Mt. Diablo

 We drove into the Bay Area for a party for OilMan’s old Chevron buddy and his wife who are moving to Tahoe. The drive through the wetlands at the head of the bay gets more interesting as they work to open and restore this flat marsh ringed by the hills.There are scores of egrets, herons and smaller water birds, and as the shallow land fills with water, more and more birds seem to discover it.

In the distance in ContraCosta County is Mount Diablo, one of the two sacred mountains by the bay. On the Marin County side is Mt Tamalpias. Both the double peaks of Mt Diablo and Mt Tam, which has its feet in the Pacific Ocean stand well above the surrounding hills giving them their sacred stature.

We’re driving home now full of the most extraordinary presentation of food it was a proper Sunday dinner like we used to have when my grandfather was alive. We had to leave early, so our hostess gave us a taster plate of four desserts...all of which she made herself .We may have to take a nap before we can consider eating anything else....

The biodiversity in this part of the state is really extraordinary. In less than an hour we have traveled from salt water wetlands to wine country...from tidal marshes and mountains to vineyards. In another two hours we can be in the snowy Sierra where our friends are moving. We are fortunate indeed to live in such a beautiful and diverse place.