Wine Tasting Evening with Laurie Forster

While it may seem boring to some and it may seem I do a lot of of it, the most important thing that happens when I go out to taste wine is that I meet people. Wine drinkers seem to be a group of people who are willing to celebrate life and enjoy the fruit of the vine.

Last evening Chris and I along with two close friends went to a wine event (not entirely a tasting) at a recreational store in Annapolis and enjoyed not only an evening together but rekindled a relationship with a star of the wine world, Laurie Forster.  We first met Laurie about five years ago at the St Michael's Food and Wine event. I must have made an impression because she remembered me. How do I know? She told me where and when we first met! Wow.

Laurie Forster

During the evening, I had the opportunity to play a how good is your nose game--mine isn't very good because blindfolded I confused a banana with an apple and couldn't identify Old Spice aftershave, and wine a book written by Laurie while enjoying an evening of wine and learning. 

Learning about wine is what makes the whole process fun. It is not all about the drinking, but the learning to slow down and appreciate wine. 

Laurie has a great approach to help people learn about wine without that snobby approach that turns so many novices off.

Wine provides a means to meet people and to share experiences. Laurie has developed a subtle comedy act that helps to to educate while also encouraging the enjoyment of wine--and especially moderately priced, good tasting wines. 

Chris and I enjoy learning about wines from new places and even new wines from known locales. The best part is tasting them to appreciate their strengths and to enjoy their complexity.

Good wines, good friends, and meeting new people. What could be better.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Airport in the Morning

I had a unique experience yesterday morning. I was in Teminal C of the Denver International Airport as dawn arrived while waiting for my flight home.

The bright morning sun was pouring through the windows. The day was dawning and the terminal was empty, a prelude to the crowded bustling place that it soon would become.

Outside, the bright skies were changing to gray, snow filled clouds forecast to bring as much as four inches of snow to the area beginning overnight and into today. 

I was shocked at how quickly the terminal filled with people headed for planes and destinations across the country. Maybe, it seemed, they were anxious, as was I, to escape the gathering storm.

I did escape that storm, flying away on the aluminum wings to enjoy sunshine and accomplish some yard work once I arrived home. But, it all started yesterday in Terminal C.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Out the Hotel Window - Denver, again, November 2013

Looking East form my Denver Hotel
November 19, 2013

I come to Denver often it seems. Maybe too much and too often. I would love to go somewhere else on occasion, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards at least until March when I get to return to Sarasota for a few days and enjoy Orioles Sprint Training.

The views out my hotel window from Denver are, however, some of the the best I experience. While they often seem the same and I almost never get a mountain view, they are always different. Yesterday, I sat on my bed and watched the sun begin to rise in the east. It was awesome to witness the birth of a new day filled with hope and promise.

Looking East from my Denver Hotel
November 18, 2013

The day before, after arriving at the hotel I snapped an image out of the window--just in case I didn't find something better. Watching the dawn, however,  is always better.

Although I can see the lights of the airport in the morning picture, I can see the actual spires of the main terminal in Denver in the daytime shot.

Today is another travel day back to home.

But the memory of the dawn will remain.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Denver, CO

Traveling Equals Fitful Sleep

Traveling across time zones really throws off my sleep cycle. I awoke this morning at 3 AM ready to rock and roll. Fortunately, I know that I do not sleep well "on the road." I checked my cell phone and forced myself to remain in bed for another almost two hours. Thankfully. 

I can sleep almost anywhere--just ask Chris. But when it comes to sleeping through the night when I am traveling--even though I stay up until my normal bedtime, it doesn't happen. Some of it may be the bed, the pillows, the new environment--it all adds up to a fitful night of sleep with less rest and more anxiety about not sleeping well. 

Tack onto that, usually when I am traveling that I am confronted with a string of meetings that I have to sit through the next day and the result is that the hour after lunch is a killer. Ugh!

Today should be a lot of fun trying to remain alert amidst some potentially boring discussions. I may be looking for intravenous coffee injections about 1 PM. 

-- Bob Doan, writing from somewhere on the road!

Monday Musings - November 18, 2013

1. Gloomy autumn days are best spent on the couch.

2. Football? I believe it may be on the precipice of a rapid decline into an also ran sport, like field hockey.

3. Politicians are not to be trusted especially with budgets and defense.

4. Why does the sense of reality change when economics are considered?

5. I was able to watch a couple of westerns this weekend. I had forgotten how much I like them. Too bad westerns aren't being madam much anymore.

6. Riordin, the cat, has decided that he must be sitting with me every time I sit down. That is just a little bit too much togetherness.

7. Will suspending the cancelation of health plans solve the problem or just kick the can down the road?

8. I am having a hard time believing that it has been 50 years since President Kennedy was assassinated. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Affordable Care Act Debate

I watched NBC's Meet the Press and the former Speaker of the House was trying to defend what happened in 2009 to get "Obama-care" passed in terms of the current crisis of people receiving cancellation notices for their current policies.

