Tasting Room Tales

Small world…a world traveler….and chance encounters between strangers

oregonfortruth — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:35:59 +0000

All in a day, or actually two, in the tasting room. Yesterday brought out a connection between a couple from a town I had just visited last week while on vacation in California. My friends in California know who this woman is, and she may be checking out their garden wedding reception site. Connections are made so simple with everyone having the ability to communicate electronically. I sent notes to my friends in California, and photos of their garden to our customers. Wedding bells may chime in their garden next summer.

Today, I got in to an interesting conversation with a gal from either “Denmark” or “Idaho”-you choose. She is an American who teaches History and Philosophy at an International School in Denmark. Her students range from the children of foreign diplomats to those of large, international corporations, to some Americans. They do own a home in Northern Idaho, but she said they don’t really consider it home. They have lived all over the world. I did suggest that she write her memoirs, as some of us who lead more stationary lives would find it interesting.

There was also a conversation between two customers who I thought were part of the foursome at the bar. As it turned out, they had been complete strangers minutes before but found the common ground of both being radiologists. They seemed like best friends by the time they left.

Small world, sometimes, and life is all the more interesting because of it. 8 degrees of separation-Isn’t that what they say?

Haere mai…welcome

oregonfortruth — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:32:30 +0000

Had an interesting chat with a gal from Germany the other day. (My posts would be so much better if I would actually write them either the day-of, or the next day, and not a week, or two, after the fact. Oh well, here goes with my memory at the best it can be.)

Although this gal and her friend were both originally from Germany, the one I spoke most with is now living in the Portland area. She is a veterinarian who is now in private practice and specializes in animal surgery. She said they do lots of cancer surgeries as well as work with bones, and all the other possibilities for repairs done under the knife. OK, those are my words, not hers.

What made her story more interesting was that she taught at the vet school at Louisiana State University for 9 years (?), and then most recently had been teaching for the past 15 years at Massey University in New Zealand. I don’t know what exactly brought her to Oregon and the field of private practice, but I’m guessing more money might be one factor.

In closing this post, I’ll leave you with something that has absolutely nothing to do with veterinary medicine, but a good looking sculler from NZ ties in to the story (and Massey University). Oh, I did find one from the vet school, too:

Massey University Vet School

Massey University

An old note, an old car

oregonfortruth — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:45:11 +0000

Many moons ago I had the opportunity to meet a nice couple from Bountiful, Utah. At that time, I didn’t have a small camera that I carried to work with me every day, so I ended up borrowing one from a coworker. I took pictures of their antique car, but I never got the photos. So, for now, this will be the closest I can come to what I think their car looked like (but they had a convertibel):

1932 Plymouth

The interesting thing is that the man was born the year the car was made. There are only 18 of the cars left, and there were only 690 of them made in the first place. They had driven it out from Utah.

Traveling Nurses

oregonfortruth — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:17:01 +0000

Ah, to have a career that can be mobile, to have a good friend to share it with, and to be young, footloose, and fancy-free. Had a fun conversation with 2 gals from Arizona who were working on a 3-month assignment at a Providence hospital in the Portland area. After taking a month off at the end of this gig, they were hoping to spend 3 months in Hawaii. Now that’s the kind of job to have. Maybe if I win the lottery (which I never play), I would travel like that. Don’t know exactly what career I would work at, or volunteer at, but somehow I think there is always a place for someone who wants to help out in a community.

Rockabilly & Stay Off My…Shoes

oregonfortruth — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:30:27 +0000

Last weekend, I talked with a couple from the South, that was for sure. Turned out to be outside of Nashville where they called home, but they had just returned from Sweden. Don’t know if their deep tans were due to the South or the North, but they had them, and more jewelry than I’ve seen in a long time. The man is the son of Carl Perkins and was in the are to perform in Portland the next night. I knew the name Carl Perkins when he said that’s who his father was, but I needed some Wikipedia refreshing to learn more. For you rock-n-rollers, and for everyone else, here’s some of the info:

“Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)^[1] was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954. His best known song is “Blue Suede Shoes“.

According to Charlie Daniels, “Carl Perkins’ songs personified the rockabilly era, and Carl Perkins’ sound personifies the rockabilly sound more so than anybody involved in it, because he never changed.”^[2] Perkins’ songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential asElvis Presley, the Beatles, and Johnny Cash, which further cemented his place in the history of popular music.

Called “the King of Rockabilly”, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll, the Rockabilly, and the Nashville Songwriters Halls of Fame; and was a Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipient.”

Now, who hasn’t heard “Blue Suede Shoes”?

The Rockabilly Hall of Famer

A little bit of Switzerland & Australia, and some of the great blue sea

oregonfortruth — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:46:33 +0000

The tasting room had three interesting guests today, and things were not so busy that I couldn’t engage each of them in some off-wine-topic conversation. Switzerland brought to our doorstep a recent college graduate in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in fluid motion, or at least, that’s the best of what I could make out of his specialty. He was delightful and took all the time in the world enjoying every drop of every sample. I think he must be one European who enjoys a long, leisurely lunch while savoring all flavors and aromas of what he is eating, much unlike most of here in the States do at lunchtime. He was an exchange student when he was in high school and lived in Alabama. That was ten years ago, but he enjoyed seeing all of his American “family” again on this trip. He has spent the rest of his three month visit traveling around the country, staying in hostels, and will soon be heading home after spending a few days in Seattle.

