Autumn's Last Gasp

Well--it is now over. The last of the leaves have fallen and I have even removed them from the yard. I took these pictures over the weekend and by Monday, all the leaves were on the ground.

But I have these images--the colors of the Autumn as it passes into my memory.

Clearing the yard of the leaves on Veteran's Day was a solitary experience. I talked with many of my friends at work to find that they too, spent their holiday laboring in their yards with mountains of leaves.

Ah but the colors were great, but now the trees are bare and ready for Winter's onslaught of cold, wind, and ice or snow. Because of our dry spell, some of the leaves never changed from green--and there were many green leaves in the piles I made on Tuesday.

Spring is not that far away--at least in my mind.

And it is, after all, mid-November. Thanksgiving is two weeks away and the Christmas season is on its heels. I'm even beginning to plan on getting out the Christmas lights for the house--to bring some light and color back in to the world after the passing of the colors of Autumn. And after that? A mid-Winter vacation to somewhere warm? Well, maybe.

Bogle Vineyards Phantom 2003

We sampled this wine on Friday evening at a friend's house and absolutely loved it.

It was a very smooth wine with a complex and delightful nose that is stunning. It rolls onto the tongue with in a deep, silky manner treating the drinker to flavors of berry, steak, black pepper and other spices blended in a manner that is very pleasing. And the taste lingers on the palette. It truly envelopes your whole mouth in a sensory experience.

The wine is a blend of Petite Sirah 55% - Zinfandel 42% - Mourvèdre 3% and truly is designed to please.

Recommendation: Buy and drink this wine. At about $20 per bottle this is a wine that can definitely be used for special occasions and will definitely impress. And I hear the 2005 vintage is every bit as good if not better than 2003.

November arrives

Well, I think I'm finally recovering from the election hang-over. It was a wild ride these past few months as the candidates slung mud to get to election day and the American people finally could make their choice and mercifully end the campaigning which has been going on for almost two years now.

I urge each of you to sign up with the Presidential Prayer Team to pray for the transition and our new president.

I also urge each of you to visit the President-elect's web site to learn more about the new team headed for The White House.

Regardless of who you voted for--and I admit I didn't vote for the guy who won, we need to support the President-elect. Why? Because we need our President to be successful our President needs our support and prayers for wisdom and discernment of God's will for our great nation. We can disagree on policies--but on this we must agree--our President and all of our leaders need our prayers.


And finally--if you want to have some fun and become a bit more educated about our 43 Presidents--check out this Presidential rating website. I found it fascinating--especially the selection for number six!

Weather Change

Ah, the cold winds of Autumn have finally arrived. The leaves are falling from the trees by the bushel basket loads. Pumpkins are golden in anticipation of the winter ahead. Snow flurries are becoming a regular sight on the national weather map.

We are currently doing our own version of the plant dance. Plant dance you ask? Yes. Moving plants indoors (to the pool house) to avoid the frost at night and then returning them to the nourishing sunlight and warmth of the day so they may continue to flourish before being trapped in the house for the next five months. Five months--is it really that long? Wow--it is. Until March.

Some have already been moved indoors permanently--the Angel-wing Begonia and one palm tree. It seems a bit earlier this year than last. I fear the cold grip of winter will be more severe that we would like.

Hawaii or Florida sure so seem inviting right now. The December trip to Disney World will be a great way to escape the onset of Winter--even if only for a week. And then zoom into the holiday season without looking back. Maybe we can slide through January and leapfrog over February. Until the lamb or lion March portends a return to the warm days and green trees.

So I stand on the doorstep, looking at the sky; much like I did this past May during the first 90 degree heatwave, and girding myself against the bone-chilling wind I say: "Bring it on.!"

Hanging Out

Well--we were able to slow the pace of life down a bit towards the end of the week. We actually spent Friday and Saturday night, Chris and I together watching movies on the sofa.

That doesn't happen often.

Of course that was after a hugely busy week highlighted by going to Toby's Dinner Theater on Wednesday evening to see "The Producers," Chris' trip with Ethan to the ER on Thursday which came after a three-presentation day at work for me.

So we stopped the world for a bit and spent time enjoying each other.

But, and there always is a but--we did have time to redo one of the bathrooms--including primer and paint!

But today is Sunday and it's another football spectacular with the Cowboys, Ravens and Redskins all taking the field at 1PM followed by the Steelers at 4:15. We should be busy watching either the TV or the grandkids all day.

Wow--if we only could work it so we would get three-day weekends--then think of all the time we could have together.

V-No Wine Bar, Baltimore Fells Point

What a great find. Right on the water in Fells Point. And we enjoyed some great wine with friends last Saturday night before going off to dinner at a local restaurant.

OK--let's get to it. This is a real keeper. If you are in Fells Point definitely visit V-No Wine Bar at 905 S. Ann Street.

The wines are reasonably priced and the owners are enjoyable to chat with. The corkage fee is also reasonable and the munchies are great.

The wines are unique--I dare say you'll have trouble finding them anywhere else. And if you are unsure--ask for a sample. We wound up enjoying a bottle of an Italian light red wind which was fabulous as it was different. And the munchies list definitely compliments the wine selections.

If you are unsure about what to order--ask for help and they will steer you to the right selections. It was awesome.

Recommendation: A great place to start or end and evening. A great mid-day shopping stop. The wine prices are reasonable--many as low as $10 per bottle and most are less than $20. Figure out how many $8 cocktails or $6 beers that equates to.

The Next President is . . .

What a weekend of politics. And no, I'm not in a predictive mode about our next president. There is still a lot that can happen between now and election day.

