Wine Tasting Saturday

Well it is October and we are out int the Virginia wineries tasting.

We are out with good friends getting int trouble but also finding wines to enjoy.

I'm fact, I found the Thanksgiving dinner wine.

It is a beautiful day out in the countryside.

Does it get better than this? Yes, but only on the beach.

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time ...

The words are magical, are they not?

They remind me of childhood and dreams about the future.

Of knights and dragons, and even of space warriors fighting against overwhelming odds.

They remind me of playing for hours in a fantasy world without too many props on the edge on my imagination where every thought was reality and reality was but a memory.

Once upon a time I was the captain of a starship.

Once upon a time I was the the best pitcher on my baseball team and I won game 7 of the World Series by striking out Mickey Mantle on four pitches. (I guess I never did like the Yankees after all)

Once upon a time my sisters and I along with some neighbors created a series of tree forts from which to protect the area from invading Indians. We shot real arrows made from birch with bows made from birch and fishing line.

Once upon a time I was going to lead the first manned mission to Mars. Well--we see where that went.

It is fun to remember once upon a time--

Not that it could ever be any better than today, living life in real time. But it was fun to stretch the imagination. Once upon a time when I was young and could do anything or be anyone in the universe that I could imagine.

Music in my Ears

Chris told me about it a week or so ago and I really didn't think too much about it.

She noted that I was not listening to music anymore while driving in the car and she was listening to more of it.

I dismissed the comment--I like listening to talk sports radio.

But I recently remembered reading a study that people who listen to talk radio are more likely to be depressed. I went looking for it but could not find it.

That written though, yesterday morning I played music and wound up even singing along as I crawled along in traffic to work.

I felt much more energized when I left the car in the parking lot.

I didn't have a clue what happened in sports the night before--but there was a spring in my step as I bounded across the parking lot to the building . Ready to face the trials of the day.

Of course, it was a sunny day.

I will conduct the experiment over the next couple of days to see if it holds.

I urge you to try it and let me know the results of this unofficial, unscientific study on the effects of music upon mood.

Lists and Rankings and Memories

We are people who love lists it seems.

We pay others to rank things for us so that we don't have to try everything to make our own ranking. Or sometimes it is fun to rank things on our own just to see how we compare to the professionals.

I can tell the year is coming to a close because the rankings are beginning to show up in the mail.

Just this week, I received in my current issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine the "Top 100 Best Buys 2010.' Yes a list. I look forward to the wine lists. And there will be a lot before the year is over. Some will seem funny before it is over-- "The 100 best Wines without a cork" or something like that.

All through the year, new wines are ranked on a 100 point scale. OK--the dirty little secret is the scale is really from 55-100.

Soon we will see lists of the top 10 movies of 2010, or the worst 10 movies. Every day I look forward on ESPN to the "Play of the Day." And during baseball season the "Web Gems." Or the "Top 10 Plays of the Day" from all sports. I am amused sometimes about how they try to give equal time to golf--but that's a thought for another day. I never see chess in the play of the day, though.

Some lists are much more useful than others. I find that Consumer Reports has good lists of things I might want to buy. And my Scuba magazines ranks everything Scuba--nice to look at, but I'm probably not going to replace my current gear with new gear just because.

What if I tried to rank order list things in my life? I thought about it for a minute. It would be pretty weird.

Bob's Top 10 Favorite Living Dogs
1. Makayla (keeshond)
2. Ben (keeshond)
3. Jefferson (beagle)
4. Florence (itailian greyhound)
5. Ginger (chocolate lab)
6. ?

That went well didn't it?

I want to try another attempt at dog listing:

What about Bob's Top 10 Favorite Dogs of All Time: Living or Deceased

Actually this gets a lot harder.

1. Nufi (keeshond)
2. Makayla (keeshond)
3. Meghan (golden retriever)
4. Spooky (some kind of spaniel/hound)
5. Ben (keeshond)
6. Zachary (Yorkie)
7. Bear (keeshond)
8. Trixie (Shepard mix when I was a kid)
9. Lady (collie mix when I was a kid)
10. Ariana (shitzu)//Rippy (Lhasa apso) (it was a tie for 10th)

Anyway--it gets hard. With the exception of Makayla and Ben, they are all deceased--but their memories linger. Is it useful?

I don't know.

I do recommend the wine list though for for good value wines under $15. The list gives me something to look for when I go shopping.

And we will all likely continue to check the lists for the best buys or for whatever.

Happy listing!

Blahs of Life

Sometimes I feel as if I'm just playing out the string--especially in these days between baseball and hockey. Kind of like what the Orioles did for the past month or so.

It is just tough--two days with no baseball as the playoffs are scheduled to start later today.

The other night it was so bad I mostly watched a chick flick with Chris--"Letters to Juliette." I mean really? I had a Monday night with almost anything to do and I watched a chick flick. If there had been baseball on TV--it would have been on.

It was so bad that I went out and filled up Chris' gas tank in her car for her--just to get a break.

With it getting dark so early now I really don't know what to do with my evenings--except look out the window into the darkness and wish for summer.

I think I need a trip to the beach or something.

I had forgotten how dark it gets so early and we still haven't switched off daylight savings time yet! Ugh!

I just need to strive to enjoy the daylight more. And it is supposed to warm up again as the week moves along. We will struggle to see 70's it seems.

And so I'm just blah!

It is even spilling over into my racquetball--I'm playing totally uninspired. Although last night, in an effort to beat the blahs, Chris had a stunning meal ready when I stumbled through the door after getting thrashed on the racquetball court again.

