Monday, September 12, 2016

Carpe Diem

Believe it or not, I am capable of being introspective.  At the age of 20, during one of those times, I realized that I was half-the-way to 40.  I went on with the math and discovered 40 was half-way to dead.  Perhaps, it's my Irish heritage that's to blame for making me a wee bit morbid but I've always had a good grasp on time and it's value.  If you know me at all, you know my biggest pet peeve is other people wasting my time.

At the age of 40 or half-way to dead, if you will, I thought to myself, if I were to die today what would my regrets be?   My answer was, I would regret all the things I would have missed because I was afraid.  Afraid of failure; afraid of rejection, afraid of the consequences, etc.  And, from that day forward, I looked fear in the face and told it to fuck off.  Right; wrong or indifferent, I was going to seize the day.

To be truly present in a moment, is the greatest gift you can give yourself in my opinion.  To, stop and savor an experience is a difficult thing to do, however.  Saturday, a posse of us like minded individuals seized the shit out of the day. We had one hell of an adventure on bikes around Keuka Lake.  For your entertainment, I have assembled a picture montage.  Sit back and enjoy the show.

At 11 a.m. a gaggle of idiots formed to experience the delightful Keuka Lake Wine Trail.  Nipping on spirits is perfectly acceptable after 11 a.m.

After a long, arduous climb uphill, our first winery beckoned like a beacon.  And, it did not disappoint.

There may have been a wee more climbing but I don't really remember.  I was busy enjoying the view and the heavy scent of grapes.

In a word?  Fucking awesome!


Yates Cellar was a God send!  The hill leading up to it?  Not so much.  Still worth the stop.

Lunch view at Top Of The Hill.  You can see the bluff from our table.  After a delightful lunch we needed to lay down some miles.  We were only 22 miles into the ride.

Found this along the way at Ole Camp Good Times.

47 miles later, we parked our asses in Maloney's Pub for a last beverage together.  I will not lie, I felt at home here.  We reminisced.  We laughed.  Kim and I, watched our friends leave.  And, then we went skinny dipping in the lake.  I'll never forget this ride.  Carpe Diem, after all!

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