SWR: Sunsets without Joe

M

MLipton

Mark Lipton
Grief, I've learned, is episodic. Last night is a case in point. Jean and I traveled up to Douglas, MI for the weekend and had a picnic dinner on the shore of Lake Michigan on a glorious late Summer evening. To accompany this repast, we opened a bottle of Marie Demets NV Cuvée 19 Siecle purchased some while back from Comrade Lyle. The wine was fantastic, zippy and mineral while being creamy with great vinosity. For some, it might be too austere, but for our non-dosé attuned palates it was spot on. We were also treated to a spectacular sunset over the silver-blue waters of Lake Michigan on a cloudless night. We were both vividly reminded of a sunset 5 years earlier viewed from the deck of a house 50 ft away as we drank a bottle of '45 Huet LHL Moelleux. Jean had purchased that bottle for me for my birthday on the advice of SFJoe, who later advised me that it was best paired with sunsets. We did, and it was.
Those memories came flooding back last night. I don't know that we'll ever be able to drink Huet or watch Suns setting over Lake Michigan without thinking of our dear friend, but this isn't a bad thing either. Some part of him will always be there, enjoining us to think less and enjoy more.

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Mark Lipton
 
Mark, that is so lovely.

I'm a bit of spaz at this time. One year ago today we were in Newfoundland.

How about this: in the selfie, the meant-to-photograph "tourist" Shag Rock was hidden by the angle.

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For those reading, Trinity Bay in Newfoundland is without any interest.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by MLipton:
...enjoining us to think less and enjoy more.
Click to expand...

Tiny quibble—I'd put my money on "think more and enjoy more."
Click to expand...

Professors have found them to be mutually exclusive.
Click to expand...

This professor (well, ex-professor) finds you can't have one without the other. But maybe that's just me.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by MLipton:
...enjoining us to think less and enjoy more.
Click to expand...

Tiny quibble—I'd put my money on "think more and enjoy more."
Click to expand...

I bow to your expert insights, winegrrrl. Thanks to all for your comments. Good company has always been one of the surest remedies for grief.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by MLipton:
...enjoining us to think less and enjoy more.
Click to expand...

Tiny quibble—I'd put my money on "think more and enjoy more."
Click to expand...

Professors have found them to be mutually exclusive.
Click to expand...

This professor (well, ex-professor) finds you can't have one without the other. But maybe that's just me.
Click to expand...

The latter is wholly dependent on the former for me, but given the world in which we live, the former does not insure the latter at all.
 
As a former Professor now retired, I have taken up a daily meditation practice over the past 10 years. For me thinking interferes with experiencing the present moment. Some thoughts such as the memories above may elicit emotions worthy of one's full awareness. We may believe we can think and feel at the same time, but its multitasking, going back and forth between the two activities. Meditation can allow you to experience that dichotomy. Anyone who's been thinking while driving and notices they haven't been aware of the last few moments of driving has experienced this phenomena. I lost my wife of 40 years on June 1, so am very aware of the episodic nature of grief as well as the healing nature of loving memories.
 
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