Heading North...

 I'm not sure who is most excited about our upcoming trip back to the U.S., but I sure can tell you I have one little girl that is giddy with excitement to see her old friends (and one who was too young to remember most of them...)  And I have one adult, nearing 40, that might give her a run for her money...

As of today, we have 52 days until the journey starts.  And it is a journey.  It will cover flying to another continent, visiting 4 states and innumerable friends.

Giddy, I tell  you, Giddy.

Marking down the days on the chart we made!

Falling Back

Daylight Saving Time.  I never really thought much about it when I was living in the U.S., it was just something we did.  The second Sunday in March we would lose an hour of sleep by adding 60 minutes to our clocks.  And on the first Sunday in November, we would set them back that same 60 minutes.  It ran like clockwork (pun intended) since you always knew when to expect the time change.  Hence, never really having to think much about it.

And then I moved to Chile.  Where daylight saving time and the reversion to standard time do not run like clockwork.  In fact, I am not sure how they are run because I am never sure, until the day it actually is implemented, when the time change is going to happen.

There is a schedule.  It looks like this.  Since our seasons are backwards here, we fall back in March and spring forward in October.  Both on the second Sunday.  But for the past couple of years that schedule has been changed.  Seemingly at will and sometimes numerous times, before the time change is actually observed.

Take for example last year (the first one I had first hand experience with).  The time change was scheduled for March 12.  Which means that it would have already been in place by the time we arrived on March 29.  Which was perfect.  Our kids were coming from Mountain Daylight Time which, when Chile is on Standard Time (having fallen back an hour), is only a 2 hour time difference.  Piece of cake for my kids and I wouldn't have to deal with that horrible week where the kids who used to wake up at 7 am now wake up at 6 am because their body clocks haven't adjusted yet.  But since we were adjusting time zones anyway it wouldn't have been a big deal.

And then they announced that they were pushing the date back.  Almost a month.  Chile would now revert to Standard time on April 4th.  The Saturday after we arrived.  OK, that was workable.  I would just incorporate the time change into our schedule from our arrival.  No sense getting them used to one time, just to have to switch it all 6 days later.  So the girls stayed up until 8:30 (an hour later than their normal bedtime but was still only 6:30 for their Mountain Time bodies) and woke up, well, when they woke up.  They were pretty confused for that week but I was grateful to get it all out of the way right up front.

And then they changed the date again.  Since it was decided the day we were travelling here, we didn't find out about it until we landed.  This time they were pushing the date until May 7th.  Now I was going to have to deal with changing the girls internal clocks twice - within a 6 week time frame.  UGH.  I guess I could have tried to just set them to the new time schedule from the day we arrived.  Six weeks isn't so long to just have them stay up an hour later, right?  Wrong.  The reason my girls have such an early bedtime (other than we get some quiet time alone at night) is because the later my girls stay up at night, the earlier they get up in the morning - and they are already early risers.  It is an inverse relationship.  Keep them up an extra hour, they will get up a half an hour early the next morning.  2 hours at night = an hour less sleep in the morning.  You get the idea.  And back in those days my girls were already getting up between 6:30 and 7:00 am.  We found their sweet spot and it happened to be 7:30 pm.  It afforded us all the longest amount of sleep and that is all any of us ask for.

May 7th rolled around and no announcements were made so we did our falling back.  Finally.  The girls handled it with a week of very early mornings and then it all worked out.  I figured I didn't have to worry about it again for another 6 months when we sprang forward (which is always easier).  A bit naive on my part.  Why didn't I realize that if they messed with our falling back that they wouldn't do the same with springing forward?  And did they ever.  This time they didn't push it back though - they moved it up.  From October to August.  I am not sure why they bothered for a measly 3 1/2 months...

This year, as I was filling out my March calendar, I skipped writing "Time Change" in the box for March 11.  I was just waiting.  Sure enough, at the end of February, they announced that they were once moving the date, this time to April 28th.  And yet, I still didn't write it on the calendar.  I was waiting...just waiting.

But now, as we are finally at April 28th, and no new announcements have been made, I guess I will begin switching all of my clocks back an hour before bed this evening.  Except of course for my cell phone and computer.  They didn't get the memo on the date changes.  Heck, they didn't get the memo that they are in Chile.  They switched back an hour on the day that the U.S. sprang forward and when I tried to change them to reflect the correct time, it changes the times for the rest of the world too.  Not a big deal if you don't deal with other time zones, but I have family in friends that would not be happy if I called them at the wrong time, say 5 am...

As of tomorrow morning, for said friends and family in other parts of the world, we will be back on Eastern Daylight time.  This means I am on the same time zone as New York.  It makes it a bit easier to keep in touch since we are only 3 hours ahead of you in California, and only an hour ahead of the central time zone.  That is until September 2nd when we switch to Daylight Saving Time...

Or not.

