Kids; the Future of Fishing
I received an email at the Insider from Shane Wilson. Shane lives on South Padre Island, Texas. Shane and his wife are the founders of Fishings Future, which they started in 2004, and in 2007 became a 501 (c) (3) corporation in 2007.
Their mission is to reconnect family and nature, strengthen family relationships, build stewardship of the environment, and provide positive primary outdoor experiences. To do this, they use lsquo;Family Fishing Camps as a positive outdoor experience. Camps are limited to 30 children to allow for one-on-one lessons.
The camps are free to children between ages 6 and 13 and include a free meal. An adult must accompany all children. The purpose is to create a positive outdoor experience. You can visit www.fishingsfuture.org to see a short three-minute video of a Family Fishing Camp. The website will all also give you a great deal of information about Shane Wilson and Fishings Future.
There are three key words in what makes this program work and they are: Family, Kids and Sponsors. This is not a camp whereby you just pack the kids off to, but rather a day of fishing and learning where the whole family enjoys the fishing experience and this is the secret. You will learn all about fishing even if you have never fished before. You will discover the joy of being outdoors as a family and having fun. Good Stewardship is also an important part of the days adventure.
Currently there are no camps in Michigan and that is why Shane contacted me to put the word out, and see if there are any local fishing clubs or organizations in our area that would like to get involved and sponsor a Fishing Future Camp or camps in this area.
If you or your club are interested (and I am sure the kids hope you are), go to the website listed above and find out how to get started. Like all good things, it will take people, time and money to run a camp. On the website you will find information on how these camps are operated, free to the public, through sponsors.
There are currently chapters in seven states including two of our neighbors: Indiana and Illinois.
We have much better fishing than either of them and should be able to find a group or club that would like to get involved. To find out more visit the website and then contact Shane Wilson at shane@fishingsfuture.org.
This would make a great program for any Fish and Game Club or any other group that wants to do something for the area and the future of fishing in the area. There are lots of kids out there who dont have anyone to take them fishing. I know there are a lot of kids fishing days around the area, but they only provide some water, some fish and the parents bring the kids. Yes, they have lots of fun but they dont learn much about fishing. Continued…
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Telegraph reporter Ian Soutar checks out Clooneys latest flick…
Clooney presented in a very different light
THE fact that it has earned Oscar nominations for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best actor may lead punters to expect The Descendants (Cert 15) to be some kind of masterpiece.
The truth is that it is an engaging small-scale movie of family relationships and grief played out in the exotic location of Hawaii with the same dry humour and affectionate treatment of a downbeat character that Alexander Payne achieved in Sideways and About Schmidt.
It shows George Clooney in a different light as a middle-aged dad without a whiff of romance and indeed one of the funniest moments in the film is when he attempts to run down the street in high agitation, only for the flip-flops he is wearing to give him a most ungainly gait.
Clooney is Matt King, a prosperous lawyer too busy negotiating a development deal for his family’s ancestral land to pay much attention to family matters until a boating accident puts his wife in a coma and he has to reconnect with his daughters, 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and stroppy 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley).
The discovery that his wife had been having an affair adds to his desperation but makes it all the more vital the family pull together. It’s a mature Clooney performance as a vulnerable man, Woodley in particular is excellent as the girl who comes to realise where her loyalty lies and we gradually warm to her stoner boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause).
An award-winner at the Sundance Film Festival, Like Crazy (Cert 12A) is a story of the bliss of first love and whether it can withstand long-term stresses.
Anna (Felicity Jones) is a Londoner studying at a Californian university who falls for classmate Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and the couple enjoy an affair that is so joyful and passionate that she overstays her student visa before making a brief trip back to Blighty.
When she returns to the States they won’t let her in and so ensues several years of either being apart and missing each other or being together and nagged by a resentment.
It’s asking the question whether it’s true love or are they in love with a fantasy of it?
The collabaritive process between director Drake Doremus and the two actors gives it a realism that avoids it being too schmaltzy but ultimately enjoyment of the film probably depends on whether you buy into the idea that their love is something special.
She said: One of the very strong recommendations of the public inquiry was for the police to develop much better family relationships in all cases.
Clearly in the first investigation the relationship with the family was not good and it’s been a really important thing to try and ensure the family get what they need from the police.
