Don"t Believe It

I've spent half my life wishing I was raised in or around wine country, but now the bureaucrats of Jackson County, Oregon, are trying to spoil the dream. They're trying to tell you and I that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Hmmm. I think I smell an overly extracted PR job fermenting.

Having financed and developed new tough (farm) love brochures, they're trying to convince us that people are moving to wine country with little appreciation for the hard realities of the farming life. That may be true in some instances, but do they really build such a convincing case that we can't suspect them of ulterior, bridge-drawing motives? Let's look at their case.

• Farming is full of dry wells. OK, dry wells are not exactly common around here, back east, but we're having record flooding right now. Let's see, dry wells and cases of lush pinot noir or flooded basements and ruined cabernet.
• There's cougars on the prowl in them thar fields. OK, we've got black bears and coyotes, that have returned to the state faster than anyone could have imagined, making snacks out of our cats and small dogs.
• You've got to put up with the sound of wind machines whenever there's a frost danger. Well, I'm sure my brother, who had a house next to the airport, would have gladly traded wind machines for DC-10s. Of course, how many people live on top of airports, but, come on, how many people live on top of wind machines.
• Septic problems are common. Tell that to my friend who was told two weeks ago she has to shell out $15,000 for her septic repair.
  
  I'm sorry, but my fantasy life is just not going to go down that easily. They've got a good thing going out there in wine country, and I'm not going to believe otherwise. My Field of Dreams, my Walk in the Clouds, live on.