Napa, Rick Steves, and Ukraine

You might wonder how I might be able to tie these three disparate topics into one post. Continue reading. It’s been another tumultuous last seven days. In October, I “won” a wine tasting package at a local charity auction. I had been a Board member of San Mateo-Foster City Education Foundation (https://www.smfcedfund.org) and was more than happy to bid on this package at the annual virtual gala in October. The package consisted of tastings at four wineries: Duckhorn, Paraduxx, Migration, and Goldeneye. The first three are located in and around Napa, with Duckhorn the farthest away, in St. Helena, maybe 15 miles north. Goldeneye is in Anderson Valley, closer to the coast, on the way to Mendocino. As such, it is a separate trip. The tastings at the first three were fabulous and, conveniently, included a sampling of pinots from Goldeneye, heavy pinots, more Cabernet Sauvignon than seemingly traditional jammy California pinots, and merlots of substance. Recall the character of Paul Giamatti in Sideways (2005); these were not those merlots. One night in Napa, followed by a competent breakfast at the B&B, a few diversions, and back home.

But for the Rattlesnake Crossing, Napa is probably as safe as can be. Europe, probably a bit less so, still beckons, as it always has. Some time ago, I had purchased the Peninsula Speaker Series at the legendary (1928) Fox Theater in Redwood City, California. It had been rescheduled seemingly countless times, due to COVID. Finally, it was time. Our first speaker, yesterday, was Rick Steves, famed European (and global) traveler, writer, tour leader, and teacher. We enjoyed Italy (Venice, Lucca, Rome) in 2019 probably in no small part due to Steves’ 2019 Italy book (which he is currently updating). The talk was surprisingly entertaining and unsurprisingly informative. I took a few notes, in reviewing them now mostly unsatisfactory, but a 10-day 100 mile loop hike starting and ending in Chamonix sounded awesome. As some know, I am an avid hiker. In 75 minutes, with a slide show in the backdrop, Steves covered traveling during a pandemic, climate-neutral travel, meeting new people, traveling with the window down or the window up, diversity in travel, refugee crises (generally), and the current situation in Ukraine. By the way, Steves has not been there, but hopes to go, after the war ends and conditions stabilize somewhat. One of the goals of traveling is widening your aperture, becoming more comfortable with the world, identifying commonalities and differences, and building empathy. Okay, technically, that may be more than one goal, but you get the picture.

Last, but not least, Ukraine, still top of mind (as it should be). I spoke to someone yesterday about his 30-hour bus ride from Kyiv to the Hungarian border, and then crossing the border, with 500 people in front of him. The bus stopped when it could, to get gas, with long gas lines, as expected. Women, children, men over 60 (with younger ones required to stay in Ukraine to possibly fight). No food or water on the bus, except what you had brought with you, and even then, a concerted effort by some to limit food and water intake to avoid having to use the bathroom. Frigid cold outside. Numerous checkpoints. A suitcase or a backpack, perhaps one or two pairs of pants, a few shirts, a sweater or two, medicine. Take this experience and multiply it by more than two million. Let that sink in. I am in awe of the people of other European countries taking in the many Ukrainian refugees. Regrettably, I had not given this sufficient thought during other (and ongoing) refugees crises.

It is possible that I am doing my small part, during the current crisis. But, there are many questions and appeals to which I have no good answers (yet): remote or other work opportunities for displaced Ukrainian lawyers and other professionals, help with obtaining services inside and outside of Ukraine, etc. Still, we must persist, continue to do our parts, and try to find suitable answers.

Comments welcomed.