Detour.

This afternoon, I was driving home to Salinas from San Luis Obispo, when all of a sudden, the traffic came to a complete standstill just before Gonzales, and of course I assumed the worst--a giant accident, or construction or something--so I exited immediately to take backroads the rest of the way home. Little did I know, that these "backroads" I was driving on, were private farm roads, which I probably shouldn't have been driving on; and little did I know, traffic cleared up just after I exited--it was only people rubbernecking at a minor fender bender!

Anyway, that detour I took was one full of beauty, and mystique, new sights and smells, and left me with a different point of view.  I had never been so close to the fields where the majority of our produce is grown, or smelled the fresh soil of the fields--some fields just planted, some with almost mature plants, some fields just harvested, and some just tilled in, and ready for a new crop to be planted...what a beautiful circle of life. Wouldn't you agree?

On this wonderful detour, I also encountered a beautiful, bay horse, literally, running like the wind in a long pasture along the road--mane and tail whipping behind her like she was soaring above the clouds, head held high like the proudest parent at an elementary school play, and graceful as the fog, slowly dispersing from the valley each early morning.  I only wish I'd had a chance to photograph this wondrous creature.

I also drove past many vineyards, green vines weaving their way around the trellis's that are diligently supporting them. I passed Pessagno, which I still need to try, and Talbot's, which I had the pleasure of tasting last summer with my best friend and her mom and sister, and Marilyn Remark, from whom I have a signed bottle of Rosé, waiting to be shared with someone special. 

I noticed a lot of small things driving down this detour, windows down, listening to 90's country, that  I would've otherwise missed, had I stayed on the freeway.  Initially, I was bummed it'd take me longer to get home, but now, I'm incredibly glad I was forced to take that detour, no matter how inconsequential it may seem. 

Take pride in our mother Earth and thank God above for each and every living thing, no matter how big, or how small.