Naked Ladies & Red Hot Peppahs!

"Naked Ladies!" Ted shouted pointing out the windshield as we drove down Highway 12. "Naked Ladies!" He seemed oddly excited.

"Huh? Wha? I don't see 'em."

My head jerked in all directions looking for naked girls and wondering if Ted had finally gone insane, or what in the world those women were doing sky-clad along side of the road.

"Right THERE!" He pointed.

I saw something pink. It took me a beat to shift my POV and sure enough. There they were. Yeh, you guessed it, not nubile wood nymphs, but nubile pink Daylily-looking flowers. Ted had read an article in that morning's paper about "Naked Ladies" popping out this time of year, and there they were, lighting up the highway everywhere.


Well, the Naked Lady sighting happened as we were driving towards Sonoma to go to the Oak Hill Farm Red Barn Store. The vineyards this time of year are just LOADED with plump clusters just ripe for the pickin' as Crush season gets well under way.




After Ted and I left Southern California, we'd been feeling a bit homesick for the long drives we used to take along the Pacific Coast Highway. We loved to drive along the beach, smelling the sea air and enjoying the expansiveness of the ocean. Up here in Northern California we realized we have a different kind of ocean. A rolling sea of vineyards and the fresh scent of trees and grasses warmed by the sun give us a similar sense of calm and beauty as we drive along finding new discoveries at every turn.

Oak Hill Farm Red Barn Store is our current favorite place of culinary worship. We found out about it from Rancho Viejo restauranteurs, Jenny and Antonio. Jenny grew up in the Yucatan and Antonio is from Zacatecas, Mexico and they have this wonderful little restaurant that borders Agua Caliente and Sonoma, and serves up Yucatán cuisine with a Zacatecas flair. (Thank you Dennis for turning us on to this!)

What does Yucatán cuisine with a Zacatecas flair taste like? Hispanic Heaven for sure. Cactus salad with perslane (a watercress-like green), melt-in-your-mouth pork and chicken, and piquant Tacos al Pastor all savored on the restaurant's outdoor covered porch.

Jenny told us when she first met Antonio, she went to visit his family in the Zacatecas desert, looked around at the barren landscape and said, "What do you guys EAT around here?" Antonio replied, "Cactus, of course!" So steamed cactus punctuates their menu and it's really surprisingly (surprise to a gringo's palate) good.


While schmoozing with Jenny about her food, we asked where they get their perslane, and she told us about Oak Hill Farms. She said Antonio's cousins work there, providing them with the freshest in-season vegetables for their restaurant menu. So after lunch we had to go check it out.


Our first visit to Oak Hill Farms Red Barn Store was transcendent. The building is a beautiful barn-red color and, OMG, inside is a paradise of fresh and dried flowers, and just-out-of-the-garden fruits and vegetables.
http://oakhillfarm.sonoma-sky.com/

We saw things in that lovely barn that we'd never seen before. Agrostemma for one. The epitome of charming, tall arching stems of purple petaled blossoms pull you right into a Beatrix Potter dream. And how 'bout those Padrone peppers? Small, green and slightly twisted morsels, get very soft when you sauté them in oil and sprinkle them with salt.

Padrones fry up whispery crisp, then you pull them off the stem with your teeth (seeds n' all), and they just dissolve in your mouth like "buddah".
Then you wait.
Most of the peppers are sweet, but every now and then there's the errant HOT one that plays Russian Roulette with your tongue, giving it a good "zetz".
Who knew that peppers could be even more thrilling than Naked Ladies?!

(p.s. Ted wanted to say that he didn't take any of these photos except for the crispy peppers shot at the end.)

The Gravenstein Apple Fair

The Gravenstein Apple Fair was held in the middle of August in Sebastopol and yoiks, yoiks, double-yoiks! The enthusiam for this sweet, tart fruit is deeply rooted.

