Oh, Deer and Other Flora and Fauna Incid...

Our extremely wet winter seems to have had an electrical impact, causing our electronic gates to malfunction with varying degrees of regularity. Two of those gates are to the deer-proof fence around the vineyards. The malfunction has been in the form of gates springing open after we’ve thought they’d closed behind us. Opening the gates to vineyards in deer country is like...

At Last! Something to Shoot

You may be aware of my recent gun purchase, which was a great milestone for someone who’s a registered Democrat from San Francisco. If so, you know I’ve recently hit most of the milestones: I made it through the 10-day waiting period, I picked out my “Grumpy Old Man with a Gun Persona”, and I loaded it up and took a few shots. I’ve even named my gun. In...

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Pro...

I’m back in San Francisco for a whirlwind round of Big City stuff: haircut, dentist appointment, DMV, etc. It also seemed like a good time to leave Sonoma to the birds and bees, coyotes and other mating critters. The Barn Swallows, which I’ve now discovered are actually Western Bluebirds, are trying to build nests in the eaves of the barn. And they’ve been very...

Happiness is a Warm Gun

Okay, I promised a gun post. And I know you’ve been locked in anticipation through the 10 day waiting period since I became the first Liberal in the history of Napa’s Last Gun Shop to walk through the door and buy a firearm. Well, I picked that gun up Sunday, but it’s taken me until now to process it all. I’m still not sure that I’m really a gun owner. Or...

What Happens When Liberals Buy Guns

Anyone who’s been following my blog knows I’ve been under pressure to buy a gun, mostly from the British contingent. As my friend Rob says, “You’re an American. It’s part of your culture.” The plan accelerated two years ago when Republican blog chatter started claiming Obama was going to clamp down on gun ownership. I’d never thought much...

Law & Order: Sonoma Victims Unit

As buccolic as I make Sonoma out to be, I’m not trying to say it doesn’t have crime or problems. It just seems we have a different kind of crime than the gritty urban crime I’m used to reading about in San Francisco and Oakland. Maybe I’m not clued in to the seamy underbelly of Sonoma, although I do try to keep up. The Crime Report in the Sonoma Index-Tribune...