Tuesday's Wine Post

Planning a wine tasting in April, perhaps it will be organized as a charity event. Tentatively, I've decided to feature 6 wines, 3 whites and 3 reds. I've also considered a champagne or port as one of the 6 wines or as an additional treat. Possibilities for the whites are semillion, chardonnay, savignon blanc, riesling or even white zin since it is popular with novices). Possibilities for reds are cabernet, pinot noir, merlot, zinfandel, syrah, sangiovese.

I will enlist volunteers to help control the portions and order in which wine is tasted and I plan to make various foods available. One of the best things about wine/food pairings is how food changes the flavor of wine.

I welcome any thoughts my readers may have. Post comments, I enjoy reading them.

ohhh, hardware

Ordered a new stainless steel rapelling rack today from On Rope 1 (www.onrope1.com). I am always impressed with the warmth, courtesy and professionalism of owners and staff. I am excited about my new hardware and looking forward to trying it out.

There's something really primal about steel, hardware, the feel of hard metal in your hands. If I were Tim the Toolman Taylor, I were be muttering, guttering and uttering ........... arrrrrrugggghhh. But I'm a gal, so my muttering is more along the lines of "aahhhhhhh, yes".

My friend had a new inova led flashlight and I really liked it. It had a nicely concentrated bright beam, a titanium metal finish and the metal itself was finely machined, smooth and well balanced. It felt comfortable and satisfying in my hands.

Women like that stuff too.

Thank Goodness Christmas has Passed

A tense Christmas has come and gone. I am relieved. I need to get my new years resolution passed and move into 2006. I need to revamp my exercise and running plans and get moving.

Earth or industry?

I have a friend (yes, really) through whose eyes, I can sometimes see things differently. This friend often looks behind the certain expectations of society, the carved contortions of capitalism, the use and abuse of throw away goods. My friend is happy with his old sunglasses even though they have been repaired with a fishhook. Who needs a new pair? My friend returns from vacation with rocks, feathers, shells, pinecones. Who really needs another "all I got was this stupid t-shirt"?

It makes you wonder. Are we all conditioned to accept industrialism, capitalism, commercialism (and other ism's) as the way things are? Are we zombified robots, hyptnotized by sales pitches on TV?

My sister told me that her two year old son's favorite book is Dr. Seuss', "The Lorax". I questioned her about it, not remembering. As she relayed the subject matter, it all came back to me. It's about the environment, capitalism, and ruin; yet offering a small ray of hope.

During my next visit with my sister and nephew, I made sure to revisit the book. It offers something to consider. Whether you enjoy Suessian rhyme or not, a few of his books give food for thought, if not life long philosophy. The Lorax is no different. Read a copy if you find an opportunity. Here are a few excerpts:

Way back in the days when the grass was still green

and the pond was still wet

and the clouds were still clean,

and the son of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...

one morning, I came to this glorious place.

And I first saw the trees!

The Truffula Trees!

The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees!

Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

.......

In no time at all, I had built a small shop.

Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop.

And with great skillful skill and great speedy speed,

I took the soft tuft. And I knitted a Thneed!

.......

A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!

It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat.

But it has other uses. Yes, far beyond that.

......

Oh! Baby! Oh!

How my business did grow!

Now, chopping one tree

at a time

was too slow.

.......

I meant no harm. I most truly did not.

But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.

.....

"I am the Lorax" he coughed and he whiffed.

He sneezed and he snuffled. He snarggled. He sniffed.

"Once-ler!" he cried with a cruffulous croak.

"Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke!

"You're glumping the pond where the Humming Fish hummed!

No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.

And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!

Then we heard the tree fall.

The very last Truffula Tree of them all!

.......

No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done.

So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one

all waved me good-bye. They jumped into my cars

and drove away under the smoke-smuggerred stars.

Now all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky

was my big empty factory...

the Lorax and I.

......

NOW, NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE.

THE WORD OF THE LORAX SEEMS PERFECTLY CLEAR.

UNLESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU

CARES A WHOLE AWFUL LOT,

NOTHING IS GOING TO GET BETTER.

IT'S NOT.

