Coming Back to Sonoma for the Summer - Chuck Kucserka
Chuck’s Sonoma Journey — I Visited Page
This is the second of two stories about Chuck’s relationship with Sonoma Valley.
🟩 Sonoma Brought Me Back to Tennis—and Into the Wine Business – Chapter 1
After a career in the technology industry, Chuck moves to Creekside, pours wine at two Sonoma wineries and returns to tennis after 45 years away from the game.
🟥 Coming Back to Sonoma for the Summer – Chapter 2
(You are reading this story.)
-
Several years after moving from Sonoma to Palm Desert, Chuck Kucerka and his wife, Gretchen, returned to spend August near Larson Park. The visit allowed them to escape the desert heat, be closer to their children and reconnect with the wineries and community they once called home.
-
After living in Sonoma for seven years, my wife, Gretchen, and I moved to Palm Desert. We enjoy our life there, but August can be brutally hot. While we were in Sonoma, the temperature in Palm Desert reached 112 degrees.
Our children, who live in Benicia, found us an Airbnb in Sonoma for the month of August. It was an ideal arrangement. We were only about a three-minute drive—or a 20-minute walk—from Larson Park.
Returning to Sonoma gave us the chance to revisit places that had been part of our lives. Because I had worked in the wine industry, we especially enjoyed going back to the wineries. One of our favorites is Larson Family Winery, where I once poured wine. We could even bring our golden retriever with us.
Sonoma seemed more congested than it had been when we lived here. I also noticed that some vineyards had been removed, leaving vacant land. Even with those changes, it still felt good to return.
Our golden retriever keeps Gretchen and me active, and we walk three to five miles a day. I also stay active by playing pickleball. When I play pickleball and walk the dog on the same day, I can cover about five miles, according to my Fitbit.
Back in Palm Desert, I enjoy reading history—I was a history major at the University of San Francisco—and going out to restaurants with Gretchen. But spending August in Sonoma allowed us to escape the desert heat, be closer to our children and reconnect with a place that had been our home.
It was a tremendous visit. We were living the good life.
-
Chuck returned to Sonoma as a visitor, but he saw it through the eyes of a former resident. He noticed that the area had become more congested and that some vineyards had been removed since he lived there.
The visit was about more than escaping Palm Desert’s August heat. It allowed Chuck and Gretchen to be near their children, revisit familiar wineries and renew their connection to their former home.
Chuck’s experience shows that the boundary between resident and visitor is not always clear. A person can leave Sonoma and still feel connected to its places, people and memories.
-
This story was created from an interview with Chuck Kucerka conducted by Don Lundgren. Chuck’s words have been edited for length and clarity while preserving his voice, experiences and meaning.