I am struck by a phrase that I have heard in the past: "How do you know that a politician is lying?"  Answer?  "Their lips are moving."

This politician redefined every major point under contention that for which the President has already apologized. Over one million people in California have received cancellation notices for their plans and she maintains that they really have not received cancellation notices. Somehow, the politician maintained that they really weren't cancellation notices.

I guess if the politician wants to say its not true, then it really isn't. I have heard other politicians around the world make similar statements about factually know historic events.

NBC played a clip from the debate to get the Act passed and it went something like: We need to pass this legislation so that we can see what's in it. I found it on You Tube.

Really?

Bob's view: We have the Affordable Care Act. It is not perfect, but we have it. Let's correct the deficiencies and make the act work for the American people rather than allowing it continue being another divisive issue.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Gray, Fog, Autumn's Demise

Frost Nipped Mums

As I sat this morning watching the dawn break, because the cat decided to start knocking things off my night table at 5:30 AM, I realized that successive mornings of temperatures in the 20's had brought the colorful autumn season to a close. 

Crepe Myrtle Tree

The mums were showing signs of the freeze and many of the remaining leaves on the trees were brown and dry, waiting for their inevitable fall to the ground to begin the cycle of life over again. 

The day would be better with blue skies to highlight the remaining color and soften the stark grays and browns beginning to dominate the scene. 

I already long for the greens of summer, heightened by Chris being in Orlando for the weekend enjoying green and, well, rain. But warm.

There remains some color in the autumn berries, but even they are beginning to fade in preparation for the cold winter ahead.

Even as autumn begins its slide into winter, there remains some beauty to be found. I just need to look harder for it. Of course if the sun would shine it would be easier to find.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Another Upgrade--Garage Door

I found out that garage doors wear out. They get old and they begin to separate and not only that, they look bad. New garage doors aside from looking good are insulated and should serve to help mitigate the cold winds of winter as well as the hot summer sun.

For all of these reasons, and mostly because the old door was beginning to come apart as the seams, literally, we had a new garage door installed. Another repair/upgrade/maintenance activity on a 20 something year old house.

The new door looks great. 

I wanted windows because I like the light in the garage. Doors without windows make it so dark in the garage. 

I was amazed that the entire demolition and installation took only about two hours.

And now--we have a garage door that will last for a long while and also looks good!

It is amazing the amount of work and upkeep a home takes to remain current.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Life Without Blockbuster

The stores slipped from the landscape almost unnoticed, until last week when the remaining 300 shuttered their doors and an era officially ended. With the closing of Blockbuster, the era of the movie rental store on every corner has concluded.

I remember driving to the local Blockbuster and wandering the aisles looking for a video to rent. Remember at first they were VHS tapes? And every store had the funky acrid video smell? I even remember the sign that reminded everyone to rewind their tapes before returning them. 

Patrick's first job was at the local Blockbuster--he wanted money to buy a computer and we told him to either share the family computer or get a job. In an exhibition of his entrepreneurial spirit, he talked the local blockbuster manager into hiring him.

Inside of a Blockbuster Store

The people at the local stores became almost like family. The managers knew our family and even when we moved, one of the assistant managers wound up managing our new local store and so it was like old times again. The stores upgraded from VHS tapes to DVDs and then to Blue Rays and they added an impressive array of games for every imaginable gaming system--but it was not enough. Our local store closed over five years ago and is not my our local liquor store. I had even forgotten that it used to be a Blockbuster until writing this article. 

As I think back to the local business landscape, I remember many of the other video and game  rental stores which no longer exist. There may be a few dinosaurs remaining, but I would not invest too deeply in their future. On demand rentals via satellite and cable and even the Red Box videos have effectively terminated a once thriving segment of the market. 

Good-bye Blockbuster, and thanks for the memories.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Philippines Typhoon: A Chance to Come Together for Good

The countries of the world have another opportunity to lay aside their differences for a period and come together to render aid to the devastated Philippine people. The images of the devastation left by the typhoon leave no doubt that aid is needed, and now. It makes me feel good that even with a congress in disarray, the US is in the forefront of the efforts to assist survivors. 

I was appalled to read that the aid convoys are coming under attack even while they are attempting to help the people who have lost everything. But, no matter the location, there are always people who are only looking out for themselves or trying to get ahead at the expense of their neighbors.

Everything I read indicates the situation is dire and getting worse. An article from Aljazeera describes the early stages of the relief effort. It describes the aid efforts of the UN, US, Australia, Britain, Japan, the European Community, and even China. I read another item which indicated that Taiwan also had people on the ground providing assistance. 

The Philippine people are in desperate need and I am glad to see the world mobilizing to help.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD