This time of year, the weather begins to taunt us with beautiful warm days, reminding us that spring is around the corner. Just as we are about to wear short-sleeve shirts and leave our jackets behind, our old friend Jack Frost appears.

The icy morning gives way to a cold wind, and the forecast changes to rain on the horizon. Winter is not quite ready to go away, which is all right 7 we can use the cooler temperatures to slow bud-break in our vines, and we will always take more rain.

Valentine/s Day proved to be one of those days that Mother Nature began taunting us with those warm, springlike days. My wife, Karen, and I decided to go out for a nice lunch to celebrate, deciding to avoid the crowded restaurants and the need to find someone to stay with the kids that evening.

Karen made reservations for 12:30 p.m. in Los Olivos, and I picked her up at the Firestone Winery around 12:10. We drove out of the winery gates and headed south on Zaca Station Road.

We drove past the pruning crews in the vineyard taking their midday break, and as we left the vineyard, I began to smell the sweet aroma of freshly disked soil on the Chamberlin Ranch.

Both sides of the road were worked up, ready, I/m guessing, for a grain drill to begin planting either oats or barley.

We made our way down to Highway 154 and headed for town. I turned off 154 onto Grand Avenue, the main street in Los Olivos, to find both sides of the street full of parked cars and more traffic and pedestrians than I remember ever seeing in the little town.

We passed the corner of Grand and 154, once home to the Union 76 fuel depot, now turned into an array of shops and offices. I recall when Monte King and Dennis Fitzgerald used to work out of that yard.

I can still see Dennis driving the fuel truck around the Santa Ynez Valley as he made deliveries to farms and ranches. Dennis wore a wide-brimmed straw hat and had a big smile as he waved to you going down the road.

Monte King/s office was located where Mike and Brooke Carhartt have their tasting room today. There used to be a sign over the entrance to the small office that said BMonte King, consignee.C

I guess Mike is the new consignee, pouring their great Carhartt wines from the same location.

As we drove down Grand, there was not a place to park. All the tasting rooms were busy, and people were out enjoying the nice weather.

We made our way to Fess Parker/s Inn across from the Los Olivos Cafe. I could not help but remember when the cafe was a pottery shop known as the Mud Mill.

We parked behind the restaurant. Karen took a box of mail from Firestone to the post office next-door, and I went in and found our table for lunch.

While I waited for Karen, I looked out the window of the inn to the busy street outside and thought to myself there were probably more people visiting Los Olivos today than all the years combined when we used to ride our bikes just around the corner to Carl Sides Hardware Store to buy .22 shells.

I have written about the hardware store owned by Carl Sides in previous columns, but Sides Hardware was truly the last of the Mohicans.

Years before my time, I understand, the top floor of the store was used for dances on a regular basis. I remember Carl Sides used to play the violin.

Many times we would ride up to the hardware, only to find the front door locked. Carl had told us if the front door was locked, be sure to come around the back and see if he was in. We did just that, finding Carl playing his violin.

Now, Carl could not hear all that well, and we had to really knock on the door to get his attention. He would slowly put the violin down and shuffle over to the door.

BWhat can I do for you boys?C he would ask, and after requesting to buy some shells, he would shuffle out to the front and open the door for us.

Occasionally my grandfather Sam would buy the shells for us as a reward for keeping the woodpeckers away from making holes in the wood framing the windows on the top story of the adobe.

Carl would tell us the amount due for the shells, and I would reply that it would be a charge to my grandfather. Carl used to say, BOh yes, I remember Sam de la Cuesta, he/s been here a good long while.C

It/s a far cry from the Los Olivos of today, where I enjoyed a great and relaxing lunch with Karen at the Fess Parker Inn.

As we left town via Grand Avenue, we noticed the new consignee, Mike Carhartt, standing outside the tasting room. I blew my horn and waived to our friend of many years, as we made our way back to Firestone/s and the vineyard in Los Alamos.

I hope you all enjoyed as nice a Valentine/s Day as we did. Remember, spring is only a month away.

Kevin Merrill is a vineyard manager for Mesa Vineyard Management in Santa Maria. He is president of the Central Coast Wine Growers/ Association and a board member for the

Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at kmerill@mesavineyard.com.

March 2, 2008