A flash of inspiration

I had a wild moment of inspiration last evening and went out and bought a 100 pack of markers... It seems like a lot, but they are pretty distinct shades of color, and it cost relatively little...

Anyhow, this is what I got out of it... it's called Middaydreaming... inspired by the work of my good friend Scotty Voyles... a true artistic master.

One of those Mondays

It's 5:30 a.m. and I can already tell what kind of day it's going to be. I've been up for half an hour mopping up a leaky fish tank... Sigh... problem is, I still can't figure where most of the water went. I hate that at normal hours of the day... but 5 a.m. the day after daylight savings switched is just cruel. I'm trying NOT to think about the fact that it's really 4:30 a.m. to my body and just focus on the fact that I'm definitely up in time to go to work... grumble grumble... oh, and I have some time to write on my blog.



And here's Jack, working on his seafood breakfast. As far as I know he hasn't caught anything, but then, I have had a fish literally disappear from the tank this time around.



I finished up a paper for my Women's Studies course last week; the last paper for Asian-American Novel... a challenging class for me this quarter. I enjoyed learning new things, but I'm happy to put that class behind me, honestly. I forgot how intense a novel based class is and I don't feel like I really got into any of the texts we studied... or sampled, I should say, because a novel a week with 2 discussion periods on each is hardly studying.

So in other news, I'm working on preparing for a horse show at WC in May, I think. I somehow feel that, even with a couple months to work on the effort I'm going to be completely unprepared. No fault of Debbie's... I just don't feel show quality. Perhaps that's not the point... the point is the experience, I suppose.

I can't figure how, though, when we don't even get any notes from a judge, so I won't know if she just didn't like my nose or if my riding sucks or if whatever issue she finds can be fixed... But the point is the experience.

On Saturday, Leslie and I worked on some suppleness exercises with our horses. Watson is so stiff in his shoulders and neck. I could feel him clenching almost the entire time we were doing the exercises. The last time through he felt a little different, a little more supple I think... but we have a lot to work on.

Also, my equitation sucks. It's just dreadful... hands wrong, leaning too far, elbows wrong... leg moves too much. I'm a mess! And I wonder why I can't seem to get out of my head when I ride. Ha! Well, I have a ride tonight and w/daylight savings, maybe I can be outside and enjoy it? But I still have a lot to work on.

It's kitten feeding time and the cats are crying. Apparently they believe they are starved and abused.



Sigh... Monday...

"Post about your riding"

Hmmm... there's a novel thought. Post about riding horses... something I do weekly at least twice... Perhaps I should post about my RIDING... :)

Truth is, riding has been hard for me the past few months. Last April, Debbie switched barns from the Woodland Stallion Station to Willow Creek Horse park. Since she's my riding instructor and I love her dearly, and since she is ridiculously generous with saddle time for me and knows everything, I went with her. Transitions are never easy, no matter how you look at it... and honestly, this one has been pretty rocky.

I like WC a lot. It's a fancy barn, well maintained, great LARGE (and by large I mean GIGANTIC) arenas, warm water in the wash rack. It's perhaps not as homey as WSS. And no where near as beautifully situated. WSS is a gem of a boarding facility with the vineyards and the eucalyptus grove and the pastures. I definitely miss the scenery. And I miss the worn feeling that everything had. No, it didn't always mean that I could open the gate to the indoor arena, or that I wouldn't find spiderwebs covering the tack room and in every crevice... but WSS is a place unto itself... and has its charm.

I think the hardest part about leaving WSS, though, was leaving Omega, the lovely old gentleman Morgan gelding. No, he's not the brightest star of a horse... he's a brilliant horse for a beginner, though, and that's when my relationship with him began. I was a beginner, fresh off of two quarters of weekly lessons at UC Davis, and he treated me well... well... better than Trevor the crafty ancient appaloosa did, anyhow (another story for another time).

When I moved over to WC, I began riding Watson, a relatively as old as Omega, good-natured, tall, Hanoverian gelding. He's a step up as far as talent goes... he can jump cross rails and so I started learning how to jump cross rails too. Stepping up in riding means that you have to get back to the basics sometimes... that you have to relearn some things that your last horse made easy for you... and that you have to learn new things that maybe you weren't expecting.

When I first began riding Watson in May, I cried every time I went to the barn. I felt like he was too big for me, like I couldn't control him at all, and like I had regressed in my skill level so much that there was no hope for me. (Did I mention that transition is never easy?)

