Owners Musings – Star Gazing
Those who know me know I like twinkly lights. In the summer, I delight in hosting our annual July fireworks display, winner of the Best Winery Event in the Valley in 2023 and 2024. Come December, the tasting room grounds transform into a wondrous delight as we string the thousands of lights for our annual holiday light exposition.
But there is another display of twinkly lights that also delights me year-round, depending on weather. That is the ever-changing but always dependable splendor of the night sky as we look west from the tasting room and my residence up above.
Outside of the larger urban areas, Oregon is blessed with outstanding stargazing opportunities, a product of relatively sparse population and the cleansing ocean air flowing through from the Pacific. While the growing presence of summer wildfires makes viewing east of the Cascades more challenging in the warmer months, in the winter, Eastern Oregon is a stargazer’s paradise. Far southeast Oregon is one of the largest dark sky sanctuaries in the United States.
While Yamhill County is no dark sky sanctuary, the view looking west from the vineyard is unobstructed. The minimal light from the relatively small towns of Carlton, Yamhill and Gaston still leaves plenty of opportunity for viewing the planets, the constellations and the Milky Way.
I love to watch the stars at night during harvest season. The twilight fades earlier, the weather is still mild, and the air is often clear and crisp. At this time of year, the bright beacon of Venus can be seen hovering above the coastal mountains at sunset. As Venus angles over the horizon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all make their appearance in the darkening sky. Constellations abound. A star map or, should you prefer, a star app, can help you identify many. Binoculars and telescopes help search further into the night sky, going even as far as distant galaxies such as Andromeda. The Milky Way paints its creamy wash across the heavens.
Even if you aren’t the kind that thrills to identifying the constellations, like me, you can revel in the nightly light show and the feeling that we are all part of something big. Really big. As I look out at the stars and the silhouette of the mountains, worries about harvests, morning flights to Houston and koi pond predators can be briefly set aside while I contemplate that I am part of something really special, and timeless.