They were informed about what was going on. I guess it’s not really for us to say how well we have done, it’s for them.
We felt well supported by them and their advisors in the last ten years.
It’s an extraordinary inquiry. It’s clearly unique. We can’t think of a large case that ran on and on over 18 years with the level on intensive investigation almost throughout the whole period.
Christmas, they say, is a time to reconnect with family and what better place to do it, asks
BRIAN OCONNELL, than while cloistered together skiing in Val dIsre
THE LAST TIME I went on holiday with my family was to a French campsite when I was 15. I remember being acutely aware of my awkward adolescence, or Irishness, or both, arguing with my parents about the price of a Levis 501 T-shirt and spending most of the holiday with a girl from Scotland called Isla.
Since then, aside from weekends home, a few days at a family wedding in Italy was the longest Ive been away with my parents or siblings. So, I struck upon an idea to spend the first week of the ski season in a chalet high in the French Alps with my father, brother and sister, my wife and my sisters fianc. The idea was that it would provide for some family bonding Whams
Last Christmasstyle, allow certain members of the family their first ski experience and facilitate us all going away together without living in each others pockets, as tends to happen with a sun holiday.
My father Decco, an abbreviation of Declan, had never tried skiing before, but was anxious to have a go as retirement beckons, when hell have more time on his hands and the need for more hobbies. The chalet, organised by More Alps, seemed the perfect solution for a family trip. Run by Irish/English couple Dan Last and Sarah Kearney, the company has been building up a property portfolio in places such as Greece and France over the past decade. They can organise your transfers, ski passes, lessons and equipment and also take care of your meals and snacks.
We chose the well known resort of Val dIsre, and its just as well we did, because for the first week in December there was more snow and ice on the fish fingers in my freezer than there was in many parts of the Alps, following one of the mildest winters in decades.
Situated at the end of the famed downhill run from the 1992 Winter Olympics, the chalet (reputedly worth in the region of 2 million) had plenty room for us all, was well designed and of high standard with many of the rooms ensuite. Importantly, it was located a few minutes walk from the ski lift. The added bonus, though, was that it comes with hosts in our case the wonderful Jimmy McNamara and Tracey Gill, who seem to have struck the perfect work/life balance. They kept the place ticking over, and despite protesting he wasnt a chef, Jimmy cooked up some great meals in the morning and evening, including a super shepherds pie. Each afternoon, when we got back from the slopes, there was also a freshly baked cake or sweet thing waiting on the table for us.
Due to the lack of snow, we spent all our time on the glacier above the tree line, where conditions were perfect for the experienced and intermediate skiers among us, but a little trickier for the novices. It meant that my father and brother had to learn to ski on rather icy and less forgiving areas of the slopes its worth thinking hard about conditions, especially for beginners, if you are going on a trip so early in the season.
Of course, as Sods law would have it, on the day we were leaving, the snow began to fall.
Lessons and equipment were provided by the Oxygene ski school (oxygene-ski.com). It is always suggested that even the most able skiers should take refresher lessons, and generally this will cost you about 58 an hour in Val dIsre. Not cheap, but you do get one-on-one attention for that price, and not having to wait for the rest of ski school to catch up or slow down to your level is worth the extra spend.
Three of us were brought out by Pierre de Monvallier, head of the Oxygene school, who was part motivational expert, part ski specialist. Hey, you guys, we dont want control freaks on the slopes. Leave that to the politicians and bankers. We are skiers, was one of his memorable mantras when teaching parallel skiing.
By day three, it was almost as if our hosts Jimmy and Tracey were part of the family, joining us for the odd night out, and going for an afternoon spin or two with us on the slopes. Never have I seen a couple make so little noise when cooking in a kitchen, and it felt like we were part of a
Masterchefspecial of
Come Dine With Me. Taking a catered package is definitely worth considering, especially in a resort such as Val dIsre, where French onion soup in a restaurant will set you back as much as a staggering 19. The one good restaurant we found was a place called 1789, where they cook your steaks to order on an open fire, and the prices are reasonable (restaurant-1789-valdisere.com).
We all improved as skiers during the week, and enough of the resort was open to ensure we had plenty runs for a five-day trip. My brother was fast to pick up the basics, and by the end of the week, my father had been re-christened Decked because of the amount of time he spent on the ground. In fairness, he was getting there also, despite the tricky conditions. It was quite icy underfoot and none of the beginner slopes was open (theyve had more than a metre of snow since, Im told).