Debbie is fantastic and... could be a shrink (maybe she was in another life?). She's coached, coaxed, and counseled me through the down days and given me back some of my confidence. You can't ask for a better instructor, or friend.

So what is wrong? I'm not sure yet... but I need to figure myself out. Because it's the worst feeling in the world having a mini panic attack before a lesson, not being able to sleep at night, bursting into tears in the middle of my ride. Maybe I'm afraid, but I don't know what of... because everyone thinks I'm weird when I say what I think it is... I'm not afraid of falling off... although maybe I am because I haven't done it yet... I don't know. I know I'm afraid when Watson gets going and I can't make him steer accurately, much less stop. I'm afraid that we'll crash through a fence or into the wall or into someone else. I'm afraid that he'll injure himself, and that it will be my fault... that I will be responsible... through ignorance or incompetence. I am afraid.

And the power of positive thinking hasn't helped me yet. Maybe some day it will... all I know is right now when I read all those motivational tips from Jane Savoie or George Morris or anyone else, I feel cheated... like it can't be that easy. And when they tell me it is, I feel worse, not better. And it's horrible, because... all I ever wanted to do since I was a little girl was to ride horses every day... to be with them and be at peace...

But even though I've lost my peace, I can't give up riding. Not until I get it back...

A naked dog and other happenings of the weekend

Tag had a slumber party this weekend. It went well, though perhaps not as fun as we had hoped it would be. Tag's sleep over buddy was Pixel, a Chinese Crested. Yup, folks... he's naked. And he was super watchful of Tag.


After a little sniffing and some "PLAY WITH ME!!!" barking, Tag lost interest and left him alone, but the kittens! The kittens tracked Pixel from the moment he entered the house. They worked as a team! Jack would tail the strange naked creature and Gill would lay in wait, leaping out when Pixel would least expect it and causing him to screech and race for cover. It was hilarious!


In other news, I rearranged a few things in the house today. Spring cleaning if you will. I got sick of the back room (dubbed office) being so gross and unusable. We keep the litter boxes back there and a baby gate up to limit the access to the room to animals that will NOT snack on cat poo... (no names, no names)...

So I moved the desk out... and the red chair... and the shelf of medicines and whatnots... basically it's an empty room except for a couple book shelves and some cat furniture. So happy with it now! Whew! Here are Bangs and the nameless kitty enjoying the new set-up and some early March sunshine.


I'll leave you with a couple pictures that may or may not prove that my animals secretly despise me. :)

My Fantasy Herd

I feel the need to preface this entry by saying "I like hair." ... that is all...




The obvious number one horse in my herd is a gypsy vanner, particularly a plucky gelding. I like the non-standard colors, as well. Most gypsies come in some sort of paint coloration... I like this gray (I'm a sucker for a dapple gray anyhow). What I like best about gypsies (apart from the hair) is their small draftiness... ah yes, the oxymoron of the breed is so appealing :)... that coupled with what is supposed to be a fantastic temperament makes this my number one choice.



Next in my herd would be a Clydesdale. Why? Because it's my fantasy, that's why. I love the massiveness of these animals, the solid figure, the strength. And the hair... the feathered feet for sure... I would NEVER bob the tail or braid the mane of my big bold boy (again, a gelding is my choice). What do I plan to do with this horse? Honestly, I foresee him being a hack around bareback, or liberty training project.



The same is true for this Noriker as it is for the Clydesdale. Gentle and strong with a quiet temperament. That's how I like them :)



I'd also like a fresian for dressage. I love the showy movement of this breed, and, of course, the hair. A la Jane Savoie I see myself growing in my horsemanship and learning more about dressage on this mount. I need some fancy mirrors in my fantasy riding arena (fantasy equestrian center... a topic for another blog), as well, so that I can admire how beautiful my horse is... and perhaps perfect my technique. I do learn best by imitation... I like to see an action to internalize it and imitate it.

Next are two more flashy breeds that I envision doing liberty work with (a la Frederic Pignon).



The beautiful Andalusian (I can still hear Anthony Hopkins' voice in my mind, remembering Zorro's mount, Tornado...)...



and the Lusitano... I like this buckskin, very flashy.

If you didn't think my herd was a little random to begin with, I'd like to add a twist and have a pasture full of (15 or 20) Camargue horses.



These horses are often called "horses of the sea." I find them fascinating! They were originally wild horses living in the Rhone wetlands in France. I have a vision of moving among them as they graze around me freely... sigh...

