day. It was also Sizzle's last day. I only stayed long enough to leave a few flowers where her fine life ended peacefully, just a year ago.

Our dead are never dead to us,
until we have forgotten them.

George Eliot

Don't blink

Egg for breakfast

Whatever the mood, those two-year old moments come and go in a flash. Just blink, and something new is going on. "Run, Nana-- RUN!"

We had a great visit with Nova and Amanda but too short as always. Amanda starts nursing school on Monday, so busy times ahead for the little Methow family.

Playing with Nana's old fashioned dolls...

A trip to the Rainforest Cafe...

Turns into sensory overload for a country girl...

Our favorite flower child.

First day of fall

Summer ends, and Autumn comes,
and he who would have it otherwise
would have high tide always
and a full moon every night.

Hal Borland

If you think of summer weather as temperature above 80 degrees, in Seattle we had 55 hours and 23 minutes of summer this year. And over half (51%) came late, during the longest stretch of hot September weather in Seattle history. So it goes...we still have flowers but the garden is dry as dust and in need of a major tidy-up before rain arrives next week. Uninspiring work, but at least when it's done, it's done for the year. Vacation is over, Amanda and Nova leave tomorrow so the excuses are running out. Happy autumn!

Mystery lily

Lycoris squamigera

(and Nova)

This pink flower is called a "mystery lily" because of its strange growing habit. Early in the spring, dark strap-like leaves appear and it looks for all the world like its going to do something. But then the foliage completely disappears, and you forget all about it. In the fall, 3-foot stems magically appear out of the bare ground and it blooms with pink flower clusters. It's sometimes called the "naked lady" plant. I think a friend in California gave me a single bulb many years ago. If you don't accidentally dig them up, this "lily" increases each year. We've seen impressive clumps of them along the road in California where people once planted them at the ends of driveways and such. They flourish without any care at all.

I took this picture from a Dayton Ohio TV station website-- so they must do well back East, too.

Guess who?

A cow?

A piggy?

Nope-- it's Nova! Having fun with her Nana's Halloween masks. Amanda and Nova are visiting until Saturday. Busy times ahead...

Wallowing in wineries

I was looking at vacation pictures yesterday, and realized we went to 8 different wineries in 4 days. With time for swimming, shopping, dining and mud baths in between. That sounds like a lot now that we're back, but in the Napa Valley you can slip into a la-di-da lifestyle pretty quick. Everyone else is indulging! And it's all great until you get home and realize your pants are tight and the credit card bill is in the mail. Oh well-- we only go round once, and you can't put a price on the good times.

Basically, making wine hasn't changed in 6,000 years (crush the grape, make the wine) so you wonder what's the big deal here. And on any winery tour you hear and see the same things: the crusher, the tanks, the oak, the bottles, the genius wine maker. But wine has been turned into "art" in the Napa Valley, not to mention big business with 4.5 million people visiting a year. These wineries are not fusty cellars but marketed as "temples" to this art. This sounds a bit much, but these places are like lavish destination estates, some with museum quality collections of art. Remember the days of dropping in for a free taste? Now a single tasting (meaning a sip of 5 different wines) will set you back $15-$25 in the Napa Valley. I know that sounds shocking, but at these beautiful places even normally sane, frugal people can get caught up in the magic!

Here's a little photo tour of the places we visited:

V. Sattui Winery

They have been making wine in the Napa Vally since 1858, so a few of the wineries have a long history. This one was started by immigrant Vittorio Sattui who also had an Italian bakery and deli in San Francisco. In 1985, one of his descendants built this stone winery along the busy highway under 250 year old oak trees. The V. Sattui wines are not sold in stores, only here. They have a wonderful deli, so it's a popular picnic destination.

Here's John, showing how it's done.

And after lunch, carefully considering the tasting notes.

The Hess Collection

How about some fine art with your wine? The Hess Collection winery is up a winding road in a secluded canyon close to the city of Napa, but it feels like another world.

At this historic winery, Donald Hess has built a three-story museum showcase for his art collection and wine making.

John in the Hess courtyard with an art wheel thing.

Clos Pegase

We've been stopping by Clos Pegase just outside Calistoga for almost 20 years. The Clos Pegase Winery was designed by renowned architect Michael Graves following a competition sponsored by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The owner Jan Shrem made his fortune first in the Japanese publishing industry and then went on to spend it in the Napa Valley.

