Education

In wine regions around the world the blessing of the grapes is a long-standing tradition that signals harvest is underway. Always acknowledging that, especially at this critical point, it's a good idea to have higher powers working with you, the local priest -- or rabbi, minister or Tibetan monk -- comes into the vineyards to extend his blessing, creating as well a time for celebration.

Last week the Register published the first chapter from "The Circuit" Francisco Jimenez's moving collection of short stories depicting the life of a child whose family follows the harvest around California, working in vineyards and fields of cotton, tomatoes, carrots and lettuce.

Tired of the hustle and bustle of the 21st century? Ready for a change? Then take a two-hour drive south of Napa, past the garlic that made Gilroy famous, and step back into Elizabethan England at the Northern California Renaissance Faire.