Originally from Denmark (as far as anyone knows), Gravensteins have been grown here on the West Coast, and predominately in Sebastopol, since the early 1800s. But sub-urban development and a shift to wine grape growing has raised a lot of concern about the dwindling Gravenstein orchards. Supporters of this wonderful pie-, cider-, saucing-apple are fervent in their desire to "Save The Gravensteins" and believe me, here at the Fair, those rustic red specked apples were well celebrated.






Among the apple-maniacal stalls at the Fair, was Japanese-born vendor, Hiroshi Morimoto, who sold hats and shirts made by himself and his recently deceased wife, Sarah. Sarah was over 80 years old when she died earlier this year, and Hiroshi was eager to tell us their story.

When Hiroshi came to this country from Osaka, Japan in the early '70s, he was in Berkeley when Sarah, 21 years his senior, spotted him, "grabbed him up" (his words) and took him home. They were married in 1973 and had been like this (two fingers together), ever since. Hiroshi made hats and men's shirts, and Sarah made women's shirts, including her final batch that he was selling that day. "When these are gone, they'll all be gone," Hiroshi informed us. So of course I HAD to have one of Sarah's shirts, and because of my super sun sensitive skin, one of Hiroshi's cover-up hats (for medical reasons of course) was necessary too.



As you can see, Ted was in picture-taking heaven here. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, then there's a total of 20,000 words in all of these!




Venturing further into the fair grounds, Ted was stopped and captivated by a display of old apple farming equipment sputtering, steaming, creaking and cranking. It reminded him of his father (Ted Sr.) who was raised in a farming community in Plentywood, Montana and who later had become a mechanical engineer.

"Dad would have hung around a place like this all day long," he told me. "Talking to the old men, exchanging machinery stories."

Ted Sr. was with Westinghouse in it's heyday, and worked on the Nautilus submarine project back in the 1950s. The Nautilus project was a big deal back then when the Cold War with Russia was a very hot issue. The missile launching capabilities of the sub gave a sense of security in the U.S. during a time when many nations were developing powerful military technology. The Nautilus was the symbol of peace-keeping strength in this country and Ted's dad was proud to have contributed to it's completion.

And yes, Ted Sr. would have loved to see that old apple harvesting equipment, and it was sweet to remember him on this perfectly perfect mid-summer’s day.






Ah. The food area. Can't you just smell that mouth-watering barbeque? Those are Sonoma county's own Willie Bird turkey legs on the grill.


And ... Goat Milking demonstration anyone?







Lots o' lore, lots o'kids, lots o' food, lots o' fun, and apple-cheeked ladies wearing big ol' hats getting giddy on cider ... Life is just peachy (did I really just say that?) at the Gravenstein Apple Fair! Check it out: http://gravensteinapplefair.com/

August Visitations

The first six months or so that we were here in Northern California, we holed up like moles and barely ventured out of the house except for the bare necessities. Slowly, as the weather warmed up, and we warmed up too, we began to poke our noses out to see friends here and there, and now a new phase has begun. People are coming to visit US!

Our friend Billy drove up from L.A. on his way to his uncle's house in Downeyville. He brought his daughter "Young Zoe" (as he calls her) with him. Back in L.A. we'd had this lovely tradition of meeting Billy and Zoe at The Rose Café in Venice Beach. Ted and Billy would talk about sports and solve the world's problems, and Zoe and I would crayon our way through the paper tablecloth while eating eggs and pancakes loaded with syrup.

The tradition continues up here in Northern California. We had breakfast with Billy and Zoe, and yes, the menfolk talked and us "girls" drew on our placemats and ate eggs and pancakes. Zoe made the most amazing map of her road trip and when we got back to our house, I showed her around our little potted garden. We snipped pieces of herbs and sweet peas and lots of other green stuff and Zoe taped them all to her map. Just look how GORgeous ... (the map too)!


Zoe told me that her uncle's house is built over a river. The whole family has rubber ducky races down the river and she was excited about this year's race. I asked her to send a ducky down for me, and she said she would, so I'm awaitin' the results. I'll let you know if I won.

