I’ll be out for the rest of the week, so in honor of the coming holiday, I’d like to offer a spontaneous list entitled “Things I’m Thankful For …”
The twin loves of my life: my astonishingly wonderful missus Amy, and my magical, beautific daughter Clara Bay
Our parents
Our collective friends and relations
The 1991 Monte Bello
The music of Sleepy John Estes
Coupe glasses, and those that drink champys from them
Rivers
Ireland
Haig’s Hummus
Han-Shan’s Cold Mountain Poems
Single-Vineyard wines
Pocket watches
Pomade
People who know how to shake hands properly
That I don’t own a Kindle
Rock skipping
Son House
The movie “Casablanca”
The novels of John Fante
That I’ll be serving the 2006 Monte Bello Chardonnay on Thanksgiving Day
Duct Tape
Winnie The Pooh
California
The poems of William Matthews
Pre-fusion Miles Davis
Tasting Room Staff that can, when tested, pour perfect 1 0z. pours every time
Capitola
That I’ll be serving the 2005 Lytton West Syrah on Thanksgiving Day
T-Shirts that cleverly deploy swear words
Champys, and the people who drink it out of Coupe glasses
The magnums of 2002 Home Ranch Cabernet that we served at our wedding
Our wedding
The book “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
Peanut Butter Toast — actually, toast of just about any sort, especially baked beans on toast, next to a peat fire, in the west of Ireland
That I got to know Donn Reisen before he passed
Jumbo Paper Clips and #2 Pencils
Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack to “Superfly”
That I’ll be serving the 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Cabernet Sauvignon on Thanksgiving Day
Typewriters made before the 1960s, and especially typewriters from the 20s through the 40s, preferably the ones made by Underwood, Royal, and Remington
My unbelievably wondrous missus Amy, and my heart-achingly stupendous daughter Clara Bay
That Nicole was willing to grant me a phone interview from a truck stop in Wyoming
The surround-sound speakers I hope to have in the tasting room next year
John Coltrane’s album “A Love Supreme”
The 2007 vintage of the Buchignani Carignane
Dice. Especially Boss Dice
Swear words
Ankle boots
Sharpies with sharp points
Ah So Cork Pullers
Hand-harvesting
Haiku
The Clash
Really excellent neckties
People who still call refrigerators “Iceboxes”
People who say “undershirt” instead of “wifebeater”
That I’ll be serving the 2007 Geyserville Essence on Thanksgiving Day
National Steel Resonator Guitars. Specifically, mine
Vertical Tastings of Monte Bello. Specifically, when I’m invited
Red Sauce
The music of Bukka White
Autumn
Every single person who works for Ridge
My job at Ridge
Ridge.
And every thing else I haven’t written down yet, like Fred McDowell, Dylan Thomas, the 2006 Carmichael, brand-new foil cutters, really well made chopsticks, walking not running, upright bass players that can really swing, kindness, the constellation Orion, Thelonious Monk, the 2002 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, my daughter’s Ramones t-shirt, that no one I know eats Fudge with any kind of regularity, bicycles that don’t require the wearing of weird footwear, music, literature, the visual arts, beaches, rivers, forests, and WINE!
On this lovely holiday, may your hearts be filled with thanks, your rooms filled with loved ones, and your glasses full of wine! Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving!
November 23, 2009 at 9:17 pm |
Happy Thanksgiving, Preach.
November 24, 2009 at 10:58 am |
Happy T-Day JH!