Waking up to rain on a late January morning in Wine Country is not all too shocking, unless in happens to be 2014. Which it is.
We haven’t seen rain around these parts in months and although it is not quite a down pour here today, any and all moisture is welcome at this point. When even my eight year old daughter is aware that there is a drought impending, something is definitely amiss. Young children are not usually one to concern themselves over necessities like water or food. It just appears and they use it…awesome for them.
With all the recent talk, news programs and even teachers mentioning the lack of rain in California for 2014, how could a child not notice….right?
As I was saying, it was nice to wake up to streets covered in a layer of water. It has been steadily raining in Santa Rosa but it is a light rain and not exactly the storm we could use badly.
Driving down Highway 12 the views of the mountains and low lying fog was a refreshing site. I needed to stop by Chateau St Jean this morning and grab some of their wonderful tapenade for a bruschetta I am making later this week.
As I turned down the long driveway to the Chateau, I noticed several cars pulled over and photos being shot in rapid succession. It was a group of tourists from Canada and might I add a sweet group of people.
They were worried about venturing farther up the drive in case there was a situation that needed firemen involved. Let me add that they were the sweetest people.
I explained that no, the vineyards were not on fire, in fact, the fire was set on purpose. Although giving them some credit, from the angle we were viewing the fires, it did look rather intimidating.
We have many spare the air days in Northern California with the fire dangers and all the dry brush. So it was no wonder that the wineries were taking advantage of the moisture and ability to hold a controlled burn to remove debris. The vines were cut and cleaned quite a while ago.
It did make for some unique images and a learning opportunity for traveling Canadians on Wine Country life.
Cheers all *Clink *Clink 
