It was a dry winter and June was a dry month. A lot of us farmers are worried about the lack of water. Still more folks are worried about fire danger. With water in mind, earlier this Spring I started collecting rainwater off the metal roof of my office building. We have been using it… (read more)
On a day like today with temperatures in the 90s, the best place to sit in the vineyard/garden is under the Filbert tree. It’s relatively cool and shady. And if you are some kind of a nut, like me, you will feel right at home. I originally thought that I should stop listing all the… (read more)
Preface: This is the eulogy that I gave on December 6th, 2019 at the funeral mass for my father, Joseph A. Barreca Sr. I wrote it with the intent of speaking to and for my brothers and sisters but there were many more who came to the funeral because they also wanted to pay their… (read more)
A lot of things happen when someone close to you dies that bring life into focus. One is that things you were worried about or in this case intended to write about, were not all that critical. Another is that writing is pretty safe and controlled compared to getting choked up and wanting to cry. … (read more)
It is over 40º right now for the first time in over a month. December and January were like Winter Lite. Local folks were scoffing at the weather back then. I’ll try to avoid that in the future, especially if it gets very hot and dry again. February came back with a vengeance. We have… (read more)
It is near the end of January and not everything is shutdown. Still it is nice to have some time to look to the future as snow and cold slow us down. I have a couple of essays planned on sewage sludge and holistic philosophy. (I knew you would be thrilled.) First here are topics… (read more)
It has been a long cold winter. But the sun is out and Spring is busting out all over. When we got back from an escape to Hawaii, there was still snow in the vineyard and in fact it was still snowing some days – but not sticking. That was a good time to take… (read more)
The Little Island It is unusual for us to take a full two week vacation, let alone to fly thousands of miles in the process. But we got a chance and we took it this spring to see the Big Island of Hawaii. But first we stopped by the little island of Alameda to see… (read more)
In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb. That’s the standard rap for March. It was actually something like that but it took it’s time getting to the lamb part. I was done with pruning and setting off on a road trip at this time last year. This year I am just getting going on… (read more)
In John Steinbeck’s last novel. The Winter of Our Discontent, titled from a line in Shakespeare’s play, Richard III, the protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley, turns in the Italian owner of the grocery store where he works to immigration so he can take over the business. More greed and deceit follows. Not a direct correlation to… (read more)