But wait ... a Storm was on it's way too. I mean our friend StormMiguel and his fiancé Annalise. These two are just wonderful and amazing.




We met StormMiguel and Annalise at Dierck's Café for juicy, grilled hamburgers smothered in roquefort cheese. (Be still my heart!) It'd been at least five years since we'd seen StormMiguel and it was our first time meeting Annalise. I was deeply moved by both of them.

StormMiguel's a wonderful musician, songwriter and performer, and we just love him (http://www.stormflorez.com/). Annalise is a clinical psychologist who has just recently finished producing and directing a documentary "Diagnosing Difference" that she will shop around at film festivals this year and next. (See: http://www.diagnosingdifference.com)

Conversation with StormMiguel and Annalise ranged from general catching up to gender identity issues. As foreign as these issues may seem to the general public (although not nearly as much as it used to be), I saw their gender identity story as the big-picture story of an evolving humanity — a humanity that is opening and becoming more accepting of differences rather than condemning and rejecting them.

I don't know if these two feel particularly courageous or not. They're just being who they are and living their lives. But to me, I am reminded of all the men and women in history who have stood up in the face of social prejudice to break down old beliefs, and to have the courage to be genuine and free. I am in awe of that kind of authenticity, and I am grateful for our friends, Annalise and StormMiguel.

The roar of the grease, the smell of the crowd!

One Tuesday afternoon Ted's mom, Jeanne, called. "Hey would you like to go to the County Fair? It's Senior Night and we can all get in FREE!"

Well, as much as we were chagrined about being reminded that we now qualify to be lumped into the "Senior" category, we said "sure" and off we went.

"Did you read in the paper about all the food they're having? I can't WAIT to try the Greek food!" There was something in Jeanne's enthusiasm that was utterly engaging and as much as we were a little suspect of "carny" food, we were certainly game.


At the fairgrounds, Ted parked the car, and we all passed through the turnstile with a flash of our ID's (couldn't they even PRETEND that we look younger than we are?), and after winding through the vendor's pavilion (so much CRAZY gadgetry and lovely cheap bling), we headed over to the flower pavilion where they were celebrating "The Garden Time Forgot".

Wow. The place was PACKED with botanical wonders. Dino-themed exhibits like "Raptors Revenge" and "Pteradon Pterrace" were like Disneyland gone pre-historic, complete with red "lava" waterfalls and giant Every-saurus creatures clawing their way through faux jungles. Pretty awesome, but we were getting really HUNGRY, so it was time to check out the food.


"The Sleek Greek! The Sleek Greek!" Jeanne said. "That's where I want to go!" She'd brought the cut out newspaper article with her and emphatically pointed to it as she spoke. Turning the fairgrounds map this way and that, we finally figured out where "The Sleek Greek" was, and while Jeanne and I scoped out a picnic table, Ted went to get us Greek Gyros.

All around us folks were enjoying every form of white, pink and tan food you can imagine. Spaghetti, french fries, hot dogs, potato salad, barbeque, pizza, cotton candy, and lots of unidentifiable things fried on sticks. A band played Cajun-style, while folks (mostly seniors mind you) two-stepped, sashayed, and do-se-doed every which way on the dance floor. Ted brought over our Gyros and yep, Jeanne was right ... they were GOOD.

Wiping garlic sauce from our lips, we wandered over to the livestock area. I just love livestock. Cows, pigs, goats, chickens ... the fertile smell of animal hide, feed and yes, even poop, makes me feel like part of the whole cycle of life. Watching little kids, plastered with contest ribbons, parading huge cows in front of equally huge judges ... I dunno, there's just something reaffirming about it all. I suppose it's the spirit of community communicated through farming, that touches me ... humans have been doing this kind of thing forever.



this goat doesn't have any ears!


On to the Midway. Holy moly, rock-n-rolly! Carny at it's glitzy, cacophonous best! Hoping all the kids kept their fingers and toes in tact (slightly paranoid about the safety of those rides), it was fun to watch their screaming little faces as they struggled to keep their lunches down while being tossed and turned, and wildly spun into outer space.




