Winter Hours: Open Fridays 4-6pm  

Okay, we are back after some Thanksgiving travel, plan to be open through December 22, and looking forward to seeing you.

It’s been a chilly week here on the Island…this photo was intended to show all the tiny raindrops aglow with light behind them…in any case,  it is starting to get soggy and dark around here…!

Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Fig Anise – One of the more popular breads in the rotation. Made with a sponge that is fermented overnight, then the final dough is mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Honey, dried figs and anise bring in all the flavors of the Mediterranean. – $5/loaf

Sesame Semolina -Begins with a sponge that ferments some of the flour, water & yeast before mixing the final dough. Made with semolina and bread flour as well as a soaker of cornmeal, millet and sesame seeds, a little olive oil rounds out the flavor and tenderizes the crumb.– $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and as if that wasn’t enough, topped with a chocolate glaze before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like. I can only make a limited number so be sure to get your order in early. –2/$5

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

This week’s wine tasting

Juggernaut Chardonnay ’21     Sonoma      $17
Aromas of apple, Asian pear and lemon meringue open to flavors of stone fruit, honeysuckle and yellow plum made rich and lingering using barrel fermentation and sur lie aging; finishes with notes of vanilla bean, and butter cream with hints of baking spices and clove.

Can Blau Can Blau ’20     Spain     $16
Aromas and flavors of cocoa bean and ripe, dark fruits and berries, a seamless texture, and long, silky finish that improves with aeration.

Phantom Red Blend ’20    WA   $17
Petite Sirah- Zinfandel blend delivers palate of dark blackberry and boysenberry with pepper notes and on a balanced structure with tantalizing layers of baking spices sandt velvety tannins.

Wine of the Week: Phantom Red Blend ’20    California     $17

The Bogle winery–  a group of wineries these days– is a stone’s throw west of the Sacramento River, and about equidistant from Sacramento and Lodi in the Sierra foothills. It’s a big outfit, with 2000 acres of vineyards, a constellation of wine labels, and local roots tracing back to a Civil War vet and his nephew who moved to the area in the 1870’s. They grew orchards which they farmed until the Depression made them tenant farmers in nearby Clarksville. Over succeeding decades they planted vineyards, and now have an extensive portfolio of vineyards and wine labels.

“Each lot of grapes that goes into our Phantom program is hand selected from the multiple vineyards we have,” says Director of Winemaking Eric Aafedt. “We are looking for the grapes with notable quality and character to create a ‘reserve’ tier of wines.”

The best grapes are selected for the Phantom wines, and spend an extra year in 1- and 2-year-old American & French oak,” says Eric. “This time in the barrel creates a deeper concentration, a subtler touch of tannin and a richer mouthfeel for the wine.”

Phantom also has a unique and personal story to its name…”Bogle” is the Scottish word for “ghost.” Legends tell of a Phantom that stalked the hillsides of Scotland, only to travel to the New World and settle with the Bogle’s here in California. Today, sightings continue to occur at the family’s winery.

Economics of the Heart: Matters of Honor Revisited

While browsing through some old posts we found this one from October of 2019, shortly before the first Impeachment trial of the Tweetster, We all recall the circumstances that led to it: his attempts to coerce Ukrainian President Zelensky into starting a bogus investigation of Hunter Biden as a way to discredit his most likely opponent in the 2020 Presidential election. Instead it precipitated an investigation which led to the Tweetster’s first Impeachment trial in the U. S. House of Representatives in December, 2019.

It is a bit of a shock to see that those issues from four very long years ago remain essentially the same today. If anything, the unethical and self-serving conduct of our so-called “Head of State” (no, not where he  disposed of documents), and the all-too-willing closing of ranks of Congressional Republicans around the tangle of false narratives that excused him from accountability.

What follows is the original essay from four years ago— before Covid, before the 2020 campaign, election, Capitol Riot, Big Lie, Second Impeachment, year-long House investigation, the Four Felony Indictments, and the never-ending stream of Alternative Facts from pretty much every Congressional Republican. As Liz Cheney points out in her newly released book (yes, she IS greasing the rails for her own run for the White House), they all still support the Big Lie, the elevation of an Authoritarian Church over the Constitution, and disenfranchisement of vast numbers of Americans from any right to vote and have their vote counted.

for all that has happened, precious little has changed; see below post from four years ago…

October, 2019

We find ourselves unconsciously contrasting the apparent character of some of the players in the current News Cycle– the Tweetster, Secretary Pompeo, Senator Graham, and Ambassador Taylor among them. And in particular we are musing on the apparently archaic notion of “honor,” most eloquently described in a short paragraph written in 1899 by John Walter Wayland, an historian from Virginia, in his winning response to a contest conducted by the Baltimore Sun looking for the best definition of a True Gentleman. He wrote:

“The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.”

These days we rarely speak of “gentlemen” in these terms or any other, or think much about character, honor, loyalty, service, or grace. Yet when we think about the values enshrined in our Constitution, we see the same principled aspirations. And it used to be comforting to imagine our nation would always choose leaders who would embrace these values in their dealings with us, with each other, and with other nations.

Ambassador Taylor stands out to us as personifying these values over some fifty years in the military and in foreign service, demonstrating by his actions a firm stand on principle. In contrast, Secretary Pompeo, like Taylor was a distinguished West Point graduate and military veteran. But unlike Taylor he has chosen to compromise his honor and  principles by witnessing and going along with the Tweetster’s extortion attempt on the Ukraine President, and now dissembles about it, when he has been trained to know that an evasive statement is as dishonest as a Lie. He should have heeded Michael Cohen’s advice, that the Tweetster would Drag them all Down as he did Mr. Cohen. We confess some disappointment with Pompeo’s choices.

Mr. Graham, in contrast to both, is typical of an entire class of contemporary politicians, who can assert one thing today and its exact opposite tomorrow if that is what expediency demands. If Pompeo’s honor is in tatters, Graham’s (and many others) have none and have no idea what it is or what is means. All exigency orbits around a single idea: remaining in power at all cost.

Finally there is the Tweetster himself, a bizarre melding of bete noir and enfant terrible, a man who is completely incapable of telling the truth about Anything, as if some traumatic childhood experience taught him that his Emotional World Would End (like Daddy disapproving or Mommy disappearing…?) if he admitted Anything about Anything. “Honor” is to him, like a Hurricane at sea, “most devoutly to be eschewed,” because it would surely lead to unbearable Pain. Instead, like all psychopaths, he has a gift for telling people what he instinctively knows they want to hear so much they will compromise their values to hear it…as every con man does, and as Michael Cohen warned.

At the moment we have Republicans falling over themselves trying to court the Tweetster’s favor, as if they are in some kind of trance. If his astonishing betrayal of the Kurds, strongly suggesting a deliberate and treasonous collusion to help Russia and Turkey, isn’t enough to terrify his disciples enough about the implications of Another Term to call them to Action, things could get Really Ugly Really Soon.

….and so they have, and Republicans are just beginning to show some tentative inching away from the Tweetster as evidence against him mounts

SORRY, CLOSED NOVEMBER 24-25

Well, Thanksgiving being what it is, with the joys and busy-ness of family gatherings, there has not generally been much interest — or energy– in adding more social contact.

Therefore we are taking the weekend off as well.

Wine shop hours returning to normal next weekend with Bread Friday and maybe even Saturdays for December.

Friday Bread Returns Next Week

No bread orders or deliveries this weekend.

If you are already on the mailing list you should receive the bread/pastry menu for next week by email on Sunday.

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Happy Post- Thanksgiving Relaxation!

Hoping all of you in our extended wine shop family are enjoying a warm and cozy Thanksgiving weekend, and looking forward to seeing you again next weekend!

SORRY, CLOSED NOVEMBER 17-18

With regrets, we will not make it home in time to open this weekend. Sorry for any inconvenience. Also, historically we have been closed the weekend after Thanksgiving (and there will be no bread Friday next week), but we will confirm one way or another in next week’s post.

Meanwhile, Janice will be able to help with any “wine emergencies” during bread pickup on 11/17.

(photo from Grayland Beach)

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Dried Cranberry Walnut – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled buckwheat and whole wheat flours. Orange juice and olive oil are a unique combination in this bread that add flavor and keep a soft crumb, then loaded up with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Makes great toast– $5/loaf

Flax Seed Currant Ciabatta – Made with an overnight poolish that ferments some of the flour and water before being mixed with bread flour, whole wheat, and rye flours,  flax seeds, and dried currants. A lot of water makes for a very slack dough that is just cut into pieces, for a really flavorful artisan loaf – $5/piece

and pastry this week…

Chocolate Croissants – A traditional laminated french pastry made with a bit of sourdough and another pre-ferment to help strengthen the dough to create the traditional croissant’s honeycomb interior, rolled out and shaped with delicious dark chocolate in the center. – $5/loaf

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of you in our extended wine shop family a warm and cozy Thanksgiving, and looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Hours this weekend: Open Friday 4-6pm  

  NOTE: WE WILL BE CLOSED NOV 11-12!

This week’s wine tasting

Juggernaut Chardonnay ’21     Sonoma      $17
Aromas of apple, Asian pear and lemon meringue open to flavors of stone fruit, honeysuckle and yellow plum made rich and lingering using barrel fermentation and sur lie aging; finishes with notes of vanilla bean, and butter cream with hints of baking spices and clove.

Tacchino Buongiorno Rosso ’18     Italy      $16
Aromas of dark cherry, cranberry, and slate with hints of white blossom and smoke; nicely balanced, with good structure, integrated acidity, and
bright fruit, with lingering finish.

Vall Llach Embruix Priorat ’17       Spain      $26
Blend of grenache, merlot, syrah, carignan, and cab from 7 to 30-yr-old vines on medium and steep slopes; alluring aromas of ripe plums, fresh black pepper and clove. Intense,  concentrated, lush, and round on the mid-palate with notes of chocolate-covered cherries and soft black licorice on the finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Multi Grain –  Uses an overnight preferment of flour, water, salt, & yeast that begins enzymatic activity and gluten development overnight in a cool environment, before mixing with bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and rye, plus cornmeal, flax, sunflower and sesame seeds added for a nice bit of crunch and extra flavor. $5/loaf

Rosemary Olive Oil – Made with bread flour with freshly milled whole wheat for additional flavor and texture, while fresh rosemary from the garden and olive oil make for a nice tender crumb and a crisp crust. – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Traditional Croissants – Made with both a sourdough levain and a prefermented dough – aka “old dough”– where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough is then made with more flour, butter, milk and sugar, laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional french croissants. –2/$5

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Wine of the Week: Tacchino Buongiorno Rosso ’18     Italy      $16

Economics of the Heart: Madison’s Real Originalism

James Madison

The Federalist Society is supposedly all about the philosophy of James Madison, one of the principal architects of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Federalist Papers. The “Originalism” extolled by Far Right jurists is ascribed to Madison, and their interpretation of his philosophy has become the guiding rationalization for the Christian Nationalist movement which has taken over the Republican Party lock, stock, firing pin, and barrel.

It has been supported for at least two decades by trainloads of political buying power supplied in abundance by deep-pocketed right-wing billionaires; the wonderful people who have infested our nation with the Maga movement; the most anti-democratic Supreme Court money can buy; the ongoing war against women, people of color, and the environment; and now a House majority of bickering adolescents playing at being in Congress.

The recent giddy selection of Christian Nationalist Mike Johnson as House Speaker underlines the hypocrisy of the GOP’s interpretation of Madison’s “orginalism” as its guiding legislative principal. Johnson has asserted that “all you need to know about me is in the Bible,” and that the framers “clearly did not mean…to keep religion from influencing issues of civil government. To the contrary, it was meant to keep the federal government from impeding the religious practice of citizens… to protect the church from an encroaching State, not the other way around.”

Folks, this is Newspeak Doublethink stuff right out of 1984, from a baby-faced guy who is right now two heartbeats away from being President. So yes, we should all be Very Afraid.

Given this dystopian backdrop it was with some considerable relief this morning to be reminded in Heather Cox Richardson’s daily email “Letters from an American” that James Madison not only never supported such views, but on the contrary, said a great deal about why the government and religion must be kept apart, and why “men had a right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.” Indeed, Madison considered this “right of conscience” to religious practice the same right which justified the whole idea of representative government, saying in Federalist #51, “In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.”

