A Salute to the Napa Valley … and Milwaukee
As you may or may not know (or care), I spent this past weekend in Napa, CA at my mother-in-law’s house. This is what it looks like out back of the place:
There are grapes absolutely everywhere! And, in celebration of this fact, here is a collection of odes to drink:
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‘Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.’
~ Jack Handy
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‘I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. ‘
~Frank Sinatra
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‘When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.’
~ Henny Youngman
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‘24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.’
~ Stephen Wright
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‘When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let’s all get drunk and go to heaven!’
~ Brian O’Rourke
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‘Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.’
~ Benjamin Franklin
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‘Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.’
~ Dave Barry
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To some it’s a six-pack, to me it’s a Support Group. Salvation in a can!
~ Dave Howell
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And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.
One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the ‘ Buffalo Theory’ to his buddy Norm.
Here’s how it went:
‘Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.
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Enough! Carol and I are going to settle in for a nice glass of wine!
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There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head-
If a man doesn’t drink when he’s living,
How the hell can he drink when he’s dead?
~anon
Grannymar´s last blog ..Cleaver Girl!
Grannymar, from your lips to God’s ears!
I was taught by my mother that one beer would lead to the use of hard drugs. That’s why today I drink everything , except beer!
Conrad…you really know how to make a girl laugh!
Diane, I can only be glad when the laughter is for the right reasons, LOL!
Grannymar, your logic – as usual – is impeccable!
Conrad, were you calling me? I was catching up on beauty sleep and not at the bottle.
Your picture of the vines brings back memories for me of visits to the vineyards of Germany, and the tasting sessions!
Grannymar´s last blog ..A Collection
Grannymar, it may have been the “spirits” visiting you!
The wine tasting in the Napa Valley Wineries is just marvelous. However, it is nice to be in a good personal economic status, because the temptation is to buy some of these very special wines … at a price!
Conrad, so long as it was high spirits I don’t mind.
Grannymar´s last blog ..A Collection
Con, did you look at my two grape vines when you were back here? Last year somebody or some thing took every cluster of grapes (they didn’t just eat them they cut them off at the vine) so this year I decided to let the volunteer trees grow up around the vines (Carol can tell you what a mess it was). We have had enough rain to make them climb up the evergreen trees so I thought they were safe. The vines were really loaded and I was looking forward to a good harvest. Ha! The birds got every one of them and now I have a whole forrest of trees to cut down. Sometimes you just can’t win, lol.
Corky
Mom, I didn’t, dang it! In the Napa Valley, some of the most expensive wines are the late harvest wines, because the grapes really develop a richness being left on the vine longer. One of the big dangers of doing that is that birds, starlings in particular, will come in flocks and strip the vines sometimes when they do that. And that means they go from expensive wine to NO wine!
You were just rolling the dice on having the BEST, most expensive grapes in town, huh?
I am somewhat a wine/beer afficando myself. I asked my parents to get me a bottle of wine from the Nappa valley if they go to California during their visit to the USA. Unfortunately they didn’t. Visiting the nappa valley and the south of France are amongst the things of priorities in my bucket list. You are quite lucky to stay close, I must say.