29

Years Old. Today. That is me. And it has been a great day. I drank many a fine beverage with my wife, rode a horse, went for a run, did a little reading, and generally just relaxed. And I am super excited to see that snow has just started falling. For the past four years I have received flakes on my birthday. It has been great. Only one of those four years was the storm big enough to ski on, but I'm not complaining. And by the looks of it, I could be skiing all week.

Wow the fall has gone quickly. Nearly two months and no post. I have been a bad blogger. I think only for the first year was I a good blogger. Probably more like a mediocre blogger, really. Who knows what the future has in store. Sometimes I think of leaving the e-books, e-bikes, e-beer behind. I will never dump the real goods, don't worry.

But that day has not come just yet. And to catch you all up to speed I can say the last two months were, well, so so. I got the flu. I had my wisdom teeth extracted. I hardly rode a bike. I was temporarily moved up to the oh so inhumane 40 hour work week, which ends Tuesday, thankfully. I went to Arizona for Thanksgiving (check out Robin's blog for a rather dramatic video and the Clegg's blog for some pictures, including some nice desert mountain biking shots (scroll down to the Thanksgiving post)).

And now it is December. The weather reports say ski season is upon us. Perhaps the blogging will come back. We'll see.

Homecoming

This weekend was Iowa's homecoming. So Robin and I decided to leave town and visit my parents in the Chicago burbs. We think it was a great decision. Our house was not burned down, or even singed, in our absence. And we had a fantastic trip full of immediate and extended family hang out time, amazing dinners, and copious amounts of beer, wine, and hot tub time.

Just before we got back into Iowa City on Sunday we veered north and went to the barn. Last Sunday's ride was so fun we decided to go for a repeat. In general the riding was not quite as good. Our horses did not always agree with us on pace or direction, and we had two big spook sessions (don't worry, we both stayed on), but the grooming and other bonding moments were quite nice. Cal and I are getting a little more used to one another, so with each ride we should see continued improvement.

And though the riding was not quite as good as last Sunday, the light was much better. So Robin snapped a few more pics of Cal and I.

In this next one it actually looks like I'm in charge of deciding where we go.

My New Girl

I have a horse! Well, I have a horse I can use. She isn't mine, but at the moment, I appear to be the only person riding her. She has been at the barn for many a month now, and her owner has not done much with her. Despite her recent inactivity, though, she is a somewhat highly trained and reliable horse. Her name is Cal, and she is a red dun somewhere between the age of 10 and 15.

A few days ago Robin and I entered into a rather loose agreement that allows me to use Cal as long as we take care of her during the farrier visits. This pretty much entails getting her from the pasture, holding her while her feet are trimmed, and covering the expenses. It is a true a bargain.

So on Saturday, we went out to the barn to see how Cal and I would get along. I would say she tolerated me. After a slow tack up and some very questionable ground work (all on my part), Cal and I went for a nice stroll with Robin and Steen (you can see another picture of Cal and I here) on a misty, gray, October day. And it was great. We did lots of slow walking and a little bit of trotting. Then we called it good.

Today we went out again and though we had a slow start, it was an even more successful day by the time we were done. Cal and I walked, trotted, and even did a fair bit of loping. And we stayed out for over an hour. As time passed she became more responsive to my fumbling cues and I started to pick up on her little habits, like dropping the trot if I would talk to her in an even, relaxed voice (everyone talks to their horse).

Hopefully this is the beginning of a nice riding relationship. But don't worry, I rode my bike and drank some beer today, too. So this won't turn into a horsey blog.

Flying Pigs

That is what we have in our house, in the shape of tiny airborne particles. Don't come over; Robin and I have been hit with the Swine flu.

OK, so it probably wasn't the swine flu. But it seems that everything in the media is flu = swine flu. Either way, it was enough to lay me out for 6 days and I'm still not 100 percent better. Poor Robin caught it second and is still working through it.

I mostly enjoyed my days off work. I was not so sick that I couldn't do any reading. So I did a whole lot of reading but not much else. Maybe this weekend I'll try to go outside and do something to elevate my heartrate. We'll see.

Cheers to You, Fall

My favorite season. Of course, I often say that at the start of every season.

167 Days . . . .

To go.

A Little German in Me

My beer explorations have steadily continued this week. Monday was my night to cook dinner, and before picking up the food I made a trip to John's beer room for the liquid. One of their knowledgeable staff members was there giving out samples of Weihenstephener Korbinian (a rather tasty doppelbock that I picked up) and their Hefeweizen. It tasted like a pretty good Hefe, but I am not really a fan of those, so I passed on it.

Then we got to chatting about Saisons and Pilsners. I was disappointed to learn that Saisons don't really travel well, hence the reason the three I have had recently were brewed in Kansas, New York, and Iowa rather than on the Franco-Belgium border.

As the weather was a little warm and sticky I asked for some recommendations on a smooth, crisp German Pilsner. He pointed out the Ayinger Jarhundert Bier, which is one of his favorites.
Many of you might recognize the Ayinger name as they are the brewers of that great goat ornamented doppelbock, Celebrator. The Jarhundert was shockingly good. A super clear pilsner that somehow packed in an exhorbitant amount of flavor. I can't wait to pick up another one. It might become one of my favorite summer beers.

The beer man also recommended a Dunkel by Spaten which had just come off the ship and was thus very fresh. This dark lager was quite a shift from the crisp pilsner we tasted first. The intial sips were somewhat dissapointing, but after clearing the pallet (which I should probably do some other way) I found the beer to be sweet and smooth. It had a big malty caramel flavor, quite similar to many Oktoberfests. I will definitely get it again.

While consuming these great brews I was reading Charles Bamforth's Grape vs. Grain, a cultural and historical comparison between wine and beer.

Bamforth is a food science prof at UC-Davis, but is originally from England. He has that wonderful British sense of humour, and he makes no qualms about his goal--to raise beer up to the level of appreciation and sophistication that wine has enjoyed for numerous decades.

And he makes a pretty good case. The book is a quick read, and for anyone who wants a brief but still thorough history of beer and beer making, it is a great place to start. I also found the wine chapters interesting, but I mostly ended up skimming those. They were equally as informative as the beer chapters, but Bamforth's tone is slightly anti-wine (though he still enjoys his fair share of it). So if you want a less scued history of wine, you might want to look elsewhere.

Tonight is date night, and with some damp, rainy weather on the way I'm thinking it might be a appropriate for something Belgian.