Richardson explores these ideas more deeply in this interesting video from Salon.com. She has the historian’s confidence that things are always changing, going in and out of balance according to some set of social re-balancing mechanisms. Today’s takeaway is that we humans make our collective political pendulum swing, and democracy is so far the most effective organizational template for mutual well-being. There’s only one boat, we are all in it, and we need to work together.  

In the midst of the chaos of Republican politics, fake news, and social media, it is curiously comforting to see that all of this nonsense about “Madisonian Originalism” and the twisted laws and Supreme Court decisions put in place in its name to favor the rich over the poor, Christianity over other faiths, business interests over citizen interests and environmental quality, and the brutality of prejudice over mutual respect have just been carefully scripted shams that work for awhile and then won’t.

Madison liked systems to be in balance. Good idea.

Hours this weekend

Open Friday 4-6   

This week’s wine tasting

Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc  ’21      France     $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon,with a lingering palate of rich white peach.

Jordanov Vranec ’20    Macedonia   $12
Aromas of ripe berries with notes of clove, nutmeg and cardamom. In the mouth it is full bodied with ripe dark fruit and hints of herbs with a noticeable dark chocolate edge on the well-structured finish. Enjoy with cheese, beef, lamb dishes or grilled sausage.

Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’20      Washington    $27
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Pain au Levain – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat and rye flours. After building the sourdough and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. A great all around bread – $5/loaf

Pain Normand – a bread that brings in the flavor of french Normandy region which is known for its apples. Made with some fresh milled whole wheat and rye flours as well as bread flour then mixed with apple cider as well as dried apples, for a delicious artisan bread! – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Pumpkin Spice Muffins–  Topped with a streusel made with butter, brown sugar and pumpkin seeds and filled with a cream cheese filling. Yum! (some have called these ‘crack muffins’ because they are so addictive – 4/ $5.

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Wine of the Week: Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’20      Washington    $27

Economics of the Heart: Intimations of Collapse

In “Collapsed Trestle Bridge on Northern Pacific Railroad, 1903 – Mullan, Idaho (38656465081)” by Steve Shook from Moscow, Idaho, USA is licensed under CC BY 2.0. see larger view

In my imagination this week’s news might play something like this out in the Maine boonies, when an old fahmah comes home from the monthly trip to town for shoppin’ and shares the latest news with his wife…

“Heard we got ouhselves a new House Speakah in Congress, guy named Mike Johnson. “

“You don’t say.”

“Shuah do. People say he’s one o’ them Magat people that’s been causin’ so much trouble past several yeahs,  working behind the scenes to change the 2020 election results in a bunch of states. So the Magats love him, but  the public has mostly nevuh heard of him.”

“So what did people say?”

“Well, the Magat folks like him cuz he passes as a reasonable guy, while behind the scenes he’s quietly attacking our entire domocratic system at the foundations. They get theah Magat Ninja Speakuh, perfectly disguised as the boyish bookkeepuh down the street, while setting up the steal of the 2024 election for theah billionaih donahs.”

“Hmm…I just got one question… what possible good can come from that?

“Beats me, dahlin’…I ain’t a Magat.”

****

The reality is that our new Speaker has a lot more in common with Leonard Leo than with bombastic bomb throwers like Gaetz and Jordan. Press reports everywhere are outlining the dangers he has already posed to our democracy. Working behind the scenes, Johnson was instrumental in setting up legal challenges to the 2020 election results in several states and even bringing a case to the Supreme Court.

How scary is that? Rudy Giuliani with an actual working brain? Roger Stone with a House seat? We shall see. But on the face of it, he is every bit as worthy as everyone else to have been indicted in the Georgia election-rigging trial.

Meanwhile, the better news in recent days is the mounting evidence that the Georgia election-tampering trial, the Florida secret documents case, and the New York fraud case are not going well for the Tweetster, and the first rats are beginning to jump off his sinking ship…or as in the metaphor of the old photo above, of a 1903 train wreck in Idaho.

Hours this weekend

Open Fridays 4-6   

This week’s wine tasting

Girot Ribot Masia Parera Brut Rose Cava   Italy    $16
Delicate perlage, deep minerality, and intoxicating white flower and baby mushroom aromas make this wine memorable and delightful.

La Quercia Aglianico  ‘22    Italy   $14
Full bodied with notes of ripe plum and white pepper on smooth, fine-grained tannins. A lovely match with a wide range of savory dishes.

Masseria del Feudo Nero d’Avola Sicilia ’21 Italy    $19
“Cherry, plum, vanilla and toast make for a well-balanced wine of medium intensity that goes down smooth thanks to its soft tannins and silky consistency. It would pair beautifully with stewed meats or pork dishes.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Le Pave d’autrefois – Translates roughly as old paving stones, a ciabatta like bread with a lot of hydration so is simply divided into approximate squares – hence the paving stones name. Made with a mix of bread flour with fresh milled whole wheat, rye and buckwheat flours for hearty whole grain goodness. A great artisan bread -$5/loaf

French Country Bread – A levain bread made with mostly bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and and a bit of toasted wheat germ. After building the levain with a sourdough culture and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator. This really allows the flavor to develop in this bread. Not a refined city baguette, but a rustic loaf that you would find in the countryside.– 5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Individual Cinnamon Rolls – These are made with a rich sweet roll dough that is full of eggs, butter and sugar. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Then rolled up and sliced into individual rolls for baking. And boy are they delicious!! I can only make a limited number so get your order in early so you don’t lose out –

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Wine of the Week: La Quercia Aglianico  ‘22    Italy   $14

La Quercia vineyard in Abruzzo

Economics of the Heart: Rollerball, Leonard Leo, and a World in the Crosshairs

We have written before about the prescience of the 1975 sci-fi film Rollerball in imagining what a corporate autocracy of the future might look like. The basic story is that Jonathan, played by James Caan, has become so influential a global star in the violent game of Rollerball that he he has become a threat to corporate stability and is being involuntarily retired. In this scene (sorry, audio only) Jonathan (not the brightest bulb in the ceiling) is in the high-rise office of one of the handful of corporate leaders that run the world (played unforgettably by John Houseman with his deliberate, authoritative British diction). He briefly describes how the Majors (corporations) have replaced governments, eliminated poverty, war, and other inconveniences…”and all we ask in return– all we’ve Ever asked– is Not to Interfere with Management Decisions.  this scene

If we fast forward forty years to today’s world and the emerging blends of corporate power and government structure, mission, and control we see around the globe, we might wonder if national loyalty is being replaced with an array of corporate bottom lines. A recommended read on this topic is currently out in the latest edition of The Nation. The article explores in some detail how Leonard Leo, with the help of the billion-dollar deep pockets of the Marble Freedom Trust, has over the last few years weaponized the Federalist Society into “a coherent right-wing ideological network in the courts, not just at the highest level but also including the lower courts and district attorneys as well as Republican lawmakers.”

Mr. Leo has played a significant role in bringing a number of consequential cases before the Supreme Court that have chipped away at rules protecting the fairness of elections, the right to vote, and the voter redistricting process for legislative seats at all levels. He is personally responsible for the conservative lock of federal courts around the country, connecting high level appellate judges with billionaires for social engagements, travel, loans, and the rest, as we have seen particularly in the case of Justice Thomas, but with others as well. This is Corruption with a Capital C, folks, and has led to the erosion of voting rights, women’s health care rights, gun control, environmental protection…the list is long and growing. (Read more from Propublica .) No possible good will ever come from policies like that.

All of this comes up because so much of the world seems to have been going nuts for about thirty years now. Personally I blame business schools for taking the humanity out of everyday commerce and replacing it with various kinds of fake service. Everyone now knows that calling that 800 number for help with your corporate service accounts (phone, internet, doctors, hospitals, civil servants — you name it–) will begin with at least a five-minute menu to “help you route your call” correctly and probably end with frustration. We all know that when we have a problem with a product or service, what we really want is to talk with a real person.

At this point, Everyone knows this is all about businesses saving money on labor by substituting various bots to deflect your help call until you give up, and stealing many hours of your life to save the few cents it would cost to have a actual person answer the phone and direct your call in mere seconds…like my mom did as a switchboard operator in the fifties.

Or maybe it’s that the tiny fraction of the world’s population that owns nearly everything is already more powerful than most countries. So the King of Saudi Arabia can buy a Jared Kushner or Putin can buy a Donald Trump or a Xi Jinping can buy a Putin and get what they need to keep gaining more power and more wealth. As in Rollerball, the Corporations have no human values, only bottom lines. As long as everyone plays along, they are left alone. If they step out of line they are thrown out of the lifeboat– if they were lucky enough to be in one in the first place.

It is also clear that global population is growing faster than the ability of the world’s over-stressed resources to provide for them without killing the entire planet. So we don’t know what’s going to happen. But we can be pretty sure the .1% are not worried, and they can get along very well without most of us. Btw, that suggests a coming battle at some point between the forced birthers and the megarich who own everything as it becomes increasingly and painfully clear with each passing day that there are already way, way, way more  human beings on our tiny, beautiful planet than it can support. After, from the corporate standpoint, the easiest way to save the planet is to make about half the humans go away.

It’s not personal…it’s just, you know…business.

Hours this weekend

Open Friday 4-6  or…“anytime for wine emergencies!”

This week’s wine tasting

Limoux jmt-29, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

J. Laurens Cremant de Limoux      France   $16
Long before there was “champagne,” there was cremant de Limoux,  a little area SW of Carcasonne a sparkling wine with a creamy mousse texture, notes of baked apple, prune, and yeasty minerality.

The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvèdre Viognier ’18      South Africa    $12
Aromas of ripe plums, red currants, violets, Italian herbs and exotic spices lead to vibrant flavors of darker berries and spicy plum with hints of orange peel that linger on a juicy finish. Also way over-delivers for its modest price!

Marchetti Villa Bonomi Conero Riserva    ’19      Italy       $27
100% Sangiovese from Montepulciano, aged 16 mos. in barriques and 12 mos. in bottle; shows intense floral bouquet, intense, nuanced      flavors; ripe, pleasing tannins, and satisfying finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Seeded Multi Grain Levain – Made with a sourdough culture and using a flavorful mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A nice mixture of flax, sesame sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some oatmeal adds great flavor and crunch. And just a little honey for some sweetness. A great all around bread that is full of flavor – $5/loaf

Polenta Levain – Also made with a levain in which the sourdough starter is fed and built up over several days, then mixed with bread flour and polenta in the final dough mix. This is not the sweet corn cranberry bread that I have done in the past that is enriched with milk and butter, this bread is a nice rustic loaf with great corn flavor. – 5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Gibassiers – A traditional french pastry that incorporates the flavors from the southern France region. Made with a delicious sweet dough full of milk, butter, eggs and olive oil. The addition of orange flower water, candied orange peel and anise seed bring great flavor to these pastries. After baking they are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with more sugar. Ooh La La a delightful pastry to go along with your morning coffee or tea.

Island Bakery has developed a lengthy rotation cycle of several dozen breads and pastries. Each Sunday Janice emails the week’s bread offering to her mailing list. Orders received before Wednesday will be available for pickup at the wine shop each Friday from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Go to Contact us to get on the bread email list.

Wine of the Week: Marchetti Villa Bonomi Conero Riserva    ’19      Italy       $27

https://www.archives.gov/files/founding-docs

Economics of the Heart: Telling Truth from Lies

A lot of us old-timers well remember this lyric from the sixties, when social reaction to the Vietnam war, combined with the sudden widespread popularity of marijuana, created a youth counterculture, some great music, and widespread protest against the war. Timothy Leary neatly bookmarked the era with his beginning slogan (Tune in, Turn on, Drop out) and its sequel a few years later, “Question Authority, Think for Yourself.”

Events of 1968 were an abrupt wake-up call to some dark corners of the American body politic with the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in the prime of their intellectual and political lives, followed by the election of Richard Nixon to the Presidency. Still, in those days there were lots of liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, but with a lot of overlap. The Supreme Court was also balanced and prudent, news organizations generally reported actual facts, and  disagreements were mostly matters of degree and balance. Those balances made for a relatively functional government.

