November / December 2011.   ~mike gradziel. to the index page
On New Year's Day, 2012, we managed to get up reasonably early and drove to Point Reyes to do a 9.5 mile walk out to the northernmost tip of Tomales Point, and back. There are herds of elk there, and nice ocean views. The only downside to the route is that once arrived at the rewarding land's end, you have to walk back for two long hours all the while looking across the narrow Tomales Bay at tasty oysters being barbecued on the far side of the water (ok you can't actually see the oyster barbecue, but it's there just across the bay almost within swimming distance). By the time we reached the car and drove 40 minutes around to the Marshall Store, the sun was about to set and the oysters were delicious - especially the ones with bacon and worcestershire, and others with spinach, cheese, and bread crumbs, hot off the grill.
We are back in California after almost a week back East, visiting family and friends. I finally took Joy for a walk up to the top of Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts which conveniently is about five miles walking from my parents' house, directly out the door and into the woods. This was also my first time up there with a digital camera (it's been eight years, actually!) so I came home with lots of great photos of the snowy trees and blue sky. The rest of the week was mostly gray brooding weather. We visited family in New York, then drove back to Boston to visit friends and eat pizza and other tasty things, wrapping up with a tour of the Sam Adams brewery where they develop new brews in small batches. They use Boston tap water, and then the large-scale production in Ohio and elsewhere has to chemically adjust the local tap water minerals, pH, etc. to match Boston water for a uniform product. Interesting, and tasty.
Joy suggested that we drive up to St. Helena on Saturday to see the Bale Grist Mill, thinking I would like it. Considering that I have a plot of wheat planted in the back yard, a hand-powered flour mill on my dining table, an interest in Old California, and a line of work that involves designing and manufacturing large gear-driven machinery, this restored and fully-functional water-powered grain mill was right up my alley. There was a big water wheel, several stages of 1880s-style gearing with oak wood teeth in iron wheels, belt-driven grain lifts, sifters, shakers, grain feeds, and twin millstones along with the equipment to adjust them and move them around. The thing still works, though the grain lifts and sifters aren't in use. I bought some flour and cornmeal freshly ground on quartzite millstones from France. While we were up that way, we stocked up on the new vintage of a favorite wine, ate chalupas and tamales at El Molino Central, and even managed to buy a bottle of white port at Prager an hour after they'd closed, which was really great since we didn't have a chance to stop in earlier. In the morning we checked out China Camp State Park, one of those slated to close next year, on the north shore of San Pablo Bay. It is a nice area of marshes and bluffs and mountain bike trails. If they really do close it, all that will mean is that trash will accumulate and the historic buildings will either fall apart or get vandalized, and then we taxpayers will pay even more to fix things up some day in the future. Not that the state actually has money now to do anything else.
Here are pictures of two different incidents involving fungi: first, preparing and eating a black truffle from Italy just to find out what all the foodie fuss is about at fine restaurants (yes, it's good, but so are lots of other local, widely available foods); next, some weekend trips to wine country and mushroom hunting in Santa Cruz.
Snow at the end of October was unusual for Massachusetts. I was there on business but had time to visit at home.
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