Cabot

 

In response to Margaret's comment about not generally liking wine, I thought I would mention my own "preferences" as it were.  Overall I am not much of a "drinker".  These days, I would likely average about two drinks a month.  At my "peak" of drinking, which was while my elderly father-in-law was alive, I would average about two drinks every other week.  But.... what are my PREFERENCES:

1.  Beer.... preferrably a very dark, bitter, hoppy IPA

2.  Gin..... I enjoy the "pine tree flavor" and I like the bitterness of tonic water as well.

3.  Beer.... regular beer

4.  Bourbon or Whisky.... learned to appreciate and like... as this was the preferred beverage of my father-in-law.  

The above represents my general "likes" in rank order.

A distant 5th (pun somewhat intended) is....

5.  Wine..... I generally like red wines, but do not really enjoy white or Rose' wines.  But, a special exception is made when a friend makes his own wine.... then I will try anything. I actually have three wine making friends who sometimes will give me a bottle of their creation.  I generally find these interesting/fun because the wines are "odd" in some fashion....... the latest being the wine I drank last Friday, BLUEBERRY wine.  It was rather fun.  In the past I have had a variety of others.... dandelion wine, raspberry wine, blackberry wine, peach wine, raisin wine, prune wine, and a few others.

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I am not sure if I am in "bear hibernation mode" or what.... but I have been robustly hungry all day long this morning.  I would eat just about damn near anything at the moment.  Fortunately, I still have some of my food in my lunch box to eat.  

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I am in a really big "roasted vegetable" mode lately.  I do not turn my nose up at ANY vegetable at any time, but in the past week, I have had all sorts of roasted vegetables..... roasted Brussels sprouts,  roasted beets, roasted zucchini, roasted bell peppers, roasted butternut squash, roasted acorn squash, and roasted potatoes.  I could eat bowls-full as big as my head of these vegetables every day and I would be delighted.  

I read an article recently that has me curious to try OTHER vegetables that this article SAYS can be roasted..... including roasted CUCUMBER and roasted CELERY... both of which sound intriguing.  I greatly enjoy and already eat very large quantities of both cucumber and celery, but the idea of roasting them seems so odd, but I have to at least give it a try. 

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• Ran my usual 10 miles (~16km) this morning at the track.  Even with the time change yesterday, there was not enough light for me to run outside without a headlamp, and I was just not in the mood to navigate my run by lamp light.  
• In some ways I am feeling "blah" about my running.  There is nothing new going on.  It seems mundane to talk to folks about running because most folks know I am running and have heard me mention it before.  I tend to feel more "motivated" when folks at least nod their head that an old geezer like me running, is kind of interesting/unique.  It helps me persevere on days when I would really prefer to chuck it.
• My wife and I made the decision that we are going to purchase guitar lessons for us to share and attend together as part of our Christmas gifts for each other.  My wife is a generally good "by ear" player who knows a reasonable number of chords, but does not read music.  I truly am a basic beginner on stringed instruments, knowing how to strum a bit and a few basic chords, but I know comfortably how to read music.  We thought it would be fun to take these lessons AND we think they will help motivate us to practice as well, which we have been suggesting we should do together for quite a while, but never seemed to get started in doing with any regularity.  

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Pipes and pipe tobaccos have been on my mind much of the weekend and today.  While doing some tedious grading of a large number of papers (on line submitted papers to boot)  I was doing late into the wee hours of Sunday morning, I would (far too) often take a "break" and mosey around various pipe and pipe tobacco sites I know.  I was hunting around to see if there was a blueberry burley I could find.  I used to enjoy often a blueberry tinctured pipe tobacco, but it was from a shop now closed, and I do not think I have any left.... or at least it is no longer in the desk drawer I thought it was in.  I wanted to open the pouch if I could have found it, to smell deeply its fragrances.  I also actually have a Dublin style Dr. Grabow pipe somewhere, that is one of the ones with an enameled bowl... it is blue (I have a green one too that I liked to use for St. Patrick's Day).  I remember grinning when folks used to comment that my "blue pipe" would have them think about blueberries (as I was smoking the blueberry tinctured variety).  

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For some reason I am not sure about, Sebastian Cabot has been in my thoughts as well.  I always enjoyed him on television and in films.  And, in my younger years, I always thought I looked a bit like him.... when by beard and mustache were dark brown and my body somewhat rotund.  

PipeTobacco