Posted By : Chris Corley

We’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to drive across our wonderful country this summer. In the spirit of Thomas Jeffersons great explorers, Lewis and Clark, we have set out on the great Corley Family Expedition of 2012. Granted, we’re going in the opposite direction and have had full hookups at most of our campsites along the way. We also have roadmaps and a GPS, but don’t give me a hard time, its still a lot of fun!

Our road trip them has been the ‘All-American Road Trip’ and we’re aiming to see as much of the country as we can and share with our kids what makes our freedoms special, unique and not to be taken for granted.

We’ve taked a route through the northeast California, The Great Sandy Desert of Oregon, along the Snake River across Idaho, over the Teton Pass where we spent a wonderful few days in the Tetons floating in the Snake and riding horseback. We continued through Cody, Wyoming where we visited the gravesites of Jeremiah ‘Liver Eating’ Johnson and the reassembled cabins and saloons frequented by Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. We dropped down into the Black Hills of South Dakota and ran across a stone-face group of guys at Mount Rushmore. We rolled through the cornfields of South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and felt like we coul see the corn growing as we move east and the weather warmed and the ground greened.

We’re in Green Bay visiting relatives for the Fourth of July today. We visited Lambeau Field, arguably a birthplace of American Football. Even though I’m a 49ers fan and would have liked to have melted on the cheeseheads in the Pro Shop, there is a lot of football history on that site. From here, we’ll work our way over to Canton, OH to visit the NFL Hall of Fame, then through Gettysburg, PA and on to Washington DC to visit the Capitol, Memorials and the Smithsonian. Ultimately, we will visit Geroge Washingtons and Thomas Jeffersons homes at Mount Vernon and Monticello. Along the way, we’re encouraging our kids to understand what it all means while still having a lot of fun.

I can remember going on some pretty fun RV road trips with my family when I was young. These are some great memories of my youth. Theres a freedom being on the open road that is so liberating, so exciting. As I’ve been driving along on this trip, I’ve been thinking about what it takes for us to be able to enjoy that freedom. A lot of people have worked hard, suffered, risked family and fortune, even died for us to be able to pursue our individual happiness.

I’d like to post the original text of the Declaration of Independence today and ask that you take a little time to read and reflect today. Then lets all enjoy a hamburger, cold beer and some fireworks while remembering what today is really about.

Posted By : Chris Corley

Today, we’re looking forward to fireworks, swimming with the kids and maybe a barbeque this evening. I wanted to write a short piece about the 4th of July. The more I thought about what to write, the deeper the days meaning became to me. I took a little time to read The Declaration of Independence this morning, and it became very clear to me that there were no new words to be written today. I hope you can take a few minutes to read this incredible document and reflect on the events that transpired on this day 235 years ago. Then enjoy your freedom to have a hot dog and cold beer.

Cheers,
Chris

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

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IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Posted By : Chris Corley

This has been a very interesting growing season. As an industry, we had one of the worst frost seasons in recent history, then a mild summer with some very intense heat spikes and then another cool spell through September. Aside from the damage and crop reduction caused by the frost throughout the valley, this year’s crop is lighter than usual. We’re seeing people scrambling for fruit, and its years like this that help remind us how fortunate we are to be growing most all of our own grapes (and also how fortunate we are to have a kick-ass sprinkler system and a guy named Angel to protect every last one of our grapes from the bitter cold).

Most growing seasons you don’t have a map. You know where you want to go, but there’s a lot of variables that prevent you from just charting your course in the spring. It would be like pulling out your map, except that they keep rebuilding the streets and putting up detours as you’re driving so the map isn’t really valid anymore after you start your trip. So we don’t use a map. It’s more like navigating with a globe, except you’ve got stoplights to monitor the traffic.

In the beginning of a growing season you can see where you are when you get started, and we know from experience where we want to be at the end. The variable is all the stuff that happens in the meantime. Most of the variable is the weather, but if you’ve got a solid starting point and destination, you’ll know how to react to the variables when they strike. You must simultaneously be immersed in the minutiae and also grant yourself a necessary distance from the details to be able to see where you are. This is like navigating a globe but with stoplights.

Thomas Jefferson had a penchant for finding the highest point in any new place or city that he visited. It gave him a broader perspective of a new locale. He governed in much the same way, granting himself a ‘necessary distance from the details’ in order to maintain a broader perspective. This was effective for him because he had other people delegated to sweat the small stuff. We need to do both ourselves.

When growing grapes for wine, we need to be looking down the field, and to do that you need the highest perch you can find. Literally, that is sometimes standing on the roof of the winery or utilizing aerial photography. We also pay attention to the stoplights. A vine’s stoplight system also kind of works on Red, Yellow and Green but in slightly different ways. When we sample our grapes, the taste and texture of the fruit override most all other factors. We also run numbers in the lab to establish metrics. Sometimes the fruit tastes great and the numbers look good, and one may be inclined to pick.

That’s when we need to pull out our globe and check the stoplights. From our perch, we can see where we are on our journey and how the road looks ahead – will it be hot, dry, cold, rainy ? The color of the vines leaves are our stoplights and can indicate to us the ability of the vine to continue down the road. If the leaves of the canopy are very green and the road ahead looks mild – go (in this case ‘go’ means keep hanging the fruit). If the leaves are yellow, pay close attention – the vine may be shutting down. If the leaves are red, odds are the vine has a virus, and you’ll want to stop and pay close attention to those vines.

Although we don’t get tickets in the field when we run lights, you’ll know whether we were paying attention while we were driving each growing season. In light of recent legislature in California, we’ll be assessing after this year if we need to institute a policy of not using a cell phone while we’re in the field …

Posted by : Chris Corley

I just finished a pretty fascinating book about Thomas Jefferson called American Sphinx. It was written in 1996 by Joseph J. Ellis, a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College and a National Book Award Winner.

The book takes us through 5 distinct intellectual segments of Jefferson’s life, through both his public and private moments and correspondences …

Philadelphia : 1775-1776

Paris : 1784-1789

Monticello : 1794-1797

Washington, DC : 1801-1804

Monticello : 1816-1826

The thrust of the book is to delve into Jefferson’s mind to attempt to understand how he developed his fascinating views on individual freedoms and governance of men. The author also speculates how Jefferson reconciled some seemingly contradictory viewpoints that he held. For instance – how Jefferson reconciled his views of individual freedoms with his ownership of slaves and how he reconciled his essentially unilateral actions in the procuring of the Louisiana Purchase while at the same time opposing that kind of unilateral power for a government official.

The book is extremely well written, fluidly and intelligently, and portrays Jefferson as an extremely complex, erudite and somewhat solitary man. It is a somewhat provocative book that any American history buff will be sure to enjoy.