Puntarelle.
#italy #piedmont #chicoryaddiction (at Castello Dogliani)
Morning chores.
#italy #piedmont #olditalianwomen (at Castello Dogliani)
Radicchio.
#italy #piedmont #chicoryaddiction (at Piazza di Dogliani.)
Late afternoon in Barolo.
#italy #piedmont #nebbiolo #autumn (at Barolo Provincia di Cuneo)
Look up!
#italy #milan (at Duomo di Milano - Duomo Cathedral)
It was a long way to travel
for a mouthful of food.
In truth, it’s never the point
merely an excuse
to depart from suburban life,
to witness wildness,
to maybe find dinner,
to hear.
The white noise of the Pacific my compass,
the chafe and thrum of tree boughs
strings of a massive guitar.
Wind whooshes the tops of gargantuan conifer
cloaking crows with Joplin’s pipes;
woodpeckers drumming manically,
their red mohawks keeping time,
Buddy Rich on bugs.
Music of the forest
every bit as transportive
as Chopin, B.B., Baker.
Initial panic at being alone in the woods
gives way to fear of getting lost
within myself,
gaining either enlightenment or going deeper
in my weeds,
wandering permanently off path.
Thick spider’s webs
catch on eyelashes and lace hair
provoking squeals and shudders,
but their weavers scare me less than
bears and good ol’ boys.
Diminutive holes in the earth
dug by foragers who arrived early
foregoing breakfast to feast at dinner.
The smell of old burgundy
rises from the duff
where I shuffle and scrape and pat
in search of the waking porcini,
its wonderfully phallic top
just poking out
from a heavy blanket of pine needles.
We’ve been sold a bill of goods
hoodwinked to get more
pushed to get ahead.
I want to be
need to be
quiet
to listen
for my own truth.
It’s so easy to get turned around
the original path confused
and all the Bishop pines
look the same.
#california #jenner #mushrooms (at Jenner, California)
Autumn storm gathering.
#california #sonomacoast #pacificocean (at Timber Cove, California)
Back lighting, reflected bliss.
#california #jenner #sonomacoast (at Jenner, California)
Hippie buses spewing dope smoke, European and Japanese tourists maneuvering grandiose American rental cars, and elderly midwesterners in campers crowd the coastline to watch the sun drop.
#california #jenner #sonomacoast #worshippingmothernature (at Timber Cove, California)
End of the day at the river’s end.
#california #jenner #sonomacoast (at Jenner, California)
Autumn colors of a vineyard.
#california #alexandervalley #autumn (at Alexander Valley)
Last of the season’s pattypan squash stuffed with ricotta, Sicilian pine nuts and basil flowers and a dusting of breadcrumbs.
#california #autumn #food #squash (at At Home in Napa)
An empty marina prepared for winter.
#california #autumn #battenthehatches (at Port Sonoma Marina)
Pomegranates, introduced to California by Spanish settlers in the late 1700s.
#california #fruitsoftheseason (at At Home in Napa)
Rainy Sunday reflections on the marsh.
#california #autumn #waterfowl (at Port Sonoma Marina)
Garden beds cleaned of leggy plants,
the last of their offerings stripped from yellowing foliage.
Tomatoes of all stripes stew,
fiery peppers dry,
red and white onions pickle and roast;
the spoils of summer’s labor now autumn’s.
Doors flung open to greet
grey gusty skies,
fall spitting its warnings of winter,
shooing the rapture
of August’s warm light.
#california #autumn #garden (at At Home in Napa)
Happy Birthday, Maestro.
#lucianopavarotti #pavarotti #opera
Fading day.
#california #westmarin #pointreyes (at Point Reyes National Seashore)
Last light before thick coastal fog prevails.
#california #pointreyes #westmarin (at Point Reyes National Seashore)
Fog stretching its long fingers inland.
#california #pointreyes #westmarin (at Point Reyes National Seashore)