Finally (and this one will make Leslie happy) I want a black Arabian stallion like Cass Ole.



For those of you who don't know... Cass Ole was "The Black Stallion," and has imprinted on the young hearts and minds of many horse enthusiasts. I'd appreciate it if mine could have the same spunk and personality as Cass Ole, please. Is this too much to ask?

I realize, of course, that my horse choices are not very practical, but who wants to be practical in a fantasy? I refrained from adding anything with horns or wings... that's all I'll grant you!

There you have it... now, Lauren and Leslie, it's your turn! Also, I'm by no means closing the book on this herd. Subject to amendments and additions at any time!

Coming soon, My Fantasy Equestrian Center (or Horse property, more likely).

Pictures of the hairy beast

Not QUITE as much tonight as last night... but you get the idea

Why must we speak without thinking?

Stuff like this REALLY gives me heartburn. I don't understand some people's latent desire to heap judgment on others. Honestly... Leave the judgment to a higher power. Telling people that the reason children are born with disabilities is because of God's judgment is just asinine, hateful, and wrong. But to come from a place of leadership and spew that kind of filth... seriously... heartburn.

It's that time of year

What time of year, you ask? Why it's Spring! Or ... well, at least it's threatening to become spring. How can I tell? By taking into account the sheer volume of animal hair that has suddenly taken over my life.

I am an animal lover, a dog and cat owner, a horse rider... and each of these animals has decided that since the winter solstice has passed it must be time to shed copious amounts of hair and fur all over my clothes and my house. I brush Tag, the gorgeous blue merle collie, daily now. The hair that comes off each time we have a grooming session is enough to coat a new collie puppy! I could make doggy wigs for a hundred dogs by the time this season is over.

As I leave the house for work I look down at my clothes (to make sure I'm matching, that my zipper is up... etc.) and discover that I am covered in a noticeable layer of fuzz... especially from my knees down. Thinking back over the morning's activities, I recall cats rubbing my ankles asking for breakfast... and the world's cutest collie diving between my knees for his morning butt scratch.

It doesn't get any better at the horse barn. Watson was clipped this winter, so he's not shedding as much as some other horses yet. But he, too, has begun... and when it gets into full gear, I'll be covered there, too.

I'll post some pictures of a grooming session with Tag soon, for effect.

Stress produces diamonds

Sad when you start to ponder a line of logic with a hypothesis that is technically false. It's pressure that produces diamonds, not stress. You can feel stress from pressure, I suppose, but it's not the cause... it's a symptom. Stress is something I would like to get rid of, or to handle differently let's say.

Right now my life is full of ups and downs and a lot of waiting. Oh the waiting. I'm not a patient person, ask Noah. If there's a decision to be made or a present to be opened, I say let's cut to the chase and have done with it. That's not the hand life has dealt me this round... and I'm suffering for it. I like to know things, to have all the cards on the table so that I can adjust my expectations appropriately. Never mind what the outcome is, just so that I know it's coming. No more of this in the dark thing, please.

Someone chime in and tell me it's building my character. I have two words for you... but we'll leave that for later. I have plenty of character building in my life right now. I don't want any more. It's wreaking havoc on my body and my emotions. I'd like break please.

Wouldn't it be nice if it worked that way?

If stress = pressure then I'm sure going to be one heck of a diamond one day.

Jack and Gill

I should introduce the newest 4 legged members of my family. Captain Jack and GillyFlower came to live with us in late July. They have been growing and enriching our lives ever since!

Jack is a master of disaster, a mischievous little impling like you have never imagined (unless your name is Emi, and then you have Benjamin, who takes the cake). He's always into something. If it's not shredding bagels and hunting out food stashes (we can't keep the treats in anything that is not air sealed anymore), it's stealing refrigerator magnets and my jewelry (we found his stash under the Christmas tree).

Gill (pronounced "Jill") is the reason people keep cats. She is demonstrative and affectionate, will sit on your shoulder and give your head a bath or come up and stand with her front paws on your leg looking up at you with the most adorable little face.
Best thing about these little bundles of fluff is that they get along swimmingly with the most amazing pup on the planet. In the photo below you can see Jack comforting Tag, who had to wear a cone because of an eye infection.

This brings our head-count to 4 cats, 1 dog, and some fish... but I wouldn't trade it.

Stay tuned for more adventures of Jack and Gill!

Moderata Fonte and Veronica Franco: A comparison of class perspectives

For those who wish to read ... some of my work from a class on Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance...