That was nice and served to chase away the blahs for a while.

But they are still out there. Lurking.

Halloween Village

It is October after all.

Time to really begin the window dressing on seasonal decorations. One of the things Chris really enjoys are her Halloween decorations.

Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I like the candy (a bit too much) but that's about it. But, in the spirit(s) of the season we decorate the house because, well, it is a piece of American tradition that keeps us from becoming stogy.

There is so much inertia to overcome in doing anything different these days. It seems the easiest thing to do is nothing at all. And then feel guilty about it later.

We did get our decorations out Sunday and placed around the house to begin to get into the season. We only have a small Halloween village--because it is out for less than a month. But it does get me excited for the Snow Village and its arrival in the house, now scheduled for November 20th.

That of course, begins the Christmas season--with all of its special sets of issues.

For now though--the next celebration on the radar is Halloween. And the nights are getting colder and the days are cooler.

Autumn is fully in control now. I guess we need to embrace it because, as the line from one movie reports: "resistance is futile!"

Monday Musings - October 4, 2010

1. Busy weekends move by so quickly that sometimes I even wonder if you I a weekend.

2. Baseball season is over--the Orioles finished really strong and made watching baseball fun. I hope it carries over to next year. I miss the "Boys of Summer" already.

3. Where is hockey? I'm ready. Oh yeah--Thursday night! Can you say Stanley Cup?

4. It is raining again. I'm not sure we need anymore for a while. Who turned off the sun?

5. Did you hear about the Earth-like planet they found? It doesn't rotate. I guess it is not so earth-like, then.

6. We are in the season of changes--decorations which last only for about a month. Currently we are celebrating a harvest holiday with pumpkins and scary houses. Next month we get out the turkeys for a celebration of thanks.

7. Makayla had prissy feet. What are prissy feet you ask? Well, she won't go into the wet grass to do her business. That becomes a bit of an issue with all of the rain we are having and so I have to put her on her leash to guide her to spots suitable for her activity. I do not have prissy feet by the way.

8. Did you hear the joke about October weather? Neither did I.

9. And writing of jokes:

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you! (from Joke of the Day)

Saturday Catch-up

It is funny how a quick trip to the dump turned into an all day series of projects--some of which still beg for completion.

The day started pleasantly enough with Chris and Riordan enjoying a moment on the sofa before it was off to the lab for blood work in advance of a physical.

After a short breakfast we decided to rid the hacienda of excess junk that had piled up during the summer. One additional item which finally made its way to recycling was was an old Honda engine which had been reclining under a counter in the garage for almost eight years--it is finally being recycled.

Patrick and Tina arrived to help and we also sorted through attic holdings that were beginning to burst out all over. It is funny how attics quickly become the black holes of the home--things go in but never come out.

The truck was full as Patrick and I headed for the recycling center--and I am happy to report that only a very small amount of the overall load were not able to be recycled.

Chris and Tina took a load of clothing to the Salvation Army for donation--and amazingly did not pick anything up while they were there.

But did the day end there?

No.

We all went out to an enjoyable lunch and then it was on to other projects--moving beds and finally, after over a month of consideration and planning, placing the TV in the family room on a wall mount.

Is any project easy? No. the TV mount required three trips to Lowe's, including changing the original mount which didn't fit the TV to complete the project. I also discovered a number of wires and pipes in the wall--right where I wanted to put the new electric outlet. OK--so I do have some patchwork to complete.

We shot this image after the TV was mounted to the wall but before we had removed the base that it had been sitting on for almost two years. It kinda looks suspended in space.

As as darkness fell--and the carry out Chinese arrived--the day began to come to completion. The TV was finished--although there is a mattress in the garage that displaced Cat for the night.

All in all though--a productive day and an enjoyable one.

I slept well.

Blades of Grass

Green. Alone among the millions
growing in my yard.
The mower cut them all the same
no individuality here.

Despite the lack of rain this year
my lawn remained still green.
And so I mowed it every week
as each grass blade grew new.

Summer's sun has lost its heat
and frost too soon will fall.
The blades of green will change then too
become the brown of Fall.

And lay beneath the royal robes
adorning trees that shade.
The blades which once were green and warm
will sleep beneath the snow.

Happy New Year FY11

Funny how that sounds, right?

But actually we celebrate other new years as we go through our calendar. Last month it was Jewish New Year. In February it was Chinese New Year.

Today though is the Fiscal New Year! And so we awake this morning to a government without a budget because our elected officials can't seem to focus on the important aspects of their jobs and ensure a funded and functioning government.

Thank goodness for continuing resolutions!

I'm frustrated about the state of our government.

I saw a poll reported on the NBC Nightly News Tuesday night that really drove home the point about voter frustration. The bottom line was--it didn't matter whether Republican or Democrat--the voters are ready to part ways with whomever is currently in office and get some new people in place who are more collaborative and less partisan.

I'm with them.

As it stands right now, I do not see myself voting for anyone who currently is in office this year.

Give someone else a chance.

Let's get past partisan politics and get on with the business of running the government and stop the ceaseless bickering. It is not getting any better, is it?

The economy is still faltering, joblessness is increasing, and the debt is mounting.

I don't care whose fault it is, FIX IT!

That the government has no budget is just one of the many symptoms of the problem.

It seems that our elected officials no longer represent us--the ones who gave voted them into the job.

So Happy New Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. May we reclaim the government of the people and for the people this year!