What’s on your mind right now?

I don’t know about you, but my mind is filled with many thoughts of people, places and things. My memory bag is filled with thoughts of my family, my friends, the places I’ve visited, lessons learned (hopefully) and it seems to always have room for more memories.

Many of those lessons remembered focus on how someone or something has taken care of me and how I’ve taken care of people, places and things. The thought to take care of my surroundings came as a lesson from my parents.

One of the yearly farming practices was to spray the fields for weeds — especially, those darn prickly Canada thistles plants. They would take over a patch of the field and were a big nuisance. When it was time to spray, my father would never let me do the job. He actually told me to stay away from the sprayer and to not go into the sprayed fields for a couple of days after he’d sprayed them. I wondered why he would let me do all the other farming practices but not that one.

What I subsequently learned was that he was taking care of me. He didn’t want any of his family exposed to the chemicals and he shouldered the job.

Another lesson learned from my folks was to leave any area cleaner than when you arrived in it. That played out in our family picnics at various parks. The extended family would gather and we’d have our food, play and horse around for a bit, and then it was time to leave for home. The family adults led us around picking up trash whether it belonged to us or others.

Always leave an area cleaner than you found it.

As we enter into the time to honor our Mother Earth, let’s take some time to think about whom and what we should try to take better care of. I like the guidelines a friend of mine shared with me: do something to be connected with others; do something healthy and do something purposeful.

So, trying to follow those guidelines, who or what is your social connection? We tend to downplay these very important little moments we share with others, but they are extremely important to our well-being. Sit down with your social pal, pour a glass of Ménage à Trois Exotic Blend and let it flow. You’ll enjoy the conversation and the bright tropical notes of the wine. Smile at your social connection and at the wine — both will please you.

When’s the last time you took care of yourself. No, that’s not being selfish — it’s critical to one’s peace of mind and physical health. In today’s hectic world, it’s too easy to continue doing for others and to forget yourself. Always, always take time for yourself and improve your health or mental state. Perhaps go on a food regimen that’s healthier than your usual menu or start a workout routine. Then, when you relax at night, have a glass of Italian Cavit Riesling. There’s a nice touch of crispness in the wine to go along with hints of sweetness.

Now, let’s do something purposeful! We tend to take the earth for granted and we shouldn’t do that. During this time of the year that is designated for the earth, do something purposeful for Mother Earth. How about adopting a piece of a park, field, road ditch or a section of a river bank and pick up the trash we humans are so good at leaving behind us. How about planting a pollinator flower garden? The earth yields much goodness for us and that includes a nice bunch of grapes that are made into Dark Horse Double Down Red Blend. Blended from many California grapes, this wine is bold and deep with a full mouth feel and long lingering tannins.

It’s a Dark Horse that will always reach the finish line first — just like your efforts to clean up our precious earth.

In summary, take care of everyone and everything. Be respected to people, places and things. Not only will people be pleased with your efforts but Mother Earth will smile and smile and smile.

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon!

Cheers!