Women writers of the Italian Renaissance, such as Moderata Fonte and Veronica Franco, faced a challenging environment of patriarchal domination and expectations as they attempted to practice their craft. Their goals were similar: to make their voices heard, to write about issues that were important to them, and to influence the minds of men and women in favor of the position of women in that time period. Their perspectives on the influence of men and their ideas about what were the highest forms of being vary greatly. Class plays a major role in altering the perspectives from which Fonte and Franco, who lived and wrote in Venice during the same time, viewed the world and men.

Fonte was born into an upper class family in 1555 (Stortoni and Lillie, 209). As with all women during that time, she was not allowed to go to school, but gleaned an education from her brother’s lessons. She had a hunger for knowledge and sought it any way she could. Fonte usually wrote herself into her works, likely an attempt to be heard in a time where women were meant only to be seen. Writing was a way to reveal herself and her ideas. She wrote a great deal in her youth, but was forced to give it up once she was married. Stortoni and Lillie don’t indicate that her husband disapproved of her writing. However, it can be inferred from the writings of Alberti on family life during the Italian Renaissance that her wifely duties left little time for writing.

One of the most fundamental attributes sought from an upper class woman during the Italian Renaissance was her dowry. Deals were brokered by parents, “matches” made to link together wealthy and powerful families. An unmarried woman of the upper class was likely to find her life and livelihood in jeopardy, as women were sometimes killed to keep the dowry money in the family. Marriage meant that the money was claimed, whether or not there was any affection between the partners involved.

Fonte found herself caught between two worlds, longing for the “freedom of her youth” and the need to fulfill the expectations of her station (Stortoni and Lillie, 211). On the one hand, being unmarried meant that Fonte would have ample time to write, but none of the security that a marriage and a husband provide. On the other hand, having a husband meant that she had a new set of expectations laid on her, not to mention the rearing of three children. It is indicated that Fonte was very bitter about the fact that her “household responsibilities took her away from her studies and literary endeavors” (Stortoni and Lillie, 211). For Fonte, men were always requiring something of her, either her money, her labor, or her attention. Her bitterness and angst toward men, revealed in her work “The merits of women, in which it is clearly shown how women are more worthy and perfect than men,” are largely due to her class perspective.

The prose portion at the beginning of the excerpt from “The merits of women” that Stortoni and Lillie included in their text describes marriage as “the pain.” Lucrezia says Corinna, Fonte’s persona and the focal character in the work, is “happy and most blessed” along with those who choose to follow her way of life. Virtuous acts performed with God given talents bring great joy, according to Lucrezia, and may make Corinna immortal. She is viewed as free to study religious and earthly texts, leading “a celestial life” that rejects the world of men entirely. Corinna is encouraged to write a guide for “the poor maidens” exhorting them to embrace their maidenhood and not be eager to shed it. The goal of opening women’s eyes to the evils of marriage and men is seen as serving God and the world. (Stortoni and Lillie, 215)

Corinna then sings a song. The first line, “A free heart makes its home within my breast,” indicates she is an unmarried woman. The next line, “servant to no one but myself alone,” shows that Fonte thinks of marriage as servitude. She lifts up modesty, courtesy, virtue, and chastity as her nourishment. She claims to serve God and resents being “wrapped in human veil” so unnatural and restricting (Stortoni and Lillie, 217). Her view of the world and its “perfidious ways which carelessly deceive the simple souls,” is contemptuous and indicative of her desire to prove that society has done women wrong by excluding them or disallowing them the right to pursue intellectual and philosophical passions. Her thoughts are pure and high, “trophies for [her] will, not gifts of fate,” and her fear is that the “deceitful ways” of man will repress her voice and her writing, denying her any chance for “fame and glory after death” (Stortoni and Lillie, 217).

Veronica Franco, born to a Venetian courtesan in 1546, paralleled Fonte in many respects. Living and writing in the same city at the same time, Franco and Fonte knew many of the same scholars and literary experts. Franco faced the same challenge of being a woman and desiring to be heard in the world by men and women alike. However Franco, rather than seeking to withdraw from the world of men, inserted herself into it as a means to pursuing fame and glory and a voice in the intellectual arena.

Franco’s chosen profession of courtesan can be seen as an embrace of the system in an effort to have an impact on it. Her other choice would have been a life of servitude, ignorance, and poverty. By choosing to please men, she elevated herself to a level that allowed her the freedom to exercise her ability to write and influence the happenings of the time. For Franco, men represented the doorway to the life she wanted.

