Stories

Travel, food and wine, life, health, and the occasional sermon on perspective. Here is the latest – the rest, with other categories, is below.

The Latest

Finally a real wine rating system

The thing I hate most about wine ratings is the thing that makes them what they are. Wine ratings are subjective. They are one person’s judgement of quality and don’t take into account what really matters – how much you drink, what you can afford, when to drink them,...

Another Useless Travel Blog – Rovinj

Make no mistake, I would hang out in Rovinj any day, and for a quick weekend on the beach or week at a resort, it’s top notch. It’s a really cool town to wander through. The history is incredible, the food is more than okay, and there is no way to not have a good time.

The Story Of The Text-A-Toast

It is with this long story that I present to you the #textatoast. Please share. Make it a habit. And be together, even when you’re not.

The Ins and Outs of Oak

Oak, to a winemaker, is like salt and pepper to the master chef. It’s not the main ingredient, but it matters more than you think. Used right, you get a product of exceptional flavor and quality. Used incorrectly and you are switching to beer. Of the top 100 wines in...

Pilgrim Life – Are we conditioned to pick the easy path

I want to be a person that, for no reason at all, will sometimes take the harder path without there needing to be a benefit. I want to seek the longer path. But, what’s maybe more important is I want to consciously brake the conditioning that makes me always take the easier way, the path of least resistance, simply by default. I want to think about it. I want to at least consider taking the harder path sometimes without it feeling like I’m breaking some hard wired rule.

On Youth, Passports, and Consulates

Yeah, we had to visit a consulate to check a passport, but more noteworthy part was the encounter with the other American tourists while waiting in the secure seating area outside the consulate functional area, namely two lovely and young American girls.

Random thoughts and mostly useless observations on the Camino de Santiago

Here are only a few of my observations and random thoughts – with some explanation if I feel like it – on our experience walking the Camino de Santiago.

Pilgrim Journal – Not Every Day Is Fabulous

Everything is wonderful, inspiring, and fabulous…until you wake up on the wrong side of the world and it suddenly isn’t.

Wino Journal

Stories, logs, and blogs on moving on from a life of work and routine.

The Retirement Road Less Traveled

The Retirement Road Less Traveled

We were talking to a friend the other day. She wants to retire, quit work and do other things. We talk at length of the ins and outs of life changes, what we want, what she wants, what it took for us, decisions, challenges, ups and downs, hopes and dreams. Options. We...

I Need A Personal User Agreement

I Need A Personal User Agreement

Sadly, we seem to have become a society that can no longer communicate. We are stressed, angry, scared, and we are definitely polarized - about stupid stuff, too. It seems no one can have a conversation lasting longer than 3 minutes (or 4 response posts on any of the...

Adventure

Stories, logs, and blogs on our pilgrim journeys as we grab our backpacks (and a wine key) and walk through Spain, Italy, France, Scotland, and the great wine regions of the world – hopefully including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, to name a few.

Pilgrim Journal – Chamonix

Pilgrim Journal – Chamonix

Well, we are on our way. The road to Rome has officially - unofficially started in Chamonix, France. Why Chamonix? Well, we are starting our official Via Francigena pilgrim walk in Lausanne, Switzerland, and we didn’t want to take the trip from Spain to Lausanne all...

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

More Stories

Leaving 55 in 2020

Leaving 55 in 2020

2020 will probably be one of the, if not the, most significant years of my life. This was the year I had been waiting for; the year I was planning to retire.  What a year it’s been.  2020 kicked off with me suffering from and recovering from a pretty severe...

read more
The Retirement Road Less Traveled

The Retirement Road Less Traveled

We were talking to a friend the other day. She wants to retire, quit work and do other things. We talk at length of the ins and outs of life changes, what we want, what she wants, what it took for us, decisions, challenges, ups and downs, hopes and dreams. Options. We...

read more
I Need A Personal User Agreement

I Need A Personal User Agreement

Sadly, we seem to have become a society that can no longer communicate. We are stressed, angry, scared, and we are definitely polarized - about stupid stuff, too. It seems no one can have a conversation lasting longer than 3 minutes (or 4 response posts on any of the...

read more
Two Mothers Two Lessons

Two Mothers Two Lessons

As long back as I can remember, my mother taught me to save. What allowance there was, was always separated out into tithing, saving and spending. Even the tooth fairy was not spared. That dollar under the pillow in return for extracted teeth got divided out, too....

read more
The Last Day

The Last Day

The day arrived like any other day. Since we sold our home and car and moved downtown, we now woke at 6:30 with plenty of time to roll out of bed, brush my teeth, and still be online by 7am. But that day was different. That day was my last day. Even though I knew...

read more
Perspective on coronavirus

Perspective on coronavirus

Warning: Totally irreverent #coronapocalypse perspective in 3, 2, 1... I think it’s noteworthy that there is a swelling of questioning, lecturing, and anger being directed generally at young people in America by the Boomer generation (and others, to be fair)...

read more