Annie and I started our walk super early this morning, hoping to escape the forecasted heat of the day. Humidity had already set in around 75% and we felt as though we had stepped out of a shower as we powered along. And, ah, yes! The bugs… having spent last week in Boulder and San Francisco where not a single bug had hit my skin, I had forgotten that with summer here in western Massachusetts come the pesky bugs working hard to destroy the pleasure of our morning walk.
I couldn’t help it… my thoughts started drifting back to last Friday. A trip north of San Francisco to Wine Country, skirting between Napa and Sonoma. A warm, hot, sunny day – 90 degrees, with zero humidity – and NO BUGS. It felt so good. Experiencing summer sans humidity and bugs really is a pleasure. Ah… dream on. We had such fun that day starting at Domaine Carneros in Napa to pick-up Margie and Jay’s wine club bottles and taste new sparkling wines on the terrace (view pictured above). From there we headed to Sonoma for lunch on an outdoor patio.
Magnificent Moose, Margie and Jay’s English Pointer was with us on our day trip through Wine Country. In fact, Moose goes practically everywhere with them. California is a very dog-friendly state. Our day ended at Ram’s Gate Winery where we all enjoyed a final glass of wine on the patio gazing off in the distance at the rolling hills of grapevines. Pictured here is Moose pointing at a pair of stuffed pheasants in the winery’s library. Annie, Lily, and King would have loved those pheasants! It’s quite something to watch a sporting dog point at a game bird. They literally freeze in the spot.
My warm, dry memories abruptly took a turn back to the moist, dripping present as Annie and I finished our morning walk. I quickly opened the front door, Annie heading to her waterbowl and I to the ice water kept in the fridge. It felt as though we had taken a ten-mile hike straight uphill.