All in all then, if youre a family who hasnt been away together for a number of years, a catered ski holiday such as those offered by More Alps, offers the perfect mix of intimacy and detachment, which goes a long way to also describing the ideal family relationships.
VAL DISERE: HOW TO GET THERE
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies to Geneva and Lyon, Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies to Grenoble. We had two Aer Lingus flights cancelled, which meant rearranging transfers, so be wary of booking in advance early in the season. The nearest airport to Val dIsre is Chambery, but locals warn it is prone to closure if conditions are bad. Theres also the option of taking Eurostar from London to Paris and then getting another train to nearby Annecy.
Family-friendly resorts
AUSTRIA
The perfect place for a family to learn to ski together is St Johann, which has an impressive range of beginner slopes. More advanced skiers may get bored especially if the stay is longer than a week, but theres enough to do at night to keep all entertained. Many catering and self-catering options are available, and family run BBs often offer the best value in Austria. For a bigger challenge, nearby Obertauern (where The Beatles shot the Help video) is one of the best in Austrian. obertauern.com, skiaustria.co.za
SWITZERLAND
By mid-December, all of the slopes in Verbier will have opened. The resort is sometimes considered the most cosmopolitan in this area, with views of nearby Mount Blanc. Its a pretty expensive destination, full of Gucci goggles and designer ski suits, but it does offer some excellent skiing and is worth visiting, if only for a day. Perhaps look into staying outside the main resort itself, which has a famed nightlife. Other Swiss resorts worth checking out are Val dAnniviers and Zermatt, and flights to Geneva are regular and cost less than 100 out of season. switzerland.europe-mountains.com
ITALY
Courmayeur is recommended for families, with a good selection of slopes for beginners and children. For the more experienced, Chamonix is only a bus ride away. Located at the foot of Mount Blanc, a big draw in Courmayeur besides the skiing is the choice of food at night and all over the slopes. It is accessible by flying into either Turin or Milan both of which are approximately an hours drive away. courmayeur.com
More Alps has catered chalets in Val dIsre and the nearby La Rosiere resorts. Prices start from 450 per person. Discounts available on selected weeks. Packages can include transfers, ski hire and lessons. morealps.com
Earlier today Statesman Journal education reporter Stefanie Knowlton posted the Salem-Keizer School Districts yearly snapshot, the districts look at its demographics, statistics and other information.
While there a number of interesting facts (and some concerning ones, such as 60 percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch), the one that jumped out to me regarded languages.
SKSD reports often that more than 60 languages are spoken in the homes of its students, something I knew but has always surprised me.
What I hadnt noticed before is that third among the most common second languages, just behind the obvious Spanish and Russian, was Marshallese.
The Marshall Islands have around 67,000 residents with another 22,000 or so people of Marshallese descent living in the United States. As a comparison, the SKSD has around 40,000 students. So how could a community of only around 90,000 be such a big part of the second-largest school district in Oregon?
Salem and Marion County actually have the largest Marshallese community in Oregon, and by a wide margin.
Oregon had just less than 1,000 residents identify themselves as Marshallese in the 2010 census, and more than half of them lived in Marion County. Salem has 334 Marshallesse, with no other city counting more than 100. Tigard was close at 98, with Four Corners and Keizer third and fourth on the list, as well.
Marshallese wasnt a category in the 2000 census, but Marion County had 530 residents as Other Micronesian that year, the highest in the state. Salem had 373, just behind Portland at 480.
Looking at the numbers for 2000 and 2010, it appears the change may have been an issue in counting Portland. While there were efforts to get Marshallese residents to mark so on the 2010 census form, my guess is that many in Portland didnt get news of the change. This year the city listed only 19 Marshallese residents despite having the largest Micronesian population in the state at 1,659. Salem was second at 1,280.
Even if Portland may actually be No. 1, Salem has a growing Micronesian and Marshallese population that far outstrips what one would expect for a community its size.
I did a little digging in the archive and found a story former Statesman Journal reporter Dan DeCarbonel did in 2003 on the growing Marshallese community. At the time a community leader estimated the population at around 700-800, though looking at census figures that may have been a little high. Heres the full story:
Marshallese find land of opportunity, adjustment
Immigrants run into cultural and language barriers.
