30.10.08

Regarding the Wine Bloggers Conference-- in a lingering daze

Am I fading into an early, fatigued senior fog? Scary. I am overdue for a medical checkup-- since I flew back to Puerto Rico from my informal learning stint around Crushpad in San Francisco, on February 15, 2007...!

I bring this up because I'm drawing an embarrassing blank on the Saturday Grand Tasting of Sonoma Wines. With the level of tiredness I was carrying, relaxing my guard & swallowing instead of spitting soon after joining the poolside anti-Conference was a grave mistake.
Seems I may have been masking most of the symptoms of a lingering, silent flu by doubling up on my usual caffeine intake. I don't have the greatest stamina for alcohol, but I was dimly aware I was feeling lighter headed than usual, even after spitting 99.9% of the time. D-oh.
Only when I woke up in the five AM predawn of Monday morning with suffocating chest congestion unyielding to the hacking cough my body was revving up did I get the message.
A couple of days of rest & reflection yielded some versified impressions--

...about my spiral fog
an abstract ferment breaks
down into spirit love manure
rising into manure love spirit

as if built & meant for lingering
flat in my convection current
lifting my convictions higher
than spirits downed

(Is redundant solitude given
or able to heal its own wounds?)

A life remade crawl by crawl into bed--
now lie in it!

For the last few days I've been slowly but nicely recovering in the care & company of Sam & Karen, owner-operators of the Arbor House Inn. Their cozy B&B is located in one of my favorite pieces of California redneck heaven: Lakeport, in the shade of Mount Konocti on the Western shores of Clear Lake. Jed Steele's winery is in nearby Kelseyville, & Jim Fetzer's handsome, dramatic Biodynamic project, Ceago Vinegarden, is across the water in Nice. More interestingly, people like Andy Beckstoffer & other names associated with Napa Valley have actually been sourcing & growing grapes in the volcanic soil prevalent here for some time now.
I have some catching up to do-- I discovered & started exploring the area nearly two years ago, & it seems some things may have changed a great deal up here, while others have not. Besides Lake County wineries, Mendocino's Redwood Valley is a short drive away. I'm champing at the bit, frustrated by the lingering malaise. Argh.

1 comentari:

Anònim ha dit...

hope you feel better soon

laze around a bit--sounds like you've got a great place for some r & r before you head back to twisted oak!