Franco remarks on the injustice of society in repressing women in her “Terza Rima 24,” saying that “this does not come from any fault of ours, because though we fall short of men’s robustness, we are the same in mind and intellect.” She acknowledges the troubles of women, saying “poor female sex, you are forever troubled with evil fortune, held in base subjection and forced to live deprived of liberty!” She lifts up women as greater than men in mind and ability, claiming that their modesty holds them back.

Franco says that by being humble and submitting to men, by viewing pride as a sin, women “[reduce themselves] to vassalage.” She argues that rather than claiming modesty as a virtue with regard to feminine intellect “if she but wished to prove her value in power of mind, she could far excel the men, not merely to prove herself their equal” (Stortoni and Lillie, 207). Franco urges women to have a voice in the only arena that exists, encouraging women to participate in the world of men. Her argument is that by withdrawing from the world, “[treating] men coldly and with bitterness,” women do themselves a disservice, saying “they freely have surrendered all earthly rule, leaving it up to men” (Stortoni and Lillie, 207). Franco’s position is opposite that of Fonte’s, encouraging participation in the intellectual and political spheres of the time rather than separation from it.

By removing herself from the world of men in order to find the freedom to express herself, Fonte reveals that she is tired of the expectations placed upon women to bear children and keep house and bring the dowry. Her standpoint, based on her class, is that men always want something from her and it is better to be separate from them in order to focus on what is most important. Franco came from a line of prostitutes, not by any stretch of the imagination a part of the upper class. Her only pathway to knowledge and an audience for her writing was through the world of men. By virtue of her class, she learned to find a balance between catering to and taking advantage of the desires and expectations that men and society place on her, and so earned her freedom.

Possessing the Secret of Joy

I read Possessing the Secret of Joy, by Alice Walker, this weekend. I couldn't put it down. I was supposed to be writing a comparison paper on Italian poetry from the Renaissance. Instead I was reading a fictional account of a woman's struggle to cope with the emotional impact of female genital mutilation (FGM) or as some cultures call it "female circumcision." (FYI: I find the latter description to be too clinical to describe the ritualistic process of desexing female children)

I was mesmerized, haunted, and completely drawn into the pain of the main character. Yes, the practice is foreign to a Western white woman, and for that matter horrifying... but what amazed me was Walker's artistic weaving in of social and psychological issues to the act of FGM that come back to issues present in society today that plague even one such as myself.

FGM has taken up residence in my consciousness most recently because of my Women's Studies class I'm taking at UC Davis. I have found myself compelled to know more, to understand more, and to advocate for women where possible. What I did not expect (but I should have) was to come up against my own darkness in the process.

The next few months and the paper I hope to write about this journey should be ... interesting to say the least... enlightening, I hope... one step at a time.

Dark Fairy

This idea started from a pair of shoes... I just love my new Danskos... and have been wearing them everywhere. Then I thought what fun it would be to wear them with my purple striped socks that go up to my knees... and what better way to show of the socks than with a short black skirt... and then I thought, wow, I've been wanting to dye my hair black for a while too! The crowning touch was when Noah came up with the wings, though... it's a gauzy butterfly I've had in a box for years now... fantastic! I want to wear this every day!

Personal statement

I wrote the following as a personal narrative for my application to the Gender and Global Issues post-baccalaureate program at UC Davis. There's no competition... I'm automatically accepted... but it was an interesting exercise nonetheless.

I grew up in the Deep South, the daughter of a minister. I was taught the value of self-reliance, and that all people deserve respect and basic rights. I grew up under the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I firmly believed during those young years of my life that if I kept my head down and acted with integrity, others would treat me the same way. That philosophy seemed like the answer to the world’s troubles. If others would follow the same rule, then their lives would begin to change for the better. If I had never left my home town, I would probably still fit neatly into the mould that my upbringing created. I am sure that I push the minister’s boundaries now with my views of who deserves which rights.

Coming from these very conservative beginnings, it might seem that I am treading water in unfriendly seas. I believe I felt that way at first. However, the more I come to know people, the more their voices break into my sphere of understanding, the more I feel that we’re all bound together with an obligation to hold one another up.

