Friday, May 23
Today I was spent. Tired. Ready for the weekend. Only, because of the holiday weekend event at the winery, I’ll have to work tomorrow. I don’t really mind, in that winery events tend to be fun. But, on the other hand, I’m tired and I want to get to work on my book.
This afternoon we celebrated my boss’s 65th birthday. It was very cool. We had fun surprising him and the jokes and laughs were many. Mostly, I was reminded why I love what I do and working with a team of good people. It is like family.
After, I met two of my co-workers at Zeppo in Lake Oswego. We shared a nice bottle of Amarone, then I ordered a Caprese Salad Tower with rich balsamic vinegar, olive oil – it was delicious. I then had the Roasted Lamb Shank, which melted right off the bone. We decided to walk down to the Boat House to sit at the bar for a night cap. I had a Manhattan with Maker’s Mark. We met this Cuban musician who chatted with us the whole time – he was very nice, interesting and engaging. But it was also a little bit on the odd side, hearing about his stories in high school doing cocaine and the nostaligic smell of his old car.
Then, we got back to the topic of Latin music – Salsa, Rumba. He asked me if I liked to Salsa. I said no. I then said I liked to Rumba. Which was a lie. But on Dancing with the Stars, it’s my favorite Latin dance, next to the Paso Doble - which is an expressive dance demonstrating a bull fight, and the Tango. The Tango scene from Scent of a Woman, between a blind Col. Frank Slade and Donna, played by Gabrielle Anwar, is one of my favorite movie moments.
The Cuban took my hand and said he was going to show me Rumba, and proceeded to lead me to a back room where there were three bongos. “Rumba!” He said. Okay. So to him Rumba was all about bongos.
Anyway, I got home and went straight to bed. Just before I fell asleep, I thought about learning how to do the Rumba, Paso Doble, Tango, Foxtrot and Quick Step. Yeah, I secretly want to be a ballroom dancer…
