The Path to the Patio

We decided Ozzie deserved a swim this morning, so we took him to Channel Drive, a road popular with dog walkers, bicyclists, and runners that runs between the Santa Rosa Creek and the Annadel State Park, popular with mountain bikers and hikers, but dogs are not welcome.There are a few houses scattered along the road, including a log cabin, but it is a dead end, so there are very few cars.A swimming hole, a wide spot in the creek about a mile down the road was our destination.

We walked along, shaded by tall oaks, bay and maples teeming with birds. Theirs songs and calls competed and harmonized in the quiet woodland. Two tom turkeys in a field strutted their stuff before a couple of hens, and a dozen tiny ducklings practiced their diving under the watchful eyes of their parents. A couple of unusually marked horses grazed in a luxuriously green pasture.

There was a bonus at the swimming hole (for Ozzie--we were less enthusiastic) a deer carcass! The vultures circled overhead, and we only threw the stick a few times before electing to move away from the rather grisly scene.

Abandoning the house and garden for a day, we went to our favorite restaurant called Diavola (she devil) in Geyserville, a town of dozens of wineries, and a row of brick buildings housing a couple of restaurants and a hardware store.

Behind Diavola is a charming patio, beautifully designed for shade in summer, heat on chilly evenings and screening out the garbage cans, service entrances and parking lots surrounding it.

My picture is the pathway between the building and the patio, lined with wine barrels planted with roses, citrus, vines and little boxes of carefully tended baby lettuces and herbs. The laundry hanging overhead is highly reminiscent of small Italian towns and I could swear it changes from time to time….

On the way home we dropped by Geyser Peak Winery"s new digs--a remodeled house on the edge of the Dry Creek Valley. The friendly staff carried out our cases of wine and admired OilMan's car. We'll take a bottle and some lettuce from our garden to the neighbors' tonight for an impromptu spaghetti dinner.