365 Photo Project - Day 252

Taken: September 9, 2010

Location: Rutherford, CA

Whenever I say I live in Northern California wine country, most people assume I mean Napa Valley. Sonoma County is still behind Napa in terms of tourists if not its equal in winemaking. I would say most of us are very much okay with that as Napa has become very tourist-oriented and traffic can be awful there. That aside, every few weeks or so, I find myself driving through Napa -- in this case I was staying in St. Helena for a week to watch a friend's wonderful 13-year-old while they were away.

I had a chance to take a drive around the valley and it was one of those days that make you glad to be alive. Temperate and sunny with some post-rain clouds drifting harmlessly across a bright, blue sky. Just beautiful. I didn't have my camera with me so I snapped this shot with my iPhone 4 hrough my windshield on a two-lane cut-through road between the well-travelled Rte 29 and the Silverado Trail.

I pulled over about a mile down the road, got out my notebook and wrote under the shade of a row of olive trees. The thing about moving -- and committing to staying on in wine country is that you get reminders every day why the choice is such a natch. I guess the day I get sick of the view will be the day I move somewhere else. Not expecting that to happen anytime soon.

365 Photo Project - Day 164

Taken: June 13, 2010, approx. 6:30 p.m.
Location: St. Helena, Ca.

This is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. His name is Kana and he's a good friend's son. I've talked about him before here, about his love for baseball about his generous spirit and his excellent advice on dealing with the blahs (think about kittens).

I talk on the phone regularly with maybe four or five people, my parents among them. Kana is on that very short list. He calls me once a week or so and while I can't always answer, I love hearing from him. He updates me on his new baseball cards and we talk about the latest sports stuff, trades, teams -- his Yankees, my Mets, the haps at school, dumb stuff. He makes me laugh. I used to have a really good friend who lived here in Healdsburg who I could talk about sports with but he moved back East and now Kana is the one person who will listen to me blabber on about the Mets starting pitching. He has no idea the gift this is to me.

He's a very good kid and as you can see his rooting interests don't just reside in New York (he's had that jersey since before the Celtics won in 2004). He has a winning smile and a good and wonderful heart. Of course 99.9 percent of the credit goes to his very cool (and at the moment very pregnant) Mom. Those good looks too.  I'm just happy she shares that point one percent with me. One thing I know: everybody could use a little Kana in their life.