Leaving Sonoma

Posted by Tom Wark on Mar 29, 2010

I've lived in Sonoma Valley since 1996. I'm convinced that if God somehow found himself earthbound, this is where he'd set up home. Still, after 15 years of living in God's Country, I'm leaving.

I've always known that the things that shape the outlines of our lives are drawn not from circumstance, but from the relationships we form and hold dear. We bend our lives to shape circumstances. But we change our lives to account for the people in them. For me, leaving Sonoma means moving over the hill to that Angel's retreat known as Napa.

More so than Sonoma, Napa is defined by wine, the wine industry and those folks that make up this industry. I've always enjoyed the little rivalry that exists between Napa and Sonoma wine industries. While some substance infuses this rivalry, it's primarily a rivalry of the mind and plays itself out in offhand quips, media dalliances and annual reports of the average cost per ton of grapes from various regions. Having spent an increased amount of time in Napa over the past year, I've come to realize that the difference between the wine growing regions isn't nearly as great as the Mayacamas Mountains that separate Napa from Sonoma Valley.

 Wark Communications and this blog really could operate well from any point on the globe with regular Internet access. But I found that I personally can no longer operate so well with so much distance between me and the beautiful Kathy. She requires a Napa address. So, then, do I.

There is a lot to leave behind. I've lived in Sonoma Valley and in and around the town of Sonoma long enough to come to appreciate many things.

-The bar at the Girl and the Fig has felt like a home away from home

-The friendly faces at the Flowers Golf Range always smile when I share my lunch break with them and my 7 Iron.

-The Sonoma Plaza with its sidewalks, forested center and welcoming denizens has always felt like  the inside of a hug.

-The view to the west over BR Cohn's Olive Hill with Sonoma Mountain silhouetted in the background has always caused me to swerve as I drive up Highway 12 at dusk.

-The gathering of families around Sonoma Plaza during the summer Farmers Markets feel like a weekly family reunion.

 But while this and more is so desirable, it's all too far away from the Beautiful Kathy. So, I'm following the same path as most others: I'm changing my life to account for the most  important people in it—and this time I do so with great pleasure. I'm an extraordinarily lucky man.

So it is that on Thursday of this week, I'll set in motion a change that will alter my view of the world simply because it will originate form a different locale and a different mindset. I suspect this blog may even be altered in some way as long as my own perspective is altered. For those of you in Napa…I'm on my way. Save me a place at the bar at Angele where pastis is poured well and at Bouchon where the fries are piled high and the Manhattans sublime. For those of you here in Sonoma, save me a place at the corner of the bar at the Girl and the Fig for when I visit.