John with his goodies and the Clos Pegase Thumb.

Taking a break from all that exhausting wine tasting...

Beringer Vineyards

Beringer Winery was founded in 1876 by brothers Jacob and Frederick Beringer from Mainz, Germany. The Rhine House in St. Helena was built on the Beringer estate as a residence for Frederick.

You can taste reserve wines in the Rhine House while looking at the stained glass and all sorts of old-world treasures.

Clos du Val

Clos du Val is a nice quiet spot for a picnic and the only winery we visited that was crushing grapes last week.

The harvest is late this year...

Leaving with the goodies.

Inglenook (now Rubicon)

Rubicon Winery is owned by Franis Ford Coppola of Godfather fame. It was originally the lovely, historic Inglenook. After dinking with it for many years, he is in the process of changing the name back to Inglenook and supposedly getting back to basics. In this economy, there's a lot of that going on now in the Napa Valley.

Markham Vineyards

Markham is one of those old-new wineries. It has a long history in the Napa Valley but has changed hands many times. The facade is part of the original building.
The courtyard has koi ornamental fish-- hint, hint. They don't advertise it, but Markam is now owned by a Japanese company.

Sterling Vineyards

And the best for last. Your tasting fee at Sterling Vineyards includes a gondola ride to the winery 300 feet above the valley.

As you stroll along sipping, wonderful views of the Napa Valley in every direction...

The winery was modeled after the Greek island of Mykonos, where Sterling founder Peter Newton once lived.

Life is good.
Vacation is over.

Finito

Now it seems like our vacation was over so fast. We're home but not especially happy about it, although our soft bed feels good after those strange motel mattresses that are never quite right. Even fancy restaurant food gets old when it's your only option. On our last night in the Napa Valley we were happy to eat a dinner of deli fried chicken and salad in our room. Hey-- Napa Valley wine makes anything taste better. The alarm went off too early this dark morning, but it's good to be safely home.

When we left Calistoga on Friday and started to climb up the mountains, the fog lifted and it became one of those exquisite, golden California mornings. Balloons rose above grape-filled vineyards and palm trees. The hills and mountain oaks were glowing. With regret we left it all behind and drove on without much to say to each other.

After winding 75 miles east in Little Beep, the narrow 2-lane road finally ran into I-5 near the town of Williams in flat central California. There we jumped on the conveyor belt north, joining the herd of furiously driven cars and trucks. John said it's exactly 775 miles from our house to Dr. Wilkinson's parking lot in Calistoga-- which is about 700 miles too far.
When we take this fast route north on I-5, there's a highlight in the olive-growing area near Corning, California. The Olive Pit has been there since 1967, and I remember stopping back in the 1970's when it was the only place at that off-ramp and you could see the sign for miles around. Now the store is dwarfed by fast food joints, motels, gas stations, mega stores and so on that have sprung up around it. But the old Olive Pit store still does a great business with tour buses and loyal customers who drop by every year or so to stock up.

How many types of olives can you imagine? How about stuffed with almonds, jalapeños, mushrooms, garlic, onions, peppers, dried tomatoes, capers and more. Giant green olives filled with all types of rich, creamy cheeses. Wine cured, French cured, Sicilian cured, Cuban and Mexican style; smoke, vermouth and Cajun flavored. Black kalamatas big and small, dried Greeks in oil and olive salad mixes with picked vegetables. It's heaven on earth for olive lovers because the selection is mind-boggling and the prices reasonable. We get carried away but justify the shopping spree because "we don't come this way very often." True- not often enough. Here's John headed to the car with a shopping cart full of olives.

We stopped at the Pit on the way down and the way back, and bought so many jars the girl at the cash register gave us a free gift! Heavily laden with olives, we continued up I-5 past Redding along to Lake Shasta and then Mount Shasta-- one of the prettiest areas in northern California. There are beautiful, lazy views of the mountain right from the car window and we saw the top had acquired a dusting of snow while we were in Napa. Fall was in the air, and we had the last picnic lunch at a freeway rest area. When we got to Oregon that evening, it was time to pull out the jackets.

Mt Shasta

The closer to Seattle the darker the sky, but luckily we didn't have to navigate bumper-to-bumper traffic in pouring rain. When the car was finally unloaded at home, we turned the furnace on. It was summer when we left. After weeks of drought, on Sunday morning the rain finally fell on the parched grass and plants. It was a nice sound waking up in our own bed.