Anniversary Outings

 On Wednesday, Earl and I celebrated our 31st anniversary. "Celebrated" is a bit of an overblown statement. 

The highlight of the day came in the afternoon, following a few hours of teaching. Jim and Theresa picked us up in their VW Golf with the snazzy red mirrors and we zoomed about 45 minutes south of here to Maury. Well, past Maury and the more heavily visited wineries there to MA, Mas Amiel, another winery, with a difference. 

The winery has jugs, known as dame Jeanne, setting outside in the sun. I'd always thought the sun was bad for wine, but apparently this winery has different theories. We would be the judge of that!

The dame Jeanne wine jugs sitting in the sun.

Vineyards and wine jugs and the hills beyond. 

We wandered in and looked around the showroom before walking up to the counter. Most tasting rooms have wine stewards who speak English, and this one did as well, although he got hung up a few times and we encouraged him to say it in French, thinking we would still understand. They usually ask what kind of wine we like. They serve the wine from weakest to strongest taste, so usually whites and rosés, first, followed by reds. Earl and I are red wine drinkers, but we have been won over by a few rosés lately. 

Post tasting. After each wine, we swish the water in our glass and pour it into the bowl. 

He started us with a mellow rosé. I've found that people frequently want a rosé in the summer, so knew we would buy a bottle for 8,90 euros. Then he moved onto fortified wines. Fortified wines are similar to port, they are mixed with other, stronger alcohol. The fortified white would work well as an aperitif. 

The four of us. 

The fortified red we tasted first, although it had Theresa's favorite label, purple and blue, did not win us over. A 2012 fortified wine was so smooth, but pricey. 

Then we moved on to the oxidized wines, those that sit out in the sun. They were labeled for their age --20 years old, 30 years old, 69 from grapes grown in the late 60s. The 20 tasted good. The 30 tasted like raisins. But the 69, oh, the 69, tasted like heaven in my mouth. 

The wine steward did a good job selling it, pointing out that it's like buying a good bottle of whiskey, you only drink a little and on special occasions. It lasts for years. 

As we were checking out, the steward gave us a gift of a bottle of wine since it was our anniversary. I figured it was a throw-away bottle they kept to hand out free, but Jim found it on the list and pointed out it was a 30 euro bottle of wine. That might not be much to spend on wine in the States, but anything over 10 euros seems expensive when you live in the land of free flowing, inexpensive wine. 

Chairs outside the tasting room. 

Us outside the tasting room

We drove home through the sunshine, admiring the mountains and the endless undulation of trees around us.

The lane leading up to the winery.

 We stopped to harass our friend Steve who we saw along the side of the road preparing for a time trial on his bicycle. It's fun to run into friends miles away from home. 

Then we walked to a nearby restaurant for a simple meal with Jim and Theresa, sitting inside because the weather had taken a turn to the chilly. 

Not a bad way to celebrate living in France and that day 31 years ago we pledged our love in front of our friends and family.  

Anniversary

When Earl and I got married, 24 years ago tomorrow, in a holler in Kentucky, the tiger lilies were in bloom all along the creek in front of my parents' log cabin. We stood in front of an arch of fake flowers that were overshadowed by the tiger lilies which reached up on slender stems and burst forth in a firework of orange flowers.

Here is our small wedding party. Just perfect really. My best friend Tracey,
Earl's  niece Erin as our flower girl. Earl's brother Art as his best man, plus the priest.
Can you see the tiger lilies behind us?

As the climate has changed, the tiger lilies have bloomed earlier and earlier. Last year, they had even finished blooming in Ohio by our anniversary. Where we live in Ohio is four hours north of the site of our wedding in Kentucky.
This year, the spring was late so everything is blooming later.That's why the tiger lilies are in full bloom this year as we celebrate our anniversary.

Happy Anniversary to my husband. Like
the tiger lilies, we're still blooming each year. 

If I had it to do again, I would definitely coordinate the wedding party with the outdoor flowers. Plus, it's a nice reminder about the world around us as the years fly by.

Anniversary -- Then and Now

Today we're celebrating our wedding anniversary. We were married 23 years ago on my parents' blueberry farm in Kentucky.

 Here we are driving off in my Mustang convertible, and you can tell by the look on my face, that I was ecstatic. So, I like to think that's one thing that hasn't changed after 23 years.
There are moments when I realize how lucky I am to have tied myself to this man who makes me happy -- on most days.
Here we are today before going out to brunch in a photo unwillingly taken by our 17-year-old son.

