How long is a memory, how lasting are the words that you hear from a new acquaintance? Doug died unexpectedly, the winemaker for Tero Estates who I have met over the years. The cover of Passage of Vines: Clara is Tero Estate vineyard, now tucked away into my heart's diary as I remember the wine making dinner with Doug guiding us through the pairings, being introduced to Malbec and becoming a fan of his blend Malbolo, I am still living in the Peter Pan world, where we will live forever and my heart is heavy for his family, friends and his co-founder. Doug had a dream, and over thirty years he grew that dream. I ask you to follow your dream, before life kidnaps it. A picture of Doug is on my Life as it Is page. Patricia
From Passage of Vines: Clara.
Clara’s response to a letter written in 1816 from her Nez Perce great-grandmother “I sit here wondering how I could ever fulfill the same dreams you had for my grandmother that you instilled through passionate blood passing through the placenta. How did you fill her soul with the drive never surrendering to a challenge, to seek only the chance to risk, and to erase failure from her mind like a chalkboard?” “What was the power that enabled you to succeed despite your different clothing, inability to speak the language, and lack of skills to fit into your surrounding culture. How did you feel the first time someone laughed at you, imitated you, or ignored you? What is it that made you wish only to blend, to look at others with eyes seeking only to understand them, not to threaten them? Was a cabin really a luxury for you, or did you miss what was familiar to you, the woods, the berries, the water? What made you leave what you knew to transition to enter an unknown world and face an equally unpredictable outcome?” I wonder why I released my book Passage of Vines: Clara at a time when readers perhaps are not traveling to wine country, where people are drinking wine (I am!!) at home and not considering tasting rooms, of when they have fallen to the curse of Amazon Prime. And yes I have!! Watching several episodes puts me into the wee hours of the morning, and The Expanse adds a few nightmares. My favorites? Upload, Modern Love, Fleabag, Dectorists, Amazing Mrs Mazell, Homecoming.
Where are you, where am I when we think about some future freedom. How's your hair? And the nails? Missing the library? Missing hugging someone besides your cat? What is the first thing you will do? What are your fears? How is that mask working out for you? For me?? I do grow weary of the re-breathing into cloth but I am so grateful for the stores that make mask wearing mandatory.
I am working on the marketing for Passage of Vines: Clara, while I read all of the travel blogs. I do hope that you are not saying never again to travel, never again to cruising. I like you have been on multiple cruises, not once did I get any illness as I do know that the ships assure our health and safety. Yes, I have been on cruises where passengers have become ill, emergencies have occurred on the ship and in ports. The ships will do everything beyond and above to assure that all of us will trust them once again, that we will know that if we book at 14 day cruise we will not be floating in the middle of an ocean for 60 days. We are all afraid now, we are all hearing so many different news reports that change from one hour to the next. And I know you are all staying safe, forfeiting normalcy to assure that one day our lives will return to some semblance of what we had months ago. I want you, I ask you, I need you to start dreaming, planning, and saying this is where I want to go at the end of the year, or next year. Cruise lines have many offers for 2021 and 2022. Have you looked at any ports that get your traveling juices flowing? I agree with what you are thinking, I will need to know what reassurance that ship will give me BEFORE I put down my deposit. What have they changed to assure there will not be a wide-spread illness? They now must coax us with gentle trusting words, total transparency so we all know what to expect when that departing ship's whistle blows loud and clear.
I have seen my blog appearing on my Amazon author page and once the tiny bumps are smoothed out on my website my blog will appear on Goodreads. Passage of Vines: Clara has been published and is available on Amazon, amazon.com/author/pgkay. This project that has lasted over two years will certainly bring my words to the reader exploring history and wine. With fictional characters, you will find yourself learning about Walla Walla and it wine community. This is the first book in the series and although I will not disclose the next location, I have began to set up my story board.
I look forward to your comments. Please be safe. How many of you are holding fast to our temporary lives, a year from now we will look back, a year from now we will have new norms, a year from now plans have been made, vacations are now a deposit, your children are in school, you are buying graduation gifts for your Senior.
I suppose I should start with the final payment. This process takes a while so do not wait until the last minute. A while you ask? Yes because you need to include passport information, your flight times and flight number, your transportation after you leave the ship.
What I found interesting was that our credit card expires end of August. As you continue with your online booking you need to either give $420.00 cash at time of boarding or give the ship your credit card to cover any possible incidentals. We always just add our credit card at the final time of online booking. Because our credit card expires before our cruise, although clearly like all of you we will receive a new one, I could not complete the booking until I submitted a new credit card. Easy enough to resolve as our bank that normally sends one at the end of the month is sending one earlier. I was not expecting that little glitch. How are all of your mail order medications? Enough to cover your trip? Do you need to make a quick call or sometimes visit to the physician for a refill update? You cannot and do not take any trip without continuing to take your medications. Do not expect the ship or some pharmacy in another country to fill your prescriptions. Start counting those pills now to make sure you have what you need. Who are your emergency contacts? Make sure they know they are and that the ship knows. Saw my life flash in front of me when the booked airline sent an email stating that the flight time had changed. The shuttle to the airport, the parking at the shuttle location all flashed in front of my eyes as they were paid for and booked months ago. The change 10 minutes difference. Certainly a relief. Cruise ship luggage tags. I really did not wish to announce to the world, well maybe I did that I was taking a cruise. But on this particular cruise the luggage will be on an shuttle, an airplane, a train, a riverboat, a bus to the ship, a departing bus to the shuttle bus location, and a shuttle bus back to the parking area. I just thought it was wise to have luggage tags. I want our luggage to stand out. I did notice while printing our luggage tags that the cruise line permits 1 750 bottle of wine or champagne per adult without any corkage fee charge. Additional bottles there is a $15.00 corkage fee. I cannot even begin to tell you what an amazing opportunity this is to bring your own wine. A $15.00 corkage fee is unheard of in most restaurants. The cruise ships offer an giant selection of wines but I cannot think of anything more special then bringing our own special wines. Getting closer........when you have a free moment read the 15 page contract that your cruise line provides you when you check in.....yep 15 pages. Small print and it is your agreement with the cruise lines. Thank you for reading my words...........a pleasure meeting all of you. Patricia G. Kay |
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