Blue Ridge blog

Watching the sun set on the year 2007 a.d.

So with the year 2007 almost in heaven, my family and I sat on the dock of the bay and watched as the sun set for the final time this year. No worries. There is another sunset tomorrow in the year 2008. Instead of joining the throngs of folks gathered on Duval Street in front of Sloppy Joes for the dropping of the Conch Shell at midnight, we chose to have a private tasting of dessert wine and chocolate pairings back at our place on Saddlebunch Key. My family savors food and beverage so finding the best combination of anything is serious good fun.

On the wine menu:
1) Sobon Estate Rezerve Orange Muscat 2005
2)Les Clos de Paulilles Banyuls Rimage 2003
3) A 10 year old Talijancich white Solero (Swan Valley, Australia)
4) Hunt Country Vineyards Vidal ice wine, Finger Lakes 1990

On the chocolate menu:
1) Scharffen Berger 41% Cocoa
2) Hershey's Cocoa Reserve 'Arriba' 50%
3) Hershey's Cocoa Reserve 'Santo Domingo' 67%
4) Hershey's Cocoa Reserve 'Sao Tome' 70%
5) Scharffen Berger 82%

Best Pairings:
Everyone agreed on the best pairing of the evening which was a symphony in our mouths--the white Solero with the 41% cocoa bar. Other fabulous marriages were the Orange Muscat with the 67% chocolate and Banyuls with the 70% Sao Tome. A major disappointment of the evening was the ice wine which had gone off despite it's raisiny nose. Sad, but we poured more Solero and worked through our sorrows..
A delight of the evening was having my daughters join us in the tastings- reinforcing that sipping tequila one night and tasting wine another, without going to excess, is possible, and rather enjoyable.

This year ends on quite a good note for me and I really hope yours does as well...Additionally, I hope year 2008 is a particularly good vintage for all of y'all, too.

Saving a suicidal butterfly...

My sister-in-law noticed a butterfly in the pool this morning.
"I saw it light upon the water and I helped it out. A few minutes later, it was back hovering over the water and it went right back in. It was as if it was trying to commit suicide," she said.
I took a couple of photos and with the help of my almost three year old nephew, we fingered the insect out of the chlorinated water and onto a nearby sunny plant. After about an hour, it fluttered away, only to dive into the pool again...
There is no Hopeline to call for suicidal butterflies in the Yellow Pages.

On brushing teeth, beer, and tequila...

All I am saying is my vacation frame of mind must have officially started the moment I brushed my teeth this afternoon and realized I had just rinsed my mouth out with beer... I could use another week or two months of this!

Note: The cap on the Corona beer didn't last long after this Photobooth self-portrait taken with my eldest. I had to keep up a respectable parental appearance, don't ya know? Umm, and y'all missed the tequila tasting. It was the first time I ever recall having folks sip several tequilas and remember it afterwards.

Because I know I'm fortunate....

I took this photo for my friend Randy, who should be at work this morning in Boone, while I rest 'neath this grouping of palms.

(I used Photoshop, Lucis Art and Photomatix to make this already perfect scene even better)

Oh you know me, I'm having a blast in my own special way....

Posting from the Southernmost command of the Blue Ridge Blog:
As you may have come to expect, the ordinary deviants seen at the nightly Key West Sunset Celebration bore me. The show is geared more towards the Celebrity Cruise line crowd and the Western Europeans gullible enough to fall for the "This is the only way I feed my family of four" line from the actors. Whatever.

Key West and the Florida Keys are paradise. But like the Garden of Eden, temptations and over indulgences should be avoided. A Duval Crawl or two is entertaining, especially for my teenagers who are not used to the rainbow of diversity on nightly parade. But there are only so many raunchy t-shirt shops a grown-up can tolerate.

So tonight I was delighted to find an abandoned stove/ovenrange sitting along the curb on Duval St. Affixed to the front were two public announcements warning all about the "hypnotizing elves" on the loose as well as a lost and found ad for the "Christmas Unicorn." If found, please call: 305-923-7822.

And the rat? Yeah. It's presence produced many a girly screams as it skittered across the sandled toes of tourists. But I laughed at it and pointed my camera at the poor dear, following it from out the door of the Key West Lime Pie Factory into a nearby alley.

My family is familiar with my sudden outbursts of photographic sidetracks, yet my youngest was a bit horrified by my actions.
"You just followed a rat down the street and then further," she said.
"So?" I asked.
"So then you returned and talked to me. Ugg," she replied, adding an impressive eyeroll.
I squelched my reply which included something about not giving a rat's ass about something...

I love Key West. The rats here are bigger and better than the ones in Boone. I'm sure both Chambers of Commerce are going to love me for this post;)

Feliz Navidad y'all....

My internet connection here on Key West is acting more like 24k dial-up modem circa 1995 than a modern day High Speed wireless hook-up. Guess even the internet is living on Island Time. No worries. You only get one image today rather than the several I've taken. It isn't my best photo, but the message translates nicely.
And for all my buddies north of say, Miami, I have to tell ya, nothing makes this 81 degree weather feel better than watching via the Weather Channel, that gigantic pink and white glob float across the nation's upper and middle section while sipping I sip a mojito pool side.

I-95 South Exit 129 or near Ft. Pierce...we aren't in Boone anymore.

No photos, just excitement as I was nearly in the middle of a gang fight outside the entrance of Walmart. 8 or 9 somebodies had an argument about rolling back prices, or the rolling of someone's ma, and it ended up in 5 of them jumping on two of the guys. Another on the periphery decided to pull a gun, at which point I ducked out of the line of fire and pulled out my cell phone to call my girls who were waiting in the car nearby. I was amazed to watch as some lady headed right into the group, with her two children, yelling at the thugs to take their fight somewhere else. Stupid lady.

Later we went to dinner at Applebees and had the perfect view of an orgy in a nearby booth. We kinda lost our appetite and excused ourselves.

These sorts of things don't happen in Boone, yet.

Today I wore a permanent grin...

...because tomorrow I am headed south for a little living on island time. I'll send you a bloggy postcard once I find a cozy seaside wifi hotspot. You can't see my face, but the smile is still there.

Living in a vacuum...

Me: "Do you think this is a pretty photo?"
Youngest: "I suppose. It would be better if the sun was more predominant, and then...if the dark wasn't so dark and the snow was more, umm, light."
Me: "So you expect me to perform photographic miracles?"
Youngest: "No, just use Photoshop. It's better."

later...

Me: "Don't you need to study?"
Youngest: "I suppose. It would be better if my teachers would explain what I needed to study for my exams, and then...ya know, highlight the most important areas and then tell us what we didn't need to worry about."
Me: "So in essence, you expect your teachers to Photoshop their notes for you and perform miracles?"
Youngest: "Duh. And why shouldn't they?"

I give up.

I should be working....

...and my youngest should be studying for her AP Chemistry exam, but instead we are regarding YouTube with a certain amount of fascination mixed with a fair amount of horror. Added to my daughter's favorite list are anything from the dance group Pilobolus. She's also smitten with the singing sensation Straight No Chaser. I am more easily amused as I prefer the antics of a local group of comedians as they make a sequel to their viral performance Jimmy Smith Park.

Oh and it is snowing in Boone and there is no school tomorrow. I sure could use a snow day from work:)
This gal better think about some Christmas shopping...