WENDY IN THE FLOWER BEDS

On Saturday, 9/11, Wendy Roberts wrote to me:
“It’s a beautiful day here on the coast…hard to be turning inland,
but I’m looking forward to a walk in the garden at Campovida before the
college fundraiser there tonight.
I was at a WineSong party last night in one of the most beautiful gardens in the whole area.
Here at home, after our summer of fog, I’m enjoying my first three stunted sunflowers.”

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You may wonder why the ruling class’s candidate for fifth district supervisor may be sharing her personal horticultural thoughts with a rag-tag radical publisher who lives alone in his office.
Well, I believe it was to regain her equilibrium after I broadcast some remarks along with an “attack piece” by Joe Louis Wildman to my subscribers. She had responded with a lengthy defense of her views and diversity of her support base to which I only said “Thank you.”
To generate some traffic, I have put all this correspondence on my blog at http://www.mendocinocountry.com which has not been visited much lately.

I did not think much of all the above except to wonder what the hell is Campovida, (some pig Latin for “Field of Life?”). Then I ran across a notice that it is the site of a fundraiser tonight for Mendocino College programs and scholarships called “Gala on the Green,”
It will be held at the site formerly known as Fetzer Vineyards Valley Oaks Food and Wine Center. Admission is $85 and offers a catered dinner, wine tasting, live music and auctions.
The party she attended last night was the Winesong(!) Barrel Tasting at Little River Inn and cost only $40.

I have gone to similar events by virtue of my status as a publisher. They are legion on the coast and largely cater to the self-absorbed indulgences and delusions of the snobbery — both local and touring. Nonetheless I enjoyed them and may go again sometime.
I can’t blame Wendy for wanting to hobnob with the well to do and enjoy the wines and excellent food. But reflecting on her willingness to share this with me — as if I would find her meandering among the flower beds wine glass in hand to be soothing or uplifting now allows me to share with you how this does in fact reveal that she has a cultural identity that is not fitting for a fifth district supervisor.
I am not saying Ms. Roberts is a snob or an elitist. She has been very eager to communicate with even such as myself in person and by email. But that’s not who the people of the Fifth District are. Charles Peterson (former supervisor and campaign manager for Norman deVall) once remarked that Norman walking naked down the street was more like anyone in the Fifth District than anyone else. That’s why he was elected four times. And in November, Wendy Roberts is no Norman deVall.