G’day, mate….brought the owner of his own IT company to the States “for love”. He and his American girlfriend (from Oregon) have been spending most of the past three months in Hawaii. Although he came over only for “a couple of days” to see his girlfriend. Wow, anyone who would fly over from Australia for a couple of days just “to be together” is…..well, someone with more money than I have. They had just spent the past week and a half at the most expensive, swanky, new resort in Yamhill County. Three months without working…..must be nice, but he did say it is his first real break in over 10 years. Poor guy.

And, the great blue sea brought in the captain of a yacht who had just come in to port from San Francisco. He captains an 80′ yacht owned by the president of a marine construction company, and they have been to Vancouver, BC, Victoria, and the San Juan Islands lately. Somehow, even though I’ve thought of people being corporate pilots, I’ never given any thought to the fact that there are corporate yacht captains. What an interesting life that must be. I’ll google some 80′ yacht just to put that size boat into perspective for me.

Gratitude

oregonfortruth — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:24:50 +0000

Oh, the blessings in our lives seem to so often go unnoticed, and probably, under-appreciated. It is only when we are confronted by someone else and their struggles in life do I stop and think how grateful I am for the things I have in my own life-things like the ability to walk without difficulty. I felt that yesterday when I saw a very young boy struggling around the room, each arm in a crutch, or the frail-looking young girl in a stroller-type cart, or the woman riding a scooter with a cane across her lap. The list just seemed to go on, and on, and those were only the scenes I saw in one single day, in one single place. How privileged I am to have the ability to move with ease.

My gratitude was furthered, again, a couple of days before this when I met a woman in her 30′s who came up to the wine bar. She had a limp and the fingers on one hand were drawn up to a fist position. When she started to talk to me, she had trouble getting some of her words out, and apologized. She had had a stroke 5 days after her ten-year old son was born. That’s a long time to pay for the privilege of becoming a mother. As I thought about how grateful I am to be able to walk with ease, and use both of my hands, I became especially thankful for the ability I have to speak my thoughts freely and without the constant frustration of having words and thoughts inside my head that I just can’t get to come out correctly. It was inspiring to see the tenacity she has to express herself and the incredible patience she has had to develop. I remember watching an episode of ER that was done from inside the head of a woman who had had a stroke. As she lay on the gurney, you could hear her “talk” to the doctors, and she couldn’t understand why they weren’t paying any attention to her. Of course, the only talking she was doing was inside her head. Her lips weren’t moving. The thinking remains normal. It was a dramatic episode and one that perhaps made me more able to understand what some of the struggles must be, and have been for ten years, for the woman I had the privilege of meeting in our tasting room. It did bring added joy to our encounter when she brought her son over for me to meet. and somehow, it brought a sense of closure to this experience.

Model T’s & Ol’ Times

oregonfortruth — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:30:39 +0000

Today brought a group of Model T’s to our parking lot, so I was glad that I bought a new, small, camera last night that will always be with me in the tasting room. Along with the old cars came two “old time” stories. I met a man from Coos Bay who has worked with a friend of mine who I went from kindergarten through high school with in California. And another visitor turned out to be a friend I hadn’t seen in over ten years.

This was one of my favorites.

Prowlin’ Around

oregonfortruth — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:31:35 +0000

So often we have car clubs or motorcycle groups come, and today was no exception. Twenty-eight people were there with Plymouth Prowlers. Not being a car expert, I had no idea what they were talking about-until I went to look out the window. Wow. What I saw was a lot of bright colors and hot sports cars, so out I went with my camera.

In addition to that group was a group of motorcyclists from the Coos Bay Harley Club which includes people from the Roseburg area, as well. Also, talked to a German civil engineer who had flown in from Denver to attend a conference in Portland.

A row of colorful Prowlers

No problem spotting this one on the road.

Body Piercing & South to Mexico

oregonfortruth — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:33:03 +0000

These are really two different stories, in case you are wondering. For the second time recently, I have talked with an American who is spending part of each year living in Mexico. Ah, warm sunshine, blue skies, and the beach—that does sound dreamy to those of us living in the Pacific Northwest this time of year. The woman I talked to yesterday is in the process of building a home near Mulege, on the Baja Peninsula. Only trouble is that it has been flooded twice in the past three years, I think, so now they are wondering if they will complete it. When I asked if they had knowledge of flooding problems when they started to build, and she said they did, but the last time it had flooded was in 1959. Guess time was up for it to happen again.

The other conversation that was interesting was one I had with a couple who operate a body piercing and tattoo shop in Portland. The conversation started because I commented on the design he was wearing on his t-shirt. I haven’t yet read all of his bio on their website, but even I might be willing to venture into their museum. It looks interesting, and they seemed like a very nice couple. Their website is: www.nomadmuseum.com

The Nomad Museum family