One of my heroes threw his support behind one of the candidates and I thought his reasons, albeit personal, made sense. He made a good argument for his personal decision. I disagree with him on a couple points--like the supreme court justice

Did/does it change my vote? I don't know. Believe it or not--I'm not completely sure how I'm going to vote. I'm still evaluating--but I am leaning one particular way. I could be convinced otherwise.

And then there was Saturday Night Live with the woman who would be vice president.

And both sides are talking about change.

Who is talking about the good that America is doing in the world? Who is talking about the strength and perseverance of the everyday Americans who go to work everyday and want to live their lives in peace and be protected from the forces of darkness and chaos that surround us?

Did you see that gas is down to $2.80 per gallon (and we're happy about it)?? Oil closed under $70 per barrel--gas should be below $2.00 per gallon. I don't hear either candidate talking about the gouging of America that the oil companies are doing.

And for all the money pumped into banks--did you notice that it is harder to get a car loan? Houses still aren't moving? Congress is still sitting on their haunches not wanting the current administration to get any credit for working through the economic mess and so they are sacrificing the middle Americans just to win an election.

What a great country.

Don't forget to be an educated voter and vote. And, before you go vote--pray hard for guidance that God will lead this country through our votes.

Short weeks seem so long

I know it is one of those mystifying aspects of life--but why do four-day workweeks often seem longer that five-day weeks?

I had Monday off and although I worked around the house, I still enjoyed the time off. But whew! This week has seemed to be the never ending week from the Black Lagoon where the creature lies in wait.

It is because we are trying to include five days worth of stuff into a four day week?

It is because with the extra day off we realize that there are a lot of other places we'd rather be?

I wish I knew--but I know it is a real feeling.

But, today is Friday and the weekend is upon me. The trees are beginning to don their autumnal royal colors for their final magnificence before the dark days begin.

And--there is another four-day work week coming in a couple weeks. I'll enjoy that one, too.

Connections Part 2 -- Getting and Staying Connected to people

I struck a chord with myself on this idea--and so I wanted to flesh it out a bit more.

How do we become connected? How do we stay connected? What are the advantages of being connected to each other?


I've thought about this a bit and it seems we become connected initially with our families. As we mature these connections change and sometimes it takes work to keep them strong. I am really bad at maintaining connections. It is an out growth of my innate hatred of telephones. But I am a huge email fan--and that is a way to stay connected.


I am reminded of John and Abagail Adams (the 2nd President!). During his worldwide travels and even his travels to and from the seats of government, John and Abagail remained connected through letters and these letters provide an incredible insight into their lives. They worked hard to stay connected.



Families need to work in the same manner to remain connected with each other. Our family has a series of events this past summer that reminded us that we really do care about each other and that we need to overcome the inertia of daily living and keep in closer contact. We have been trying, with limited success to do just that.

In addition to families, we become connected to others through work, and outside activities/groups such as scouting and church.

As long as the groups are functioning the connectedness seems to work. But as these collections of people begin to dysfunction--possibly at the core, there is a loss of connectedness. Members begin to feel disenfranchised and set apart for the group. They lose the connectivity which to them translates into a sense of aloneness. And then they are lost to the group. That is the sad part. It happens so slowly over time that no one is aware of it until it has happened.

The object is to get connected and to stay connected. It requires effort--connectedness does not happen by magic. Communication is a two part process: sender and receiver. Connectedness is similarly a multipart process where multiple people become and remain connected. The vectors of communication are personal face-to-face contact, email, mail, telephone, newsletters, meetings and a host of others. Good connectedness is based upon personal contact--not mass mailings. It is an effort. But a good effort. Communities are built on this type of effort--the effort to remain connected.

Get connected and stay connected. We are all working our way through life together--and we needs each other despite what we might like to believe.

Connections--how we stay part of the world

I've been struggling with the idea of connections--how we are each connected to others. Despite what I would like to believe about myself, I value connections to others. I would like to think that I am an island in the middle of the sea of people around me, but I'm not and island at all.

The idea that connections to other people were important to me crept up on me in a very unexpected way through the transfer of ownership of a Yahoo group. It really hit me hard when I realized that I was severing a connection with a group of people that I care about. I did not expect the turmoil that the severing of this connection would cause--even though, by my own choice, I am no longer a member of the ring of people who are represented in that Yahoo group. I felt the loss of the connection to these people deep in my heart.

Perhaps I just need to move on and keep walking down my own path--but I'd like to think that I'm not like that. Everyone I meet and especially those I learn to know and love leave an imprint on me. Like my profile says: "Just a guy. If I knew where I was going, I'd be there by now" A lot of us are traveling a similar path. And as we journey, we meet a lot of other guys and gals who are living their lives and it is through our connections with them that we grow stronger as people and as a larger community.

When we begin to care about others, we sacrifice of ourselves--our time, talent, and even money for the greater good and for mutual support with and for others. And not even because we hope that they will be there for us someday. We support other people because we can, and because as we are connected to others we care for them and help them when we can, rejoice with them when we can, and cry with them when they need us to.

When relationships go bad and we lose connections to someone there is a void. It would be nice if that never happened--relationships going bad, but we are people and these things happen more than they should. And the void that is left after the relationship has ended has a lot of pain associated with it. It demands to be filled--with other people, groups, or hobbies so we can grow beyond the lost relationships and continue our journey. But we never forget.

Does time heal all wounds? No. It masks them but unless the wounds of the heart and soul are addressed--they don't heal. They fester and affect us in negative ways. The wounds can foster hate, despair, insecurity, anger.

So, this week I surrendered one measure of connectedness to friends. I will work to discover and create new pathways to be connected with the people in that group who want to remain connected. We all need each other--too often we just don't think we do.