~ Elton Slone, GM & Winery Partner
Autumn officially arrived at 4PM on September 21st. At my place in Sausalito, the furnace is silent from April until early November since the climate here along Richardson Bay and close to the Pacific makes a milder transition into winter than does the Napa Valley to my north.
What a surprise then to awaken to the sound of the furnace running and feel the unmistakable clear, cold bite of fall in my bedroom. I clambered out of bed to hastily close the sliding doors so that I could drink my coffee without seeing my breath at the same time.
What happened to the summer this year? Not only was it fleeting in feeling, the summer of 2010 was fleeting in terms of the number of actual warm days here in northern California. Statistically speaking, summer 2010 has been the coldest in the Bay Area for over 100 years.
Despite the cool summer, the abrupt transition to fall initiated a bout of reflective thinking which always arrives with the turning leaves and the pregnant rows of vineyards in wine country. Whereas spring is a time of renewal and collection, fall is a season of letting go.
My mom, who visited from Indiana for a week in mid-September, has always been a saver, a keeper. Notes, coupons, photos, letters, articles, shoe boxes, awards, clothing, furniture, dishes, you name it.
She recently sent along some pages from a journal I had been keeping in high school with a note attached commenting on the contents -- I might need to travel back home to the Midwest with a gas can and some matches soon!
Despite my constant frustration with a well-kept but cluttered house growing up, I have not been able to fully escape my genes. Check out my office sometime; I think I have a thank-you note to Julius Caesar in one of the paper stacks -- but I’m still working on that concept of letting go.
During my mom’s visits, we always find time to hit a big hike and have lunch outside at The Sand Dollar in Stinson Beach. She has been an athlete all of her life, and many times we would do up to 7 miles with considerable elevation gain.
This year, she also made it to our Howell Mountain Cabernet release party on a perfect September day to see the winery for the first time. I think she really understood why I have so much love for the business and for the people at Craig.
Her 10-year battle with Parkinson’s shortened the hiking a bit, but the time out on Mount Tam together and lunch on the deck of the Sand Dollar was a perfect finish to the weekend -- definitely memories worth hanging onto!
A little extra clutter around the house while she stayed… no problem.
~ to be continued
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