The other night someone said to me over sage tea and tabouleh: "It seems you're still not quite in the 'retirement' groove." I told him that I wasn't in any hurry to find it and felt life was pretty darned groovy as is. I'm just incredibly satisfied being able to try whatever appeals to me right now. If it doesn't ring my bell I move on, no harm, no foul, no commitments.
I found the conversation refreshing. It was nice not to have people ask me where I want to 'end up' (dead, like everyone else, hate to break it to you) as if we could plan where and when we will spend our last days. Personally, I don't want to know. If I bite it on my next flight to Italy, well I guess we know where I ended up then, don't we? Did I miss out on anything? Um, nope.
So in honor of being immersed in the here and now, hopeful about any future I may be fortunate enough to participate in, I checked back to see what was, exactly, ringing my bell 2 years ago when my wine journey (formally) began. Since then, I've been bouncing around tasting whatever life has offered upand now trying to work it off at the gym to minimize bikini jiggle in the Caribbean in exactly 60 days.
This week I'm a little busy with house, wine, garden, wine, gym, and winetoo lazy to post new stuff and therefore am dedicating this week "Remember September." I've dug up some 'back in the day' posts to slap up until Friday (big big day, so you'll have to wait). The bottom of the barrel has been scraped - as these posts were probably never read anyway, so they are like brand new to the whole 9 of you that actually do read my drivel these days (and thank you!)
In fact, how crazy is it that I was actually being introduced to my first Brunello exactly 2 years ago today in Montalcino ...
... and then nibbling Prugnolo Gentile (another clone of Sangiovese Grosso) off the vine before tasting the Vino Nobile outside of Montepulciano?!
Crazy, right? So I've been told...
There
is something new to be discovered every day - food, places, words,
things about people, feelings, likes, dislikes, things about yourself.
This week I had conversations with people from Taiwan, Brazil, Colombia,
Czech Republic, Turkey, and (of course) Italy. I am awed by the spirit
each individual conveys, no matter how brief or how lengthy the chats.
Each interaction increases this profound awareness of how 'in the box' I
really have been all my life. It's like someone opened the doors to an
entire chocolate shop (not just a 'box of chocolates,' Mr. Gump) and
said, "Try it. Try it all. And don't just eat it. Smell it. Notice the
texture on your tongue. Really feel it and savor every moment of it."
This isn't just about my outing myself (and apparently some friends) from the Nutella closet. Albeit I didn't know there was a Nutella closet until recently.
It's about discovering opportunities that present themselves to us in life, and in talking with people who find ways to experience as much of the world as they can. I so admire their open minds, their desire to navigate the gamut of experiences, and in one case, a lady taking the chocolate class to learn about chocolate, although she doesn't even like chocolate. She wants to know what the allure is. She wants to understand why a good Cabernet is porn in a glass for me - and what it is she doesn't understand about it. I applaud that spirit.
And here I thought I was just being adventurous going to the other side of the river today to shop in a different market, have coffee in a different Pasticceria, buy toilet paper in a different grocery store. I walked home with my lettuce about falling out of my canvas bag back across the river thinking of all the new-found joys of just the last two weeks, and how lucky I am to recognize when I'm being called to turn myself loose in a candy store of experiences.
Now, back to my homework. Which really doesn't feel like work at all. Reading about what I love, or as someone told me yesterday outside the Medieval walls of Montalcino, "It's like wine for you is a romance." I think it's more of a love affair with my new life and all it represents.
I also think the older woman across the street who can see directly into my apartment when the windows are open thinks I have a problem with alcohol. Every time she opens her shutters, she sees me with a glass, a bottle, and typing on a computer. I just smile and wave, and she closes her shutters again. This is my sweet, sweet life, grandma - I hope everyone gets to taste this someday.
I found the conversation refreshing. It was nice not to have people ask me where I want to 'end up' (dead, like everyone else, hate to break it to you) as if we could plan where and when we will spend our last days. Personally, I don't want to know. If I bite it on my next flight to Italy, well I guess we know where I ended up then, don't we? Did I miss out on anything? Um, nope.
So in honor of being immersed in the here and now, hopeful about any future I may be fortunate enough to participate in, I checked back to see what was, exactly, ringing my bell 2 years ago when my wine journey (formally) began. Since then, I've been bouncing around tasting whatever life has offered up
This week I'm a little busy with house, wine, garden, wine, gym, and wine
In fact, how crazy is it that I was actually being introduced to my first Brunello exactly 2 years ago today in Montalcino ...
 | |||||||||
| Just in case I forgot where I was... |
Crazy, right? So I've been told...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
If Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, Where the Hell Has This Chocolate Lover Been?
This isn't just about my outing myself (and apparently some friends) from the Nutella closet. Albeit I didn't know there was a Nutella closet until recently.
It's about discovering opportunities that present themselves to us in life, and in talking with people who find ways to experience as much of the world as they can. I so admire their open minds, their desire to navigate the gamut of experiences, and in one case, a lady taking the chocolate class to learn about chocolate, although she doesn't even like chocolate. She wants to know what the allure is. She wants to understand why a good Cabernet is porn in a glass for me - and what it is she doesn't understand about it. I applaud that spirit.
