Passions of the Innkeepers
It has been a while since I posted to this Blog. Today, I want to revisit the Inn – and to write about the Inn is inevitably to write about ourselves. Joan and I have poured our lives into this place. It is not a sacrifice – although our kids in a pique might say that it has been. We care about everything here – the material – from toilet seats (you should see the back-up supply) to beds – we always have a couple of back-ups of each size and only buy the finest available. We care about our guests’ “experiences” – and provide opportunities to get out of doors – not just walking around, but paddling the beautiful Big River Estuary, mountain biking Mendocino’s many trails and back roads. If you want to learn about the forest or marine...
Time Wears
On the road last Saturday, we were listening to a program on human aging and possible new technologies for living longer broadcast on NPR or CBC Radio 1. One commentator noted that “time wears out everything.” That is not true. Think about the nature of experience: What we experience might be different, but the nature of experiencing is not. I can remember experiences and the feeling of experiencing from 2 years-old onward. The nature of experiencing is the same. The content of my experience changes and for that matter my experience of myself changes – Now it hurts to walk barefoot outdoors, while I never wanted to wear shoes when I was little. Time does not wear out experiencing. Yet experiencing is an essential aspect of time and does not suffer...
Land – Our Relationship to the Ground upon which we stand
In Growing Potential – Wealthy Investors snap up farmland amid rising food prices Bernard Condon writing for the Associated Press notes that a Tulsa software executive snapped up 430 acres of Michigan cornfields for $4 million and a California insurance executive purchased 156 acres in Iowa, overbidding the farmer who had rented the land for 20 years. The farmer’s maximum bid was $1.1 million. A former Goldman Sachs executive has been reported buying arable land in Africa, competing with Chinese investors seeking to profit from coming food shortages. Investors are free to invest in farmland; however they are removed from the land – its texture, smell. They do not experience the land’s response to hoe or disc harrow. They rarely experience the excitement...
A Modern Myth: The Paleolithic Diet
“You’ll be proud of me! I am on the paleo-diet,” reported Ed, a former staff member. “I eat 25% meat – no dairy- and all the rest greens. No grains. You know, there were no grains then!” Ed came back to Mendocino to say hello and check in. He had recently adopted the paleo-diet and I had no idea why he thought I would be proud of this unless it was because he no longer ate dairy products. I had recommended he quit eating dairy for allergies and for animals. (Read about the philosophies and practices of the dairy industry. When I read them I became vegan.) The Paleolithic diet also includes mushrooms, nuts, and fruit; but not grains, legumes, dairy products, processed oils, and condiments such as salt and sugar. Underlying this theory of diet is the...
Mendocino County – A State of Mind | Sustainability
Mendocino County is beautiful – stretching from forested mountains overlooking river valley vineyards to the rugged Coast. The coast itself is a study in contrasts – from the banana-belt in the south to the foggy redwood forests in the north with sweeping beaches, lighthouses and historic villages. In many respects Mendocino County is a “sustainable destination.” The Stanford Inn engages in sustainable practices. And we are not the only business and family to do so. Nor were we the first. In 1956, the Lolonis family of Redwood Valley chose to purposely manage their vineyards using traditional, sustainable methods – no chemicals and lots of ladybugs. They are the oldest purposely organic vineyard in the United States. Mendocino...
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