I ended up having to cut short my stay in rural Wisconsin due to some changes at work that compelled me to return to the west coast. Did you know that wine-making is becoming a thing in rural Wisconsin? Who would have thought, huh? Some farmers are converting their farms to growing crops for distilling spirits. I was intrigued to learn (and taste) wines that are made from apples and rhubarb in addition to cold-climate grapes. My favorite among them was the rhubarb rose. Napa, watch out!

I arrived in northern CA on July 10 and have been alternating my visits been my Reno office and our Petaluma office ever since. Work has been extremely demanding lately which has diminished my time to spend with friends while I’ve been in both places. By the end of my work days, I’m pretty exhausted.

I stayed in a new area in Reno across the street from Idlewild Park and really enjoyed my stay there. The park is located along the Truckee River and has a lovely walking/biking trail with an abundance of old growth trees. The apartment I rented was on the second floor overlooking the high school football field with a view of the Sierra mountains as a backdrop. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that I need to live where I can see trees and flowers with regularity and where I can easily take long walks.

Currently, I’m staying in a one-bedroom guest house in Sonoma, CA. I have discovered that I do not mind the extreme, dry heat of Reno or this part of CA, especially since the evenings and mornings are cool. It is hard for me to see, though, how incredibly dry everything is. It’s no wonder the fire hazard here is so high. It’s amazing that anything can survive as long as it does without water. I realized a couple days after my arrival that I am in a low-income Latin American neighborhood which I found surprising since the house is located within a couple miles of the Sonoma town square with its opulent shops, restaurants and wineries. It is a humbling experience, but it’s good for me to see this side of life as I take my evening walks. It reminds me how very fortunate I am to have choices about my lifestyle. Surrounding the neighborhood are vast areas of vineyards. Some houses actually have grapevines for lawns. The juxtaposition of the beautiful vineyards with the haphazard housing for the locals is a bit mind-boggling to me. I’m guessing that many of these locals are the people who work in the vineyards. I wonder how they must feel about it.

I am here for another week. This week’s big events for me will be attending the weekly Sonoma farmer’s market which I understand is like a mini-festival and I’m doing a private wine tasting at Basswood Estate later in the week. Then, it’s back to Nevada where I’ll be staying in my recent hometown of Incline Village. I am looking forward to my return visit there.