BY DAN de CARBONEL
Statesman Journal
Ricky Alik is a new kind of Oregon pioneer.
Unlike a previous group of immigrants who blazed the Oregon Trail to settle the Willamette Valley, Aliks trail spanned thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean as he helped lead a large migration from the Marshall Islands.
Since 1990, the Pacific Islander population has grown more than 4,650 percent in Marion County. Many of these newcomers are immigrants from the Marshall Islands.
Alik, the president of the recently formed Marshallese Community Organization, said that between 700 and 800 people from the Marshall Islands now call Salem home.
Located about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, the Marshall Islands consist of 34 tiny atolls and islands totaling 70 square miles of dry land and 4,500 square miles of lagoons. They are spread across an area of the Pacific eight times the size of Oregon. The republics population is about 56,000.
The islands were the site of numerous nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the 1940s and 50s.
Alik, 48, arrived in the Salem area in the early 1980s to attend what is now Western Oregon University in Monmouth. He returned to Salem in 1987 with his wife, Ann, and two sons. They were one of the first Marshallese families in the Salem area.
Encouraged by the strong US economy in the 1990s, hundreds followed. Alik has more than 100 extended family members living in the area. Similar migration patterns have occurred in cities throughout the West Coast, he said.
On Tuesday, Alik and MCO member Binni Malolo appeared before the Salem Human Rights amp; Relations Commission in recognition of the growth of the Marshallese community in Salem.
Alik related the struggles members of his community have in adjusting to life in the United States and Salem.
We have problems getting work because of limited English skills, he said. And we have troubles with people not understanding their rights as workers or when dealing with law enforcement or the law.
Alik makes his living as a court translator for Marshallese speakers. He said many Marshallese arent made aware of resources, such as health care, that can ease their adjustment to life in Oregon. Workers often dont know their rights or even if they do, they are inclined not to speak up for themselves.
Our people dont complain, he said. Marshall Islanders are very cool people, very polite. Thats just the way we are due to our traditional culture. Our people dont know what discrimination is.
The Salem area has experienced a rapid growth in the number of immigrants who speak Marshallese. Among students enrolled in Language Learner programs in the Salem-Keizer School District during the last school year, 102 spoke Marshallese, the third largest group behind Spanish (3,855) and Russian (187).
Demographers said strong family relationships and looser immigration rules because of the countrys historical ties to the United States have sparked the migration.
The Marshallese community in Salem has become well established and have formed a tight social network, Alik said. There are four churches serving their spiritual needs.
Malolo, 32, moved to Salem three years ago to lead one of the congregations. He left the Marshall Islands to attend Bible college in Plano, Texas, and moved around through Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas before moving to Portland, then to Salem. He works at the Kettle Foods plant and at Salem Outreach Center on the weekends to help make ends meet.
He is married with four kids and has many cousins, lots of cousins, he said, in the area.
The strong family ties between Marshallese immigrants can sometime cause friction, as the newcomers learn that life in the United States is different than it is on the Marshall Islands. Alik said the transition is felt almost immediately.
Youll stay with your cousin and hell tell you, `You have to pay rent, and you say, `Whats rent? Alik said. We dont have rent in the Marshall Islands. We just stay with each other.
The Marshall Islands is about love and sharing, Alik said. In our culture, if someone catches a lot of fish, they will share it with his family and friends. When I have a car, my wife, my son and my brother have a car. Here in the United States, if I have a car, its just my car.
The acclimation process hasnt been without difficulty, but Alik is hopeful that his new organization will make it easier for others who follow.
You know America is the land of opportunity, he said, but when you arrive here, you dont know what Oregon is.
The sports world mirrors the rest of life. In the past, families often lived in the same place for generations. Each family would create traditions for celebrating holidays full of feasting, decorations, gifts and songs. Those traditions kept the family bound together. It also created important memories that helped everyone to remember family members who had passed on.
These days, family members often live thousands of miles from each other. Sometimes, families can go years without getting everyone together. That weakens family ties and creates fewer shared memories.
The same thing is happening in sports. This year, we saw the continued disintegration of the Big 12 conference. Texas and Texas AM played their last game (at least for a while), and a host of rituals and traditions for students and fans will disappear along with the Thanksgiving matchup. The NBA season has been being shortened because players and owners could not resolve their contract differences. Over the past few years, professional sports leagues have realigned their divisions and changed their playoff structures while teams move from city to city. These changes undermine traditional rivalries.
