Day 7 (night): Winery

The thought of spending the night at an organic winery in rural northeastern Washington, sounded like a nice, relaxing idea, and oh was it.

It turned out that the winery was a croquet-playing, organic hippie commune, from actual hippies. The early 70s were frequently looked backed upon as the good ol' days before "the big guys" took over organic farming, people donate plasma for money and when William Shatner would pick up hitchhikers twice - and give them $20 - twice. I am not exaggerating, these were stories told to me by a random community of people who live/work on and around the winery.

Before I begin I should say that everyone was extremely warm, friendly, hospitable, truly some of the nicest people I met on my journey, but they were an interesting collection of personalities...

The Vintner: He had two names, one I think his parents gave him and one I think he gave himself. A tall thin man with a white beared and long-ish curly white hair. He loves all things organic, including organic jalapeno cheese puffs and croquet. He is rather cryptic about his background beyond that his family was in agriculture and he has been a vintner for 15 years. He kept saying "Do you know how you make a small fortune in wine? Start with a large one."

The Writer/Musician: A tall, thin man in mid-50s who was very proud of his recent tan. He is planning to go on a music tour in 5 days, just completed his second novel, and in his spare time plows forest land to create a regulation-size croquet field on the winery's property. He hopes to have a US Open tournament there. The court will include a bar (plumbing has been laid) and bleachers. He and his wife have a home near the winery, but he has recently chosen to sleep out of his car (note: he and his wife are not separated, he talked about her planned trip to Wal-Mart).

The Organic Farmer: A woman in her mid-50s, who spent 13 years as an organic farmer. She owns her place/property, but does not have running water, so she often uses the showers in the local laundromat or on the winery. The purpose of her visit this evening was to collect some water. She is extremely passionate about organic farming, and how fertilizers should not be used..the soil should be replenished through crop rotation.

The Vagabond: I believe he is/was homeless. Another tall thin man in his mid-50s, who talked about his new false teeth within 3 minutes of meeting him. I don't think he had been around a new woman in sometime, since he found me quite fascinating. He talked about how he was originally from the Chicago area, his hitchhiking adventures up the Pacific Coast, and how even though he doesn't have a lot of money and he is still learning "country etiquette" the people at the winery were very nice to him. He also gave me a tour of the land.

After watching a croquet match between the The Vintner and The Writer/Musician on a much smaller croquet field, but still following Oxford-something rules (something to do with chess). I was treated with some homemade (organic, of course) chili in the cannery where The Organic Farmer and I talked about organic farming, vegetarianism and gas prices.