Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Mixture In The Jar

Life is bitter. Life is sweet. Life is marmalade.

Anonymous
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I know a man who is in love every minute of his day with a woman he never sees and almost never talks to, and then only through emails. They worked together many years ago and that's how they met. There were a few times when they almost became close but there was always something that interrupted. As the years past they saw each other less and less, but he kept in his heart and his mind a constant yearning for her and a continuing hope for her happiness and well being.

Eventually she got married to a great guy. He's glad of that but his heart burns with a solitary desire that things had worked out differently. She knows how he feels because he told her. But she has been happily married for 15 years. He tries not to think about her, but he thinks about her every day. It is a bitter pill that won't dissolve.
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I've never been much of a wine drinker. I do enjoy beer, and can drink buckets of it, which makes me very jolly. If I have a cocktail it's generally a manhattan. Just Plain Bill http://justplainbill7.blogspot.com/ and I have enjoyed some of those together at a local oasis.

But at the Artists' Christmas party last December I had a glass of wine (Merlot) for the first time in many years. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, I had two glasses of it. So I then bought a bottle of wine for myself to have with my dinner, a tasty and gentle Cabernet Sauvignon. Wednesday evening I had a glass with my dinner and it was a delight.

I planned to have two glasses of it. But I drank half the glass with my dinner and as the evening wore on I sipped the rest of it and then went gracefully and sweetly to sleep.
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I performed in a very large musical production at a theatre up north one winter. During rehearsals I climbed up to an upper level, waited for the orchestra and choir to finish, then stepped forward and delivered a speech. I was by myself on that upper lever though there were benches set up around me.

But on opening night when I ascended the steps all those benches were filled with young girls, members of the high school chorus. Each one was as pretty as the next one. I must have appeared a bit shocked to see them for they all smiled at my reaction. They made a place for me to sit and I sat feeling like a father with 20 beautiful daughters all the same age.

After the performance i discovered that one of those girls was mildly, but permanently crippled. She needed to walk with a cane. I thought how bitter it was that such a young, pretty girl should be cursed with that burden for the rest of her life. I got to talking with her and found that she was a delightful person, sweet, charming, intelligent and full of life. I sought her out after every performance and we became temporary buddies. I am grateful to her. She taught me a lot about the bittersweetness of life, about the marmalade of life.

DB - The Vagabond
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Weekend Puzzle

Here are some famous trios. Who are they.

On your mark. Get set. Go!
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

T KTY, T NJQB TQE T ATQM JZ ATDK

NSJJE, UVBTR TQE RBTKU

IKJUNO, URDSSU TQE QTUA

ZTDRA, AJXB TQE IATKDRO

ZTRABK, UJQ TQE AJSO YAJUR

AJX, UMDX TQE HCFX

ACBO, EBVBO TQE SJCDB

SDZB, SDNBKRO TQE RAB XCKUCDR JZ ATXXDQBUU

XBRBK, XTCS TQE FTKO

KBTEDQY, VKDRDQY TQE TKDRAFTRDI

KBE, VADRB TQE NSCB

UQTX, IKTIMSB TQE XJX

RAB RAKBB URJJYBU

RDQMBK RJ BGBKU RJ IATQIB

RJF, EDIM TQE ATKKO
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Good luck.
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Here's a quick one, if you read this far.
Something happened on August 28, 888 that didn't happen again until February 2, 2000. What was it?
2 correct answers so far.

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6 comments:

Ally Lifewithally said...

Good Morning DB I felt really sorry for your friend ~ who's love passed him by ~ Ally x

Rose said...

I too felt sorry for your friend who's love passed him by........

Glad you are partaking of the grapes! I have a glass every night with my dinner and sometimes another glass while relaxing in the evening while watching TV or reading a book.

pacifica62 said...

Sounds like the love was more on his part than hers. Still must be very painful to think of what "might have been". Difficult to move on, but one can. Some other available woman would be flattered to be the object of his love adn attention and perhaps things could work out for them.
I am not much of a drinker but I know many who have a love of the grape. Glad that you gave yourself a little enjoyment and perhaps this is something could bring you pleasure every now and again or even every day. Nice to think that there are still some surprises left in life for us to discover.

- said...

Hello DB, I enjoy your writings. Thank you.

Big Mark 243 said...

This is was a good entry... maybe I will have to try some marmalade and taste some of the bitter along with the sweet...

Ken Riches said...

Glad you have reconnected with the red grape. I have 11 4-case racks and 9 of them are full of reds. When the mood strikes, we pull a cork and enjoy.