All of us have begun a journey by doing exactly the same thing. We all began whatever adventure by taking little steps before we are confident enough to take big steps.

I doubt if any of us can recall taking our first steps. The one thing I’m sure of is that there was always someone there helping us by holding our hands and guiding us. With experience and confidence, those little steps became the adult sized steps we take today. Someone guided us.

Remember when you began to drive? The learning experience was guided by a driving instructor or our adult family members. I took classes, gained my driver’s permit, and took the huge steps to pass my driver’s test. Back then, all vehicles were manual shift type cars. One had to learn to begin by putting the gear shift in first gear, gently operate the foot clutch, shift into second gear, operate the foot clutch and put the car in the third gear — the driving gear. There were a bunch of coordinated efforts leading to that final big third gear, and once again, someone helped me to be able to do it.

How abut taking those first little steps to be a writer? I am honored to have the acquaintances of a number of writers, and I’m always amazed how they pull together the threads of thoughts to tell a story. These talented individuals have taken many little steps, and they have flourished. Not one of them would say they did the trip alone — someone helped them along the way.

The universe of wine is loaded with steps. Upon starting my journey to learn about wine, I erroneously thought that tasting was the initial step. Boy, was I wrong! Apparently, I wasn’t paying attention during my years of schooling. To fill in one’s blanks on a subject, one does research first. Then, you proceed onward. For me, the good thing about all those beginning tastes is that I enjoyed the beverage so much that I knew there had to be a story behind every wine.

One of the first steps for me was to correctly pronounce the type of wine in my glass. From Riesling, that sense of learning led me to cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay, merlot, Viogier and Tempranillo to name a few. But, then, taking the steps to learn the history, the vintners, the geography, the processing procedures and the maze of grape varieties of each wine was awesome. Each little step allowed me to take another step into the vast world of wine. Thankfully, with the help of many people, that journey continues today.

I expect you also know that there are times in life when one’s big steps are reduced to little steps. The loss of mobility speaks to that walk. However, once again, there is usually someone to assist the person during those moments.

Our country’s democracy began with little protests over taxation, and we know how that has grown into our beloved country. Even today, there are folks who would like to see our nation step back in time to the days of a few men ruling all aspects of our lives. Let’s not hesitate to take little steps to save the large step known as our country.

When we first moved to Red Wing, getting around was a bit mystifying. Our past home town was laid out on a north/ south gird. You knew exactly how to get to another address by following the straight streets. As we know, streets are not on that north/south axis here. They are defined by Old Man River and the bluffs. Challenging at first, but so exciting to learn the lay of the land. It took me many little steps to learn how to begin to use my big steps around town. But, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

From beginning to end, our lives are filled with little steps. Let’s always be there for each other.

May you never stop taking little steps.

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

Cheers!