​The more time we spend in a particular place, the more we are shaped by it. This is true for individuals as well as cultures. In fact, the place that we live literally becomes part of us. Nearby trees release oxygen that we breathe, the food that grows from the soil we walk upon is the stuff that makes up our bodies, and those bodies respond to that particular place’s climate, latitude and geography. Even our psychology is affected by these variables of place. Over generations, these influences create a culture that is reflective of the place that nurtures it.
 
My job as the outings guide for Sonoma Land Trust is to connect people to this place — and what a magnificent place it is! We call it Sonoma County — the place between the Mayacamas to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west; between San Pablo Bay to the south and the deep forests and rugged hills to the north. Life has been blossoming here for a very long time and life’s wisdom is inherent in this place. We can only benefit as individuals and as a culture from tapping into this wisdom, and the more time we spend out on the land, the more wise we become.
 
Life’s strength is in its diversity — and we have an amazing diversity of places to discover and explore in the 50,000 acres of land that Sonoma Land Trust has protected. Each of these places is unique and harbors its own wisdom for those who make the time to visit and connect. 

Over the past few winters, I watched with interest as the tides deposited all manner of things on the levee at Sears Point. Trash, unfortunately, has been a constant, with truck-size blocks of Styrofoam, liquor bottles, plastic this-and-that, rubber balls, and even appliances — an indication of the bay’s trash problem. But less distressing and far more interesting are the signs of life and the connection of Sonoma County to the ocean, the greater Bay, the Delta and, ultimately, the rest of inland California. 
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One winter morning after the levee breach, I stumbled upon the decaying remains of a spawning salmon or steelhead. It shouldn’t have been surprising, but it was. After all, it had been a hay field just a couple of months ago and this fish had lived so recently in the Pacific Ocean. 

​If you’ve driven through Sonoma County in the spring, you’ve seen the bright yellow flowers lining our roads and highways. These plants are Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), French broom (Genista monspessulana) and Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), and they’re everywhere. Sonoma Land Trust and many other organizations, landowners and volunteers are waging war on these extremely invasive species.