Why does this matter?
Family traditions and sports rivalries play two important roles in our lives. They connect us to our past, and they help us to create the family that sustains us in our future.
How do traditions make you feel closer to the past? Your game-day rituals re-create what you have done before, and your memory does the rest. Tailgating at a UT game is fun, but it is also a reminder of past pregame parties. The nip in the fall air, the smell of the grill and the sea of burnt orange are all reminders that help you to call up memories of games past.
Your memory works by calling to mind things that happened the last time you were in a situation like the one you are in now. So the more you use a ritual to re-create something you have experienced before, the more your memory will provide you with other details of the past. As a result, you feel closer to the past when re-experiencing a rivalry than you do in the middle of summer driving along MoPac in traffic.
Those rituals also create a feeling of closeness to those you share them with. Cheering together in the stands, wearing team colors and singing college fight songs help to turn fans into family. College sports rivalries help by creating a common and respected competitor that can galvanize support.
Family relationships are powerful because family members will go to great lengths to help one another. That loyalty was on display last year when alumni of the University of Texas spoke out strongly in opposition to the seven breakthrough solutions for higher education were proposed.
This feeling of family membership also benefits the fans. Because blood relatives often live far apart, we all need some way to replace that connection that family provides. Those transcendent moments in sports where an entire stadium erupts in cheers create at least a fleeting sense of membership in a larger community.
Of course, there are lots of ways that rituals could come about. Why do sports rivalries create such a passionate outpouring from fans?
There are three dimensions that really need to be in place to create a good rivalry.
First, a good rivalry requires some degree of similarity between the rivals. In college sports, rival schools are typically quite similar to each other. Texas and Texas AM are both large state schools that draw a majority of their students from Texas. Harvard and Yale are both elite East Coast schools. Both of these are intense rivalries. Even though Texas and Rice play each other often, it is hard for either school to generate much enthusiasm for the game.
The next ingredient is frequency. The schools need to meet head to head on a regular basis. In order to sustain the rituals around a rivalry, the teams need to play at least once a season. Growing up in New Jersey, Mets fans and Yankees fans were disdainful of each other, but there was no rivalry because there were no regular-season cross-league games at that point.
The final ingredient is parity. In order for a rivalry to sustain itself, the teams have to be reasonably evenly matched over the long haul. If one team always beats the other, it is hard for the sides to maintain any excitement for the games. UT and AM traded off periods of dominance. When the NFL decided to realign its divisions several years ago, it was crucial to keep the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and Redskins in the same division because these rivals were constantly rising and falling in their dominance. It was fine for the Cardinals to be sent to another division, however, because they were rarely a factor in divisional play and were not a strong rival for any of the other teams.
When these three ingredients are combined, the outcome is energy. That energy is needed to fuel the rituals that go along with big game weekends as well as the intense excitement in the stands. That energy matters because the rituals that transport us mentally back to our past require some effort to sustain.
The executives who make decisions that affect sports rivalries are not focused on the human dimension of these changes. The decision is based on business. There might be a loss of money from game attendance or sales of merchandise, but that is factored against TV revenue and other sources of income.
When a rivalry disappears, though, it is a real loss. It disconnects us from our past and affects our relationships into the future. All the more reason, perhaps, to focus attention on family rather than sports teams during the holidays.
(CNN) — A federal judge Wednesday ordered the government to pay more than $17 million to a family that lost four members when a US Marine Corps jet crashed into a California house in 2008.
The family of Don Yoon — who lost his wife, two young daughters, and mother-in-law — said it believed it was a thoughtful, fair, and reasoned decision by the judge, said Brian Panish, lead counsel for the family.
Relatives had sought $56 million from the federal government, but in the end were awarded $17.8 million.
I think the judge was trying to send a message that family is important, Panish said of the judgment ordered by US District Judge Jeffrey Miller.
CNN iReport: Neighbor was first to call 911
An F/A-18 Hornet headed to nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar crashed into the familys house in San Diego on December 8, 2008, after the pilot reported having trouble. The house and another unoccupied one next door were destroyed by the ensuing fire.
