April through June 2002     The on-line magazine sonomapicnic.com is an outgrowth of and continuing update to the recently published Sonoma Picnic, a California Wine Country Travel Companion. Scroll on for highlights excerpted and updated from this handy little book! The Buckeye Issue     It is the season of renewal, with bees buzzing in the garden and fresh green leaves out in the vineyards. Every living creature seems possessed of good spirit. The birds are busy with their nests,the pastures are lively with new babies, and the frogs sing all night for love out in the wet places.     It is a great time to be out and about in the wine country! Spring Oyster Feast at Hog Island Oysters on Tomales Bay Shore Report     You can expect cool mornings and evenings along with some rain in the month of April. By June we will be into a summer pattern of clear hot days and morning fog along the coast.     The whole county is blazing with wildflowers, but some of the most interesting and dramatic displays can be found along the coast. The broad headlands of Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties are thick with wind- and salt-stunted flowers of every description.     Spring is a favorite time for coastal picnics and whale-watching as the northbound migration of California Greys coincides with the season of fresh strawberries, asparagus, artichokes and cool water local oysters.     Check out our friends at the Tides Wharf Fish Shop or call them for current information on locally landed fish. The Tides Wharf 835 Hwy 1 Bodega Bay 707-875-3554     For up-to-date information on ocean fishing or bird- and whale-watching trips, you might give our friends at Bodega Bay Sport Fishing Center a call at 707-875-3344.     Call the good folks at our local surf shack for up-to-date shore conditions. Bodega Bay Surf Shack 707-875-3944 www.bodegabaysurf.com Hot links to Local Events: Select! Sonoma County Sonoma County Wineries Association Russian River Wine Road Consorzio Cal-Italia Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods: Supporting Volunteers in the State Parks "Dark Sensations" (Clark Hill Road) A petal whirlpool Lassos shoppers in the streets Trees celebrating spring Awaiting bud break Dark vines are the last to show Vineyard sleepyheads Flycatchers in the backyard Fly pear tree to willow branch Love in the garden Earth warming quickly Shovels flail in still moist dirt Bare legs, forearms, smiles. Baby greens break ground Sonoma county gardens Slow a hurried world "Spring Haiku" by Penelope La Montagne (Morning Haiku, 5:58 a.m. on KRCB 91.1 FM) Old Vines and Mustard in Dry Creek Valley Spring Events by Month: Please call the phone numbers listed for details Art Events are listed on our Sonoma County Arts Update For late (between-issue) inclusions see our page! March     New green grass spreads over the hills, the tulips come out, and the vines begin to awaken. Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting 707-586-3795, 800-723-6336 Heart of the Valley Barrel Tasting Kenwood Area Wineries, 707-833-5891, 800-543-7713 x 102 Sonoma County Folk Festival Luther Burbank Center for the Arts Santa Rosa, 707-546-3600     Prime whale watching on the coast as the northbound migration starts. A Note on the Weather from a Spring Past by Jack Burton Healdsburg, April 5th, 1998 We are well into our first month of spring, and on this day after Easter Sunday I wake to find it is big winter pouring down rain. The street is turned a river and the wind howls in the fir trees and through the wires like a thing possessed. Rough going for all the trees in bloom: ornamental cherries and plums, the quince and crabapples and magnolias. Our local crows, normally carrying on out in the ballfield across the street at this hour, are absent. I imagine they are still on the roost up in the fir trees and hunching, snug up against the trunks in the lee of this morning's bluster. April It's a great season to get out and explore! See "A SPRINGTIME DRIVE: Exploring Scenic and Tasty Highway 128 through Sonoma and Napa Counties."     "Bud break"   everyone looks forward to the first green on the vines as winter gives way to spring. The crews you see out in the freshly prepared fields are planting root stock for new vineyards. The wild iris and lupine are in bloom. Spring Thing Gurneville, 707-869-9000 Fitch Mountain Footrace and Walk 707-433-6935 Fisherman Festival Bodega Bay, 707-875-3422 Bathtub races and the blessing of the fleet. Historic Home Tour Healdsburg, 707-433-6935 Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival 707-823-3032 April in Carneros Open House Weekend Carneros Area Wineries, 707-939-9363 Future Farmers Memorial Day Parade in Healdsburg May     The vineyards are flush with new growth. The crews are out thinning the leaves and training the vines to the wires of the trellising system.     Saturday, May 4th is opening day for the 2001 Season Healdsburg Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot, just west of the downtown plaza at Vine and North. Renee Kiff 707-431-1956.     The Third Annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival runs May 30 to June 3 this year and offers three shows indoors (in theaters) and three outside (at wineries) featuring two dozen artists and including two films. Call the C of C (707 433-4633) for info or see www.healdsburgjazzfestival.com for a detailed description.     Also in May: Russian River Women's Weekend #1 Gurneville, 707-869-9000 Future Farmers Country Fair and Twilight Parade Healdsburg, 707-433-6935 Memorial Day Weekend Antique Fair On the Plaza in Healdsburg, 707-433-6935 Cinco de Mayo Celebration Sonoma Plaza, 707-938-4626 "Visiting Dignitaries," Healdsburg Future Farmers Parade June     A month of color and warm, long days.     Tuesday Afternoon Farmers Market in Healdsburg begins on June 4th. 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on the Plaza. Renee Kiff 707-431-1956.     Ninth Annual "Taste of the Redwood Valley," June 17-18 (Father's Day weekend). Tour nine lovely wineries in the heart of Mendocino County. Call 1-800-760-3739 or visit www.atasteofredwoodvalley.com for details.     Sonoma Lavender Festival. Saturday & Sunday, June 23 & 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tour a lavender farm in full bloom and visit a lavender products marketplace. At the Sonoma Lavender Barn in Kenwood (707-833-1330).     Also in June: Russian River Blues Festival Gurneville, 707-869-9000 Russian River Rodeo Gurneville, 707-869-9000 Parade and barbecue. Art and Artisan Show Sonoma Plaza, 707-996-1090 Ox Roast Sonoma Plaza, 707-996-1090 Duncan's Mills Festival of the Arts 707-824-8404 Loads of good country fun, food and entertainment (includes the famous Rubber Duck Race!) Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic and Wine Festival Keizer Park, Windsor, 707-838-7285 (details at web site) For inclusion in the Calendar, please submit events prior to 3/1 (for April, May and June), 6/1 (for July, Aug. and Sept), 9/1 (for Oct., Nov. and Dec.), and 12/1 (for Jan., Feb. and March) to the editor. If you have image files to email, please send them separately to the webmaster. Thanks!