The Harvest Experience

  

We are blessed here in Chile with some fabulous countryside.  When I say fabulous, I really mean without equal.  It just doesn't get much better.  The Andes run the entire length of the country on our east side and the Pacific ocean borders us to the West.  With all of that beautiful scenery, you can't ask for much more.  But of course, there is more.  These two things (and some great weather) create the perfect conditions for grape growing.  Chile has some of the best vineyards in the world...And most of them are within a 2 hour drive from our house.  How did I get so lucky to live here?  

When my girlfriend C and her husband had been wine tasting in the Casablanca valley a few weeks before, they found out about a special program that catered to both kids and adults alike.  For about 5 weeks in March and April, Casas del Bosque hosts the Harvest Experience.  We just knew we had to sign up (and fast, since it was already mid-April and they only had 2 more weekends left).  

On Sunday, we loaded up the car and headed out for the scenic hour and a half drive to the vineyard.  We got an early start because the tour started at 10:30 and we wanted to make sure we were there on time.  We were a large group (16 in all) and I didn't think they would start without us, but you just never know.  

We need not have worried.  We had plenty of time before our tour started so of course we snapped a few pictures.

When the whole group had gathered, our guide handed out our aprons, our gathering crates and the clippers we would need to harvest the grapes. B and I held on to the girls clippers for them but we couldn't get the crates out of their hands to save our lives.

MadHatter and her first buddy in Chile!

I'm amazed we got them all in the same picture much less almost all looking.

We headed out to the fields after a quite history of the vineyard.

When the wineries of the central region here in Chile started concentrating on quantity over quality, Juan Cuneo Solari, an Italian businessman, wanted to start a winery that would focus on exactly the opposite.  In turn, he accomplished this by investing in high quality equipment, choosing only the best to work in his vineyards and by planting only the highest quality grapes.  He also has held onto ancient traditions and his staff only hand picks the grapes at Harvest time.

In 1993, with the founding of Casas del Bosque, Señor Solari became one of the first family wineries in the Casablanca Valley.  He situated his wineries among the old Pine and Olive trees found in the area and created a grand manor house.  The house and wineries situated in the Woods are what gave him the idea for the name - Casas del Bosque - Houses of the Woods.

And then we were off to hand pick some of those very tasty grapes...

We walked the fields looking for the best ones.  We finally handed the clippers over to MadHatter, but not without my supervision.  B got the job of helping Stinkerbell (which if you know how strong willed she is about doing it herself, all by herself, you know I got the easier task).  There was just no way I was handing clippers to a not quite yet 3 year old to handle alone.

 

Stinkerbell would cut a few.  Admire her work and then promptly pick the ripest one she could find and stuff it in her mouth.  We finally had to tell her that if she didn't stop eating them all, there would be no wine for the winery to sell in a few years.

MadHatter on the other hand was too hard at work to stop and taste the rewards of her labor.

The final results of their hard work.

It was now time to take the grapes to the collecting basket.  Stinkerbell refused help - can you believe that, she asks, tongue firmly in cheek.  

Maybe one last taste...

She managed to carry it a couple of feet by herself but even she knew she couldn't make it all the way to the collection basket...She gave Papa the puppy dog eyes and he came running to her rescue.

MadHatter dumped the grapes.  Because she could reach and Stinkerbell couldn't.  Stinkerbell didn't cause a fuss.  Probably because she knew that any grape that fell overboard would be hers seeing as her hands weren't tied up and MadHatter's were.

The girls tired out of cutting down grapes before anyone else so it gave me a minute (literally, like one minute) to take a picture or two of the surroundings

We actually then had to go back and put a few of our grapes back in our crates, as they would be needed for the next step.  Stinkerbell volunteered to carry our crate...go figure.

We listened attentively as they told us how the machine would sort the leaves and stems off of the grapes and then shake the grapes down the conveyor into the container that would then take them inside the winery to begin their final steps in becoming a good Chilean wine.  Well, some of us listened attentively.  Some of us were daydreaming about how the grapes we were holding in our hands would taste so good right about now...

What????

We dumped them on the conveyor...

They were separated and shaken down the belt...

and landed in a neat pile at the end.

Stinkerbell thanked her Papa for all his help!!!

Then it was time for a tasting of their fabulous Sauvignon Blanc, accompanied by some tasty treats.
And then we headed inside for a tasting of their award winning Pinot Noir - accompanied by a
traditional Chilean empanada.

Our group of 16 sat warming ourselves by the fire.  Wait  - our group of 15 did that.  Stinkerbell joined the German family that was with us on the tour.  No amount of coaxing, bribing or threatening would make her join us.  Good thing the German family thought she was adorable...

We then enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch (paired with more wine at every course).  In light of Chile's new ZERO tolerance drunk driving laws (one glass will put you over the limit), we sat around the fire while the kids played at the strategically placed playground right outside.  Very nice.

Oh, and what did Stinkerbell do?  She ate some more grapes...

Want one?  They are pretty tasty.

Even being this tired, she couldn't stop munching.

And finally, at about 5 pm, we were ready to call it a day.  All except Stinkerbell, who was bound and determined to get just one more grape...

{I will apologize now for the lack of a Pinot Noir in 2012}