And here I am at the restaurant drinking a Kir Royale and pretending I'm in France. But, I'm still in Ohio. The drinks were the best thing about the meal, but that happens some times. Look how fabulous the drinks look, with the creme de cassis settled at the bottom. Should we have stirred them up before we drank them? the last few drink were awfully sweet.

Two years ago...

Two years ago today, we were winding down to Grace's high school graduation.
Today, we're winding down to Spencer's high school graduation.
It all seems very similar, doesn't it?
Except, two years ago today, Earl and I were in France to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. This year, we are in Ohio.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Ohio. It's a nice place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit...
Here we are at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

It wasn't our actual anniversary until June, but we decided to avoid the crowds by visiting Paris in April. We also needed to go before we started making college payments in June.

Here we are on a bridge over the Seine. I'm never sure which one.
We even went to visit some friends in Nantes and then walked along the cliffs by the Atlantic.
The scenery is gorgeous and quite a contrast to the Ohio scenery.

How about you? Where were you two years ago? Are you in a better place now?

21 Years

I can't remember how I felt 21 years ago when I married Earl. I was nervous, excited, happy. I think I jabbered nervously and forgot to apply lipstick when my Dad came to that upstairs room to escort me down to the wooden porch, down a few steps to stand in front of a tinkling waterfall, tiger lilies blooming thick along the bank.
I can't remember how I felt, but this expression on my face explains it.

We drove my convertible from my parents' log cabin in Kentucky to the reception. That's a barn in the background, not the house! My best friend from high school, Tracey, was my matron of honor and Earl's brother Art was the best man. They rode in the front seat. It didn't matter because Earl and I had eyes for no one else.
Today, we went to Trattoria Roma and sat on the patio. We drank wine. We laughed. Earl said I looked beautiful, and I'm kind of amazed that 21 years passed so quickly. I don't mean to make it sound easy. We've had our share of days slogging through deep sand in the desert (I mean that metaphorically) and sometimes it feels like we're on opposite sides instead of the same side. Every time though, we return to each other with that loving look in our eyes.
As we left the restaurant, Earl took my hand in his and said, "Do you think we can have 21 more?"
I try to imagine us 21 years from now. My mind reels. But 21 years ago, I couldn't have imagined the life we created, the people we've become.
Happy Anniversary, Earl.

Milestones

Twenty years ago today in Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, Earl and I were married. The day was sunny and warm, but nowhere near as warm as it is today in Ohio -- 89 humid degrees.
I wonder if it's a bad sign that we can't find our wedding album anywhere? I've searched and Earl has searched. I found some snapshots that friends gave us so you can see how fresh-faced and naive we were in 1990.

My parents owned a blueberry farm in a holler in Kentucky. We were married in front of a meandering creek with the tiger lilies in bloom. On the left side of the photo is Grandad Ish, who has since died. Earl's brother Art was the best man and the priest, Father Al, has gone on to write books about being a priest in Appalachia.
Look at my face. I really love that man. I'm amazed that he's marrying me.
After the ceremony, we stood there by the whispering creek and people moved along to congratulate us.
You can't see me in this photo, but you can see Tracey, my best friend from high school and maid of honor laughing.

Twenty years ago, I had no idea how to make a marriage work. I got very lucky in a number of ways. One of those ways was my choice. I think it's nearly impossible to make a good choice this young (and I was 27!). I chose a man who treated others well. When a waitress dropped a tray, he'd get up to help her. When a woman was panhandling and he turned her down, he later knocked on her car window and gave her money. He cares about other people, and that includes me.
It hasn't been 20 years of bliss. We've had fights that lasted for weeks. We've learned to swallow hurtful words.
We've gone through childbirth together three times (okay, I bore the brunt of that) and find our biggest arguments are about parenting.
We've lived in seven houses and owned four. We've moved from Florida to Michigan to Ohio. We've been to Europe six times and traveled throughout most of the United States.
We have dreams together -- dreams of owning a bed and breakfast, dreams of moving to France, dreams of publishing novels.
Most of our day-to-day lives focus on paying bills and raising kids.
We've already celebrated our anniversary with a trip to France this spring, but today we'll find a table in a restaurant and open a nice bottle of wine. We'll toast ourselves and our great luck to have fallen into each other's arms twenty-two years ago and to have pledged to stay together twenty years ago in front of a small gathering of friends and family.

Have Purse, Will Travel

Here's a picture of my new purse which I will be carrying in Paris this spring because we just bought our airline tickets! Yea!
I thought it wasn't going to happen. We went back and forth. Too expensive. Daughter going to college in the fall. Our 20th anniversary.
Finally, we found a good deal on airfare, $605 each round trip. And last night, I found this sweet little purse. It says spring. It says travel. It says. I'm going!