Last week, before the onset of the hot humid days of 100-plus degrees, I was outside enjoying the twilight when I noticed the beautiful full moon beginning to rise over a small bunch of cattle grazing under the oaks on the hills just east of the vineyard.

It was truly a spectacular sight, with a tinge of pink skies to the west soon giving way to the soft hue of moonlight.

I went into the house and got Karen and the kids to come outside with me and take a ride through the vineyard and watch the full moon gently rise. We affectionately call the moon Luna, after having watched the children/s TV show, &#8220Bear in the Big Blue House,C when the kids were smaller every morning. At the end of each show, Bear would sing the good-bye song with Luna.

On Aug. 28 Luna put on one of her best shows. After parking on a hill and watching her rise for a little while, the kids wanted to take a ride around the reservoir. Kathleen remembered seeing the shimmering soft light of the moon being reflected on the still waters of the reservoir one night when she was out harvesting with me a year or two ago.

As we made our way to the reservoir, a covey of quail lingered along the edge of the vines making their way into the thick brush on the other side of the driveway. First two or three birds made the short flight into the brush, and then, with a great flurry, the rest of the covey followed.

I drove along the outside edge of the reservoir, and as we made our way to the western banks, we looked to the east and, sure enough, there was the shimmering reflection of the full moon on the peaceful waters.

By this time, Clayton was already falling asleep in Mom/s arms, signaling it was time to go home and put our kindergartner and second-grader to bed. The vineyard manager wasn/t going to be far behind them.

Seeing the moon/s reflection in the reservoir reminded me of the times we used to go swimming at night in our reservoir at the ranch on Alamo Pintado. After hot days like we experienced the last week of August, the water inside the reservoir was always warmer at night. Walking down the dirt banks to the water/s edge was always trickier with less light, but we made it. I think Greg Duer and Cy Hawkins took a few night swims with us, along with my sisters Mia and Elisa, when they were in the seventh or eighth grade.

The reservoir on Alamo Pintado was not always kept full, especially after we had the Cachuma water meters installed along Alamo Pintado Road to help irrigate the ranch. The dry reservoir bottom and sides used to grow a great crop of dove weed or turkey mullein, as it is officially called. Dove would fly into the reservoir searching for the seeds of the mullein to eat.

This was an ideal spot for my grandfather Sam to teach me to shoot his 410 shotgun when I was old enough, around 8 or 9. Every year after that, I could not wait for Labor Day to come, because that signaled the start of dove season.

I did not miss a day of hunting for dove when I was younger. I would go out every afternoon when I got home from school and get up early in the mornings on the weekends. It used to take me most of the two-week season to get enough dove to have dinner for the whole family.

My grandfather taught me how to clean the dove, and then he would have me help him make dove stew.

I have to give my family credit 7 never did anybody say they would not eat the stew.

Actually, it tasted very good, you had to be on the lookout for small No. 8 shot BBs in the stew from time to time, but everybody ate the two-dove stew dinners we used to have every year.

As I got a little older, I graduated to using a 20-gauge pump shotgun. I used to hunt on the back or hilly portion of our 50-acre ranch that bordered what is now Santa Ynez Oaks to the east. There were very few houses there then.

My take with the 20-gauge was a little better than with the 410, and I was able to share an additional two or three smaller dove-stew dinners with my grandparents, Sam and Eileen, in the kitchen at the adobe.

I hope you and your families enjoyed a restful Labor Day weekend, had a swim at the beach, a pool or nearby reservoir, and if you are a hunter, barbecued some dove and accompanied them with a bottle of your favorite Central Coast wine.

Kevin Merrill is a vineyard manager for Mesa Vineyard Management in Santa Maria. He is

president of the Central Coast Wine Growers/ Association Foundation. He also serves as a board member for the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at kmerrill@

mesavineyard.com

September 9, 2007