30th wedding anniversary travels

Patricia and I celebrated anniversary #30 on May 24.

I can report that a 30-year love affair is a fine thing - the best thing, I'm quite blessed.

Flew to San Francisco (photo along Golden Gate Bridge); lunch along the water in Sausalito (photo of PJ with San Francisco in background); then drove up to Sonoma Valley area. We had a delightful three-day stay at the Gaige House (photo) in Glen Ellen, California. Focused on relaxing, taking walks, finding interesting places to eat, and seeing a few Sonoma wineries. The hotel was a delight - including an evening reception and breakfast that we enjoyed on the patio (photo of PJ) each day. Just the kinds of things we like.

Enjoyed a tasting in the reserve room at Chateau St. Jean (three photos). Walked up to the Benziger winery one afternoon - a beautiful spot (two photos). Just spent a few hours on the Napa side on one of the days, it has gotten busy over there. But enjoyed lunch in Calistoga.

Had such a nice time at dinner on Saturday evening (Saffron, right in Glen Ellen (photo taken the "day after")) that the chef invited us to dinner at his house on Sunday (Saffron being closed that day). We didn't take up the offer. On 5/24, we had a wonderful dinner at Sante' at the Fairmont in Sonoma (lobster (photo); rabbit).

Then two days in San Francisco. Found a couple of our old favorites in Chinatown - Eastern Star Bakery and Oriental Pearl (photo). Walked for miles and miles on one of the days - hotel in Union Square, up Nob Hill (view to the east in photo), down through Chinatown (for a pork roll per usual), up to North Beach (espresso at Italian cafe), Telegraph Hill, Fisherman's Wharf (lunch; photo of PM with Alcatraz in background), then back down along the Embarcadero (where we encountered a Welsh Terrier named "Linus," per photo) with return to hotel. Vietnamese/French food at Le Colonial.

Last day: on-and-off rainstorms, which made a perfect opportunity to go to the DeYoung Museum - which was hosting an Impressionist exhibit with an opportunity to show works available because of construction at Musee d'Orsay.

These little trips are delightful. My wife is an excellent traveling companion.

Troubadour Reunion Tour

Patricia and I attended the "Troubadour Reunion Tour" in Glendale (Jobing.com Arena) on May 19. Paul Jr. and Nedda also went.

We had previously enjoyed seeing James Taylor in concert back in 2008. We were willing to listen to Carole King - but probably more concerned that she would eat up time better spent listening to JT. In the end, she almost stole the show - tremendous energy. Both were wonderful.

We decided it's highly, highly unlikely that we will ever enjoy a popular music concert as much as this one. Some reasons:

1. They can still perform. Their voices have deteriorated - he's 62 and she's 68 - but they still hit the notes, and probably communicate the music better than ever. Will they tour again? Not likely.

2. By design for this tour, they stuck to songs that are familiar. The performance lasted almost three hours, and they didn't come close to running out of songs that folks know and want to hear more of. Few others would have a catalog of that depth.

3. Just the mere overlap of time won't be duplicated - we liked these folks' music, a lot, going back 40 years. One of many nice things about getting older is that these things resonate in a way that wouldn't happen absent passage of time.

4. The two performers really get along - you can tell they appreciate each other as people, as professionals who helped each other at important career junctures decades ago, as musicians with overlapping and complementary styles etc. Of course the rapport could have been faked. But no one in this audience would have believed it.

5. And the main thing - the music was good. Much of this music will endure, at least to the extent any pop music endures. These folks could write, and they could (and still can) perform.

One of the annoyances of venue events these days is that a big chunk of the audience reflexively wants to be part of the show - scripted shrieking at every pause, ritual standing with arms waving, etc. That was not this audience. Often there was a quietness in the auditorium while folks just sat back and let the music envelope them; at song's end, the applause would start slowly and build and sustain - very unusual. Very non-ritual.

The video clip below is from a performance about a week prior to the one we attended - I include it because it gives a good sense of how this all came across.

For comparison I also include (at bottom) two 1971 videos featuring JT and CK. Last video has same bass player as in 2010 performance, just now has a longer (and whiter) beard.

Photos above are from the Glendale performance.

Revival of my (limited) ag skills?

I'm going to keep polishing my bean-walking skills after all. Full article here.

Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds

By WILLIAM NEUMAN and ANDREW POLLACK

Published: May 3, 2010

Heavy use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of herbicide-resistant weeds that could lead to higher food prices and more pollution.