That all changed with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan as President, whose primary mission was rolling back the New Deal. He courted Southern Democrats with major drops in financial assistance to the poor, the sick, the elderly, the insissues likeane, and minorities, and “throwing the welfare queens out of the lifeboat.” His budget director came up with “supply side” economics, an intellectually bereft theory that proclaimed that the rich were the real drivers of the economy because they reinvest their profits in new businesses that hire more workers, making the pie bigger for everyone.

Since the New Deal, the dominant macroeconomic model had been the widely accepted Keynesian theory that total demand of consumers is what drives an economy, as part of a circular flow in which households exchange labor for wages and spend their wages on the goods and services they produced, while business invested their sales in capital assets and hired workers to operate them. Everyone had a place. Reaganomics did indeed make billions of dollars for corporations and wealthy stockholders, but from 1980 to the present wealth and income became more and more skewed toward the richest Americans. In today’s world, many CEO’s earn hundreds for every dollar a worker earns.

All of this came to mind while watching this interview last night on PBS with a representative from the Atlantic Council, a think tank in international affairs focused on maintaining international security and global economic prosperity across North America and Europe. These last eight years of the Tweetster (he of the 25,000 documented lies noted by the Washington Post) have, for millions of Americans, replaced truth with sloganized “alternative facts” that have muddied all waters, evaded two impeachments, and have kept our nation on edge for three years by pretending that he actually won the 2020 election. Even worse, millions of people still believe it! And that has been made possible by 24/7 carefully scripted 24/7 Fake News on Fox, social media, and talk radio. 

The interview conversation focused on organizations around the world which make a business of propagating false narratives for political reasons and asserting that there are all kinds of reasons why it is not generally illegal to lie in politics or in the press, while there can be liability. And that has brought our nation to this head-scratching place where a substantial portion of our population actually believes that the 2020 election was stolen, that Hunter Biden is more of a crook than the Tweetster, and even, as Nixon once asserted “if the President does it, it’s not illegal.”

It is hard to imagine how civilization can long endure in a world which makes no distinctions between truth and lies, fact and fiction, rules-conforming and rules-breaking. Until recently our laws have generally worked fairly well at making such distinctions. But it has all gone downhill since the Gingrich Republicans abandoned polity for shouting insults like five-year-olds. The problem seems to be that the Right gotten tired of playing by the rules, and as periodically happens in human history, some people are only okay when they have complete authority over everyone and will do anything to get it.

Along the same lines, CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) offers an interesting exploration of the related issue of Deciding who decides which news is fake, including issues like: 

• how abuse of media laws by authoritarians around the world is a clear warning against government regulation of information,
• to avoid the privatization of censorship, any self-regulation by tech companies must be transparent, subject to independent oversight, and include a path to remedy for those affected;
• how the increasing intrusion of misinformation and propaganda in domestic media are damaging existing democracies in places including the U.S. and U.K. by interfering in domestic politics like US elections and the British referendum on Brexit.

Bottom line: Democracy can only persist when the people share a set of common values and agree to the set of rules everyone will follow to make it work. 

Fall Hours begin this weekend:

Open Friday 4-6

This week’s wine tasting

morning moonset over Orcas

Phantom Chardonnay ’21  California  $15
Entices with its rich layers of green apple and pear that lead into spicy flavors of freshly baked apple pie, while barrel fermentation imparts a creamy, luscious mouthfeel finishing with sweet notes of vanilla and melted caramel.

Quinta Do Vallado Douro Red ’14          Portugal            $16
Blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional,Tinta Roriz, Sousão; lovely, floral black cherry and black currant fruit;  supple yet structured with notes of pepper, meat, and a lovely herbal twist.

Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon ’17        Oregon      $27
Classic Columbia Valley cab– dark, well-balanced, food friendly, and age-worthy. “We easily could have vineyard-designated any of the components of this Cabernet; we chose instead to blend it into this gorgeous wine. You will rarely experience a wine this good that costs this little!”

NO Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Sorry, as all of you on the bread mailing list already know, our baker has conflicting obligations this week, so (sniff)  NO bread Friday this week. 

Wine of the Week: Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon ’17        Oregon      $27

The Sineann Winery is located just across the road from Oregon’s Champoeg State Park. We generally pop in to taste wine several times a year when we are visiting the park with our trailer. We still have a handful of these from our visit last year.

The winemaker gives it a glowing  description:

Our 2017 Columbia Valley Cabernet is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, and only Cabernet Sauvignon, from Phinny Hill Vineyards.We easily could have vineyard-designated any of the components of this Cabernet, but we chose instead to blend it into this gorgeous wine.  You will rarely experience a wine this good that costs this little!

This wine is classic example of what a well-crafted Columbia Valley Cab can be – dark, well-balanced, food-friendly, will age very well, and a great value!

Economics of the Heart: Suicide By Plastic

courtesy opb.org

For several years PBS has been doing specials on how billions of tons of plastic have been created by the global petroleum/chemical industry. We old-timers remember vividly this passing scene in 1967 film The Graduate in which the young Dustin Hoffman character was pulled aside for some advice about a career…in Plastics. Well, as we all know, the fellow’s prediction was absolutely true: the plastics industry would take off and take over the world. Sure, it has made a lot of people very rich, turned a lot of little kids’ rooms into Lego-riddled mine fields, and made $gazillions for a giant industry. But at what cost?

Over the next several decades plastic bags replaced paper ones, followed by plastic car interiors, bottles, dishes, trash cans, dinnerware, straws…pretty much anything could be and therefore has been made of the stuff. And it will last virtually forever, even millions of years after the grinding wheels of time turn it all to powder, each molecule will still be intact. And for the most part, it was curiously cheap to produce (if you don’t count the environmental damage), cheaper than paper, leather, glass, you name it, all quite magical, all these wonders from just your basic hydrocarbons made from, you know, old dead things from a very long time ago.

While a bunch of us started being concerned about these trends by the early seventies, the petroleum industry hadn’t yet even shifted into second gear. A glance at this chart shows that plastic production has been steadily accelerating– increasing at a slightly increasing rate –for the last seventy years, passing five hundred million tons per year in 2020. So if you want to figure out how much plastic has been made from the beginning, you have to add all those annual production numbers since 1950, visually represented by the area under the curve, a total of around 160 billion tons of the stuff. All of is still sitting around us on our dear planet’s surface, in our air, in our waters all over the globe, and in our bodies. 

Awareness and concern about the increasingly visible costs of pollution grew in the sixties, ushered in the first Earth Day in 1971, and became a factor in how a lot of us chose our college and grad school majors– in my case marine resource economics. Still, though the early seventies saw a lot of progressive ideas and accomplishments, the decade became politically more and more cool toward environmental awareness and concern, ultimately ushering in forty years of Reaganism, during which all attempts at environmental maintenance and improvement met fierce opposition from the Reagan Right.

About fifteen years ago, when  I was involved for a couple of years with designing some pilot courses as a basis for a new Institute of Sustainability at WWU,  I was introduced to this charming video from the Story of Stuff Institute and the Tides Foundation. This film was an engaging introduction to the field of environmental economics, which has “inconveniently,” as Al Gore put it, told the truth about the fact that, for example, a large proportion of GNP, which Business insists is the Holy Grail we want to maximize, includes a lot of costs to our health, our ecosystems, our waters, habitats, and the rapidly escalating destruction we are seeing from ever intensifying fires, winds, floods, tornadoes, landslides, heat waves, and sea level rise from global climate change.

By 2020 and we were seeing scenes all over the world like this one of a sea turtle with a discarded rod (plastic?) up its nostril, the cost of just one tiny bit from the millions of tons of plastic waste building up all over the world’s lands and waters and accumulating in the food chain.

PBS has produced a number of videos in recent years, as this search reveals.

Hours this weekend:

Open Friday & Saturday,  September 29-30, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting

Norway maple

Clos St. Magdeleine Cassis Blanc  ’21    France    $36
40% Marsanne, 30% Ugni blanc, 25% Clairette, and 5% Bourboulenc; Rich aromas with salty traces of garrigue and peaches; full and fleshy on the palate with a savory minerality, a cleansing, salty-stony flavor and, and  a honeyed, dry finish. Unique and delicious!

Marietta Old Vine Red    ’22     California 
Zinfandel-based red blend from Geyserville with lovely bright plum fruit, dark and focused notes of briar and black tea, a perfect balance of big flavor and vibrant sophistication, with medium body, mouth of sweet spice and velvety tannins to pair with almost any meal or occasion.

Pomum Red  ’18     Washington    $18
50% Cab Sauv, 25% Cab Franc, 22% Merlot, 3% Carmenere from Pomum’s Konnowac  vineyard; aromas of red fruit-leather and exotic spices; flavors of black cherry, cranberry, and garrigue; a long-time favorite here at the wine gallery; fermented in small fermenters and sat on the skins in  clay Tinajas for 12 months before being pressed.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Kamut Levain – Kamut, aka khorasan wheat, is an ancient, protein-rich grain discovered in a cave in Iran in the 70’s that many people who can’t tolerate wheat find more digestible. This bread is made with a levain that is fermented overnight before being mixed with with bread flour and fresh milled whole kamut flour. It has a nutty, rich flavor and makes a golden color loaf.  – $5/loaf

Barley & Rye w/ Pumpkin Seeds – Made with a levain that is fermented overnight before the final dough is mixed with a nice mix of bread flour and fresh milled rye, barley and whole wheat flours. Some buttermilk makes for a tender crumb, honey for sweetness and toasted pumpkin seedsfor flavor and texture. – $5/loaf.

and pastry this week…

Pain aux Raisin – made with the same laminated dough as croissants. The dough is rolled out, spread with pastry cream and sprinkled with a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries that have been soaked in sugar syrup. Rolled up and sliced for baking. These are my favorites! As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in early – 2/$5

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week: Marietta Old Vine Red ’22

This wine is billed as a sort of a “field blend,” but not exactly. A true field blend is when several varietals are planted in the same vineyard and exposed to the same soil, climate, and water conditions over the same growing season, and can be harvested, crushed, fermented, aged and blended together.

OVR a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Sirah, and Syrah from different vineyards near Geyserville (California) near the north end of the Dry Creek Valley, and “field blend” is a bit of a misnomer. Also, we know nothing about the differences among the vineyards these varietals come from, but whatever we call it, it is a festive and enjoyable wine at a modest price.

Predominantly Zinfandel, this wine combines hand selected fruit from multiple vineyards, resulting in a unique, bright red wine with solid structure. For decades the groundbreaking combination of grape varieties and multiple vintages in this wine has set the bar and blazed the path for red blends all throughout North America.

Marietta Old Vine Red ’22
A pleasantly bright and lively red wine, plump with blackberries and black cherries. Secondary notes of wild mint, dusty earth and alluring hints of mocha; comforting and familiar, ago-to wine for all occasions.

Economics of the Heart: The War on Critical Thinking

Every creature has some form of sensory discrimination that allows it to survive. We are gifted with a unique nervous system that lets us tell this from that, one from two, gray from black, mine from yours, and right from wrong. Our ability to think, especially to think critically, depends entirely on our ability to observe and make meaning from differences in quantities and qualities of the world around us, and to communicate about them with each other through language. 

The abilities to differentiate and reason are the primary characteristic of critical thinking. We all have the sensory ability to discriminate tastes (salty, sweet, sour), feelings (pleasant, unpleasant), and numbers (more, less), and the cognitive ability to tell truth from lies and fact from fiction. We can also form ideas, execute plans, and evaluate and learn from the results. These abilities constitute what is generally known as “critical thinking,” and is the whole point of maturation in general and education in particular.

The most detailed model for the development of intellectual maturity was put forth by William Perry from data gathered back around 1960. Perry’s research found that in general, a student’s college experience could be viewed as “an intellectual Pilgrim’s Progress” in which the student’s way of thinking evolved through four “stages” from a world of binary choices into a world of complex contexts with which to differentiate ever more nuanced distinctions.

Perry observed that beginning college students generally began at Level 1, Duality, a world of opposites: (right/wrong, good/bad). With study and reflection, that view gradually broadened over a couple of years to Multiplicity, which opened a space to hang out with the curious uncertainty of “don’t know for sure.” Over time these broaden to Mode 3, a relativistic layer of “it depends.” The evolution to Level 4, as it turns out, is then a major developmental step in critical thinking with “a fundamental transformation of one’s perspective from a vision of the world as essentially dualistic, to a world as essentially relativistic and context-bound with relatively few right/wrong exceptions.”

