When visiting any store, it’s always interesting to look at the top shelf.

Why is this interesting? Well, part of it is marketing and part of it is that it’s easier to see since the item is at about eye level. But, that’s only segments of the answer.

Positioning a product on the top shelf means it’s important, good, the best, second to none and is the perfect whatever it is. Get the picture?

It can also be dreamland for many of us — what if…I reached for the top shelf item and succeeded? Wow! That is filled with possibilities. So let’s take a stroll together through the spirit aisle of the local beverage store.

Let us not forget these liquids sitting on the top shelf cost a hefty sum of money and, it’s up to you to determine if your learned tasting efforts are worth the extra pile of dough. And, let’s not forget there’s a middle and bottom shelf for a reason, too. If you are anything like me, I reach for the top shelf stuff occasionally but I live in the middle and lower elements of that liquor store shelf arrangement.

Okay, let’s walk and begin with the top shelf stuff. Why there’s good old Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve Single Malt Scotch Whisky. So tasty and inspiring but…oh, that cost. Maybe later…

And, there’s my good old pal — we met years ago — Macallan 12 year old double cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky! Oh, you are so beautiful…I can taste your goodness but…maybe later this year.

And, right beside my old pal sits an 18 year old Aberfeldy Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky — good on the rocks and a marvelous blending whisky.

Moving through the aisles, one can see all sorts of top shelf items — why, there’s Tio Pepe Jerez Xeres Sherry — a nice light sherry from Spain. Full of intriguing tastes but I am looking up again — it’s where I dream in the beverage store — looking up.

Speaking of dreaming, our new granddaughter in Chicago — still not visited in person — is always in the top shelf of my thoughts — as are our grandsons in New York City and, all of our children, that goes without saying. But Shiv, our granddaughter, is seen in a banner I always notice on my walks past a neighborhood store.

The woolen banner hangs by a wooden shaft and is black and white in color. It states in bold black letters: DREAM BIG LITTLE ONE.

THAT’S exactly what I want her to do during her entire lifetime. Dream big– reach up and never let anyone nor anything say you can’t or shouldn’t. If you start as a little one, you’ll do it all your life.

You know, reaching is important for us. I reached for a bottle of Ruffino Chianti the other day – we were going to have pasta for dinner and, well, you know, it’s a classic combination. The wines lovely cherry taste paired with its nice little spicy finish and spoke nothing but Italian to the Rigatoni. The two dinner items reminded me to reach for another bottle of the wine when next in the store.

Another Italian wine I enjoy is Bolla Valpolicella — a nice middle shelf wine. It differs from the Chianti in its flavor and look. Valpolicella is a deeper red in color and has noticeable black cherry and spice tastes. It’s sweeter than the Chianti but worth the arm’s stretch into the middle shelf to get it.

Finishing the meander through the middle shelf of Italian wines, I latched onto a bottle of Bella Sera Pinot Grigio. It’s the sweetest of the three Italian wines mentioned here but has enough melon and lemon taste to make sure you know it’s a Pinot Grigio.

Back to DREAM BIG LITTLE ONE, I don’t think I learned that until way later in life. My siblings and I were a product of a long forgotten type of rural upbringing — not forgotten by us but by today’s society. We were too busy to dream, I guess. Or, perhaps, we just didn’t take the time to dream — life was what it was.

That’s why I try to implant that thought in people’s minds today – especially, our children, grandchildren, extended family and friends. As you read this, you may not be little anymore but you can still dream – go for it.

In my letter that will accompany the woolen banner to Shiv, I will ask her to always hang it by her bed and look upon it every morning and every night.

DREAM BIG LITTLE ONE, don’t ever stop reaching for the top shelf.

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

Cheers!