On the road
to the coast
lies an odd little cheese shop
with immaculate bathrooms
and young girls
in milkmaids’ uniforms
aggressively hawking
mediocre wheels of aged cow’s milk
and expensive crackers
to hungry tourists
who graze on picnic tables
set in unnaturally green lawn
near a pond reflecting
Sonoma’s light.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #sonoma #peebreak (at Marin French Cheese Company)
Winter light.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #westmarin #marsh (at Point Reyes National Seashore)
The vineyards of Stags Leap.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napavalley #visitnapavalley @napavintners (at Stags Leap District Winegrowers)
November afternoon in Yountville.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napavalley #visitnapavalley (at Stags Leap District Winegrowers)
Shopping for beauty… Black Friday, indeed!
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napavalley #visitnapavalley (at Calistoga, California)
The wings of angels.
-
#california #sunset #ilovecalifornia #westmarin (at Point Reyes National Seashore)
Autumn colors in Napa Valley.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #autumn #visitnapavalley #napavintners #napavalley (at Carneros, California)
Channeling a bit of @chefmiminashi magic with a kombu-infused soba dashi, a light prelude to the season of feasting.
-
#japanesefood #seaweedforaging #seaweed (at At Home in Napa)
I’m always hesitant
to lay down the dollars
required
to purchase a peony,
fearing
she won’t reveal herself as fully,
her perfume not as enticing,
her petals not as gossamer
as in my memory.
Fears unfounded.
-
#flowers #peony #beautyunfolding (at At Home in Napa)
Bees and borage.
-
#honeybee #bee #beekeeping #backyardbeekeeping @napavalleybeeco (at Kicking Bull Farms)
November afternoon in Napa Valley.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #carneros #autumn (at Carneros, California)
Quince.
-
#fruit #seasonal #quince #quincepaste (at At Home in Napa)
One final, perfect, mutant Canna flower, a beauteous last gasp before winter.
-
#garden #nature #beauty #flowers (at At Home in Napa)
Evening skies predicting rain.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napa #eveningwalk (at Napa River Trail)
#hbo #documentary #watchit #rollingstone #musicandpolitics #culturalzeitgeist
Beets for roasting,
buried in coals
until blackened
like an amateur’s marshmallow
at summer camp.
Peeled, sliced thin
and given a wallop
of horseradish crème fraîche
to balance their inherent
sweetness.
-
#vegetables #beet #woodfired #rootveggies (at At Home in Napa)
The knife purchased
a lifetime ago
from a flea market
outside Paris
from an elfin woman
specializing in ancient tools
for the farm and
la cuisine.
-
Wooden boxes
splayed and overflowing;
knives
bung hole drillers
leather cutters
harnesses
instruments
of discipline.
-
Unearthed
from farm jetsam
lay an unusual knife,
the handle lifted above the blade
like a brick layer’s trowel.
-
Pour le miel,
for the honey
she said thrice.
With a haughty smile
and jaunty scarf
and tiny hands elaborating
slicing open the honeycomb,
ouvrir le nid d'abeille
liberating the honey.
-
Once belonging to a beekeeper
in Burgundy,
a friend of an uncle,
a likely story
for an over-eager foreigner
with USD.
-
The carbon blade and
turned walnut handle
in fine condition
from hundreds of years of
minding someone else’s
beeswax.
-
Buying a knife
before the hive,
the mis en place
before the honeybees,
a life glimpsed
before
it’s realized,
the desire to understand
Nature
before I’m able
to nurture.
-
#beekeeping #bee #backyardbeekeeping @napavalleybeeco (at At Home in Napa)
My New England heart
is warmed
by Napa Valley in autumn.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napavalley #autumn (at Saint Helena, California)
Ribbons of highway.
-
#california #infrastructure #eveningwalk (at Napa River Trail)
Low tide.
-
#california #ilovecalifornia #napavalley #eveningwalk (at Napa River Trail)