Decanting Your Life

This summer Kathy, Allison and I visited family and some friends in California. Of course, when your foot touches

the ground in California, a different feeling rushes into your body if you’re me. A host of memories trigger off lots of experiences in my mind as I spent a good part of my early life there, never even leaving the state. The sun always shines, it’s warm and has a feel of the Mediterranean. It also does not take long to realize that you’re close to the epicenter of the source of magnificent wine. You will notice right away that you can buy wine of all quality in any grocery store. You can even get great brands for less at Costco. By the way, wine is significantly cheaper in California than anywhere else.

In a short break from family obligations we, along with my sister and her grown-up children, took a trip to Napa - St. Helena and Calistoga which are both located in the heart of wine country. We had been there before, of course, and love it. The fun thing to do is to go wine tasting which now has become a bit pricey, but you can still have a great time for not too much money. We visited a couple of places, but one was on our list, Clos du Bois, that we had failed to visit in the past, and I, for one, was not going to miss it this time.

So we began our journey to the back roads of Napa with a winery map in hand, looking at signs and pointing to the many wineries. We still missed it and had to stop for directions. For some reason, this winery is nestled very out of the way of the major thoroughfare; even the signs for it proved to be misleading. However, like buried treasure, we finally discovered it. It is an elegant place and appears to be popular. All six of us snuggled up at the crowded wine bar - with my sister buying cheese and crackers to eat between tastings. Our tasting expert from the winery was charming and delightful, telling us in great detail the various aspects of each wine’s properties. She was so good that you almost didn’t need to taste the wine. At any rate, with seven generous pourings and a glass that said Clos du Bois on it as a gift and part of the $5 charge, I was very happy and, for no extra charge, our guide gave us a lecture on decanting the wine. There is a lot more to pouring it than one thinks. If it is not done correctly, you can miss a lot of the richness and quality of the actual taste of the wine. Pouring it a certain way and letting it breathe can be very important. 

To me decanting means setting the wine free from the bottle that has imprisoned it an and allowing it to be enjoyed. Elizabeth Gilbert has written a book entitled Eat Pray Love which is an interesting biographical journey in the area of spirituality. She has coined the term decanting your life. It gave me pause to think of life in terms of pouring a glass of wine and allowing it to breathe and in wine connoisseur language “blossom into a life of its own”, striking your taste buds and releasing its wonderful flavors.

To me, faith is part of the process of decanting your life, setting you free from those things that imprison you and prevent you from blossoming into the person you need to become. In a certain sense faith enhances your life by pushing you out of the narrow confines of fear and worry that prevent you from taking risks and growing in new ways. Leaving the safety and security of your comfort zone means you are pushed out into a world where hope and appreciation move you into unfamiliar territory and personal growth. You don’t have to be the sediment lying on the bottom of the bottle, yours can be a rich, full-bodied life.

Frugal Luxuries on Sundays

There is an interesting column in the New York Times entitled “The Frugal Traveller”.  He recommends traveling cheaply with a budget of €100 per day.  He gives lots of tips for lodging, meals, and transportation. I did notice two interesting responses to his column by readers who also made recommendations. This one brought a smile to my face:

Go to church!  Not for religious reasons necessarily - but for cultural ones.  See how the local people spend part of their Sunday. Listen to the service and the singing and the ritual in that native language. And, it’s free!

Of course, I am for going to church and for attending church for more than cultural reasons, but I do agree that it is a luxury. In today’s busy world people are cutting out this activity because it takes up too much time or they are too busy. I have always maintained that it is a luxury to be able to sit and meditate, pray, even sing. We do not often do this, especially not in community.  I mostly sing in the shower, so when I get to sing in church, it is a real luxury. If I get to hear a great sermon, it’s even better, although most time, I am the one who is giving it - I always hope it’s great.  

Sundays for many people are chores preoccupied with getting things done that they could not accomplish during the week. The concept of Sabbath/A Day of Rest is overlooked for the hurriedness of modern life. Maybe we are participating in a luxury, even if frugal, when we gather on Sunday mornings. I like to think so.