#9 - January 26th, 2005

Well my 'working' week began last Tuesday with a flight down Yorkville way to spend an afternoon in the company of one of the Valley's finest shepherds, some eager young border collies, and a flock of ewes and new born lambs. Exciting, eh ?…Anyway, it was a beautiful day up in the highlands, "a perfect drinking day", I observed, but the shepherd had work to do with lambs tails to be docked and castrations to be performed so the beers remained on ice for later. Furthermore the ewes were also in no mood to relax and hang out in the sun. Their young lambs, some born that very day, needed protection from the attentions of the unrelenting and always attentive sheep dogs so it was an afternoon of farm work which confronted us…..
Three hours later it had all gone very well with no altercations between dog and sheep nor any of the potential chaos of a scattered flock all over the fields. The ewes and their lambs were in the corral and all that remained was to herd the remaining thirty or so sheep into a separate field where fresh grazing land awaited. It was at this point that one of the younger, inexperienced dogs went in too close and spooked the flock so they bolted up the steep terrain and over the top of the hill out of sight. The shepherd had two choices. He could struggle up the hill with his aging knees and give instructions to the dogs to herd the sheep back down or he could stand where he was, leaning on his crook, and send his top dog off alone to do the work he is bred to do without instruction. It had been an exhausting afternoon already so it came as no surprise when he chose the second option, although it might result in the sheep bolting further away if the dog made a mistake…With the dog at his heels he whispered, "On the sheep" and off the dog went, tearing up the hill in pursuit of his 'prey'…"Ya gotta like that !", I exclaimed…..
Ten minutes of silence ensued…Then at the brow of the hill, several woolly heads appeared and they were soon joined by more and in a matter of minutes the whole flock was heading down the hillside. Soon they were through the gate into the field, followed all the way by the ever watchful and extremely hard-working dog. It was a very welcome sight for the shepherd and he could not hide his delight. "That dog has saved my old knees time and time again. It's not like you see at County Fairs when a dog herds three sheep on flat land with fences all around. No, this is the real thing - a long way from beer tents and trophies, I can assure you"…As we sipped our beers looking down on to the Valley I had nothing but admiration for this marvelous combination of man and dog…….
Unusual Sightings in the Valley - Number 37….Last Wednesday afternoon I drove past two young women , well-dressed in their early twenties, each quite separate from the other about a mile apart, walking along the shoulder on Highway 128 in opposite directions. No vehicles were anywhere to be seen, they were not hitchhiking, there were no signs of distress, and thus no reason I could think of as to what they were doing. This is a far from common occurrence, and I figured that two attractive women walking alone along the Valley floor may need the assistance of a gallant Vulture so I turned back and pulled alongside one of them as she passed Gowan's Oak tree. I introduced myself as a 'local observer' and asked if I could be of any assistance. She thanked me and explained that she and another woman were scouting out the location with a view to possibly making an independent film here in the Valley. "What sort of film", I inquired, and all she would say was that it would be about the unique mix of people we have up here in Anderson Valley…I could get no further information out of her…..Oh, oh, is this a sign that the apocalypse is almost here ???
Moving on…..Now I know I am just a vulture to most of you but I do take a certain amount of pride in my appearance so it came to pass last Thursday that I felt the need for a visit to The Hair Station in downtown Boonville. The salon is owned and operated by Donna Gallo who does a wonderful job for nowhere near the prices of similar establishments in Ukiah and Fort Bragg. She has the support and custom of many people in the Valley, from the senior ladies to the young trend-setters. It's small but warm and friendly, and as Hummingbird commented, you might just come away from there looking, "quite handsome"…..
Another 'feel-good' place to visit is the Anderson Valley Farm Supply and the knowledgeable couple who work there - Dave and Nancy Gowan. They have words of wisdom on many topics concerned with country life, agriculture, and farming and do not hesitate to share their know-how. Furthermore, Nancy never fails to ask about your pets' well-being if she is aware of any problems and Dave gives more accurate weather forecasts than any 'experts' on the radio or radar-aided weather websites. It should also be noted that they have some of the county's best alfalfa hay, which is not really my 'cup of tea' but a number of close acquaintances of mine absolutely love it…..
Having laid low up in The Nest for most of the week after my excesses in the City the previous weekend, I decided to venture out on Friday evening and headed for a few pints of premium ale at the Anderson Valley Brewery Tasting Room. The beers were tasting particularly good and there was a good crowd in attendance, and it was not just the hard-drinking employees ! A large part of the crowd was made up of those often referred to as 'The Airport Crowd' on account of their tendency to either live near to the airport or their enjoyment of flying planes…or both. They enjoy a weekly get-together on most Friday nights, usually at The Buckhorn Saloon, but this week they had ventured a little further afield and seemed to have an excellent time. Obviously with their interest in flying we have much in common and I look forward to our next meeting and chat…..
Talking of meeting up with friends, it appears to be a characteristic of country life that so many conversations with friends and acquaintances, whether at the store, the post office, the gas station, etc., seem to end up with the phrase, "We must get together for dinner or something…" I'm sure that in most cases this is said with every intention of being carried out at some point in the near future. However, in my experience, and that of many others I believe, it frequently does not happen. Country life dictates that very often weeks, even months, may pass before you see that person again and at that point the same intentions are once more declared. What does this mean ? Are we genuinely trying to get together or is it just a throw-away line showing politeness ? Or perhaps it's just me ? I think I should be told either way…..
Finally, regular readers may have noticed that I tend to mention the topic of food in all my columns at some point - not surprising given my name I would think ! Therefore, to keep my reputation in tact I am not about to finish a column without mentioning this most important of subjects. So may I just mention that I really enjoy the commercials on The Coast radio station (KOZT - 95.3 FM) which give mouth-watering descriptions of the food on the menus of the various restaurants in and around the Valley. I'm not sure whether it's very effective marketing or I'm just 'easy' but, whatever it is, I do know that they make me just want to zoom down to Highway 128 and get myself something fresh to munch on…..Remember, eating out is fun……
Hungrily yours, Mr. Vulture.