Three things from DAH.

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I pen, promote, and make change (not the coin kind). 

First up this week, Rainwater …  
A bottle of Madeira wine can retain its quality for months or years after opening. That's a rare thing. The island of Madeira is part of Portugal but lies in the Atlantic 320 miles west of Morocco. Madeira Island is the top of a huge underwater volcano. The eponymous wine of the island achieved its style being shipped in barrels from its isolated volcanic birthplace. The sea voyage provided gentle heating and oxidation. The wines are now made through the Estufagem process which controls the influence of heat and oxygen (no more need for a long sea voyage). I'm charmed by the wine, one that seemingly can last forever, and was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson. There are various degrees of sweetness in Madeira. Rich ones are nice for dessert, but I'm partial to Rainwater, a lighter and less-sweet style. Where I live it's quite easy to find the Broadbent line of Madeira wines. I'm craving Broadbent Rainwater now. Served chilled, I sip it and imagine I'm tasting the past. 
Madeira is renowned for its landscapes, lore—and its legendary wine, which graced the tables of America’s Founding Fathers

Second up this week, Remembering …  
I've taken a bold step. I've deleted all my archived email messages that are more than five years ago. I'm a Gmail user and I suppose I could keep all my emails forever if I maintain enough memory. My Gmail archive is readily searchable from my Inbox, and I've long prided myself on being able to quickly summon up information from long ago. Well, since before 2010, anyway. Now I've decided five years is a long enough history for dredging up facts. I'm going to move forward, and wear rose-colored glasses to consider anything from longer ago. Email facts can be so mundane anyway. They summon up none of the magic I experienced in those years. Worse, they capture none of the little experiences of my daily life, the sort of experiences I could have captured if I'd begun journaling back in the day. I'm choosing joy over mundane.  
The Value of Remembering Ordinary Moments

Third up this week, Rocky Top …  
Two memories.
First: Kenny Oster leading a local bluegrass band performing Rocky Top at a long-ago Mendocino wine party. A big party. Everyone up and dancing. 
Second: Driving with CHance's cousin along dark and windy Tennessee mountain roads to a lonely community hall. We enjoyed pie and square dancing led by a local string band and a folk-historian-caller who'd driven up from UNC Asheville. 
Now, as I write this, I wish I lived back in Redwood Valley, or maybe Asheville would be nice, driving on windy mountain roads in search of music and fellowship. My rememberings are lush and lovely. And undoubtedly rose-colored by time to create longing. Hearing Rocky Top does that to me, every time. 
The 50-year rise of Rocky Top

And a bit more, by Tennessee Williams … 
"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains." 
(Blanche to Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, scene 9)

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem "Sometimes" …  

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. 

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