The Big Takeaway here is that human beings have been shown to hang out at Levels 1-2 until they learn otherwise from increasing age, education, and/or experience. Which brings us to Maga Republicans. Who are they? According to a study from UW, they have the following characteristics, and they are a mortal threat to our democracy.

• Demographics: MAGA supporters are older, Christian, retired men,  the same base as the Capitol riots, with about half middle-class by income, and 1/3   by education.
• Geography: From every state, in proportion to population density from urban to rural;
• Affiliations: 85% support gun rights; 60% support both charities and pro-police groups; 50% support pro-life groups; 38% ‘stop the steal’ ; 23% pro-militia movement;
• Political Activism: Over 75% have signed a petition, contacted representatives, or boycotted, 60% donated $, 50% attended meetings or rallies; nearly 100% voted in every election; nearly all distrust 2020 election results, and believe that voting is too easy.
• Pandemic and Paranoia: 90% agree: COVID rules over-reactive, COVID a Chinese bioweapon, Trump honest about pandemic.
• Race: Large majority disagree that slavery made upward mobility or achieving their potential more difficult for blacks, while agreeing blacks would be doing as well as whites if they tried and should work their way up like other minorities.
• Gender: Large majority agree women interpret innocent remarks as sexist, seek special favors, make unreasonable demands of men, and seek more power than men.
• Immigration: majority believe immigrants change our culture for the worse and break more laws. 

The UW analysis ends with this:  “These findings are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We have much more to share. For us, the implications are clear: our country is in grave danger since one of the two major parties is essentially captured by the MAGA movement. We invite you to draw your own conclusions from these preliminary findings.”

All of this reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago that seems to capture our present predicament.

Picture an old man sitting on a park bench feeding the “pigeons” from a bag of popcorn. Among the pigeons is a man wearing a very unconvincing fake beak and fake wings to whom the man keeps throwing popcorn, while a concerned passerby is whispering into the old man’s ear, “Sir…that man is making a fool of you!”  Well, Maga is the fake bird, and it is making fools of everyone who still believes it is operating in their interest.

Today’s insight is that everything about Maga is an all-out attack on Critical Thinking and the Truth. And without critical thinking, a lot of it, with a firm focus on restoring climate stability with the cooperation of every living person, every living thing on our planet may be doomed. Seriously…this is not a drill.

Hours this weekend:

Open Friday & Saturday,  September 21-22, 4-6 pm

– Mike in his Island Parade clown suit!

This week’s wine tasting

Ryan Patrick Rock Island Chardonnay ’20        Washington       $16
Aromas and flavors of wildflowers, crisp apples, honey, and cinnamon roll with a round, crisp,  body and a graceful finish of sumac-spiced croutons.

La Atalaya del Camino ’20   Spain     $15
Intense aromas, fruit, and elegance on the nose with a distinct spiciness and a touch of floral notes. Rich and meaty structure, with rich dark fruits and hints of spice. Smooth and pleasant long finish.

Phantom Red Blend ’20    WA   $17
Petite Sirah- Zinfandel blend delivers palate of dark blackberry and boysenberry with pepper notes and on a balanced structure with tantalizing layers of baking spices sandt velvety tannins.

NO Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Whole Wheat Levain – Made with a sourdough starter that is built up over several days before a levain is made and fermented overnight in the refrigerator. This long slow process allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing; it has a ‘toothy’ crumb, great texture and flavor and a nice crisp crust.  – $5/loaf

Semolina w/ Fennel & Raisins – A levain bread made with bread flour, semolina and some fresh milled whole wheat. A little butter for a tender crumb and fennel seeds and golden raisins round out the flavors that go really well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Brioche Almond Buns – Made with a delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Rolled out and spread with an almond cream filling. The almond cream is not made from pre-made almond paste, but rather is a delicious creamy filling made with lots more butter, sugar and eggs as well as almond flour. Yum! – 2 /$5

Wine of the Week: Phantom Red Blend ’20    California     $17

The Bogle winery–  a group of wineries these days– is a stone’s throw west of the Sacramento River, and about equidistant from Sacramento and Lodi in the Sierra foothills. It’s a big outfit, with 2000 acres of vineyards, a constellation of wine labels, and local roots tracing back to a Civil War vet and his nephew who moved to the area in the 1870’s. They grew orchards which they farmed until the Depression made them tenant farmers in nearby Clarksville. Over succeeding decades they planted vineyards, and now have an extensive portfolio of vineyards and wine labels.

“Each lot of grapes that goes into our Phantom program is hand selected from the multiple vineyards we have,” says Director of Winemaking Eric Aafedt. “We are looking for the grapes with notable quality and character to create a ‘reserve’ tier of wines.”

The best grapes are selected for the Phantom wines, and spend an extra year in 1- and 2-year-old American & French oak,” says Eric. “This time in the barrel creates a deeper concentration, a subtler touch of tannin and a richer mouthfeel for the wine.”

Phantom also has a unique and personal story to its name…”Bogle” is the Scottish word for “ghost.” Legends tell of a Phantom that stalked the hillsides of Scotland, only to travel to the New World and settle with the Bogle’s here in California. Today, sightings continue to occur at the family’s winery.

Mar a Lago Update: Climate Change, Forced Birth, and Voting Rights

Chris Hayes’ program last night made an encouraging case, based on a 538 analysis, that the political outlook is likely much better than various pundits keep implying. We all hear the Maga voices stuck in a repetitive loop of far-fetched , baseless conspiracy theories and a chronic obsession with Hunter Biden. They have no data-based arguments to support their insane Alternative Facts that somehow prove the Tweetster won the 2020 election, that the only danger to our country is Wokeness, and all the rest of it. We all see and hear it blaring every day, all day.

Everyone recalls the general fear that the 2022 election was going to be a “Republican tsunami,” a massive popular rejection of all things Democratic (or, as GOP grammarians prefer to call it, the ‘Democrat” Party). But, as we all know, while Democrats lost control of the House, they gained a small majority in the Senate and a large enough caucus in the House to have allowed the many legislative accomplishments the Biden Administration has produced in these divisive times.

The coverage focused on some thirty special elections held in the past year at varying levels and locations. The takeaway is that there no “tsunami.” In fact, in almost all cases, even in losing, the Democrat garnered far more votes than anyone had predicted. To put it another way, a lot of people Republicans were counting on (taking for granted…?) turned away from them, and that is a Pretty Big Deal.

While Republicans have gone even more Maga since 2020, much of America has moved on. While Maga is legislating forced birth for every female human being unfortunate enough to experience an undesired or life-threatening pregnancy, many American women are shouting No! A majority of women, especially young women, are not Maga, not Republican, not evangelical Christians, and are demanding the Constitutional freedom to make the religious, ethical, and practical decisions they choose. 

In short, the present remnants of the Republican Party are the progeny of Reagan’s Southern strategy of race-baiting and his “trickle-down” economics that made a handful of people grotesquely wealthy at the expense of everyone else on the planet. So not only do they want to control every woman’s body to their template, they also want remove every economic safety net for the masses. Somewhere in their model is a world where a small handful of white men will own everything in a Giant Company Store that employs everyone, on which everyone depends for everything, and which maintains everyone at a minimum sustainable level.

If this sounds Dystopian, that’s because it is. Americans of all stripes are turning away from the tyranny such a model represents. Voters in many states, including Red ones, are acting to preserve the right to choose in their Constitutions, and slowing escalating damages from increasingly destructive winds, floods,  heat waves, desertification, fire, and smoke damage.

Each year these damages have been getting worse, until now, this year, the entire world seems finally to be waking up to the sobering reality of the threat as many places become, first, economically uninhabitable (not worth rebuilding in the same way in the same place), and soon after, physically unlivable.

The growing question on the floor raised by the declining election performance of Republicans across a wide swath of America is whether Republicans are justified in taking for granted that the Tweetster’s voter base is also theirs. They have had no party Platform except to support whatever he says or does for nearly a decade. As mentioned above, that does not position them well with a public that is increasingly concerned about rapidly shrinking global habitability, increasing authoritarianism, and even the ability of civilization to persist.

Hours this weekend: 

Open Friday & Saturday,  September 15-16, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting

Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc  ’21      France     $14
Delicious blend of grenache blanc and roussanne; fragrant and perfumed with a light, grilled-lemon note over ripe melon,with a lingering palate of rich white peach.

La Vielle Ferme Rosé  ’22    France    $11
Classic and tasty blend of grenache, syrah, and cinsault from northern Provence;  fruity, dry, crisp, delicious, and smooth, all at a bargain price!

Townshend Cellars T3 Red   Washington    $16
Bordeaux style blend of cab, merlot and cab franc; fruit forward with hints of black currant and vanilla, with layers of complexity and depth through extensive oak aging in French and American barrels.

L’Envoye Fleurie Beaujolais Gamay Noir  ’19    France  $18
Lilting aromas of violets and roses, red fruits and berries; flavors of pomegranate and fresh summer fruits are enlivened by a vibrant acidity and a supple finish with fine, well structured tannins.

NO Friday Bread Pickup This Week!

Sorry, as all of you on the bread mailing list already know from Janice…

“There is NO bread Friday this week. I’m off on my annual baseball trip with my nieces… We’ve been traveling around the country visiting a different baseball park for 20 years. Now my nieces have daughters and they come as well. It’s a fun tradition..!”

Wine of the Week: L’Envoye Fleurie Beaujolais Gamay Noir  ’19    France

Fleurie is known for an elegant, floral style of Beaujolais from free-run juice– i.e., not mechanically pressed. Chateau Vivier is one of the oldest monopole plots in the region, where east-facing, 50-year-old untrained vines are grown in deep granite hillside soils and produce lively, expressive wines.

Half  the fruit was de-stemmed and vinified in concrete tanks, while the rest went through carbonic maceration,which provides a floral lift and intense primary fruit. After 2 weeks the free-run juice was racked to stainless steel where the wine continued its élevage. The takeaway here is that it is a carefully made wine!

We confess limited experience with beaujolais and have only a handful of these left…so we will pour while they last this weekend, and if popular will get more!

Mar a Lago Update: Republicans go Full Troglodyte

Inauguration Day in 2020 was, we thought, the final defeat of the Morlocks and their Head Troglodyte, a welcome relief after four years of insanity that would make even the Mat Hatter wince. We were SO naive, completely unable to anticipate, regognize, or counter the ongoing assault on our country from within.

The many months of House hearings on the attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential election by force, deceit, mob violence, and a 24/7 flood of media misinformation brought some dawning awareness that yes, indeed, a large number of well-placed political players were refusing to accept that their candidate had lost the election, and were committed to overturning the election. Yet somehow, a great proportion of the country continues to believe the Republican lie over the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. An entire sector of the population, including in particular fundamentalist, rural, less-educated white Christian men are a willing audience to the wealthy white businessmen who exploit them and make the Tweetster their cause célèbre martyr.

It’s as if the Covid Pandemic not only ushered in three years of quarantine, hardship, sickness, and death to a global population, but also somehow facilitated a kind of social madness across our own nation, driven by the Tweetster’s constant lies and his national coterie of spineless lackies. Nothing sums up these people as well as the empty-headed parent characters in this little scene from the old movie Time Bandits.

As of this moment the Tweetster has been indicted on ninety-some felony counts across four jurisdictions– the kind of numbers that not even the most notorious gangsters of history ever came close to matching. And yet, despite the extraordinary seriousness of the charges against him, a substantial amount of national news coverage (Fox) poo-poos the charges, as if he is just an ordinary guy, a bit flamboyant perhaps, but all in good fun, eh? 

The backdrop of this very moment is that our physical infrastructure is being destroyed one place at a time by fires, floods, droughts, super-storms, and super heat waves brought on by climate change, long-accumulating paybacks for our human excesses and irresponsibility. Under the auspices of “creating wealth,” corporate decision makers have for decades been ignoring or dissing the warnings of a World-full of scientific studies on global warming (many sponsored by oil companies) about the future costs of the global climate crisis we humans have unleashed.

One wonders if there is a connection between the expanding deprivations and infrastructure destruction from global warming and the increasing tyranny of governments, especially in the Third World. Bob Dylan was of course at least partially wrong when he wrote “When you got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose,” because things can always get worse. A warming planet speeds up and amplifies the cycle of more evaporation here becoming unprecedented downpours there, more heat in the atmosphere creating more kinetic energy and higher, more destructive winds.

