Visiting and Reading

I thought I would never leave the house without my camera. When I lost or threw away the battery charger for my camera and bought one that is a strange size and hard to use, I sort of lost my confidence in the camera. Pretty silly. Because of this, I didn't have my camera when I went to visit my friend Rachelle and her charming husband, Jack.



So, trust me when I say that Rachelle looks fabulous. Her new life becomes her. I drove to their house at the end of the universe this Wednesday after work. What a great house! It is very liveable and spacious. I could have just stayed there and talked with them all night, but we went out to dinner. The food was good, the company was great. I promise that next time I won't have a martini after a long day at work. None-the-less, I got home at 10:30 in one piece. It was a long day, but it made me happy to see an old friend living the life that she has always wanted and deserved.

I have been reading in the midst of traveling and visiting friends. This has been all non-fiction all the time. I just finished Born on a Blue Day about a young British man with Asperger's Disease, a type of high functioning autism that is also known as an autistic savant. Rainman was about this type of person. The thing about the book that is he wrote the book himself. It's so interesting to see what it feels like to view the world through a completely different prism. He has an fantastic vocabulary and understanding of language, so the book is well written. But he is just learning about emotions and relating to the people around him. The book would seem flat at times because of that, but even when it is flat, he offers a totally different perspective to living.

Let's talk about a totally different perspective to living. Since I had spent such a wonderful time in Sonoma celebrating my birthday, I thought it would be interesting reading about one of the first families of wine country. 464 pages later, I have read about the Mondavis; I know everything there is to know about the Mondavis, more than anyone needs to know about a group of self-absorbed individuals. I seem to recall that they made good wine back in the day.

The most fun about the book was remembering how the Napa Valley and California wine was changing as I was. I remember when we started to make wine that could be drunk with a good meal instead of from a brown paper bag in the alleyway. Mondavi was instrumental in making that change happen. I suppose I should tell them thank you. I just wish they had enjoyed the trip as much as I did. All families have issues, mine certainly does. But we always love each other and have a place in our lives for even the whitest sheep. The Mondavis have rifts as big as the Grand Canyon. I didn't need 464 pages to appreciate my own family and the wine we drink, but it was thought provoking.