Well, we were spent (seniors after all), and Jeanne was way ready to go home too. So until the Harvest Fair rolls around again in the Fall, adios Sonoma County Fair!

Cousin Jeffrey

(photo: sister Joanne, cousin Jeffrey and me.)

Our cousin Jeffrey is one in 6,777,356,829 (world population). Well, maybe two. He and I are so similar it's just freakish. When he came to visit this week, I realized how profoundly comforting it is to really feel "gotten". Jeffrey just "gets" me and I "get" him. We laugh over the same silly "nothing-at-alls". We're enlivened by beauty, introspection, honesty, sensitivity, nature, great food, travel, shopping, yada, yada ad infinitum. And Ted? Well he just shakes his head at our nonsense, and can't help but be amused by the antics of two testarossa (red-head) cousins enjoying each other. We're just ridiculous in the most wonderful way.

Ted often says his job in life is driving me around wherever I want to go. Drivin' Miss Pinky, he calls it. This time it was Drivin' Mister Jeffrey too. In the two days he was here, Ted drove Jeffrey and me to all the places around that we thought he'd enjoy ... Sebastopol, Healdsburg and Sonoma. We took him walking around Spring Lake, ate fabulous food (see Breakfast At Bovolo blog) and did our small share of reviving the country's economy by being good little touristy consumers. Part of that consuming was Jeffrey gifting us with a beautiful set of old silver teaspoons which may sound strange, but he knew we'd lost a lot of teaspoons along the way and were looking for pretty replacements. See? He's just that thoughtful kinda guy.


Anyway, the second night Jeffrey was here, we had the family over to see him. We spent the whole night feasting on laughter and deli sandwiches — lots of reminiscing, dredging up old family stories, discovering forgotten ones, and making up new ones. Families are so rich in mythology, and doesn't everyone love trading tales and gossiping about each other?

So two days with Jeffrey felt like two weeks of vacation for Ted and I. We were so grateful that he came to see us and fill our lives with pleasure. Come again, Cousin Jeffrey, come again!

Gail & Hal's Wedding, Sonoma-style

As you read this (if it's still August), Hal and Gail are on their HoneyMoon, near the equator, in tropical Ecuador. Ecuador. Sigh. From all we've heard, we'd love to go there some day — creepy, crawly Galapagos Islands and all. But who are Hal and Gail you might ask?

Our friends, Hal and Gail, got married a couple of weeks ago at a private home in the countryside outside of Sebastopol. We knew Hal well from our work in the Toltec world, and although we hadn't met Gail until recently, we felt like we'd known her for a long time too. They were gracious enough to invite us NoCal Newcomers to their wedding and really it was like milk chocolate melting on your tongue ... smooth and sweet.



Gail asked us to come early to hand out bells to everyone as keepsakes, and to ring in the new couple at the end of the ceremony. We happily obliged.



And Frank (gosh we just ADORE Frank) officiated. Frank is tuned into other worldly things in the most whimsical, mystical way. He's an inspired guitar player (was on tour with Van Morrison for a while), owns Zone Music in Cotati, and is plugged into the shamanic community simply because he is just plugged in, period. His ceremony was as lyrical as he is, complete with a wild flower arbor, monkey altar, an Ocarina player (it's an ancient flute-like wind instrument), shamanic bells and of course Frank's charming way of spinning matrimonial alchemy.

Under this spell, Hal read a Rumi poem to Gail and she purred, "mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!" Gail read her vows to Hal and he went, "mmmmmmmmmmmmm!" Frank pronounced them husband and wife and we all rang our bells and chimed in, "MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!" Everyone feasted on all dat luuuuuuuuuuuuve, and gotta say, it was yumEEEEEE!


Three fair-haired friends, Maggie, "V" (Victoria), and me, takin' it all in.


After the ceremony, we all ate great food, drank great wine, listened to great music, and turned into pie-eyed happy faces! "Vida larga y feliz" Hal and Gail!