Last week my blog title paraphrased the name of the award-winning book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Today, I am borrowing from the Beatles. In this case, I am reflecting upon a day in this “New Normal” life. With it I diverged a bit from my usual posts about New Jersey wine. Our present global crisis has put me in a more philosophical mood. My apologies in advance for rambling, with more tangents than usual. I am also keenly aware that my “new normal,” while scary, is much less so than many (if not most) folks around the country.
I am very lucky and grateful that as I write this post, my family and I are virus-free. As retired individuals my wife and I do not have fears about losing our jobs that so many others must cope with now. To those who have lost their jobs or have loved ones with the virus, my heart goes out to you. To our nation’s first responders and healthcare workers, my heartfelt thanks. We can never adequately repay you for your courage and your service. I urgently hope that this will all change soon with a return to some type of normalcy.
Despite my fears and being in a funk, I have found some reasons to push forward and try to make the best of a very bad situation. Some of this oasis of positivity I found on Thursday-my Day in the Life.
Sometimes it’s the little things that you do routinely, without any thought. Things like taking a shower and shaving. Getting dressed to go out, as if you are going to meet people and you care how you look. I did these things prior to a drive to Hawk Haven Vineyards to pick up our White Wine Futures.
Despite the goodies that awaited me, I was not looking forward to the drive. My wife did not come along for this drive, so I was alone with my thoughts and the random order of the tunes from my eclectic mix on my phone, playing on the radio. Due to the light traffic I was much more aware of the scenery than usual and with a keener appreciation of what I saw. I witnessed a bald eagle in a nest atop a telephone pole. A little further (closer to the shore) I saw an osprey with a small fish in its mouth, flying overhead.
Forsythia and some wildflowers were in bloom and trees were beginning to bud. With beautiful things to observe all around me, feeling the warmth of the sunshine through my windshield, I found myself smiling and almost feeling guilty for feeling so good. It is so surreal that you think, how could it be possible that something out there is killing so many people-and sickening so many others?
Once I arrived at Hawk Haven Vineyards I knew I would have no interaction. Just pop the trunk and their staff would place the wine in there for me. I felt guilty for letting a young woman lug my wine and put it in my car for me…perhaps lingering strands of sexism that I’d like to think had long since been vanquished. At any rate, I lowered the window enough to thank her and give her a tip she said she appreciated. It’s a tough time even for those who still have a job.
On the way home my mind ping-ponged from one random thought to another. The eclectic list of songs I listened to definitely played a part in this kaleidoscope of thoughts and emotions. There were beautiful songs like Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky,” Lang Lang playing Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody,” and Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.” I told you it was an eclectic mix. However, Bruce Cockburn’s “Last Night of the World,” jarringly brought me back to our real life threat…”If this were the last night of the world what would I do?”…Luckily I would soon be home with some great wine, spending the night with my wife.
Once home, my wife helped me clean the cardboard cases and the bottles before I took them to our cellar. Back to the real world.
Later, my wife and I decided to get out together, practicing social distancing at Autumn Lake Winery. After supporting another local winery with our purchased wine, we took them up on their offer to walk the vineyards. Despite the beautiful sunshine and relative warmth, we only encountered two people walking a dog. Such a beautiful property and lovely walk. We saw Mark Hernandez, owner and winemaker and exchanged distant waves and departed for home.
Below are a couple of pictures from this very pleasant outing. Thanks to Mark Hernandez and family for allowing us to take advantage of your beautiful property. The views of the lake and nearly completed tasting room are reminders of better things to come and a welcome change from our neighborhood walks. Our local parks are closed, so we have to get creative, while practicing proper social distancing.
Our dinner consisted of a delicious take-out (one of many we had purchased from a great local restaurant, Scarpinato’s). The meal is not pictured, but I will be posting more about them and other local restaurants in future posts. I decided instead to show some of the items necessary to get us through “A Day in the Life.” obviously these included wine.
Our wine for the evening…
Hawk Haven Vineyards Flying Press Red and Autumn Lake Winery Chardonnay. Both are very reasonably priced wines which can make a good take-out dinner even better.
Cheers! Stay safe out there and try to find some positive vibes and pass them on!
Coming Attractions
- My favorite wine gadgets and accessories
- What I’m doing to keep my sanity during the COVID-19 Crisis (I’d love to hear what you are doing and publish my favorites here)
- An updated list of wine resources (books, websites, blogs and magazines)
- Another pairing of my favorite binge-worthy TV shows with NJ wines
