A Bit More on Lodi…

The drive from Lodi to Napa this weekend was so pretty it almost made one happy to live in NorCal. It’s a beautiful time of year here—the “winter” has more or less ended, as has the rainy season, and the days are sunny, blue-skied, and warm. The oppressive summer heat is still many weeks away, leaving us with a protracted springtime that truly is lovely.

Everything is green right now—lush and fresh—and as we drove along Route 12 on Sunday we wound through rolling green hills dotted with windmills and flocks of grazing black and white sheep. Lodi is extremely rural, with acre upon acre of vineyards producing exceptional zinfandel; we’ve heard that the area bakes intensely in the summer, leaving the grapes to struggle for water and creating a very concentrated fruit. Right now the vines are still bare, and the fields are scattered with yellow mustard flowers and bright orange California poppies.

By the time we arrived in Napa, the late afternoon was growing cool. We sat outside in sweaters as the sun slowly began to set.

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