A year in the life of the Mendonoma Coast.*

   Which time is best to visit Mendonoma?  Each season has its special charm, and although the climate changes are less dramatic on the coast than in other parts of the country, the subtle changes in the landscape are evident to those who visit several times a year.

   Most visitors come during the summer vacation months, but others prefer less crowded times when they can explore the beaches and the coast in comparative solitude.

   We begin our cycle of the seasons in early spring with the wildflower parade.  The trillium and calypso lead off the parade in the redwoods, and the wild iris, in shades of blue and purple, carry the flag of spring onto the ocean terrace.  Manzanita and madrone follow, along the buttercups and blue-eyed grass, cowslips and goldfields; coast poppies and wild hyacinths; the wild radish and the ubiquitous common cow parsnip.  The California Native Plant Society, in its coast chapter named for rare plant conservator Dorothy King Young, leads the way in field trips to view and identify native species.

   And, in the springtime, we watch for lambs in the meadows, fawns in the forest, baby seals on the seashore, and the return of the ospreys, which fish off our coast providing food for their offspring which hatch in their secret nests in the forest.  But we don't bother them; nature takes care of its own, and we will not intrude.

   In March 2003, Mendonoma was the home of the first annual Redwood Coast Whale and Jazz Festival, with great jazz and other events over an entire weekend.  We're looking forward to next year's!

   In April, the spectacular wild rhododendrons come into bloom among the coast redwoods and Douglas fir.  A special state reserve has been set aside for these colorful shrubs near Salt Point:  the Kruse Rhododendron Reserve.

   Visitors and residents alike get a chance to tour some of Mendonoma's most spectacular homes on the annual Soroptimist Architectural Tour the Saturday of Mothers' Day Weekend.

   Memorial Day Weekend kicks off a summer full of social events.  (A partial list of events appears elsewhere in this issue of Destination Mendonoma.)

   Tide pool exploring, hiking and picnicking on the beach, are favorite pastimes now that the winter storms have passed.

   The City of Point Arena shines on Independence Day Weekend, with a hometown parade down Main Street, and a spectacular fireworks display over Arena Cove.  In this unique setting the sounds reverberate off the cliffs, and even occasional summer fog makes for special effects seen in few other venues.  Community picnics also add to the holiday.
   The annual Art in the Redwoods festival in Gualala is a highlight of August, with an extensive fine art show, a crafts fair, music and other entertainment in the beautiful setting of the Gualala Arts Center.

   Also in August, don't miss the Great Day in Elk, with a greased pole, parade, carnival game booths, cake auction and other small-town delights.

   The coast-wide Studio Discovery Tour, held Labor Day Weekend and the weekend invites art lovers into artists' studios to meet the artists and appreciate their work.

   But it's after the big tourist season is over that the very best weather comes to the Mendonoma Coast, when late vacationers enjoy the comparative solitude of the beaches and parks and spectacular sunsets across the ocean.

   Although the fishing season extends through most of the year, it's the winter rains that bring in the steelhead season.  Fisherfolk watch the rivers anxiously, awaiting the first big storm that will dump enough rain to rush the rivers through the sandbar and let steelhead in.  Before you make that first cast, though, check DFG regulations.  The Gualala River is catch-and-release for the its famous wild steelhead.

   Some people come to spend the winter season in Mendonoma just to fish, and to watch the winter storms.  Mendonoma Coast storms are magnificent.  They bring howling winds and towering waves that thunder against the rocks and send up fireworks of spray high above the cliffs.  We watch with awe, and glory in the power of the ocean.

   Then, when the power of the storm has ceased, we go about talking to one another about the weather, comparing inches of rain we've gathered in our gauges.  And, when the weather clears and skies are bright blue and new green meadows sparkling, we think we'll declare a holiday, close our businesses and go off for a community picnic at the beach.

   Around Thanksgiving, coast folk have sighted the first California Gray Whales on their fall migration south.  The giant sea mammals (some of which are about as big as Greyhound buses) leave their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic each fall to travel 6,000 miles to the warm lagoons of Baja California where the females give birth to their calves.  The whales pass the coast going south all winter, and the later ones sometimes are still steaming southward when mothers and their young are on their way back north in the spring.  Generally, whales may be sighted all winter from the end of November until April, and some as late as June -- a few stragglers, even later.

   In late fall, about ten days after the first rains, experienced mushroomers will be heading for their favorite haunts, baskets over their arms, in search of Boletus, Puffballs and Meadow Mushrooms.  A caution:  some poisonous fungi are notorious impersonators and can be mistaken for edible varieties.  Many delicious edible mushrooms are found along our coast, but the inexperienced 'shrommer should not pick any  mushrooms unless he or she has a knowledgeable guide along to help identify them.

   Our winter visitors include the beautiful tundra swans, which arrive in huge flocks sometime in November, to vacation on the plains of the Garcia River between Point Arena and Manchester.  Photographers alert!  But don't got too close; the swans will turn their backs and walk away.

   After New Year's we sometimes have a day of New England winter.  It snows up on the ridges, and we revel in it.  Children throw snow chunks, and the pines are heavy and picture perfect with wet snow, and we enjoy our day-long winter holiday.

   January is usually the peak of the local crab season, and we enjoy this messy but delicious treat by the plateful at benefit crab feeds.  Fresh crab, cooked and ready, is also in local stores.  Sometimes you can buy live crabs, right out of the trap, from local fishermen, themselves!

   And then, usually about the first of February, in our cycle of seasonal events we have returned to spring.

   We can't promise that all of these events will occur precisely on schedule -- nature follows its own course.

   And we can't promise good weather all the time, unless you can appreciate wind, rain, fog and sunshine as "good" weather.  You may get one or a variety of weathers when you visit Mendonoma.

   Mendonoma is a great place to visit and an even better place to live.