The pilot, who ejected safely at 400 feet, tried desperately to steer the plane away from danger and screamed in horror when he saw it had crashed into the house, military documents showed.
Killed in the crash were Yoons daughter Rachel, who was almost 2 months old; his 15-month-old daughter Grace; his wife, Young Mi Moon; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, who had recently come to the United States from Korea to help take care of the children.
Wednesdays verdict came almost exactly seven years after Yoon married his late wife on Christmas Day 2004, said Panish.
Yoon has said he does not blame the pilot and has urged prayers for the pilot not to suffer.
Yoon still lives in San Diego, with his sister and brother-in-law, Panish said. He said Yoon has been doing the best he can to get through every day, but its very difficult for him to have such a tragic loss without warning.
In a statement read by Panish, Yoon said, Our family is relieved that this part of the process is over, but no sum of money will ever make up for the loss of our loved ones. I still harbor no ill will towards the United States Marine Corps and the pilot that did all he could to prevent this tragedy.
Panish said family members who testified stayed strong and told the story of a loving family and how immeasurable they felt the losses were. He praised the judge for understanding those family relationships.
The only way to know what someone lost is to know what they had, and he got what they had, and he could measure as best you can the tremendous loss they suffered, Panish said.
Some of those who testified at the trial spoke Korean and had to use an interpreter, Panish said.
He said he hopes the government will abide by the judges ruling.
US Justice Department attorney Bruce Ross told the judge that the family was entitled to just and reasonable damages, CNN San Diego affiliate KGTV reported.
The Marine Corps sacked four top officers of the fighter squadron and disciplined nine other Marines after an investigation showed deferred maintenance and faulty decisions by ground controllers and the pilot contributed to the crash.
The investigation found the jets right engine experienced a string of emergencies that left it relying on the left engine, which had already given mechanics indications of a problem.
Though maintenance rules dont require immediate repairs for the problem, the squadron flew the jet 146 times before it eventually crashed because the left engine was starved for fuel.
The investigation criticized the pilot for not consulting a pocket checklist that outlined emergency procedures. And while controllers aboard the aircraft carrier that launched the jet urged the pilot to land at a nearby Navy airfield at North Island, squadron officers relied on incorrect assumptions and inaccurate data to guide him back to the planes base at Miramar, the investigation found.
The new year has officially begun but warm memories linger as I
think about the wonderful holiday just spent with loved ones. As is
common to most families, my family relationships can be messy at
times, but in the end, I realize how tremendously blessed I am to
have them.
So Im still thinking about my familys annual Dungeness Crab
Cioppino with angel hair pasta dinner – as we have every Christmas
according to our Italian heritage. We squeezed 14 people around the
dinner table, holding hands in prayer. Then, with each hand, we
grabbed the end of a popper and at the count of three, pulled our
respective ends. Tiny toys and paper hats flew everywhere. Amid the
hilarity, we donned our differently colored paper hats and dug into
the huge bowls of crab. Like our relationships it was a messy – but
entirely enjoyable – affair.
We washed down the crab and pasta with a selection of wines -
both white and red. I kept an eye on the bottles that were poured
the most and noticed three that emptied out first: the Fetzer
Riesling (Safeway $6.99), the Taz Pinot Noir (Costco, $12.99) and
the Opolo Mountain Zinfandel (Bevmo, $24.99).
The Fetzer Riesling was popular with the appetizers of spinach
and cheese phyllo spirals my sister made and Humboldt Fog cheese.
This Riesling is easy-to-drink, slightly sweet and nicely
balanced.
The Taz Pinot Noir is fantastic for the price – plenty of
strawberries with a sweet vanilla undertone. It complimented the
mild crab and the zesty marinara sauce.
The Opolo Mountain Zinfandel from Paso Robles was the knock-out
wine of the night – bursting with berries. Its an intensely
flavored wine with a smooth, round mouthfeel that everyone loves.
In fact, we went through two bottles of it. Many times, due to its
popularity, this wine is sold out in the stores and you will need
to wait until a new order arrives.
Local Winery Buzz
My family and I rang in the New Year in Capitola, the oldest
beach resort on the West Coast and only a 45-minute drive from the
South Bay. The village, as the locals refer to the small
downtown, is a gem of a weekend getaway. Everyone is out riding
bikes, walking dogs, pushing baby strollers and toting fishing
poles to try their luck on the wharf. Capitola Village boasts
trendy shops, up-scale restaurants and several great wine-tasting
bars – all within a couple of easy-to-walk blocks.
