Last weekend I celebrated one of my favorite rites of spring – the end of “tax season”.   Instead of staying home and beginning to dig out from under my personal (and embarrassingly large) backlog ,  I dropped Blue the Schnauzer off with friends, left food for the cats, loaded Ace the Scottie into the car, and took off for Mendocino. 

The weather gods were smiling and there was not cloud in the sky as we cruised through Anderson Valley on our way north.  Apple orchards were in bloom, vineyards were coming to life, and wildflowers dotted the landscape.

Ace and I spent two …