It is bad enough, scary enough, and challenging enough to be trying to keep our planet livable in a world where most world governments understand the stakes and commit to slowing, stopping, and reversing climate change as soon as possible. It is terrifying to contemplate how impossible that will be in a world led by grifter-dictators like the Tweetster and many corporate CEOs, who see the crisis as an opportunity to amass more personal wealth and power. You know, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

Leadership, intelligence, commitment, and dedicated service are the main ingredients for bringing our country and our world back toward a survivable balance. The sad truth is that this is not exaggeration — it’s really happening!

Right now, this minute, our nation is deeply divided not just on our values, but on the very facts of what we see, hear, and experience through our own senses. That sinking feeling you are experiencing is exactly what lemmings feel when most of their comrades start pushing them toward that dark cliff…

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  September 8-9, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting

mantis (not that easy to spot!)

Mas des Bressades Rosé ’21   France  $14
Bright and refreshing classic Rhone blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre, with splashes of Carignan and Cinsault; nice flavor balance of bright red fruit, wild herbs, and a vibrant, spicy finish.

Bodegas Ateca Atteca ’19     Spain    $16  
Displays aromas of cedar, an earthy minerality, black cherry, and lavender leading to a savory, deep, well-balanced red with succulent fruit and a lengthy, seamless finish.

Seghesio Zinfandel ’21   California        $23
Aromas of deep dark fruits lead to a juicy, vibrant palate with notes of black cherry, black raspberry, fig, baking spice and fresh plum, and layered fruit flavors, finishing with supple, textured tannins and a lingering, complex finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Levain w/ Dried Cherries and Pecans – a levain is made the night before final mixing of the dough using a sourdough starter. This allows the fermentation process to start and the gluten to start developing. The final dough is made with the levain, bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and then loaded up with dried cherries and toasted pecans. A nice rustic loaf that goes well with meats and cheese – $5/loaf

Pan de Cioccolate – Also made with a levain, this bread is a delicious chocolate artisan bread not an enriched sweet pastry dough with lots of eggs, butter and sugar. Rather it is a rich chocolate bread made with a levain, bread flour and fresh milled rye flour, honey for sweetness, vanilla and plenty of dark chocolate. Makes fabulous toast, even better french toast –  $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Bear Claws!! – Made with a danish pastry dough rich in cream, eggs, sugar and butter. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filing made with almond paste, powdered sugar, egg whites and just a bit of cinnamon to round out the flavor. Then, because bears love honey, topped with a honey glaze after baking. As always, quantities are limited, be sure to get your order in before you miss out- 2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week: Seghesio Zinfandel ’21    California        $23

The Seghesio family has been growing zinfandel grapes in Sonoma since 1895, some five generations ago, most likely starting with cuttings from closely related primitivo vines brought from southern Italy. Zinfandel from the region has built a reputation for big, fruit-forward red wines that coat the palate and fill the senses with their plush flavors and aromas. Over the decades the winery has developed numerous single-vineyard labels, each with its own special characteristics and sometimes hefty prices.

As is the case for many top wineries, “deselected” portions of the harvest that are not selected for the single-vineyard bottlings are blended to make this annual blend, which is predictably delicious and enticing in its own way. From year to year it reliably delivers a delicious zinfandel at a modest price…and elicits an appreciative “mmmm” after the first sip….!    read more…

Economics of the Heart:  Momentary Calm

By Honoré Daumier – Own work Yelkrokoyade, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44152850

We are delighted and relieved to report that Tuesday brought something of a resolution to the struggle our community has been having with County government since last November about ferry funding. This outcome follows a hard-fought campaign by an indefatigable group of islanders seeking fairness, transparency, and following the rules in the management and funding of ferry operations.

This battle has been going on since last November when our County Public Works, which manages ferry operations, predicted financial deficits in 2023 and requested the Ferry  Advisory Committee to approve an immediate fare increase. But since significant rate hikes would have a substantial impact on those ferry users who had to make frequent trips to the mainland, some of us wanted detailed documentation for the fare increase.

Instead, in March PW introduced a complete rewrite of the ordinance governing fares that would allow the County to charge very large capital improvement costs (up to 20 times higher than ever seen before) against fare revenue as “routine maintenance” when everybody knew it was for repairing the failing infrastructure of a 60 yr old vessel.

From January to April a four-member majority of LIFAC became increasingly committed to passing that ordinance while also blocking open discussion of it, while the other three of us wanted more discussion about how the proposed changes would remove all the guard rails provided in the existing statute limiting the kinds of maintenance expenses that could be charged against fare revenues.

In April, these issues generated enough community concern that an ad hoc volunteer citizens’ “Working Group” formed and began gathering detailed data about existing law and the validity of County accounting assertions. Attempts to negotiate with LIFAC and County government proved challenging, but when the LIFAC majority resigned under pressure the volunteer group gained some traction with both the County Council and County Executive to postpone further action on the ordinance until August, a momentary relief. 

But Wait! That promise was dramatically broken when a Council minority sneaked through a surprise passage of the controversial new ferry ordinance in late July, heaping August with a LOT of intensive lobbying, argument, discussion, and uncertainty. That all culminated in the County Executive’s veto of that bill two weeks ago and the subsequent failure of the full Council to override the veto just this week, definitely something of a victory for fairness and the first real exhalation in a long time. Whew! 

So this moment brings a deep sense of relief that we can say, finally, at least for the moment, that both the Ordinance from Hell and the deceptively conceived fare increase are off the table. All of this is just another reminder of a favorite working principle, perhaps one Don Quixote might have embraced during his many trials and frustrations, though as he well knew, it was often futile…

“Where principle is involved, be deaf to expediency.” —Matthew Fontaine Maury

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  September 1-2, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting:

J. Laurens Cremant de Limoux Rose    France      $16
A longtime favorite here at AWG–Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Pinot Noir; shows a gentle yeastiness, effusive effervescence and rich, tangy, mouth-filling fruit. Makes just about anything Festive!

Montinore Borealis White   Oregon   $13
Aromas of orange blossom, honeydew, guava and kiwi; sumptuous flavors of stone fruit, Meyer lemon and juicy pear drizzled with caramel.

Chapoutier – Cotes-du-Rhone Belleruche Rouge ’21
Intense black currant and raspberry notes with hints of white pepper; juicy, lovely palate with silky, delicate tannins; good pairing for grilled meats, pizza, pasta, and and (someone says) especially lamb ragu!

El Nido Clio ’19     Spain      $45
70% monastrell, 30% cabernet sauvignon; glass-coating opaque purple with an expressive nose of pain grille, underbrush, brier, mineral, blueberry, and blackberry fruit leading to a plush, opulent wine with great density, savory flavors, and a lengthy finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Breton – Incorporates the flavors of the french Brittany region. Bread flour and fresh milled buckwheat and rye make for interesting flavor and the salt is sel gris -the grey salt from the region that brings more mineral flavors to this bread. Goes great with meats and cheeses – $5/loaf

Four Seed Buttermilk – Includes all the elements of whole wheat, adding cracked wheat and bran in to the bread flour instead of milling whole wheat berries. It also has buttermilk and oil for a tender bread and a little tang, and finished with a bit of honey and sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds and toasted millet $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Rum Raisin Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with golden raisins and chunks of almond paste and (wait there’s more!) topped with a chocolate glaze before baking! – 2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  El Nido Clio ’20     Spain      $45

Though we have had a few of these stashed in the cellar for some years, we rarely let ourselves drink one…it’s that…um...covetable.!      It used to be very hard to get because of the high demand and low production. But on occasional nostalgic whim we order some, and this week it happened again, so you can all get to taste it this weekend!

Clio is a blend of 70% monastrell (known as mourvedre in France) and 30% cab sauv. Monastrell, a somewhat demanding grape to cultivate, has been developed to a high standard in the Murcia wine region in recent years. At the same time international demand for wine has also led to widespread planting of cabernet sauvignon in many parts of Spain, where it has thrived and developed its own Spanish footprint, which this wine showcases very well. Lucky for us…come on by and try it!

Economics of the Heart: Climate and Local Infrastructure

Whew…after having been a bit over-focused on our local ferry financing for the last eight months or so, we are finally coming up for some much-needed air. During these months we have said relatively little about the relationship of our ferry issues to climate change; but actually it is a fairly central issue which these days most communities, including ours, increasingly find themselves forced to consider in most infrastructure investments.

A look at Google Maps makes it clear that the Gooseberry Pt. ferry landing is at the end of a peninsula on the mainland, about a mile, ten-minute passage from the Lummi Island landing. The east side of the peninsula extends into the southern estuary of the Nooksack River, while the west side of the peninsula forms Lummi Bay bordering the northern estuary.

Geologically speaking, the Gooseberry Pt. peninsula is also a sort of island, connected by a natural low bridge to the mainland which allows vehicle traffic most of the time. However, periodic flooding, super-high tides caused by combinations of high winds and full and new moon tides periodically cause road flooding that prevents vehicle traffic between the mainland and the G. Pt ferry dock.

Since these flooding episodes are expected to become more frequent and last longer over the next several decades, we should expect more frequent periods of days or even weeks when ferry service might require 8-mile trips to Bellingham, sharply diminishing the number of vehicles carried and the weather conditions under which service would even be possible.

For the foreseeable future, every public finance activity in every community is going to be increasingly impacted by climate change, with most of the financial burden falling on local, county, and state governments where most local infrastructure is built, operated, and maintained. These include roads and bridges, public transportation (ferries, buses, and trains), water supply, sewage treatment, and fire and emergency services. In recent years– and this year in particular so far– we have seen across the world atmospheric and ocean temperatures reach and maintain levels rarely seen by humans. As a friend memorably observed, “things are getting worse faster than we’re getting older!”

So not only are we hubris-driven human beings seeing damage getting worse and worse and the bills getting larger and more frequent from the accelerating climate impacts WE have wrought; we will also be bearing the ever-increasing expenses of rebuilding after each devastating hurricane, tidal surge, tornado, flood, heat wave, deluge, drought, and population displacement.

In earlier posts we have coined the term “economic uninhabitability” to describe the increasing number of geographic locations where changing local and regional climates are becoming too expensive to allow sustainable habitation or the large scale post-disaster reinvestment for their current populations. The emerging economic reality at many points on the Earth’s surface is that for at least the next several decades (assuming we work hard to turn the tide) it is becoming a fool’s errand to rebuild after a climate disaster without a solid likelihood the new structures will survive the increasing risks of record floods, fires, and high winds.

Many historically habitable subregions of the planet are becoming incapable of sustaining the local population in some places. In others rival communities must compete for increasingly scarce resources even to maintain the most basic subsistence. Such conditions are potential incubators of various forms of genocide, isolationism, and authoritarian  minority rule. Dystopian conditions that were once the fictional hyperbole of post-apocalyptic sci-fit are now looming realities across the planet, and dire ones in the Third World.

Maintaining sustainable habitability in this era of rapid climate change will require a global commitment to preserving the ability of our planet to sustain cultivable land, adequate water, a livable climate, and a sustainable population.

We can all now see clearly that we have been both clever enough to survive and reproduce like rabbits for tens of thousands of years, and stupid enough to disrupt planetary cycles in ways that now pose an existential threat to the ability of our planet to continue to support life at all. 

Maybe this is an appropriate time to ask ourselves as a species whether all the profits made by all the fossil fuel companies over the last century or so should be considered Social Benefits or Social Costs…

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  August 25-26, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting:

Lyrarakis Plyto Psarades  ’21      Crete    $20
This is a very old grape varietal saved from extinction when planted in the Lyrarakis Psarades vineyard at 480m elevation. It makes a lively, fresh, citric wine with bright, mineral-streaked lemon fruit; subtle, complex, and pleasing texture; unique freshness; and a lovely, complex, crystalline purity.

 Chateau de Montfaucon Lirac Rose’   21    France      $18
Fine, translucent ruby in color, and aged mainly in concrete tanks, it offers up attractive floral aromas, hints of crushed stones, strawberries, cherries and a hint of lime.