Although the Armida Winery tasting room, from Healdsburg, pours
a wonderful selection of reds and whites, they are especially
well-known for their zinfandels. One of their most popular
zinfandels is called Poizin – The Wine to Die For. My favorites
are the Il Campo Estate Field Blend Zinfandel and the Maple
Vineyards Zinfandel. Stop by and say hello to Sebastian, the
friendliest and most knowledgeable wine pourer in town.
We walked a few steps down the street to Cava Wine Bar, owned by
Cliff Livingston and Bob Holleran. Cava Wine Bar is located a
half-block from the beach and offers imaginative wine-flights,
wines by the glass and gourmet appetizers. The marinated white
Spanish anchovies with Manchego cheese and olives are excellent
with their Mel Blancos – Sauvignon Blanc wine flight. They also
sell the wildly popular Opolo Mountain Zinfandel by the glass.
Knowledgeable and friendly staff, generous pours and live music
make Cava a favorite hangout for locals.
Its Wine Tyme, Capitolas newest wine bar, opened just in time
for the holidays and is owned by Tina Metzger. Its Wine Tyme is a
friendly and fun place to sample a great selection of wine, beer
and nibbles and enjoy the HDTV and free Wi-Fi. Frequent customers
get their own wine glass with their name on it. I thoroughly
enjoyed a glass of The Offering, a Rhone blend from Santa Barbara
with notes of cherries, sweet herbs and spices.
Related Stories
There’s good reason that many Christmas greetings wish you peace and goodwill. It expresses the hope that you will enjoy harmony and benevolence among your loved ones at Christmas, and that your relationships will survive to welcome the New Year.
Despite the sentiments of Andy Williams’s Christmas song, It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, research puts the festive season up there with divorce, moving house and changing jobs as one of life’s most stressful events. And, broadly speaking, there are five Christmas scenarios that trim the jolly and jingle the nerves when it comes to relationships at this time of the year.
At the top of the list is the Perfect Christmas to which many aspire year after year. Perfect Christmas Planners (PCPs) spend months searching for ideal gifts. They adorn their homes as if they’re going to be photographed for the holiday edition of Architectural Digest. They agitate at length about menus and recipes as if competing in the finals of MasterChef. And then, to top it, PCPs orchestrate the day as if conducting the Drakensberg Boys Choir in a rendition of O Tannenbaum.
Achieving the Perfect Christmas is hard work, stressful and costly.
And, as 32-year-old entrepreneur, Lauren explains, the family pays the price.
When I was young, my grandmother hosted Christmas and it was a casual affair. Her house filled up with relatives and friends who all pitched in to decorate the tree and prepare the meal. I have wonderful memories of relaxing, fun days of togetherness in my grandmother’s home, she says.
Things changed when Lauren was a teenager and her grandmother grew too fragile to play hostess.
My mother took over Christmas and what a disaster, she says. She’s a perfectionist and began planning the gifts, ornaments, menu, seating plan and itinerary months in advance. By November, we were sick of hearing about Christmas, her plans and how stressful it was for her. She was tireless and tiresome. The day itself was always tense. Something minor to most, but major to her wouldn’t go as planned and she’d explode.
The antithesis of the Perfect Christmas is the Chaotic Christmas, which can be just as testing on relationships. Chaotic Christmases are often organised by well-meaning but incompetent members of the family who insist, it’s our turn. Many of these well-meaning incompetents are incapable of instigating a toyi-toyi at a service delivery protest outside Luthuli House and Christmas is an equally shambolic affair.
Chaotic Christmases involve incalculable numbers of guests. Few contribute gifts or refreshments. People stand around awkwardly as the house fills up. There’s no structure to the day and no evidence a plan exists. Eventually someone, usually a bustling aunt, takes charge and upsets others because she’s so officious. Chaotic Christmases typically end with many of the guests (usually family) leaving early in a huff, while friends of friends essentially strangers stay on and have a party because they have nowhere else to go.
