lummi island wine tasting sept 20 ’19
click on photos for larger images
Friday Breads
Note: Our baker is away for three weeks in the northern Baltics in search of new breads and pastries. So…next Bread Friday won’t be until (gulp!) October 11th!
Don’t worry, though, the shop will be open on Friday and Saturday as usual, so come by and celebrate the last quiet weekend of this year’s ferry Drydock!
( note: Breads must be pre-ordered by Wednesday for pickup here at the wine shop at our Friday wine tasting, 4-6pm. Planning a visit to the Island? Email us to get on the mailing list!)
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Arrrrr, lads ‘n’ lassies, we be a wee bit late in gettin’ the word out to ye this year, ‘n’ a shame it is, too, as this note in a bottle’ll be washin’ up on yer shore too late fer ye to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, which be Today as We put Quill to paper for this very missive. Arrrr!
The idea started in 1995 with a couple of buddies kidding around. Since then, with the help of humorist Dave Barry, it has evolved into an international Phenomenon, at least among people who like to throw around a bunch of old movie Pirate Jargon, like Avast there matey! or I’ll cut yer gizzard out! or when in doubt, the All Purpose exclamation, usually said with a bit of a sneer Arrrrr! (click on image for further instruction!)
Another Autumnal Equinox
The Autumn Equinox falls each year within about a three-day period between September 22 and 24. The term “equinox” connotes a day with an equal number of hours of day and night, which happens twice each year due to the tilting of the earth’s axis some 23.4° from the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, the Ecliptic.
Though we think of the Equinox as a whole day, it actually occurs at a particular moment: the exact time when the Sun is directly above the Equator. That is, it occurs when an observer on the Equator can look straight up (90° ) at the Sun. Imagine a line of people standing all along the Equator. As the Earth approaches the moment of Equinox, each person in turn would see it getting closer and closer to 90° overhead until for some particular person it will be exactly Overhead, after which the angle for each subsequent person will keep decreasing until the next Solstice. This year the Equinox occurs here shortly after midnight, which means that the person right under it at the exact time of the Equinox would be about 100 miles east of the Seychelles, along the Equator in the Indian Ocean.
By the way, it is believed that the Earth’s axis was originally much more closely aligned with the plane of the ecliptic. But it was knocked off its axis billions of years ago by a cataclysmic collision with another object exploded a huge piece of the Earth into orbit to form the Moon! Without that collision, without the tipping of the axis to cause seasons, and without the moon to make tides, maybe Life would never have evolved here. No matter the viewing angle, our very existence seems Unlikely. Yet here we are for a few brief moments…!
Mar a Lago Update: Hope and Despair
On the positive side, the past couple of weeks have brought to our collective attention 16 year old Greta Thunberg of Sweden, an unlikely heroine, yet a persuasive spokesperson for Global Action to stop Climate Change. A serious, self-proclaimed autistic on a global mission, she is happy that people are listening to her message. But she has also said, “It’s sometimes annoying when people say, ‘Oh you children, you young people are the hope. You will save the world…’ I think it would be helpful if they would help us just a little bit.”
She recently visited the US, traveling here by solar powered sailboat (I am not making this up!) and having TV face time with newscasters, pundits, talk show hosts, Congress, and former President Obama.
On the less positive side, we recently read a disturbing editorial by well-known conservative columnist David Brooks that has taken our breath away with its pull-no-punches attack on Democratic Progressives in general and on Elizabeth Warren in particular. On the one hand his fictional narrative has her winning the nomination and election in 2020 and Democrats gaining control of both Houses of Congress, with subsequent broad decline in Republican support. But Brooks can’t seem to stop himself from imagining that a Warren White House would be staffed with, in his words “incompetent idealogues” doomed to fail because, “Fired by their sense of moral superiority, they were good at condemnation, not coalition-building.”
I confess I have always found Brooks’ opinions hard to grasp. On the one hand he seems to have a balanced sensibility that has been sorely strained by all things Tweetster. On the other hand, he Is a card-carrying Conservative, but of an uncertain caste. Possibly, as above, he is “Fired by a sense of moral superiority…good at condemnation, not coalition-building.” But I am at a loss as to why he thinks Elizabeth Warren is an “incompetent idealogue” because she espouses values we old folks grew up with in Eisenhower’s fifties.
Back to the positive side, lots of young people are postponing having children because of their uncertainty about the world those children will live in, and even today as you read this youth movements around the world are demonstrating Global Unity against Climate Change. It feels like the Tide may be starting to Turn…
Washington Post Tweetster Lie Count to date: 12,000 as of 6/10/19
This weekend’s wine tasting
Oregon Solidarity Chardonnay ’18 Oregon $18
Bursts with fresh apple, pear and peach aromas. Barrel fermentation has smoothed any rough edges and polished the flavors to a bright sheen.
Chateau de Caraguilhes Rosé ’18 France $14
Fresh pink, clear and bright; intense and appealing aromas of gooseberry and cherry with clean mineral notes; round and well-balanced, rounded and elegant, a great pleasure to drink.
Montes Cabernet Sauvignon ’15 Chile $11
Earthy aromas that include rubber and gamy berry fruits lead to a wide palate. Warm, candied plum and cassis flavors are chocolaty and finish with a swipe of oak and tobacco.
Capcanes Mas Donis Old Vines ‘15 Spain $12
Velvety mouthfeel and texture; wild red and black berry flavors, with cherry, spices and herbs; medium to full-bodied with soft and velvet tannins and nicely refreshing finish.
Betz Besoleil ’14 Washington $45
Grenache-dominant Rhone blend; classic notes of cherries, herbes de Provence, red plums and pepper in a fine, elegant, medium to full-bodied style.
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2072 Granger Way