More wine, please

"Would you like some cheese with that whine?" That's what hubby says when he thinks I'm being a little grumpy. This is a very rare thing of course.

What I'm really talking is wine; that smooth and silky alcoholic beverage that goes with just about anything and any occasion. One of the things I get to do since I'm not working a full-time job is go to the occasional wine-tasting class at a local university thru the Continuing Education department. Hubby and I have attended two of these classes and I find that I can now spell wine and may be able to tell you the names of some of the grapes and that Bordeaux is in France. I'm kidding. I really did know that. I can also find Qatar on the globe (but it takes me awhile).

Tonight's class was Bordeaux 2005. What I didn't know is that a Bordeaux wine is a mixture of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes and that the year 2005 was one of the best years ever. Apparently, the moon and stars aligned.....sorry about that. Actually it was a dry summer and fall without high temperatures and that defined the almost "perfect" conditions for grape-growing.

The Bordeaux wines we had tonight were incredible! Bordeaux wines are mostly red wines but we started off with a white wine. Unlike most white wines, it wasn't sweet and fruity. It had some depth to it and had more of a dry taste. I had a refill. The red wines were awesome. Hubby was really into the reds that had a larger percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. I favored the ones with more Merlot grapes. Hubby drank my refills.

OK, if you're not into wine, I humbly apologize. That's enough of Wine 101. I'm still buzzing from guzzling (I mean sipping) the wines that were presented in class tonight. About halfway thru class, I was wondering why the presentation seemed to be moving on the wall. I finally realized the presenter was using animation. DAMN HIM! That's evil when folks are drinking. At least he didn't grow two heads and I'm glad hubby was driving. Please realize that I'm an easy drunk. Thank goodness for the bread and cheese they provided.

I used to think all wines had to be sweet. I've come a long way. Now I like them to be red and dry but I'm opening up to rose and white wines. I'm not a wine snob yet and will probably never achieve that status but I've learned a great deal from these classes. Try one if you can. I've also noticed that many retail stores that sell wines (e.g. World Market) will occasionally have wine tastings and these are usually a little cheaper.

Yes I like wine but I also like beer and tequila and homemade rum cakes. I make a mean rum ball at Christmas. Maybe I should start selling them to support my wine-tasting classes ;-)

Yes, there is humor in yoga

As you may know, I've been in Colorado for a yoga conference. I realize I may have lost most of you by using the word yoga, but take a breath and hang with me a few more minutes. Hubby went with me and took a "Beginner's Conference" and surprised himself by enjoying it. More on that in a later post.

In the dining hall, we enjoyed the ever-so-active sport of people watching. That's right. We mentally rolled our eyes at the folks wearing turbans and the dude that looked like a Hari Krishna on the side of the road selling roses. Then there were the folks that appeared to take themselves and their yoga (whatever style or brand) way too seriously. But to align myself with yogic philosophy (taking a deep breath), I have to let folks express themselves in their own way. Sigh.

Back to the story. Believe it or not, there were some reasonably normal looking people. Of course I'm referring to me and hubby and all of our friends that attended the conference.

If we thought there were strange attendees, the presenters offered much more in the way of entertainment. I had a class Saturday that was in a dark tiny room. There was a small stage/podium for the presenter. It was decorated with a purple cloth on the back wall that draped down over a chair. This "throne" was surrounded by fresh flowers. It was pretty but weird. In walks the presenter. He looks like he is from India, even has a hard-to-pronounce last name. He's wearing an aloha shirt and loose shorts. He walks to the stage and stares at us. We stare back. He says nothing. He starts to unbutton his shirt. My eyes are getting bigger. I exhale as he has a shirt on underneath. He takes off his shorts. My eyes get bigger again. I exhale as he has another pair of shorts on. By this point, I'm getting really freaked out. I'm so hoping he doesn't take anything else off! I look at my watch and think to myself just 2 more hours.......

Then he starts his class opening. I won't go into that. It's just yoga stuff. After that he actually starts talking to us and making jokes. I relax. He is really a funny guy and knows his stuff. About halfway thru the session, he turns around and quietly stares at the "throne". After a very long minute, he says "If I were a guru, I'd sit there". We laugh. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and mentally thank him for not taking himself and yoga so seriously. I will say that there were some folks in the room that really think this dude is a guru. I just don't get that.

There was one presenter that had a band on the podium. They played "twangy" music while he directed the class. At the end the band performed a song while the presenter danced sitting down. The presenter seemed to forget about the 100 or so folks sitting on our butts waiting for class to end so we could go get a beer and some meat in town. Uh.....did I say beer? I meant waiting to go meditate ;-)

But basically, it was real people effectively using yoga in the real world. What a sigh of relief.

I'll leave you with this cartoon and no, it's not me. The boob (sorry guys, must be a wardrobe malfunction) is too big and I would never be able to get my leg THAT high!