Argento Malbec ’20       Argentina       $12
From organically grown grapes; deep purple hue; inviting aromas of red berries and flowers, and flavors of plum and sweet blackberry; finishes with ripe, balanced tannins– way over-delivers for its modest price.

Sea Sun Pinot Noir ’21    California    $19
A deep, alluring pinot, strikingly soft and rich on both the nose and palate, with scents of baked cherries and pie crust, and silky notes of brown spice and vanilla.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Black Pepper Walnut- made with a nice mix of flours, bread flour, fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A fair amount of black pepper and toasted walnuts give this bread great flavor with just a bit of peppery bite to it. Works well with all sorts of meats and cheese- $5/loaf

Four Seed Buttermilk – Includes all the elements of whole wheat, adding cracked wheat and bran in to the bread flour instead of milling whole wheat berries. It also has buttermilk and oil for a tender bread and a little tang, and finished with a bit of honey and sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds and toasted millet $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Morning Buns – Made popular by Tartine Bakery in San Francisco…mine are made with the same laminated dough as croissants. The dough is rolled out, spread with a filling of brown sugar, orange zest, butter and cinnamon, rolled up and sliced before baking. 2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  Lyrarakis Plyto Psarades ’21        Crete     $20

The very rare Plyto (aka Dafni) grape variety was saved from imminent extinction in the early ’90s by the Lyrarakis family  when it was planted in their “Psarades” family vineyard at 480m (1500′) altitude in central Crete.

The varietal’s name derives from the laurel (bay leaf) plant, which is called “Dáfni” in Greek, as the wine  shows distinctive herbal nuances, a clean and refreshing mouthfeel, and a clean, lingering, aromatic aftertaste. Its unique characteristics offer great food-pairing versatility, pairing very well with almost anything served outdoors in the summer.

Our take is that this lovely white wine is unique in its “palate palette,” with complex, enjoyable nuances that are unique to this rare and unusual grape.

Economics of the Heart: More Democratic Than Voting…?

A recent essay in the NY Times argues quite convincingly that “free and fair” elections as currently practiced in the United States produce significantly worse results than if offices were filled by a raffle among qualified candidates. The most familiar example of that practice is the selection of jurors from a pool of randomly selected citizens. In addition, numerous psych experiments have demonstrated that lottery-selected public officials take more personal responsibility for the results of their actions, and as a result try harder to deliver benefits for the whole electoral community, not just their party constituents, donors, and political allies…what we might call “the usual cronyism.” Not to mention the predictable gang of narcissists, psychopaths, and everyday egotists who crave public attention.

The ancient Greeks used such a method, called“sortition,” in which a lottery was taken by qualified candidates who had passed an examination of their capacity to understand and exercise their duties consistent with the rules and values of the community. Of particular interest in this discussion is what research has revealed about the comparative personalities and resultant capacity for public service demonstrated by people who actively campaigned among the public for their votes vs. those who were selected by raffle. To paraphrase Woody Allen, “I would never want to vote for the kind of person who would campaign for office.”

As children of the fifties and sixties we old-timers were taught that the United States represented a kind of ideal democratic system, and we have all felt very fortunate to enjoy its benefits, serve in its military, and take part in civic affairs. However, since about 1980 there has been a national slide away from “one person, one vote” to “one dollar, one vote” that has pushed the poorest into homelessness, the struggling into poverty, and the middle classes into varying levels of economic struggle. And, of course, the Citizens United case.

In recent decades Republicans have courted the prejudices of white evangelical Christians by establishing oppressive restrictions on women’s rights, courted corporate donors by denying the threat of climate change, and turned national media and the internet into propaganda generators of “alternative facts” that have successfully convinced millions of Americans that up is down, dark is light, and bad is good. 

We watched Reagan throw the poor and insane out on the street and open the door for unrestricted media lying on talk radio and Fox News. We saw Gingrich declare war on Congressional comity by openly insulting Democrats and orienting the Republican Party toward obstructionism, brinkmanship, and harassment of Democratic colleagues. And we have watched Republican legislatures use outrageous gerrymandering, restrictive barriers to voting,  a concerted attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential election, and an ongoing policy of having no policy except expecting to stay in power by the sheer volume and theatrical excess of their official proceedings. 

So…at this point in time it is undeniable that our system is officially broken. And it will likely stay broken as long as Red States are permitted to make it harder for their opponents to get to vote or have their votes counted, and wealthy corporations and individuals are able to buy political and judicial influence with “campaign donations” or “free vacations.”

So sure, bring on the competency tests and the raffles, and do away with elections!  Although, if one were really skeptical, one might wonder, “um…tell me again exactly how these raffles will be supervised..?.” 

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  August 18-19, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting:

Abacela Albarino  ’22    Washington      $22
Bright fruit with aromas of pineapple, pear, lemon and nectarine, crisp acidity,and juicy stone and tropical fruit flavors.

Cala Civetta Sangiovese di Toscana ’21      Italy     $13
Earthy nose of red plum accompanies a vibrant yet mildly tannic palate of tart cherry with a hint of smoke and ocean brine – a true expression of Scansano, nestled halfway between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Mt. Amiata.

Toso Reserve Malbec ’18     Argentina       $21
Elegant and balanced with good concentration and ripeness; focused, clean notes of blackberry, plum, and ripe, dark cherries; a plush, elegant mouthfeel, easy tannins, and lingering notes of leather and Spring soil.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Buckwheat Rye – Fresh milled buckwheat and rye flours are soaked for several hours without any yeast in a method known as an autolyse to start the fermenting process and really gets the enzymes going before the final mix – which is then fermented overnight in the refrigerator. The buckwheat, rye soaker is mixed with bread flour, salt and yeast and a bit of honey.– $5/loaf

Whole Grain Spelt Sweet Levain – Made with a levain preferment of freshly milled whole wheat and whole spelt before mixing with bread flour along with dried apricots, golden raisins, slivered almonds, and sunflower and flax seeds. Chock full of flavor!

and pastry this week…

Chocolate Babka Rolls – A sweet pastry dough full of eggs, butter and sugar, rolled and spread with a chocolate filling, rolled up and cut into individual rolls that are placed in baking forms for baking and then brushed with sugar syrup after baking.  2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  Abacela Albarino  ’22    Washington      $22

Abacela founder Earl Jones wanted grow Spanish wine varietals in the Pacific Northwest, after his comprehensive research taught him that the the climate in Spain where tempranillo thrives couldn’t be matched in California. Tempranillo vines need a hot growing season between mid-April and October, but cool nights and little rain before harvest in late October, and before the first frost.

His comprehensive research led him to plant Tempranillo (1995) and Albariño (2000) grapes at his Fault Line Vineyards near Roseburg, OR, chosen for its specific micro-climate and soils proving that the varietals can thrive in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, the vineyards have expanded to 25 acres of tempranillo and 12 acres devoted to albariño, along with other site/climate-matched varietals including  grenache, malbec, and syrah.

Currently Abecela produces about 2,000 cases of albariño each vintage. It makes a bright, lively, and flavorful white wine with typical aromas and flavors of apple, pear, and white peach, with bright acidity and a pleasant salinity that spreads out the finish: a great summer sipper with lots of afternoon dishes.

Economics of the Heart: Fascism Comes to America

The past 100 years of human history have shown us the pros and cons of various socio-political systems. Much of the last century was a transition from monarchy to various forms of “elected” government. After all, any social system requires a set of rules that its members are either content to follow (or are forced to follow) in the interest of meeting the population’s needs. In our own nation there has been an ongoing philosophical division between Republican support for the business/finance interests of the wealthy, and Democratic support for the interests of everyone else.

In the past decade or two we have seen increasing conflict of values about what is important or not, what is fair or foul, true or false, right or wrong, cruel or just, legal or illegal, deserving or undeserving, noble or corrupt, worthy or unworthy. We have seen our two-party political landscape morph from reasoned argument to entitled assertion, from structured discussion to infantile rant, from conducting the people’s business to keeping the people’s business from being conducted. All of these things are brought even more starkly into relief by the fascisization of Republican politics and the resultant multiple criminal charges against the Tweetster, who meets or exceeds all the qualifications for a Fascist leader.

Every Fascist leader of the last century built around themselves a cult of personality, and this is not lost on fascism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat who gives Mussolini credit for creating the mold: “Mussolini would strip his shirt off in newsreels, engaging cheering fans in idolizing their leader.”  link

“The primary way the early fascists got to power was by killing off and intimidating their primary rivals, the Socialists, with their own “Squadrists” — terrorists who would descend upon towns in trucks, uniformed in black shirts — had knives and they killed thousands of people in the years 1919 to 1922. The killing went on after Mussolini became prime minister…landowners and businessmen in particular supported the suppression of socialism.”   link

Today in our own country and around the world we see an increasing number of world leaders that bear these Fascist characteristics —the hyper-nationalism, the leader cult, the undermining of the independence of the judiciary. And it is happening right here, right now in our own country. Today’s Republican Party has no platform other than Trumpism and limiting the rights of women, immigrants, and people of color, while bowing to the wishes of Corporations and billionaires. 

Pretty existential stuff…

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  August 11-12, 4-6 pm

stork nest outside our window in Haro, Spain, 2013

This week’s wine tasting:

Maryhill Viognier    Washington      $14
Carefully picked and slowly pressed to extract vibrant aromas of melon, pear, and apricot with traces of pineapple and grapefruit, continuing into a sensational and crisp fruit finish.

Chateau Cabirau Cotes de Rousillon   ’19     $17
The backbone of the Syrah and Carignan ally perfectly with the opulent Grenache, giving a medium-bodied wine of intense black fruit flavors, redolent of mountain herbs.

Muga Anden Estacion Rioja Crianza  ’19       Spain     $25
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.  read more

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Pain Meunier -aka “Miller’s Bread”— made with pre-fermented dough it contains all portions of the wheat berry: flour, fresh milled whole wheat, cracked wheat and wheat germ, always a favorite and a great all around bread. It makes the best toast! – $5/loaf

Sonnenblumenbrot – aka Sunflower Seed Bread–  made with a pre-ferment that is a complete dough itself. It takes a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast that ferments overnight before mixing the final dough, made with bread flour and freshly milled rye, then loaded up with toasted sunflower seeds and some barley malt syrup for sweetness. This is a typical German seed bread – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Black Sesame & Candied Lemon Brioche: A delicious brioche dough full of eggs, butter and sugar. Filled with fresh lemon zest and candied lemon and as if that weren’t enough, topped with a black sesame streusel before baking. Ooh la la, what’s not to like…–?  2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  Muga El Andén de la Estación Crianza ’19       Spain     $21

same stork nest in Haro

Pied de cuve is a technique used by winemakers to develop a local wild yeast indigenous to a particular vineyard to ferment wines made from that vineyard’s grapes. Muga uses this process int the fermentation of this week’s featured wine. The process begins by picking a small amount of grapes shortly before the full harvest which are crushed and allowed to start fermenting from the native yeasts already present on the grapes. This culture is then added to the rest of the grapes when they are picked to initiate fermentation. In organic and biodynamic viniculture, it is part of the local conditions that define every vineyard…its terroir.

We visited the winery at Muga some years ago. Unfortunately, we also had some kind of bug that forced us to cancel several other winery visits we had scheduled. So we laid low, took some short walks through Haro’s narrow streets, and…during our convalescence we were entertained by the stork pair that were nesting on a rooftop directly across the narrow street from our little second-floor apartment. Curiously, despite being under the weather, our memories are fond ones. Haro is a small community, in a pretty arid landscape surrounded by vineyards, with good food, charming and friendly people, and a surprising number of rooftop stork nests. What more could you want??

By the way, just tasted this lovely Rioja for the first time about an hour ago…it is big, luscious, nuanced, and powerful, from new vineyards acquired and developed by Muga over recent decades. Seriously tasty!

Economics of the Heart: Climate Crisis Deepens

photo courtesy NOAA/NWS

We have known for nearly 50 years that burning fossil fuels was a Faustian bargain. Early models in the 70’s were remarkably accurate in predicting how increasing concentrations of CO2 and other hydrocarbons produced by the combustion of fossil fuels would affect global climate. As models and data got better, our predictions got better; and as our predictions got better, giant energy companies found ways to subvert any attempts to decrease the rapidly growing production and use of the gas, oil, and coal that were adding heat to the atmosphere and more wealth to people who already had plenty.

