The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko

Kevin Fedarko is a writer that is also a Grand Canyon river guide. This is a story about the fastest trip down the Colorado River, and it is about much more. There is a history lesson of the discovery of the Grand Canyon by modern man starting with Cardenas and the conquistadors and continuing to the river guides and the engineers of the Bureau of Reclamation. It has a geology story as any tale of the Grand Canyon must be.

But it is at its best a story of humans and nature. Both the authorities and the eccentrics are portrayed in an honest light and all are influenced by the river and the Canyon. This book made me want to look for other Fedarko books.

Wisdom of the Last Farmer by David Mas Masumoto

The subtitle seems to sum up the idea behind this book, "Harvesting Legacies from the Land." This book became a thought provoking meditation for me. It touched on some of Masumoto's themes from other books, but this time he dwelled in the realm of fathers and son and the lessons they teach other. I kept thinking of my father and grandfather working on a ranch and the calm way they taught me when I was trying to solve a task. During my high school summers the simple enjoyment I gained from having breakfast with my father before he went to his office and I to the ranch I was working at that year. I learned he had been where I was and he knew what was before me. And he let me learn in my own time.

The poignant moments we as sons have when our parents struggle with health issues seems always to be hovering around in this book. But it is as a benevolent specter walking beside us, not a haunting ghost. Masumoto weaves in and out of the past and the present telling of the good and the bad and the unfair.

This is a journey we all will take.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

I finished three books about the same time and haven't written my thoughts on them yet. thought I would start with this one.

Crazy Love is a book about finding God's path in your life. Isn't that what many books are about? This one gives examples and tells stories in that vein. I can't remember much at this point, not good, but I have an overall feeling that the path that mainstream Christianity is promoting is not one that Jesus would likely be traveling. "We should also look to the roads less traveled in our journeys" is the message I'm taking away.

Olympic Thoughts

Last night I was watching the Olympics, mostly swimming and volleyball. I was struck by how focused the athletes were. Focused on their goal as they trained to get to the Olympics and then focused on their event. Single minded is the word that came to my thoughts. Some of the backstories on the athletes told stories of how they had been inspired by athletes before them. Stories were told of these young athletes meeting their heroes, and later the heroes encouraging the young athletes as both became Olympic teammates. Passing the knowledge, the torch and the traditions.

Too bad our political leaders can't have that much focus. Instead we try to make political statements using flag carrying as the tool. What's the tradition there?

Trip North and PorchFest

We just got back to the heat of the Central Valley, though it wasn't much different than the heat of Napa Valley. Hot is hot. The blessing there is that they cool off at night.

As always on a trip north the food was excellent and the company divine. Each night the first week Tio Juan would come up the hill and Brad and I would eat with him after finishing our work. Friday night we ate at a Brazilian restaurant. No Zika, and plenty of meat. So good.

Saturday Maureen and Laurel came up and on Sunday we all went to an event that was new to us--PorchFest. This is a free music event that is moving across the country. At different places around town bands or singers set up on people's porches and play. There is a schedule published so the listeners can pick and choose different bands to watch. Most people are walking or riding bikes around town eating and drinking their preferred beverage. One big festival of music on the streets of Napa. This is s clip of our favorite band of the day, the Lowatters. Sorry the clip is small; we couldn't get larger files to load.

On Monday we met the McKeons, Natalie's parents, and did some wine tasting. Tio Juan set us up at Fontanella's Family Vineyards and Jessup. Both nice. The new tasting format of sitting and eating paired cheeses is taking some getting used to. At Fontanella's we got to do some barrel tasting and were told about a program they have where a person gets three versions of cabernet and the client gets to blend them into a cab they prefer. Fontanella's they will bottle a case of wine for you with your blend inside and label outside the bottle. Nice idea, but the wines were good without me trying to muck up what a real winemaker took years learning to do.

We had a good meal in between and a wonderful time with the McKeons. During the Sam and Natalie wedding time in Alaska there were so many things going on there wasn't much time to slow down and talk with John and Margie. The time we spent with them further cemented our thoughts of them being wonderful people and that Sam and Natalie having two sets of good parents. We will look forward to seeing them again.

After the fun of tasting, Maureen and I worked a bit on Tuesday, ate well with each other and left for home on Wednesday. Our parting meal was a great artichoke pizza from Velo Pizza in Napa. It was even good later when we arrived home. Another good time in the northlands.

Odds and Ends, Again

Yesterday was a different day than many of the previous. Son # 2 left to return home to his new wife in the Caribbean. She is taking a summer school class and had to return early. He has been here in limbo because he has a wedding to attend in Michigan this weekend. He left yesterday morning and flew to Chiraq then will drive around Lake Michigan to the wedding. He also is the best man.

For a few weeks now he has been staying with us and it has been nice. He is an excellent cook and we ave benefitted from that, but our food budget has blossomed. Should have been no surprise. It has been a nice surprise. We have been able to get together as a family as much as we can. Having three or all four children and their significant others has been a hoot. Having four plus intelligent adults with different opinions has led to some fun "conversations." I think one S.O. was taken aback one night. Welcome to the G'zoo.

Summer school is over for this year. I feel like a person caught in a blender when I think of school. The money is good at the end, but I sure feel thrashed during the process. Some of the reasons I left teaching such as treating education as a business and not a people business are still evident. Starting class at 7:10 am for students that are repeating a class doesn't seem wise, and then to sit through six hours of schooling? Oy vey! When the six weeks was done everyone was happy for the coming break. Hopefully each student took at least one thing out of the time. We did read some literature that most wouldn't otherwise.

In a repeat of a nearly annual ritual, Son #1 and I are going north to prune grapes next week. Their Tio to the North always has some work for the children and I usually tag along. I think it is important for our children to work in farm labor to understand what it takes to grow their food. Working with Tio's crew also introduces them to another culture and we have become friends with the men. I'll be coming off a weekend of work with Son #3 in the park, so a week or so of farm labor will be interesting.

We also are going north to meet with Son #2's new in-laws. They are traveling to Northern CA for some food and wine. We will meet with them and do some tasting ourselves. That will be fun and a chance for Tio to show off his vineyard to some new people.

Being done with school also means I have time to work on some projects around the house. That I am truly looking forward to doing. I have started the climbing wall. The shop needs much organization. The outside fence and deck near the bbq is now on the front burner. After brewing beer for the first time, and it tasting good, more brewing is on the agenda. Sounds like many things will keep me going.

And that is good.

A Tale of Two Celebrations

This past weekend I was involved to two different celebrations from two different countries.

1 July is Canada Day and that morning a few of our children and I crawled down the rabbit hole of the internet and researched the origins of the day. Interesting reading and discussions ensued. Saturday I had the chance to talk with some Canadians from Ontario visiting the park and we discussed how the holiday was celebrated, including those in Quebec. "They call it Jean Baptiste Day, or something like that," was what I was told.

Monday the 4th I spent working and talking to crowds from many different countries. I listened to talk radio coming down the hill and heard a few patriotic readings. Today the summer school English class tried to read the Declaration of Independence. A few got the gist, but most gave up before even getting to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the second paragraph. I guess that is why not many complain when rights are legislated away in this country.