Ditch Dog

We recruited Will and Dana to join us with Blake on our walk this morning in the Sonoma Valley and Ozzie was feeling pretty frisky for awhile trying to keep up with Blake who had already done several laps around the dog park while they waited for us to arrive. 

There is no superbloom here, probably because of the height and thickness of the grass.The places that are making headlines are all in the desert areas of Southern California where there is no grass to engulf the wildflowers. The wildflowers in the Sonoma Valley were quite nice last year, growing in large numbers in the bare burned patches beneath the trees. This year we noticed thick stands of an unfamiliar large variegated leaf* growing just in those same places which were bare last year.

The lupins were beginning to make quite a good show, but the best patch of that is often in our own field. I found a nice little stand of pretty white flowers* in some deep shade, but it must still be either too early or too grassy for many other wildflowers.

A helicopter annoyingly circled above us the entire time we were in the park. It certainly can't be fire and I'd like to think that if they were searching for some fugitive we would have been warned. It went on for too long to be a news helicopter, especially on a Sunday morning. We'll probably never know what it was doing up there other than disrupting the peace and serenity of the day....

As we headed back to the car Ozzie entertained himself in true Labrador fashion by running up the little creek. At some point it turned into a ditch beside the trail whereupon he simply sank to the ground, belly deep in muddy water and showed little interest in getting up.

We stopped at our newfound bakery in Glen Ellen on the way home. The whole family, husband, wife, two daughters and a son were being kept very busy serving delicious pastries and coffee to a steady stream of people lined up out the back door. My almond croissant was not only warm but buttered...overkill for sure, but delicious nonetheless. Dana and Will loaded up a box with goodies which they took home to Peter and Jim while Oilman and I sat at the cheerful yellow tables and watched the action. 

We could have brought Ozzie to sit in the little patio under the trees, but he was quite happy to stay in the car....

*extras