A warmer atmosphere does all of the things that heat does on a bigger and bigger scale each year. Increasing evaporation of oceans, rivers, and lakes takes more water into the atmosphere and moves it to a cooler latitude, and releases it as rain. The increasing heat in the atmosphere also creates higher winds with more kinetic energy and increasingly destructive winds, rainfall, catastrophic flooding in some places, and stifling drought in others.

Every living thing is threatened by these changes. Entire ecosystems that had slowly developed symbiosis among the life forms around them and thrived for millennia are now threatened. And we humans, we who are causing all this stress and destruction, keep acting as though it’s no big deal, someone will find some way to adapt.

Over the last week or two I have found myself picturing Q, the cynical-yet-God-like-powered character from the Star Trek series, looking down his nose at us deceptive and self-serving human beings and observing with a cynical sneer, “Well, now, isn’t that Convenient for you!” as Corporate Mindlessness rationalizes the continued destruction of the living systems upon which all life depends.

Many places in the world have already experienced devastating climate-related disasters, and this summer has been a particularly sobering Slap in the Face to our short-sighted selfishness. For some reason, yesterday’s sudden, catastrophic, and heartbreaking wind-driven fire-storm in Lahaina, is particularly shocking: so fast, so brutal, so complete, a worst nightmare in a place we all think of as a paradise.

We swear and sob at these things that are happening more and more frequently, with worse and worse destruction, in more and more places. The fires and floods and winds are getting worse and worse, and the prospects of rebuilding are becoming less and less rational in more and more places. The ice is melting rapidly at both poles. People in Arizona can only leave their air-conditioned homes between sunset and sunrise.

Given the human penchant to revert to feudal/authoritarian political economies under enough stress, the rapidly increasing costs of climate disasters, within our nation and across the world, are made even more poignantly disturbing.

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  July 28-29, 4-6 pm

This week’s wine tasting:

Natura Rose ’21    Chile        $12
Cold-soaked before pressing and cold-fermented on the skins to develop rich and nuanced aromas and flavors of grassy lime, tropical fruits, and lychee, with a crisp, lingering finish.

Idilico Albarino  ’22    Washington    $17
Fermented on the lees for four months, lightly cold stabilized, fined and filtered before bottling; nose of citrus and tropical fruit leads to luscious, crisp, and refreshing flavors. “Drink anytime the sun shines…”

Lancyre Pic St Loup Vielles Vignes ’17
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Fig Anise – Made with a sponge that is fermented overnight, then the final dough is mixed with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. Honey, dried figs and anise bring in all the flavors of the mediterranean. A great flavorful bread – $5/loaf

Sesame Semolina – Uses a sponge pre-ferment that ferments some of the flour, water & yeast before mixing the final dough. Made with semolina and bread flour and a soaker of cornmeal, millet and sesame seeds and a little olive oil to round out the flavor and tenderize the crumb; rolled in sesame seeds before baking– lots of great flavors! – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Chocolate Croissants –  traditional laminated french pastry with a bit of sourdough flavor and another pre-mass hypnosisferment to help strengthen the dough and create the traditional “honeycomb” interior. Rolled out and shaped with delicious dark chocolate in the center.  –2/$5 

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  Lancyre Pic St Loup Vielles Vignes ’17         France    $22

watch great video!

The “Pic” which dominates the small French wine region of Pic St. Loup is a 640-m (2000 ft.) “Tooth” of granite that dominates the view for many miles in every direction– powerful, beautiful, vaguely remote, and iconic. It looms over a collection of very special, well-drained, limestone-rich vineyards. About an hour north of Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast to the south, it features hot days but is far enough north to have Atlantic-influenced cool nights that induce slow, full ripening.

The wines from Pic St. Loup must be predominantly syrah, grenache, and mourvedre (as in nearby Southern Rhone) and fairly consistently have a certain gravitas. The vines must be at least six years old (not the usual three) before considered mature enough for making red wines, but are perfect for making excellent rosé! Vineyards are scattered among rugged terrain that slopes up from the Mediterranean. Atlantic influences make the local climate cooler and wetter than elsewhere in Languedoc.

We have carried their rosés for many years, but it has been a long time since we have poured one of its old vine reds!

Mar a Lago Update Revisited: Democracy at a Crossroad

 We humans are a selfish and brutal bunch with a long history of deceit and violence, and the more of us there are on this tiny planet the worse it seems to be getting.

We are all wired like Gollum, and also like Jesus or Buddha. In any given moment we can all be either one, and it is not a matter of religion. It is an ongoing conflict between our individual ambitions and our ability to have compassion for those who are suffering. It’s not that complicated; it’s as if we all have some crossed wires sometimes about mine, yours, and ours.

Our country’s founding premises some 250 years ago embodied the Enlightenment principles of Humanism. We all have the same needs for physical and emotional safety and nourishment and a sense of belonging in a community of shared values and mutual respect. Those needs made the default organization of the earliest humans a tribal cooperative that needed each other to survive and, when possible, to thrive.

Some evidence suggests that modern homo sapiens first appeared perhaps as recently as 40,000 years ago and subsumed or out-competed and/or interbred with other humanoids, including Neanderthals. (most of us have some Neanderthal DNA). As described in Sapiens, by Yuval Harrari, our species has made a profound mark on our world in a very short period of time. We are both creative and destructive, kind and ruthless, sometimes creators of both beauty and horror.

Several millennia of civilization have put boundaries around many of those instincts, but under enough duress any of us is capable of anything to protect ourselves, our friends, our families, and our communities from outside threats—or, perhaps, to advance our political interests.

During the 2016 campaign it became apparent that the Tweetster (duck in sunglasses!) was able to stoke a latent paranoia among ordinarily rational people that convinced them that various Others were invading America to Steal their Stuff: Muslims, Mexicans, non-whites, non-Christians. Everyone who was different was a threat, and the Tweetster was able to turn those latent fears and prejudices into a political movement. He was able to connect with their inner fears by giving voice to them. At the same time, those same behaviors evoked the opposite reaction from many of us, making him a particularly polarizing and manipulative figure, not unlike Hitler or Mussolini. Our nation is still deeply polarized from the vastly different realities evoked by competing media orientations.

2016 wasn’t a typical political campaign– it was more some kind of mass hypnosis. Even today, as the Tweetster faced his Third (and most compelling) indictment (on the Jan 6 insurrection), no doubt a large number of Americans (perhaps including you) take it for granted that everything he has said and that Fox and Twitter and Christian Radio have echoed for the last six years is True, because somehow that message justifies their own self-doubt, their own dissatisfaction with their station, and their need to have someone to blame for their sense that they deserve more and those Others deserve less.

At root all of this tension has exposed a deep rift in the common values that have held this nation together. Right here on our little island we see in our local social media unkindness and judgment which benefits no one. There is no way of telling if the Tweetster caused all of this fear, anger, and distrust in our nation, or vice versa. Either way, it’s gonna be a long year or two till this gets sorted out.

There is an old Maine story about a young fellow racing along a rural road in Maine in his sports car and hits a cow that stepped into the road. He comes quickly to a stop and walks back to see the cow still standing and the farmer next to it. The kid says hopefully, “Um, well, she seems to be okay…??” The farmer pauses for a long time before saying, “Well sonny, I’ll tell yuh…if yuh think yuh done ‘er any good, I’ll be happy to pay yuh for it…”

Hours this weekend:  Friday & Saturday,  July 28-29, 4-6 pm

painting by Didi Lutz

This week’s wine tasting:

Ryan Patrick Rock Island Chardonnay ’20        Washington       $16
Aromas and flavors of wildflowers, crisp apples, honey, and cinnamon roll with a round, crisp,  body and a graceful finish of sumac-spiced croutons.

Townshend Cellars T3 Red   Washington    $16
Bordeaux style blend of cab, merlot and cab franc; fruit forward with hints of black currant and vanilla, with layers of complexity and depth through extensive oak aging in French and American barrels.

Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’18      Washington    $27
100 % malbec; unfolds with dark, enchanting notes of blackberry, grilled plum, and jammy raspberry with accents of orange peel, vanilla, and tobacco spice, finishing with balanced structure, plush texture, and a lengthy finish.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Poolish Ale – the preferment here is a poolish, made with bread flour, a bit of yeast and a nice ale beer for the liquid and fermented overnight. Mixed the next day with bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat. This makes a great all around bread with a nice crisp crust – $5/loaf

Buckwheat Walnut & Honey –  also made with a poolish of fresh milled buckwheat and bread flours. Buckwheat is not a grain it is actually a seed and closer in the plant family to rhubarb and sorrel than to wheat and contains no gluten–  (**note: THIS bread DOES include wheat flour so is NOT gluten free). Buckwheat has an earthy/nutty flavor that in this bread with a little honey and toasted walnuts for a nice crunch. – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Chocolate Muffins – Rich and delicious, great chocolate flavor, and a seductively moist texture: flour, brown sugar, sour cream, and eggs, with lotsa chocolate chips inside and sprinkled on top–2/$5

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week:  Longship Lady Wolf Malbec ’18         Washington       $27

Longship is a fairly new family-owned winery in Richland, in the heart of Washington wine country. Established in 2013, it has focused on producing big, hand-crafted, barrel-aged, red varietals like tempranillo, malbec, syrah, and cabernet sauvignon, with at least 60% aged for 18 months in new oak barrels.

The name “Longship,” and the adoption of the Viking Longship as the winery’s logo is a nod to the family’s Scandinavian heritage and the winery’s ongoing quest to produce some of the finest wines in the Pacific Northwest.

The Richland tasting room was added at the end of 2016, not just to feature their wines, but also, as is the case here at the Wine Gallery, to create a social space where friends can gather to relax in a convivial environment while sharing delicious handcrafted wine.

We took an immediate liking to the wine when we first tasted it last year. Chances are you will, too!

Economics of the Heart: Memo to Council

Before this week’s County Council meeting two days ago, Islanders had been assured many times by Council members and County Executive that all decisions regarding ferry matters, including filling the four new vacancies on the Advisory Committee (Lifac), would be on hold until sometime in the Fall. Imagine our sense of shock and betrayal when the Council reversed position on that and voted in favor of adopting the County’s proposed ordinance change, which we all know would remove all the existing guardrails on the expenses that can be charged against fare revenue.

What follows is is a brief summary of arguments to lobby the Council yet again against passing the PW version of the governing ordinance.

The central bone of contention in this long battle comes down to one single idea: the interpretation of the phrase “regular and routine” in the wording of the County ordinance governing ferry fares :

WCC 10.34.001B. “Operating costs” means all actual daily running expenses and all actual regular and routine maintenance and administrative expenses associated with the use and operation of all physical elements of the ferry system.

For many years this definition has served to maintain a balance between annual fare revenue and target fare box revenue goal of covering 55% of annual operating costs. When fares are set correctly, some years will show a surplus and some a deficit, but maintain an equilibrium over many years until a persistent deficit or surplus suggests a fare revision.

That changed last November when Public Works suddenly announced a very large and imminent deficit in fare revenue that was claimed to require an urgent major fare increase to be passed immediately. Over the next several months a citizens’ group managed to hold these efforts at bay while revealing numerous errors in PW claims and calculations, no actual deficit, and no demonstrated need for a fare increase under the existing statute. How can we explain this sense of Urgency?

For starters, a visual examination of charts of annual operating expenses since 2013 reveals substantial increases in unusually high operating costs over time. Note that prior to 2017, individual operating expenses above $20k were rare. Beginning in 2017, individual expenses between $30k and $50k appeared and became larger and more frequent. And now, most recently in 2022 and 2023, we are seeing individual “operating expenses” of $250k and $400k respectively for the major rebuilds of the landing dolphins last year and this year.

A more narrow glance at just the 10 highest individual expenses over this period demonstrates clearly what is going on here:  the aging infrastructure supporting our 65-yr-old ferry is wearing out. If it would last until a replacement ferry and new infrastructure could be brought on line, we would just let it deteriorate. But it is already failing and requires major re-investment to add the required longevity.

Under the terms of our existing County ordinance, our annual contract with WADOT, and governing State law, these expenses cannot be charged against fare revenue because they add longevity to these assets and because they are clearly way, way, way above any reasonable interpretation of “regular and routine.” These expenses should be charged to the Road Fund along with other road and bridge improvements constantly going on across the County.

