Spring in Sonoma
It’s true, housing costs are sky-high, traffic is dreadful during commute times, drivers are insane, and the fire season has been disastrous the last two years yada, yada, yada. Still and all, Sonoma County is one of the most beautiful places west of the Mississippi.
From the middle of February through the end of March, it is breathtaking. Under turquoise skies, the hills are covered with green velvet and blanketed with acres of brilliant yellow mustard. The almond trees and the stone fruit trees are covered with pink or white blossoms. Navel orange trees are budding and tossing fragrance on the breeze.
The vineyards are waking from their winter sleep. For the next two or three weeks, they will be filled with grazing ewes and their new lambs. Since the county banned chemical weed killer two years ago, the vineyard owners run flocks through the vines to clear the weeds. If you are lucky you can watch Border Collies rounding up the sheep and herding them up the ramp into the truck that will take them to the next field.
Half a mile down the road is a pasture filled with Clydesdales; a foal or two will be showing up next month. There is a horse, a cow, a pair of goats, or a flock of chickens every other block. A strange blend of down-home country folk and Euro/Arab/Russian multimillionaires.
Lots of problems in this huge county that reaches to the ocean, but for now I am lucky to live here.
Sybal's Front Door 