Young vine leaves

In keeping with the spring vine theme, here's what the young tendrils look like as they grow, producing new leaves along the way. I'm not certain when the growers will decide to trim the new growth off, but not one of them has started yet. I do see them out there, mostly on foot, walking the rows and adjusting the vines on the wires here and there.

Young grape leaves on tendrils. As they get bigger, they go green.

Maybe they're making sure that things are growing well, taking stock of the flowers and grape bunches, and verifying that the wires are in place and the tendrils are well attached before they take out the tractors to trim. Or maybe they're just waiting for the flowering stage to be completely over. Who knows?

Roland Garros is rolling right along. Quarter finals start today. There are still one French woman and one French man in the mix. I think Marion Bartoli has a decent chance to advance to the semis: she's seeded higher than her opponent, Kuznetsova. Gaël Monfils, on the other hand, has to face Federer in his match today, after coming off a two-day five-set nail biter against Ferrer. Monfils beat Federer once (last year) out of the five matches they've played since 2006. The've met two times on the clay at Roland Garros and Federer won both. Today I think the outcome will depend on Federer's condition.

This morning I'm getting a badly needed haircut. I'm starting to look like a Beatle. Yeah, yeah, yeah.