May 29, 2007 by David.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we did some Harley riding.  [Duh.]  We stopped by this little restaurant/bar in Rio Vista, CA (you know, where those whales have been in the news for hanging around in the Sacramento River) called Foster’s Bighorn.  It is a showcase for the hunting exploits of Bill Foster from the early 1900’s.  There are over 300 trophy heads mounted on the walls, including some no longer legal to hunt such as an elephant. 

I had their bison burger for lunch.  If you are ever in the area, you have to at least stick your head in and look around.  Even if you aren’t a hunter, you will find it truly amazing.

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May 19, 2007 by David.

When I left my previous employer last year, one of the items received was a Staples “Easy” button.  You press it and it says, “That was easy.”  It was meant as more of a party filler, but it has found a significant tool in my life.  I like to press it when I accomplish something, particularly a task either difficult or something I’ve been avoiding.  Often it sums up the fact that what I’d thought difficult or unenjoyable was actually easy.  But even when it truly was not easy, I still like to press the button.  Somehow it makes me feel better, almost like an affirmation.  Sometimes I just press it for the fun of it.  Who’d have thought such a simple device, even a blatent advertising tool, could be so useful as a positive reinforcement device?

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May 13, 2007 by David.

Let’s see.  I was born and raised in a suburb of Seattle and other than a year Wyoming and a few months in Memphis, have spent my entire [long and lengthy] life in the Pacific Northwest, namely Portland.  Now, I do like hills, mountains, and trees.  However, with over 50 years in the NW, I never adjusted to rain.  Ok, not so much the rain as the cloud cover.  And cover.  And cover some more.  A good part of the year in Wyoming was to escape the Portland weather.  Let’s just say that “experiment” didn’t work out and I returned to Portland.  When I took up water and snow skiing at least when it rained I knew it was “helping” my sports, but that still left me wishing for more sunny days.  When I got married, neither Sharlet nor the kids got along well with Portland’s weather.  Big surprise, them being from the Napa Valley.  Then, to top it off, my previous employer’s corporate office was in Roseville, CA and I went there from one to three times every month, not to mention I would often go early or stay late to go Harley riding with Gary.  While a couple decades back I wouldn’t have considered living in California, over the years I had enough trips there to leave me wishing I could stay every time I went there.

Well, here I am, exactly one month from moving into our apartment in the Sonoma Valley, and what a wonderful month it has been.  As much as I’ve wanted to live here and as much as I’ve pined after just a few rays of sun, I’ve found it a funny adjustment.  Not that I don’t like it.  Hardly!  It’s just that after all these decades (…and decades) of clouds and dampness, my mind still hasn’t fully wrapped itself around the concept that I can get up pretty much every morning and have a beautiful, sunny day.  I wake up, look out, and, wow, another georgeous day.  Go riding, walking, sit outside at a restaurant, whatever.  It is just wonderful.  Dependably sunny days.  What a novel concept.  Why the Hell didn’t I move here about, oh, say, four decades ago?

Oh, and for the record, today we went to wine and food pairing at Kendal Jackson for Mother’s Day.  Nice, but SL Cellars was way more fun.  Kenday Jackson has a two acre garden that is pretty cool.  My Mom would would have loved it.  And did I mention that it was a georgeous sunny day and we sat outside for the wine tasting?  As we were sipping wine, tasting the foods paired with each, and generally having a dang wonderful time, I said to Sharlet, “You know what really sucks about this?  Not only do are we sitting outside in the sun, but we had to ride here in a convertable BMW.”

Like I tell people around here regularly, I have a really tough life, but somebody’s got to do it.  Meanwhile, you’ll have to excuse me.  I just saw a curvy road with my name on it.  Oh, and did I mention the sun is out and there’s a little restaurant around the corner?  And just beyond that is a small winery.  Ummmm.  I hear there are lots of those around here.  Gee, I just might have stick around this neck of the woods for a while…  Say, till I’m dead, give or take a couple years.

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May 9, 2007 by David.

The first Friday of each month, Simon Levi Cellars winery in the Sonoma Valley has “Wine 101″.  This isn’t your normal wine tasting.  It is an event to educate you on wine and paring with food.  It is an absolute hoot.  They limit the class size to about two dozen and in the summer months hold the tasting on the back lawn.  The Girl and the Fig restaurant prepares the food - and it is absolutely excellent.  You can get a discount on what you buy at the event.  The folks hosting it are lots of fun and it is held in an converted 1890’s school house.

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May 8, 2007 by David.

Monday Sharlet, my wife, flew to LA to work with Master P and his son Lil’ Romeo on their books.  Each will have a book published soon.  Sharlet is also working on her own book, which will be published later this summer.

Sharlet with Lil’ Romeo & Master P.

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