Property developer, Kurt recounts an #252;ber-chaotic Christmas: My younger sister and brother-in-law insisted on hosting Christmas and wouldnt accept offers of help or contributions. When we arrived, having collected my elderly parents on the way, the house was already of full of other guests, few of whom we knew. My sister hadnt even defrosted the turkey but was enraged when my wife offered to help her prepare it. We left before lunch and took my parents, who were extremely upset, to eat at a restaurant, which thankfully accommodated at the last minute. I was furious with my sister and her husband for spoiling the day.
Another category of Christmas that infuriates, frustrates, distresses and puts enormous strain on relationships is the Opulent Christmas, where members of the family try to outdo each other with bigger, better and more lavish gifts and celebrations each year.
Then there’s the Awkward Christmas, which illogically brings family members who loathe one another together as if turkey and mince pies will perform some miraculous therapy.
Finally, there’s the Grumpy Christmas, which is a lethal mix of cantankerous grandparents, hormonal teenagers and other Grinch-like characters, all of whom would rather be elsewhere. And, of course, some Christmases are a combination of two or more of the five categories. Regardless of their classification, they’re all sure to rock relationships.
Christmas tests family relationships, marriages and friendships alike, concurs Cape Town psychotherapist and coach Julie Petrie. But there are, she says, ways of minimising the strain.
You have to manage expectations. If members of your family don’t generally get on, the fact that it is Christmas is not going to change things. But if you want to be together, keep Christmas simple.
For example, go hiking with your father if thats what he likes. Bake with your mother and go cycling with your brother. Focus on what you like about people and try not to hang on to past upsets.
Dont let one person assume all the responsibilities and dont overspend. Financial issues create enormous problems in relationships. Focus on creating good memories by doing enjoyable things together. Don’t put the emphasis on luxurious food and expensive gifts but rather on good times. – Sunday Independent
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Eating dinner together as a family makes a diffence, research shows.
Teens who eat dinner five to seven times per week with their families are almost four times less likely to use tobacco, half as likely to use alcohol and 2.5 times less likely to use marijuana than teens who eat fewer than three times per week with their families.
Additionally, teens who eat dinner frequently with their families are less likely to have ready access to alcohol, prescription drugs for recreational use and/or marijuana. Plus, they are less likely to have friends who abuse substances than are teens who eat with their families infrequently.
In the most recent study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 58 percent of teens reported having dinner with their families at least five times a week, a proportion that has remained consistent over the past decade.
Are family meal times a ?silver bullet? for reducing teen risky behaviors? Joseph A. Califano Jr., the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse?s founder and chairman at Columbia and former US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, says that the ?magic that happens at family dinners isn?t the food on the table, but the conversations and family engagement around the table.?
Mealtimes provide an opportunity for family members to connect and share their day-to-day experiences.
In fact, 75 percent of teens who indicated they ate five or more dinners per week with their families said that the best part of the meal was the family interaction. Having positive family relationships is protective against teen use of alcohol and drugs.
It is important to keep teens from engaging in drug use early because 90 percent of Americans who have substance addictions started smoking, drinking or using other drugs before age 18. Children who have parents who are engaged in their lives are less likely to be involved in a host of risky behaviors. Family dinners can help parents be engaged with their children in the following ways:
Dinner provides a time to talk and listen to each other to learn what is happening in each other?s lives.
Frequency of family dinners is positively associated with longer time at the table ? teens who eat frequently with their families report that they spend nearly twice as much time at the table per meal as do those who eat together infrequently.
Teens who eat dinner frequently with their families spend more time with their parents overall than do teens who eat infrequently with family.
It is often difficult for families to have dinner together, especially as children get older and have extracurricular activities, sports or jobs after school or in the evening.
If you find that it is hard to schedule meals together, have your children do some brainstorming with you to figure out ways that you can spend more time together. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Look at your calendar and schedule family meals several times each week ? even if they are at breakfast, brunch or a late-night picnic.
Take advantage of meal preparation and cleanup times to extend the time spent together.
Avoid controversial or unpleasant topics or lecturing when at the dinner table.
Include the children in dinner discussions. They will feel valued and respected.
Ask specific questions that will extend the conversation (for example, ?What was the best part of your day today?? or ?Tell us about your plans for the football game this Friday,? instead of ?How was your day??).
Include laughter in the dinner conversation.
Have dinner in an unusual setting.
Turn off distractions, including the TV and phones. Don?t bring electronic equipment to the table. This applies to parents and children.