Tuesday's Wine Post (on Wednesday)

HEY THERE WINOS! HERE IS TUESDAY'S WINE POST, ON WEDNESDAY, BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

If you can find this, it's a great wine, for a great price. A wonderful all around choice:

Villa Mt. Eden 2002 Grand Reserve Mead Ranch Zinfandel
Napa Valley, California Approximate price $14-$22
you can buy online if available in your state at www.wine.com

Caramel, toffee and chocolate notes add intrigue to the rich blackberry aromas. Spice filled dried plum and walnut flavors support the full, rich structure. Jammy fruit is kept in check by the firm, sweet, ripe tannin backbone. The overall expression is one of restrained power and elegance.
Planted atop Atlas Peak 50 years ago, Mead Ranch Vineyard sits 1,400 feet above sea level. On a clear day you can see the Golden Gate Bridge 50 miles away. Dry-farmed, head-pruned vines are rooted in infertile hillside soil, resulting in Zinfandel that consistently illustrates the varietal’s intense character.

I must win!

Okay, potential blog visitors. Will ya help me with something? I have an ongoing contest with a feller caver. We alternate singing songs with the word "baby" or "babe" in the lyrics. I am running out of ideas. I can't lose. Help. Post a comment and give me some ideas. Here are some, but not all, of the songs so far:

1. Babe, Styx
2. I've got you babe, Sonny and Cher
3. Baby Love, Diana Ross (?)
4. various BB King songs
5. various lullabyes
6. Baby Baby, Amy Grant

Why no running posts?

These past few weeks, I haven't been running much outside. The really cold weather, dreary, rainy, gray, doesn't inspire me much to go outside. Give me sun, snow or a day over 40 degrees; then I'll run outside. I've been running on my treadmill, whenever possible, about 15 miles a week. I know that's not much.

My exercise routine is a big, blob, melted, squishy, puddle at my feet. Not to worry though, Suess says. I have been in a slump before and I know that unslumping yourself is not easily done, that you can get hung up in a prick-ly perch, and bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you. But I also know from the cyclical changes in my life that I have brains in my head and feet in my shoes, that good things happen to people as brainy and footsy as me. I know that with banner flip-flapping once more I'll ride high. I will succeed. 99 and 3/4 % guaranteed.

Tuesday's Wine Post

TEN WINE TIPS

1. Oxyclean takes out red wine stains

2. When buying red wine, consider Wine Spectator and

Wine Enthusiast ratings whenever available. Anything

over 90 is good usually

3. Allow wine to breathe a little before drinking

4. Drink in deep glassware

5. Swirl and breathe deeply

6. Have some cheese

7. Buy a good corkscrew

8. Drink with friends

9. Talk about the wine's characteristics

10. Relax, enjoy, make an event of it

MP3 players

This is my mp3 post

At least it tastes better than toast

I wouldn't say it's better than most

It's hard to install a song

I seem to keep doing it wrong

Oh, why did I wear this thong?

Hey, Bradford pears don't live long

I tried all day to install

Who can I call?

Sony company has the gall

The manual is ambiguous

and the photos aren't contiguous

why can't I figure out this mess?

Does It Really Matter?

I remember crossing a book entitled "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff". Is small stuff really small or is "life in the details"? What happened to "stop and smell the roses"? Aren't roses the small stuff of life, the stuff which adds up?

Is the book telling us that life is only lived through broad strokes? If that's true, then maybe day to day life doesn't even matter. How does that contrast with advice like "live each day as if it's your last". If you live each day as your last, paying close attention to the day's components, then you are bound to deal with lots of small stuff.

Perhaps the emphasis of the book's title isn't about small stuff, it's about the sweating part. Perhaps it's telling us that that life is in the details, but details are for pleasure only, not for worry. Perhaps no one knows the answer to these questions. I always wondered if you could put all the variables of a human choice into a computer and have the computer calculate the correct choice. A question such as which decision is right when I weigh all the factors. You never know if your choice is the correct one. We merely determine whether a choice was correct or not using hindsight.

Hindsight doesn't really make sense as a yardstick for correct choice determination. Maybe we made the right choice but we screwed it up somewhere along the way. Who knows? All you can do is live your life the best you know how, remember that you only get one chance to do it right, and balance your own happiness with your need to care for others.

Live the important things through broad strokes and grab the important pieces of life and happiness as they swirl by. You may be one of the few on earth to have this particular kinetic ball of light filled bliss pass by. Let it go and it will simply die out without a host. Since it was meant for you, no other can inherit.

Take you happiness when you can, where you can. Don't allow yourself to sink into the quicksand of routine. Sweat the small stuff if it smells good. Notice the rock you were sitting on. Put it in your pocket. Catch fireflies. Observe a tree's growth habit. Listen to the frozen snow crunch under your feet. Study the lines of your loved one's face. Taste the wine, feel it on your tongue. Touch the rose's petals. When the soft breeze comes your way; stop, stand on a cliff, spread your ams, close your eyes, breathe.