Suzanne Havens

On the coolest morning of the 2013 winter, we were fortunate to have a guided tour of the Myakka River State Forest in Southwest Florida, with a highly accomplished retired botanist/naturalist, Dr. Bill Dunson, who volunteers his expertise so that we may treasure our planet. The foresters regularly burn the forest in the winter when it is dry, which keeps some plants from dominating, but also destroys some of the wetland plants. Dr. Dunson also showed what happens when the shallow aquifers are drained to provide water for people and crops. The palmettos flourish and wetland species disappear.
Many of the flowers of the forest are tiny. The soil is silica washed down from the mountains and nearly sterile, so the lakes are very clean and the plants that grow here have various strategies for getting nutrients. for example, the red bladder wort dissolves insects that land on it.

Quixote Winery was created as a boutique winery by Carl Doumoni, the owner of the neighboring Stags Leap on the Silverado Trail in Napa, California. Doumoni persuaded “the delightfully witty Viennese artist, architect, philosopher and environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000)” to design the winery.

Hundertwasser and Doumani worked together from 1988 – 1998 on this marvelous creation.

Hundertwasser avoided straight lines, used bright colored ceramic tiles and columns, planted the roofs and capped buildings “with a golden turret to elevate man’s sense of himself.”

Our tour guide, a self-described Napakin, gave us our first tasting in the welcome room. We carried our glass throughout the tour and received additional pours of their various wines, all delicious.

The tastings continued in the tasting room, paired with sharp cheeses and crisp crackers.

After the guided tour we continued exploring outside the winery enjoying the gardens and quirky architecture. The guide said the owner has put Quixote on the market for $35 million. If you want to tour, make a reservation. They have been known to turn away people who think of themselves as VIPs.

I grew up in Lansing, Michigan. My dad closed his business for a week each August and our family went on vacation at one of the beautiful lakes in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, including Walloon Lake and Higgins Lake. My dad drove, hauling our ski boat. I remember sitting in the boat in a hot life jacket with the motor roaring in my ears watching my parents slalom, waiting my turn to jump into deep cold water and paddle around in my life jacket while they rested. I learned to water ski at 10 (a year before I learned to swim without a life jacket). Even now I hate the sound of motors and prefer sailing to motoring. The farthest I ever traveled as a kid was to the UP (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) and to Windsor, Canada with my grand parents and sister, which I thought were great adventures. The rest of each summer I “traveled” by reading books, explored the neighborhood on my bike, and drew pictures.

I continue to love to read, travel, make pictures and try to share those experiences with family and friends. This past June we flew to Sacramento to stay in Sonoma, California then on to SeaTac, Seattle/Tacoma, Washington for a tour of the area National Parks, botanical gardens, art and craft galleries and museums, and local restaurants as well as visit with family and friends. In August we drove to Michigan to visit family and friends as well as see Lake Michigan, kayak in Pentwater Lake and sight see in the beautiful dune country we enjoyed as kids. I took way too many pictures to share at one sitting, so as I sift through them I will post some for you to enjoy. Maybe I’ll tackle making a DVD or two one of these days.

Jacuzzi Winery, Sonoma, California

Artichoke Flower, Cornerstone Gardens, Sonoma, California