Wine for Back to School Jitters

Well I thought I had seen it all in the way of bad drivers, I really did. From the people who drive an inch behind you on the freeway; the people who drive 50 mph in the fast lane and refuse to change lanes, no matter how many people honk their horns or flash their highbeams; the people who merge onto a freeway and refuse to yield to oncoming traffic, assuming that it's everyone else's job to get out of their way; the people who change lanes willy-nilly; the people who never use their turn signals (turn signals are for suckers, dude); the people who still have not gone hands-free with their cell phones; the people who text while driving, swerving all over the road; to the woman I saw driving with a cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in the other, and the man who had a newspaper open across the steering wheel and looked to actually be doing the crossword puzzle. I pretty much thought I had seen the worst of it, but no.

Today, while driving north on the 101 freeway, I saw a man in a small white car driving while...wait for it...playing the guitar. I kid you not. He had an electric guitar across his lap, and was playing it while, I am presuming, steering with his knees. I was so flabbergasted I temporarily lost the power of speech. And I know I sould have called the police, I know I should have, but this guy looked like he had as many IQ points as he had fingers, and I was afraid that if I reported him, he would somehow find out where I live and garrote me with one of his guitar strings.

So tomorrow, I start my wine course. It's funny how going back to school, no matter how old I am, seems to bring up so many of the same insecurities that it did when I was young. I don't worry so much anymore about people liking me, not because I assume they will (but I mean, come on, who are we kidding, right?), but because I already have so many wonderful friends that I'm not desperate for more. But I do worry about how I will do in the class: will everyone know more than I do? What if it turns out I have a terrible palate and can't taste anything? What if I can't pass my tests at the end? What if, during the service part of the class and exam, when I am supposed to be able to suavely open wines and champagnes, I let the champagne cork fly and it takes someone's eye out?

These are things I worry about, and things that will probably keep me up tonight. The night before the first day of anything I usually find is a very long night.

But to make it better, Steve, Katie (our friend who lives two floors below us) and I are going to hang out and chat for a while, and share today's wine selection, a 2006 Canihan Family Cellars Pinot Noir. This Pinot is from their Certified Organic vineyard, and is a really lovely wine. It is great with food but it also stands up on its own. It has the rich red fruits that Pinot is known for, but it also has a woodiness. The winery describes it as cedar and cigar-box, and I absolutely get that. The first time I tasted it, I articulated that cedar smell and taste as 'closet'. And I meant it in the best way. Like the smell of a wonderful, warm, fragrant closet in a cabin in the woods. It had a very cosy connotation for me.

So I hope you will raise a glass with me, and let's toast to all of our new adventures, whatever they may be.