And here I thought I was just being adventurous going to the other side of the river today to shop in a different market, have coffee in a different Pasticceria, buy toilet paper in a different grocery store. I walked home with my lettuce about falling out of my canvas bag back across the river thinking of all the new-found joys of just the last two weeks, and how lucky I am to recognize when I'm being called to turn myself loose in a candy store of experiences.
Now, back to my homework. Which really doesn't feel like work at all. Reading about what I love, or as someone told me yesterday outside the Medieval walls of Montalcino, "It's like wine for you is a romance." I think it's more of a love affair with my new life and all it represents.
I also think the older woman across the street who can see directly into my apartment when the windows are open thinks I have a problem with alcohol. Every time she opens her shutters, she sees me with a glass, a bottle, and typing on a computer. I just smile and wave, and she closes her shutters again. This is my sweet, sweet life, grandma - I hope everyone gets to taste this someday.
Val, I've always loved your photos as well as what you have said here... Your photos make me want to go to Italy and also I can tell what my daughter may have experienced from living there... Your no-holds-with words is definitely what I get...As far as that 'chocolate box vs. chocolate lover', well, I guess they're few and far between...a lot of imitations, huh?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chrissy - that means a lot as your photos are always stunning! You know, someone just tore at me by saying there was no room in my life for Italy (in terms of my not wanting to just pick up and move there right now) - and although I'm happy to be home for a while, they just don't understand that splitting your life is not as easy as one would think. I adore Italy, want to go back and stay longer and discover more of Europe, but yes, after spending just a year there, I can tell you there are things I just don't miss about living there. So maybe this is how I dig back into the things that touched me, when the 'so glad I don't live there & stop with the Under the Tuscan Sun crap' aspects bubble to the surface. Trying to feel a little of that naive & constant giddiness a little...
ReplyDeleteHow about that, just a year before, I stayed in the small hilltop town of San Giovanni D’Asso, literally a couple of minutes north east of Montalcino, on top of the next green ‘bump’. We would have been close enough to sling shot our empty vino bottles at each other across those lush green pastures in between.
ReplyDeleteThis is a magical place in a truly magical Tuscan kingdom and your spectacular photos do it all great justice Valerie. Enjoyed your narrative here. It evokes much of the style and tone of a confident, seasoned travel writer. It was here in San Giovanni that I drank a bottle of what is still for me the best red wine I’ve ever tasted, savoured, worshipped and gone all watery eyed over. This was the locally artisan’d merlot that rendered me mute for most of the evening, happy to kind of vaguely listen to everyone else’s dinner chat, while I just gazed at every angle of my village bell size wine glass sitting just a foot in front of me. I’ve never seen a wine waiter approach me to pour another measure into my glass, with such extreme care and caution.
Thanks for re loading this post here, and bringing back some five star memories. Did you ever manage to witness the sights of those rolling mists at dusk, which would cloak the valleys in a semi opaque whiteness and leave the hilltops poking out into the evening skyline like an endless mass of little green islands?
You will probably return one day not too far away. I hope you manage to anyway.
Morning (evening) Phil! Oh, those hills at dusk seem to change color, don't they? Love your description, by the way - very travel writerly indeed.
ReplyDeleteAs for Tuscany, I think it's over marketed. Florence itself is a touristy cesspool of loud English speakers, college-aged partiers, and a (generally) rude, miserable lot of residents who make you feel like smiling is a crime - so I think I'm over it. I adore the city, but it's more beautiful from a distance. There are areas of Tuscany that have yet to be ruined by this that I still love sneaking off to, however! Maybe one of these days we'll run into each other over some great bottles!
Cheers to being in the here and now!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear about Friday, what could it be?
*clink* Ohhh - it's going to be a doozie!
ReplyDeleteCan't believe someone would say that... then again, this is the internet and people can be vicious especially since they can't been seen... My kid experienced some stuff that made her realize how much she missed home.. tho at the time she loved Italy... A couple of things screwed up for her but it was a learning experience that she wouldn't have gotten here... she is glad to have gone and glad to come back..
ReplyDeleteChrissy - Well, he wasn't meaning to be vicious, but he was sad, which I understand. There's a lot more to it, but in the real world many people have idealistic views of living abroad and cross cultural relationships. I'm more of a realist. I can see how my perspective has changed since those first months on the ground in my Italian wine journey. But yet, it's welcoming. Glad to go - glad to come home - like your daughter discovered, we can't have it all ... but God help anyone who tries to hold me back from doing what we want to do! Hugs, lady.
ReplyDeleteDude, I so wish I had been your neighbor. This was a lovely and inspiring post Val. Thanks for sharing, or resharing it.
ReplyDeleteMust have Brunello soon!!
ReplyDelete@Sam - Oh dear, had you been my neighbor that would have been a blast! Thank you for the words - that means a lot.
ReplyDelete@ Becky - Less than 60 days, my dear. Time to start thinking about what to smuggle on-board the ship!