It's About Time

It seems that everytime I make that commitment to publish an item every day a little more chaos ensues.

I lost my job about 2 weeks ago. Summarily dismissed. Lack of work.

Almost 3 years at this job and they suddenly didn't have any work for a person in my position.

So much for the 'we are family' concept.

Anyhow much of my time these past 2 weeks has been applied to finding another position. And it looks like it will continue for some time more.

But I've finally settled into a rhythm so there should be more on the vineyard.

Ah but there's more.

The reason

There's much good and much bad on the internet.

This is a good one: Hugh McLeod's gaping void.

Among various interesting items Hugh has a good post on social objects: the focus for human interactions.

At the same time check the referral to Mark Earls' thoughts on the subject. "Things change because of people interacting with other people, rather than technology or design really doing things to people."

The vineyard, vines, earth, weather, winery, wine, food and music are all just social objects. Nice ones but simply a focus around which people with similar interests can interact.

For us, it starts with the family. That "social object" has worked well and we expect it to continue to be successful in this endeavor.

The answer my friend .....

How's that for a trite introduction?

Anyhow it got your attention.

This may sound like everyone else who is jumping on the GREEN bandwagon but as an architect who has passed through a number of energy crises, I recognize the value for the vineyard to be as self sufficient as possible. The house I designed more than 30 years ago employed as much 'green' as I could muster at the time. But that's a whole other story.

One really interesting element is wind power. In researching the newest technologies this little contraption popped up (helixwind). The largest made is produces 5kw. That should put a dent in the utility bill. And of course the design is very interesting compared to the standard propeller blade design.

I look forward to further investigation and at some point implementation on the vineyard of a renewable energy source like wind power. There will certainly a lot more innovation in this growing technology.

Here's a few more interesting designs.

Ooooommmmmm

One in four Americans garden as a hobby.

Some people point to the satisfaction of seeing something grow.

Dr. John Ott actually showed us how things grow when he worked for Disney. (click on the photo)

But usually we see the differences, day to day. And to some degree this is satisfying.

But I've always believed and experienced a different kind of satisfaction.

It's just digging in the dirt. The smell of it, how it turns, what in it that works, the worms, larvae, compost, stones, insects and its texture. All this working together to sustain and promote the myriads of greens and browns and colors that dazzle our eyes and our taste buds.

Digging in the dirt is lake a mantra, digging, turning, breaking it up and turning it again.

Making that connection, with the dirt, starts the vineyard.

Passion

This word is bandied about on many sites talking about blogs, business, websites, etc.

It is essential to be passionate about what you're doing they say.

But everyone knows that there are days when the entire day does not hold up to anything close to passion.

If we read the word passion as indicating "strong and barely controllable emotion' then we may be misled.

But if that 'thing' is something that we can't let go of, keep coming back to, always seems to hold our interest and has an endless variety of nuances and variations that seemingly never gets satisfied than we might be getting close to a better definition.

Not everyday is filled with passion but when that idea pops up the next day and you have to find out something more, do something more, try it again no matter how many failures, then you may have what these people are talking about.

Board Meeting

One of the great things about the family is its spontaneity.

We had our first board meeting during Christmas. Not everyone was there so not all ideas were heard. But it was nice to see the excitement.

The discussions went from where should the vineyard be, what to start with first (amphitheater, vineyard, restaurant, etc.) vineyard names (Faultline seemed to come out ahead), who should be the CEO and why and who would herd the cashmere goats.

The discussions got rather heated at times and someone pointed out that this is why they stay from family businesses. But we are a magnanimous group and emotions rarely last any length of time.

Spice of Life

Sometimes half a phrase is better.

There are a lot of grape varieties. I really don't know if any were lost in the great phylloxera blight in the late 1800's but I am sure many people are working to make sure that none are lost again. At the same time there are new crosses being developed. Certainly some of these are for better taste and/or production as well as adapting to local environments.

In rummaging through the web for a good site that describes the vast variety of grapes I came across this fantastic site.

The artwork is great.

The writing is very interesting and informative.

Sangiovese
You’re a modest boy from Tuscany, seeking fame and fortune. You shed your woven straw attire for more austere threads of tannin with silky orange accents. At home, you began to turn your back on the rough childhood companions from the neighborhood, preferring to hang out in the cafes of Chianti with the French nobleman, King Cabernet. Now in America you’re the most stylish of a new generation of Italian immigrants. It appears that unassuming little boy named after the ‘Blood of Jupiter’ always was a would-be king himself… Italian royalty.

and the grape photos are terrific along with very good technical information

I hope there is no objection to using this information here. If there is let me know and I will delete it. But my intention is to promote the site. Appellationamerica.com, a great site.