In college, I met a young woman from Kenya who opened my eyes to the conflict in Sudan and the atrocities there. I saw what I had been sheltered from or oblivious to in my youth, the indiscriminate persecution of innocents. The more I became aware, the more I saw people pressed down, rights stripped, lives taken. At first I tried to reconcile this reality with the theories I had been taught growing up. Why couldn’t they just do the right thing and begin to see their lives turn right? I began to see that kind of black and white, cause and effect mentality was impossible. I realized that there are many people in the world who need someone to speak for and empower them, to give them hope and strength. I wanted to do something to make a difference.

Another theme that emerged in my life during college was feminism. Of course, this was not in its purest form, but I have always had a firm belief in self-reliance and the strength and power of women and this made an impression on people. I spent time encouraging the freshmen women on my floor during my senior year to pursue their passions and seek their self-worth in other places than the traditional gender roles lend themselves.

My life since college has been a slow emergence from the cocoon of sheltered self-centeredness. One step at a time, usually through the means I have available at the time, I have been coming out into the world with a desire to affect those around me. If at all possible, every day I reach out a hand to encourage or lift up the person next to me, no matter their gender or sexual orientation.

Last year, as a part of my job here at UC Davis, I was asked to write an article on women and wine for the university alumni magazine. I welcomed the opportunity to learn about the amazing women who are shining in this male-dominated field. As a result of that assignment, I realized that I have always had a passion for empowering women and a desire to celebrate our achievements. My goal in pursuing this certificate is to gain a solid base of theory to go with the rumblings and beliefs that stir in my spirit. I would like to write more about the power and presence of women in the world, and I feel that having a solid background in theory will help me gain perspective and credibility should my words come into question. I am hopeful that this certificate could offer me the beginning of that solid background.

A quick post

Just stretching my typing fingers a moment before the day ends... I've been idle for so long, distracted by things that fill time but are not of value, I think.

A friend's blog offered me a moment to tap into my creative side again... naming chickens... my suggestions: Hester, Hepzibah, and Elphie. I like the name Hester. It's old in a trusty way.

The calendar has flipped over again and my mother is coming this weekend. I'm seeking center... peace... and somehow magic, too.

I hope your midweek day is going well.

What's in a day?

Ah, Thursday... such an overlooked day. I'm willing to bet that everyone who reads this post will agree, Thursday is a day to get through, barrel through, actually, on our way to Friday. I know that's my view. Most of the time.
Thursday was named for the god Jupiter, god of sky and thunder to the Romans. The old nursery rhyme says "Thursday's child has far to go."

That got me thinking. What day of the week was I born on? Was it one of those days that you're rushing through? A day no one cares to remember? I found this great website that will show you a calendar for any year from the years 1000 to 2100.

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

I was born on a Sunday. Naturally.

Something lovely

I thought I'd share this bit of lovely art with those who read my blog... so beautiful and magical... by Sulamith Wulfing, an artist whose work JK introduced me to. Hope you like her as much as I do.

Women in Wine

Women winemakers trained at UC Davis helped shatter the glass ceiling in the industry, paving the way for a new crop of female-run wineries that are family friendly and green.

