It would seem that I had been taking a sort of Inadvertent Sabbatical. I want to write, yet I feel sludgy and stumped--the worst sort of Uninspired. Perhaps my Indiscipline--bred of four years or so now of Retirement--has finally caught up with my brain and I'm a Dullard: not thinking too deeply, not reading much of substance or often, and not Energized. Jealously guarding my Zen, making the effort to Not Be So Tightly Wound, I wonder if I perhaps Went Too Far (if that's even possible).
Can I still blame everything on The Menopause? Or is it too late?
Sigh.
Let me rattle my head and see what's in there.
Rick and I had a jaunt up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, and were rewarded with yet another new winery. Luckily, we tasted with the winemaker himself, and after a slug of one of his gorgeous reds, I was moved to propose marriage to him, right in front of my (current) husband. Andrezj (now my secret fiance) raised his eyebrows and smiled, looked at Rick, and informed us that his son was a sommelier and head of operations at the winery (a mere technicality), and that he has been married for I forget, something like twenty-five years. Rick mentioned our thirty-four year marriage, which I waved off with my wineglass. Which Dear Andrezj then immediately poured the next wine into, which I also loved. New Philosophy: Marry first for money, second for wine, third for love. No explanation needed.
Hmm. If I left Rick and ran away with a winemaker, I would definitely miss conversations like this one, had briefly during a commercial break over the weekend.
Rick: (upon viewing a candy commercial for chocolate, possibly Lindt) I don't like that word, chocolatier.
Nance: (looking up briefly from a torrid series of games of Words With Friends) Really? What about it could you possibly object to?
Rick: It sounds like Musketeer and Mouseketeer and I just don't like it.
Nance: (rapidly finishing up her moves; hugely interested) Okay. Say you rank them in order, those three words, according to how much you like them, most to least.
Rick: (immediately) Chocolatier, Musketeer, Mouseketeer.
Nance: (despite knowing his disdain of all things Disney) Okay, now why?
Rick: Because I like chocolate, and the Musketeer can at least slice up the Mouseketeer.
Nance: Wow. And here I was thinking, 'same order, but because Three Musketeers is also a chocolate bar.'
Rick: That works too.
And, finally, a random list of
Small Things I Appreciate
1. M&M’S
2. Ice and Water in the refrigerator door
3. Recycling everything in one bin
4. Butternut Squash
5. Fleece blankets
Thank you for waiting. I think I'm back.
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Just yesterday I was starting to worry about you! So glad you felt my psychic prompt & wrote a post :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I found your proposal to Andrezj fascinating, I felt misled - I was sure that Zydrunas was getting a mother.
And now, even though it's after 10:00 at night & I've brushed my teeth, I feel a very strong urge to head out & get a Three Musketeer's bar. Or maybe a Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar... I'll sleep on it & make the trek tomorrow instead.
Welcome back!
Bug--Oh, thank you for your concern. I was starting to worry about me, too. Zydrunas is vastly more content with his two dads at present. I'm more than enough woman for him. Hee hee.
DeleteGlad to be back...I think. I really need to shake off this funk.
Mmmm. M&Ms. Peanut are best.
ReplyDeleteYay Rick, chop up those stupid Mouseketeers!
I love that you found a wine that moved you so much. Sorry about your marriage, though. ;)
I used to have a friend who sometimes referred to her husband as "My first husband".
J@jj--I pour plain and peanut into the same jar for fear of Discriminating. We buy them by the 50 lb. bag at the warehouse club. (Okay, not 50 lbs., but it seems like it.)
DeleteWe found several at Big Head Wines, actually, but we were already at almost 4 cases by then, so we didn't buy much there. Next time, we START there (and maybe even END there), that's how good it is. The reds were incredible.
I wondered what had become of you. Not like you to remain quiet for too long. Saying that in a good way. Of course, now I can understand how you lost your blogging focus, what with your new romance & all. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlly Bean--Thank you very much for thinking of me.
DeleteI'm already sighing and Thinking Wistfully about Andrezj. Our love was brief, but meaningful....
So happy that you and Rick had a nice visit to Niagara-On-The-Lake and returned with a pseudo fiance ,your real husband, and a few cases of wine.
ReplyDeleteI know you like to cook with wine and I do, too. As one of my all time favorite sourpusses, W.C.Fields, was fond of saying:
"I always cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food."
Nancy--Doesn't that sound far more like a great Julia Child quote? Anyone but WC Fields, who seem far more like a cheap booze or beer guy to me. Ah, well. It's a great quote no matter who first said it.
DeleteI think I'll paint that on a big piece of reclaimed wood for the kitchen. Unless I find it already done just the way I envision it. Adding it to the Project List.
Also sludgy brain syndrome here. But it is cheering to have you back. It is Canadian election day and we drove 26 kilometres each way to vote, muttering. At least the rain held off until we got home. And the end of the campaign marathon may have energised me enough to actually write something myself.
ReplyDeleteYou could at least tell us the name of the divorce-worthy wine, eh?
Mary G--I early-voted yesterday, St. Patsy in tow. It is a wonderful Convenience, and highly recommended. The day yesterday was warm, sunny, and terrifically beautiful. I see where Trudeau Jr. is your new, Liberal PM! Canada is going in for Dynastic Politics like the US.
DeleteThe very divorce-worthy wine was, I think, the red called Bigger Red. But his best red is The Biggest Red. Oddly, they are quite high in alcohol content (14% avg.), but you really don't taste it. His Chardonnay is incredible as well--elegantly oaked, still nicely nuanced with fruit, but lots of warmth and vanilla as well. Seriously, next trip up, we are starting there and may not go anyplace else.
We do. WITH a majority my daughter describes as 'a little bit of overkill'. Look to see Canada eyeball to eyeball with yoUSA regarding pipelines and the Middle East. The son is not the father. Sadly.
DeleteI've loved the word chocolatier since the first time I heard it because it so beautifully describes what it means. I'm going to try not to let your dear husband's comments ruin it for me, but it's going to be hard to keep musketeer and mouseketeer from poisoning it.
ReplyDeleteWith conversations like that, I don't think your slump is due to not thinking too deeply. It's a deep thinker indeed who could respond to that conversation (while playing Words With Friends) without laughing hysterically. Or, perhaps someone having had some of her new best favorite wine.
NCmountainwoman--Pronounce it in the French, and you can avoid the connotation altogether. I love the word also, even its physical appearance. It looks like melting chocolate when you get to the -latier part.
DeleteThank you for your very kind and reassuring comments. I was not drinking at the time, no. Usually, after we return from a tasting trip like that, we detox for a little bit. Or, at least I do.
The wine is also resting a bit from its trip. Now we have to inventory and rack it. Is its rest necessary? Not too sure, but I know neither of us really feels too much like doing all that work yet!