Fifteen years later nothing has changed, and yet everything has. Susan completed a master of fine arts in painting from Mills College in Oakland and Lou, still sporting his feral beard and uniform of shorts, sandals, and rough-edged hat have turned their backs on much of the corporate world with its requisite travel and personnel and the days of producing as many as 30,000 cases of wine annually. According to Lou, an "epiphany" around his 59th birthday began a rethinking and reconnecting with the agrarian heritage of Dry Creek. He and Susan decided to downsize â€” big time. They began by selectively nurturing and choosing the grapes they would put into the 8,000 cases annually they deemed manageable, and sold the excess. What was once known only as Preston Vineyards and Winery is now more fondly spoken of by the Prestons as Preston of Dry Creek Organic Family Farm.

Emotionally energized and with more time, Susan and Lou expanded the gardens adding Heirloom fruit trees, more vegetables and 1,000 olive trees (make that 996 since the baby goats were born and decided olive trees were pretty tasty). Olive oil is used for curing olives and sold along with what is affectionately known by locals as "Lou's bread." With two wood burning ovens on the property, one a commercial rendering, Lou bakes regularly and is quoted by Jan Mettler (Slow Food Sonoma County on Slow Food USA) as declaring, "My bread baking parallels farming. There is a rhythm to it, working with the elements rather than fighting them."

By February 2005 both their vineyards and gardens had been declared organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers. The challenge of fertilizing and sustainability has been met by developing their own compost teas. Reprocessed local fast food grease fuels the tractors. Dan Imhoff of the Wild Farm Alliance teases  that Lou has caught the hedgerow bug, a bug that comes on suddenly causing "an overwhelming urge and passion for planting native shrubs, trees, grasses, and other plants in areas that once may have been mowed or weeded or even cultivated …"    Imhoff comments that once infected, there is an overwhelming urge to "go native" a term that aptly summarizes Lou's personality, his recent commitment to habitat restoration to combat erosion and stabilize the banks of the streams that run through his property, and to his new direction of creating a diverse farming and personally satisfying business enterprise.

A friend has stated that a statue of Lou should be mounted at the beginning of Dry Creek. Somehow I don't think Lou would like that kind of acclaim. He would however love to meet you at the Dry Creek Valley Association picnic, August 24^th, when he and Susan open their grounds to members and residents of Dry Creek. You can be sure he would be thrilled to have you drop by his bakery at 10 a.m. on the 24^th to bake your very own bread for the 2^nd Annual Bread Bake-Off. Lou is a founding member of the DCVA in case you didn't know. To reach him on line go to Dry Creek Skinny Dip and add your comments to Lou's passionate observations about people and places in Dry Creek or watch the DCVA site for his regular contributions.