By Elisabeth Kauffman

For thousands of years, the wine industry was dominated by men. The few women who worked in wine did so more by chance than by choice. In France, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Veuve Cliquot and later Madame Pommery, also known as the “champagne widows,” both inherited wineries after their husbands’ deaths. These women revolutionized the industry.
Cliquot is credited by some historians with developing an aging technique called riddling, which is still used today in champagne production to improve the clarity and quality of the wine.
Madame Pommery developed the driest and most popular forms of champagne — brut and extra brut — to appeal to English tastes and tap new overseas markets. In the process she transformed her small business into a world-renowned champagne house.
But as businesswomen and pioneers, they remained the exception to the rule — until now.
It’s a much different story today. By virtue of their passion, drive and diverse approaches to the business of winemaking, women have emerged as a defining force in California wine. And for many women in the wine industry today, a UC Davis education has been the key to their success.
“No center of higher learning related to wine has been more important for women than the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California at Davis,” says Ann Matasar in her 2006 book Women of Wine, which looks at the contributions women have made to the industry throughout history.
The department was established in 1935, two years after the repeal of Prohibition. For 30 years, the grape growing and winemaking programs remained male domains.
In 1965, Mary Ann Graf became the first woman to graduate from the viticulture and enology department at UC Davis (majoring in fermentation science). When asked about this achievement now, she says, “It wasn’t that big a deal. In those days I thought that a college education was the key to getting a good job.”
The reality is that Graf, by blazing her own trail into the world of wine, left a path for other women to follow. By the early 1990s, nearly 50 percent of UC Davis’s viticulture and enology graduates were women. In the same way, Matasar says, UC Davis made it respectable for similar institutions elsewhere to follow its example of fostering women as leaders in the field. The Geisenheim State Research Institute in Germany, for example, hired Monika Christmann as head of its enology department in 1993, three years after UC Davis’ program named geneticist Linda Bisson as its first woman chair.
Today, there are many exceptional women in the business. The Wine Institute notes that about 15–20 percent of winemakers in California are women.
In the current market, their gender may give them an edge.
According to the Wine Institute, women purchase 57 percent of the wine consumed in the United States. For women, label design, bottle shape, and the winery philosophy rank just as high as wine quality, so wine industry marketing professionals have had to develop more savvy in their appeal to the female consumer.
Sonoma County winemaker Merry Edwards, M.S. ’73, finds that “women tasters are less inhibited in talking about wine and relating it to food, where men tend to get hung up on saying the right thing, using the right language.” And many female vintners are succeeding in creating and promoting wines that appeal widely to other women.
Of course, it hasn’t always been that way. Even with the power of knowledge and the passion of artistry behind them, some of the early female pioneers in the California industry found it hard to get a foot in the cellar door.
Edwards said she encountered gender discrimination repeatedly while pursuing a winemaking career.
“After gaining valuable experience at my first job, I still came up against the same discrimination I had encountered before I gained all that experience,” says Edwards. She found that the perception of women as the weaker sex worked against her, even when she had proved she could handle the physical aspects of the job. After making wines for a number of vintners, she now has her own label and pinot noir vineyards. In 2007, she opened Merry Edwards Winery in Sebastopol.
Zelma Long, who co-owns Long Vineyards in Napa Valley and also produces wine in Germany and South Africa under the Zelphi label, says she was less affected by gender discrimination. “My first 10 years in the industry, things were moving so fast that there wasn’t time to notice if there was any resistance to my being a woman.” In fact, she believes that being a woman was an advantage early on because she stood out in a crowd. After attending the master’s program in enology at UC Davis in 1970, Long began her career by interning with Robert Mondavi Winery. She loved the work so much that she has never looked back, going on to establish herself as a talented winemaker and mentor of other talented women in the industry. Among them was UC Davis alumna Diane Kenworthy ’86, a Sonoma County vineyard manager who in 1997–98 served as the first woman president of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture.
Women continue to create names for themselves in the industry by striking the right combination of premium products and well-targeted marketing.
Bisson says that, with time, even more women may be attracted to careers in the wine industry for its variety of roles — from viticulture to winemaking to marketing — and with its flexible hours during most of the year for family life. “It is fair to say that the glass ceiling has been smashed.”
Even Edwards notes that when she was working for Matanzas Creek Winery in Sonoma County, her bosses provided a nanny so that she could bring her son to work with her during the busiest parts of the year.
Today, at her own winery, she strives to maintain a family atmosphere even during harvest. “Every day we feed everybody a healthy lunch,” she says. “It keeps everybody together and keeps the energy focused on the winemaking.”
A new generation of female winemakers is also leading the movement to go green.
Edwards’ winery, located at Coopersmith vineyard in the Russian River Valley, runs largely on solar power. “The benefits far outweigh the cost,” she says. “There are a lot of good things happening with the green movement. I’m really happy to be involved.”
Sarah Cahn Bennett’s family winery, Navarro Vineyards in Mendocino County, is finding innovative ways to stay sustainable too — keeping a flock of miniature babydoll sheep to control vineyard weeds. The woolly vineyard workers, too short to damage the vines, reduce energy consumption.
Bennett, M.S. ’06, said she likes the complexity of her work as an enologist. “Good winemakers combine cerebral and physical skills. The wine industry is fun as well as challenging. It requires you to be a jack of all trades. Just when you get bored with one job, there is another completely different project to get involved with.”
In helping to run the winery, Bennett applies her business skills — a critical part of the job. The UC Davis Graduate School of Management now offers a week-long program for wine executives. Participation by women has risen from 20 percent to 31 percent of attendees over the last eight years.
Alison Crowe, an award-winning Napa winemaker and wine columnist who earned her bachelor’s degree in fermentation science and Spanish at UC Davis in 1999, participated in the GSM program in 2007, and taught a segment of the program in 2008 and 2009. “A solid foundation in business and management is fundamental to the success of wineries,” Crowe says. “The wine executives program provides perspective of the many facets of the wine business. Learning how each individual role adds value to the whole product helps foster a more supportive atmosphere in each winery.”
Crowe is now pursuing a UC Davis Master of Business Administration while working full time as a winemaker for Plata Wine Partners in Napa.
There are still relatively few women in top corporate positions in the wine industry, but increasing numbers of women own and operate small wineries. Boutique labels like Merry Edwards Wines and La Sirena (Heidi Peterson Barrett ’80) have become popular in recent years with consumers and wine critics. Smaller wineries, able to sell directly to consumers, are thriving, even as large wineries flood the market and mid-sized wineries get bought up by larger corporations.
“There are many more women in the business now than in the generation before,” Bennett says. “There is nothing in the business that makes it inaccessible for a woman.”
Zelphi Wine’s Long agrees, saying that, “as growth in consumption and higher-quality products continue to emerge, the industry will become more competitive and more diverse.”
And Bisson says UC Davis’ female wine pioneers deserve credit for breaking down those barriers: “There were a lot of talented people who hung with it, who knew they were making a quality product. They emerged as forces in their own right with wines that were so good people had to pay attention to them.”

