freethoughtandmetaphor

Napa and its valley are known for wineries, and the territory lives up to expectations.  There are fields of grapes everywhere you look.  I even found a small plot of grapes in a small park in St. Helena, the town where our conference was held.

There was a vineyard across the street from where our conference met.  The first day I had time to wander over for a closer look, the plants looked much like the one in the park, the grapes tucked among the leaves.  The next day I went back with my camera and found this:

My guess is that this is to give the grapes more sun.  This would also make them easier to pick, but I think the savings in labor at that point would be balanced out by the work of pulling each laden vine down.

My hotel didn’t serve breakfast until 7:00, so I was often up and working on my writing assignments before then.  One morning I looked at the usually empty field outside my window and saw:

Though New Mexico is famous for its balloon events, I had never seen one being filled.  A slow process, requiring patience, and from the look of the number of people walking around, considerable co-operation and precision. 

I continued to watch until the balloon left the ground.   Two people remained behind to fold up the ground cloths which had protected the balloon from the dirt. 

By the time  I left for my workshop, I could find no trace of the balloon in the sky.