Grapeseat

A wet, mild California winter (rather the opposite of what the Bay Area is unfortunately currently experiencing) may make for a lovely view in wine country, but I’m not sure I’d want to stop at that particular seat… It looks like it has captured more than its share of the dampness of its environs.

Grapeseat

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence

To produce this 24-hour auto-changing desktop, I took pictures on our Lexington, Kentucky cottage’s front porch over the course of a day. Though some changes, like the clouds and sky, I expected, I was more surprised to see the variation in light reflected from the white roof of the porch over the course of the day.

Dawn

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence I: Dawn

Morning

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence II: Morning

Midday

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence III: Midday

Afternoon

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence IV: Afternoon

Dusk

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence V: Dusk

Blue Hour

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence VI: Blue Hour

Night

Kentucky Front Porch Sequence VII: Night

Gold and Green

Wine country in the fall is a little slice of heaven. The rain had passed, the last of the fogs and cloud were rolling past the distant hills, and the golden vines are drifting into hibernation for the colder season. Perhaps vineyards are the best combination of the sophisticated and the bucolic. If nothing else, the slightly artificial reality of Napa contrasts starkly with the slightly artificial urbanity of Berkeley.

Gold and Green

Across Autumn

In between the bouts of rain, we slipped up to wine country this weekend. Autumn is in full swing, and the fields of grape vines have turned to the perfect combination of reds and golds. It’s easy to get lost in those vines, for just a moment, until I popped my head up and took this picture. Across the sea of color, you can catch the hints of other vineyards and hills dotting the countryside.

Across Autumn

Sonoma Winery

The Napa and Sonoma vallies are just filled with an odd mixture of beautifully manicured lawns and working farms, sometimes even coexisting on the same property. This embodies the reality of viticulture, that it all starts in the fields.

Pictured here I’ve got a picture of the Ram’s Gate Winery on a beautiful spring day. The nice cloud detail and blue skies are contrasted with the simple architecture and field in a, I feel, particularly compelling manner.

Ram's Gate Winery