Elisabeth Kauffman works in the dean’s office of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and can be reached at kkauffman@ucdavis.edu.

Don’t be a Stranger! CA&ES makes it easy to keep in touch.

This was a project from the Fall. Just sharing FYI...

CA&ES on Facebook
Find us on Facebook and become a fan. You can view news and events updates and make connections with friends affiliated with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

College home page
Stay current with what’s happening in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Just take a few seconds to update your e-mail address on our online alumni information form. Select the “Alumni & Friends” link at ww.caes.ucdavis.edu. We’ll send you occasional notices of upcoming events, as well as volunteer opportunities. You can also check out our online news and events, read CA&ES Outlook magazine and Impact statements, or sign up for RSS feeds.

Aggie Ambassadors alumni
If you were an Aggie Ambassador, we would like to hear from you. Just visit our college website at www.caes.ucdavis.edu. Take a few seconds to complete the brief “alumni information” form on the “Alumni & Friends” link. You can insert the years you were an Aggie Ambassador into the “news” field. We look forward to hearing from you!

IAD page for Outlook Magazine Spring 2009 issue

This is my page from the alumni magazine published this month.

Graduate students in agriculture put their passports to good use

The International Agricultural Development Graduate Group at UC Davis is really going places. IAD graduates are spread from California to the Horn of Africa, making a difference wherever they go.

“We have alumni placed all over the world, working
for the federal government, foundations, and many
nongovernmental organizations,” says program chair and plant sciences professor Richard Plant. “Our graduates are equipped with knowledge and skills that enable them to implement, facilitate, and manage programs in agricultural development, resource management, and rural life.”

The graduate group was created in the 1980s to prepare students for careers in agricultural and rural development around the world. The interdisciplinary program draws on the knowledge of 80 faculty members in 31 departments across the campus. The IAD master’s program, which admits 15–20 students annually, gives students an understanding of agricultural theory and application.

“Many of our students come with some experience, such as working with the Peace Corps or other organizations,” says Plant. “Many of them did not have an undergraduate background in agriculture, and only realized the importance of agriculture after their own experience.”
In addition to subject matter within agriculture and social sciences, IAD students learn about
development, leadership and management techniques, fundamentals of crop and livestock
farming systems, and agricultural economics.

For information about working internationally or for more training, check out the IAD Graduate Group online at http://iad.ucdavis.edu.
— Elisabeth Kauffman

photo captions:
Zachary Bagley spent time as an undergraduate studying links between wildlife conservation efforts and local poverty in Kenya. “This experience opened my eyes to issues related to both human well-being and wildlife protection,” says Bagley, now an IAD master’s degree student. “I chose UC Davis because of its positive reputation in the agricultural realm, its proven experience in the international arena, and its connections with the Peace Corps.”

Anna Petersons spent two years with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Niger, West Africa, helping the small rural community of Holloballe find solutions to its water needs. “I loved working with these small farmers in the middle of nowhere, but with only a bachelor’s degree, I knew I wasn’t qualified for a lot of jobs in agricultural development,” she said. “The IAD program has given me what I was looking for—a broader perspective on global agriculture.” Petersons began her master’s degree in the UC Davis IAD graduate program in 2007. Over the 2009 winter quarter she took some time off to work in India with a start-up company helping small farmers with drip irrigation. She returned for spring quarter to complete the master’s program.