Thinking of Friends in Guerneville

Some travelers like to collect souveniers. I like to collect friends. Tough times for some of my wonderful friends I collected from back in Guerneville, California. The waters of the Russian River, of Chardonnay fame, have taken to swelling over their banks and into the living rooms of G-town. I spent two wonderful days with my comrades - Matt n' the Saskatoon Kid - in the small town on the banks of the Russian River in the heart of Sonoma's wine country back in October. The rain fell hard on us that cool afternoon in October when we rode off from Gary and Sandra's house in G-town. We were stoked to have a place to stay to check out the beautiful hills of wine country on bicycle. We were able to ditch our gear at the small, warm, and beautifully simple home replete with an outdoor shower of soft green moss underfoot, now buried like a cold wet Pompei. It was a cyclist's paradise on the banks of the river now covered in thick black sludge and reeking of stagnation. It is tough reading articles in the Times about the flooding and what must be happening to my friends there. Gary and Sandra were a godsend for us while we were in Sonoma County. They put us up, fed us, and treated us like visiting gods freshly arrived and fufilling to them a prophecy from a distant bicycle planet. They were good people, wise and caring, informed and giving. It is sad thinking about Gary's beautiful Japanese inspired handmade blinds, so warm and welcoming, covered in the thick muddy waters of time.