When I got home from the play last night, I thought I'd be spending my Sunday catching up on a few tasks that I've been neglecting. Then I checked the answering machine and discovered that I had an excuse to neglect them even longer. Suzanne's message said that they were taking the new boat out on Lake Sonoma Sunday afternoon, and I was invited to go along.

So we John, Suzanne, Eric and I rode out to the lake at mid morning today, hauling the boat behind us. It was a warm day, hot at times and a bit breezy on the lake. My job at the launch ramp, as usual, was to keep out of the way. I did this by staying in the boat while everyone else performed their assigned duties.

We were on the lake for about four hours. There's a certain amount of time you're supposed to drive a new boat before it's fully ready to pull a skier, although they said it would be okay for short runs even now. So we burned off some of the newness, going slowly when the buoys told us we had to, and going fast when we could.

We stopped almost immediately for sandwiches, and we stopped a couple of other times in the middle of the lake to cool off in the water. I was careful to use sunblock, but the sun was not to be denied. I came home red in the face and drained of energy, but satisfied. It was a good day.

Driving through the hills and vineyards on the way to the lake this morning, I could only think what a beautiful part of the world I'm lucky enough to live in. It must be that any climate that is good for grapes is also good for humans, because the sun shines all summer here, and yet it rarely gets uncomfortably hot and never stays that way for long. And it never gets so cold in the winter that you can't do what needs to be done.

Mostly, though, it's a spectacle, an awe-inspiring panorama of shades of green and gold, textured by the trees on the hills, and the vines in their various stages of growth, with the bluest sky above and the Pacific Ocean caressing the shore.

I've lived from time to time in other places, with their own particular allure. I've had opportunities to move to cities where I'd be paid more, and where I'd have better chances to advance, but I've always found my way back to Sonoma County. I can't picture a better place to be.