The things we forget...

I've lived in California all my life... granted I spent a lot of time in England growing up... but for my first 18 years I lived in the mountains, near a river and a ski resort... my weekends were filled with white water rafting and sledding, hunting, fishing, camping... and all the country events you can imagine...

A week after my 19th birthday I moved to the wine country... everyone always asks me when I go "back home" if I like it here, and I say "Of course, I'm an hour or less away from EVERYTHING!"

30 minutes to the beach, 60 minutes to San Francisco, 2 hours or less to the snow, 20 minutes to the lake, another 20 past that to the redwoods... and 5 minutes to the nearest winerys... mmmmmm... wine...

When I first moved here, I took full advantage of the wonders of this area... I remember going to the beach at least once a month... even if it was just for the evening to watch the sun set over the water. There was a group of us that would drive up to the redwoods and just walk thru the trees... I'd like to say we'd go "hiking"... but these walks were liesure walks at best... I'd find giant trees that would hang out over the cliffs and walk out on them, testing fate and scaring eachother... (I'm not afraid of heights, most of my friends are...)

Today I went wine tasting for the first time in years... and the reason I love it here rushed back to me... I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to sit at a table with people from all over the country, sipping on wine, eating fruit & cheese... and it was just so nice. The winery was less than 5 minutes away from my house... and the people there were so fun... it was a special food/wine pairing event and it made me feel like royalty for 2 hours.

I joined the wine club just to give myself a reason to get up there more often... free tastes... discounted events... specials on wine that I drink ANYWAY... I get to bring a guest for no extra charge... how could I pass that up?!?!?

Now... I'm just hoping I don't treat it like a gym membership and never go!