Fruits of Eden: Field Notes - Napa Valley 1991-2021

ISBN-10: 1958263036
ISBN-13: 9781958263037
Series: Fruits of Eden
Language: English
Published: 2022-08-20
Publisher: Dancing Raven Press
Author: Patricia Damery

Description

Adjacent to Patricia Damery's home in the Napa Valley is ancient oak savanna: a forest, with meadows and watershed, teeming with wildlife, nesting birds, and threatened amphibians. When she learned it had been sold out for a commercial vineyard, winery, and event center, she joined a grass-roots activist movement, little realizing she had entered into an epic war-one that will determine the survival of Napa Valley, a world-class wine-growing region that has since morphed into a "Hampton-ized" destination magnet for multinational corporations and the ultra-wealthy. The author's David and Goliath battle (with national resonance) is also her personal struggle and journey as well as a rich love story for both their ranch and for her beloved husband, as she watches the tangles and plaques of Alzheimer's disease claim his brain. It is, ultimately, as they recognize the horror of climate change, a local battle for saving their Earth. Fruits of Eden vividly chronicles a coalition of Napa citizens (Napa Vision 2050) addressing egregious land-use issues that allow ongoing deforestation, heavy impacts on water quality and supply, wildlife, traffic, housing, and citizens' quality of life. It shares the voices of citizens who are increasingly unheard by our governing officials. The story addresses letting go, even of what they love. They lose battles, but gain territory. They suffer losses but have hope to win in the end. Fruits of Eden asks these questions: Can we grieve our old relationship with the Earth and accept our complicity in her changes? Is there hope in this suffering? Although Eden apprehended is eternal, the price of that apprehension is to suffer the pains of incarnation.