The chart of the ten highest “repair” expenses over recent years shows just how far out of line with “regular and ordinary” these expenses are. It is irrelevant whether they are called capital repairs or capital investments, but they are decidedly NOT “regular and routine” maintenance. Btw, the Corps of Engineers regards ferry routes as public roadways, a further clue that expenses that are not “regular and routine” should rightfully be paid from the Road Fund along with all other highway improvements.

Finally, let’s talk about Fairness, since various Council members are fond of portraying ferry users as wealthy, free-loading island dwellers who want a free ride. It is one thing to talk about the price of a single fare. It is quite another to realize that an island resident commuter with a full-time mainland job makes about 250 round trips a year. That means that each $1 in fare expense translates to a $250 annual expense for a commuter.

Between 2002 and 2011 ferry fares increased five times, from $2 car/driver pass to $13, i.e., from $500/yr to over $3000/yr for a daily commuter. Comparison of US Census data from 2010 and 2020 shows that over the next several years a large number of daily commuters and young families moved away and were replaced by retirees, telecommuters, and home business owners who can much more easily avoid higher fares by making fewer ferry trips.

The easiest way to increase ferry revenue is with a summer surcharge on cash fares. Most ferries use them, but Public Works isn’t interested.

The Takeaways here are that: 1)  County Code must preserve the “regular and routine” part of the operating costs definition, and 2) Public Works must start engaging cooperatively with the ferry user community of residents, visitors, contractors, and services to achieve a mutually agreeable path through the Whatcom Chief’s last years of service.

JULY HOURS:   Fridays & Saturdays,  4-6pm

This week’s wine tasting:

MAN  Chenin Blanc ’21   South Africa    $11
Using only free-run juice preservea a clean and natural character, refreshing acidity, and delicious ripe fruit flavors and aromas of quince, pear and pineapple. On the palate, fresh stonefruit and apple flavors are backed by refreshing acidity, minerality and a pleasing, rounded mouthfeel.

Lancyre Pic St. Loup Rosé ’21      France       $15
Raspberry and pear aromas on the nose, with distinctive notes of garrigue. Big, bold and firm on the palate, ending with a long, clean finish; pairs perfectly with hearty salads, grilled vegetables, kebabs, stuffed tomatoes or charcuterie.

Pomum Red  ’18     Washington    $18
Carefully made Bordeaux blend of cab, cab franc, malbec, petite verdot, and merlot; aromas of red fruit-leather and exotic spices; flavors of black cherry, cranberry, and garrigue.

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Multi Grain Levain – – Made with a sourdough culture and a flavorful mix of bread flour and fresh milled whole wheat and rye. A nice mixture of flax, sesame sunflower and pumpkin seeds and some polenta add great flavor and crunch. And just a little honey for some sweetness. A great all around bread that is full of flavor – $5/loaf

Rosemary Olive Oil – Made with bread flour and freshly milled white whole wheat for additional flavor and texture. Fresh rosemary from the garden and olive oil to make for a nice tender crumb and a nice crisp crust. – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Traditional Croissants – Made with both a sourdough levain and a prefermented dough – aka “old dough”– where a portion of the flour, water, salt and yeast is fermented overnight. The final dough is then made with more flour, butter, milk and sugar, laminated with more butter before being cut and shaped into traditional french croissants. –2/$5

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Lummi Island Wild 

We have been carrying Lummi Island Wild’s terrific sushi-grade albacore canned tuna for a couple of years now, and it has been a big hit!  If you have tasted it, you know it is Proof that all canned tuna is NOT created equal! And while the $7.50 price per can may seem high at first blush, it is truly Something Special!

AND just this week we have also brought in one of their new products, Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon, caught by reefnet fishing right here at Lummi Island’s historic Legoe Bay Reef Net fishery.

 Economics of the Heart: CLIMATE CRISIS OFFICIALLY BEGINS

The past few weeks of weather along the US southern border states should be making it completely clear to everyone on the planet that the World is now WAY past “climate change,” having now been pretty much officially initiated into the Climate Crisis that we have seen coming for at least fifty years. All living species have a habitable niche that provides oxygen, food, habitat, and water, and human beings are no different. These niches are now getting a lot smaller, and millions of people who have been barely surviving on the margins are at the bitter end of the line.

For fifty years, science has been telling us that there are too many human beings, burning too much carbon for the global ecosystem upon which every living thing depends to remain in balance.

Indeed, as early as the 1970’s the energy industry and the US Dept of Energy were funding detailed climate research to develop models to predict how increasing energy consumption might affect global climate. While these studies were far less sophisticated then present models, they were surprisingly accurate in predicting how the complex interactions among CO2 concentration, atmospheric and ocean temperatures, and increasing heat and kinetic energy in the atmosphere would affect the habitability of the entire planet. Higher temperatures would mean more rapid evaporation, more rain,  higher winds, more flooding in some places, more severe droughts in others, and vastly increased risk of forest fires and mega-hurricanes. Melting icecaps would reduce Earth’s albedo (energy reflected back into space), one of several negative feedback loops in the climate system.

We have known for decades exactly how disastrous our failure to limit carbon emissions would be for the interdependent global ecosystems that make life possible. Yet here we are in 2023 watching the early consequences of our collective failure to act. Over just the last few months we have seen a big flock of climate change chickens coming home to roost, most recently the sustained “heat dome” hanging over the US Southwest the past several weeks. In some parts of the world temperatures have gone above what living creatures can endure.

And yet, as unbelievable as it is to hear, Big Energy is doubling down on fossil fuel development and production even as the annual price tag on damages increases exponentially from fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, prolonged droughts, and dwindling water supplies all across the planet. In just the last decade, annual infrastructure damages from these events just in the US have been approaching a trillion dollars from increasingly powerful hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash flooding from sudden heavy downpours.

The number and cost of weather and climate disasters are increasing in the United States due to a combination of increased exposure (more assets at risk), vulnerability ( local climate risks), and the fact that climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme events.

We all have known for decades that we have been changing the climate, but it has been easy, till now, to imagine there was still plenty of time and somehow, magically, it would all work out fine. Well, right about now, everyone on the planet should be starting to wake up to the terrifying reality of how Deep in Do-Do we really are. This was best framed by Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki at an event in Bellingham some ten years ago or so, when an audience member asked him if we should be worried about Climate Change. He paused, thought for a moment, and said emphatically, “You should be shi^^ing your pants!”

Entire regions of the planet are becoming either physically uninhabitable because of heat and drought, or economically uninhabitable because the ongoing risks of fires, floods, drought, and heat make it not worth rebuilding as what were once 500-year rarities become once in a dozen years certainties.

So how likely is it that we humans are capable of the kind of selfless cooperation that will be necessary to save this beautiful planet and it magical living b

JULY HOURS:   Fridays & Saturdays,  4-6pm

a quiet day on the slough…

Friday Bread Pickup This Week

Pain au Levain – Made with a nice mix of bread flour and freshly milled whole wheat and rye flours. After building the sourdough and mixing the final dough it gets a long cool overnight ferment in the refrigerator that really allows the flavor to develop in the bread. – $5/loaf

Cinnamon Raisin – Made with a poolish of bread and fresh milled rye flour that is fermented overnight before the final dough is mixed with bread flour, freshly milled whole wheat and rolled oats. Some honey for sweetness, a little milk for a tender crumb and loaded with raisins and a healthy dose of cinnamon. The cinnamon is mixed into the dough and flavors the entire bread,  a hearty rustic loaf, great for breakfast toast, even better for french toast!  – $5/loaf

and pastry this week…

Gibassiers – A traditional french pastry that incorporates the flavors from the southern France region. Made with a delicious sweet dough full of milk, butter, eggs and olive oil. The addition of orange flower water, candied orange peel and anise seed bring great flavor to these pastries. After baking they are brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with more sugar. Ooh La La a delightful pastry with your morning coffee or tea!  – 2/ $5

To get on the bread order list, click the “Contact Us” link above and fill out the form. Each week’s bread menu is sent to the list each Sunday, for ordering by Tuesday, for pickup on Friday. Simple, right..? If you will be visiting the island and would like to order bread for your visit, at least a week’s notice is recommended for pickup the following Friday.

Wine of the Week: Idilico Tempranillo ’20     Washington    $21

Javier and Shylah Alfonso

Pomum Cellars in Woodinville is really two wineries in one. The Pomum label is used for blends of traditional French varietals like cab sauv, cab franc, and syrah. Currently those include the Pomum Red, which we almost always have in stock, and a higher end red blend, Shya. 

Since winemaker Javier Alfonso grew up in Spain’s famed Ribera del Duero wine region, where tempranillo is just called “tinto” (i.e., the only real red grape), he created a separate label (Idilico) for the wines he makes from Spanish varietals grown in Washington (tempranillo, garnacha, graciano, monastrell, albarino). All the Idilico wines are made from Spanish varietals sourced from top vineyards in Yakima Valley.

Idilico is the only winery in Washington focusing exclusively on Spanish varietals. It turns out Washington vineyards are ideally suited for growing just about any wine grape, including the finicky Spanish varietals, which seem to yield their best wines from challenging terrain and temperature variations.

Contrary to popular belief, wine regions in Spain are not endlessly balmy and sunny. On the contrary, many top growing regions in Spain best resemble Eastern Washington, with arid desert conditions, scorching day time temperatures,  and huge temperature swings at night. Add a short growing season and frosty winters, and you get, as the saying goes in in many of Spain’s best growing regions, “Nueve meses de invierno tres meses de infierno”— “nine months of Winter and three months of Hell!”

Anyway, we have been big fans of Javier’s wines for many years. This week were are pouring his tinto, and we are pretty sure you are going to like it!

This week’s wine tasting

Mas des Bressades Rosé ’21   France  $14
Bright and refreshing classic Rhone blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvèdre, with splashes of Carignan and Cinsault; nice flavor balance of bright red fruit, wild herbs, and a vibrant, spicy finish.

Phantom Chardonnay ’20  California  $15
Entices with its rich layers of green apple and pear that lead into spicy flavors of freshly baked apple pie, while barrel fermentation imparts a creamy, luscious mouthfeel finishing with sweet notes of vanilla and melted caramel.

Idilico Tempranillo ’20     Washington    $21
Pretty aromas of dried herbs, game and tart cherry with hints of moist rock and some citrus notes; on the palate the wine is medium-bodied with juicy mouthfeel, soft tannins, and a bright, lingering finish.

 Economics of the Heart:  How 4.5 + 2.5 = 0

We mortals have a fair amount of imagination. But recent events demonstrate that there are times when all we can do is shake our heads in wonder at the way events unfold. Yes, we think. this IS stranger than fiction…No one, we think (except possibly Carl Hiaasen), could possibly have made this up!

Last week our ferry saga ended quite suddenly after the cancellation of a “special meeting” called on very short notice, with, um, a conspicuous lack of detail about need or purpose. It generated a certain public outrage, a power play by the majority, perhaps, that was called off at the last minute because it violated several elements of the State Open Meetings Act. Ahhh, we of the minority exhaled, perhaps we might actually get some traction at the next scheduled meeting scheduled for 7/12..?

Over the weekend, however, three members of the majority suddenly resigned from the committee as a group, apparently from public pressure. That left four of us, a relatively balanced but minimal quorum that could, possibly, conduct actual business at the next meeting, after many months of keeping serious topics from coming to the floor for discussion. It seemed remotely possible the remaining group of four might possibly find some common ground and make some progress.

On Monday morning, checking in with the County’s legislative liaison person revealed that four remaining members were still a quorum and could officially meet. Encouraging. However, by mid-morning we learned that one of the four had a conflicting engagement and would not be able to make the meeting.

A few hours later, a fourth member resigned, leaving only three of us of the designated seven. Liaison contacted Legal, and apparently if all three of us remaining could meet, that would still have made a quorum, but two definitely did not.

Those events precipitated a lot of hasty phone calls and emails, which quickly brought everything to a standstill for this month and perhaps longer. Not a bad thing really, if it stays at a standstill. We shall see.

No doubt this all sounds very abstract and boring. But for those of us caught up in it, it has been an Ordeal without resolution, involving much of our community, and completely unresolved, and emotionally exhausting. Danny Glover said it best, here:  This isn’t the way things are supposed to be.

” of the ferry committee