JPPENS

The purpose of EDUCATION is to teach people how to learn, to know how to acquire knowledge.  P arts of the learning process are made up of interactive pieces that include: memory, language, attention, processing, organizing, writing and higher order critical thinking skills. This is what public schools are charged to bring to the students of their communities. The purpose of INDOCTRINATION is to  teach a person or group to accept a set of beliefs with no room for any critical thinking.  Public schools DO NOT promote indoctrination.  The military survives on indoctrination, religious schools rely  on indoctrination...brainwashing is hiding facts, not allowing student opinions, rejecting any ideas to the institutions beliefs and does not allow for individual critical thinking.... Books and libraries are essential to allow people to engage in the search for knowledge. That some humans are banning and attempting to control what others have access to is not only crim...

My entire life has been spent attached to my one and only baby. I was presented to her by Mom and Dad on her first birthday and we have been together on and off, mostly on, for many decades.  Life through my eyes with her has shown me lots of things. Some great, some good and some we would just like to forget.  I have seen the inside of a backpack; been stuffed in a duffel; squished in a box and hugged and tugged so that my once soft "fluffy" and puffy body is now worn to about being bald. Through it all I lived a life! I got to sleep and camp in the backyard.  I went to grade school a couple times. I was taken to a few sleepovers but never understood the "sleep" part. I saw lots of cartoons on Saturday mornings and marveled at The Jetsons and what life might be like only to now see the results of automation beyond our expectations. In the 60's I was carried to boarding school; quiet and structured; lights out at 10 P.M. and "study hall" everyday from ...

This is the short version of how all this beautiful, luscious birthing of a wine begins... The clone vine (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir etc) that is purchased from vine nurseries just about anywhere on the planet that supports vines, is hand grafted onto an American root vine here. It is then usually planted in the ground at a nursery, usually on the west coast, and is monitored about three years until it is ready to be sold to vineyards for their further development. Once it has traveled to its new home, it is placed in the ground and trained usually like you see above, in a three tier system. Not all vineyards use this tier system but most do as it makes it easier to hand prune and harvest. Once the clone vine has been growing in its home soil it takes about three years to develop into a usable grape.  Keep in mind through all of this that Mother Nature leads in this long dance. Climate is what is expected but weather is what we get so there are no guarantees. A healthy mature grape vi...

  Most of us have been around for many years. Lining hallways and locker rooms in High Schools and Middle Schools, it's what we call "home". We have seen, heard and sometimes smelled too many things. We have witnessed friendships develop, dates made, relationships fade, sock hops planned, quarrels explode, first smooches, class rings exchanged, class rings returned and yes the list goes on. Remember your hallway and locker room days? Then there were white socks in penny loafers, polished white Keds, saddle shoes and dusty bucks.  Can't forget the pleated skirts with bobby socks, petticoats under a poodle swirl or jumpers and knee lengths and white button down blouses with Peter Pan collars.  Button up tight angora sweaters, bobbed bouncing hair, headbands, pin curls, bobby pins, clip on earrings,charm bracelets and perfume.  Saw loose fitting dungarees with cuffs rolled up, khaki slacks with no pleats, white socks in black polished loafers. Brown and black tooled bel...

 In my winery employment days there was not a day that passed without a guest asking me about sulfites,histamines and tannins and why they get headaches or flushed when they have a couple glasses of red wine but were perfectly fine when they enjoyed white wine. So began my easy, understandable explanation (without all the chemistry stuff). First off lets just clear up that there really is no real thing as a "sulfite free" wine. Not possible, not happening because sulfites are a natural by product of growth. They are compounds that are naturally found in the human body.  A tomato growing on a vine produces sulfites, an apple hanging off a tree has sulfites and on and on it goes. Once again, labeling on bottles is mostly controlled by marketing. Now many many people believe they react to red wine because of the sulfites. I remind them that red wine, unlike white wine is fermented with the skins, seeds, the whole deal except the stems. White is just fermented with the juice that...

Experience has taught us to pretty much know the shelf life of milk... of Cheetos... of  a can of beans... of a banana... of a pair of hiking boots... of one hour... of a sunrise... of a sunset... of a tide... of a full moon... of a glass of wine... of hope... Experience has also taught us that we aren't sure of the shelf life of a heat wave... of a blizzard... of a day's work... of a dug well... of an iceberg... of a salmon run... of a humming birds return... of good health... of a love affair... of a broken heart... of trust... of a need... of loneliness... but then again there's always hope for 2023.

  Back then ... Tourtiere pie scent engulfing all like incense rising from the burn...fish chowdah resting on the stove...nuts cracked open leaving their dredges behind... Mom's chocolate walnut fudge cut into mouth size cubes ...a sleigh of decorated cookies adorned in silver sprinkles...the fir tree dressed in shimmering tinsel topped with an aging yellowish angel...candles lit in windows framed by a frosty glow...opening a gift before bed only to find it was new pajamas to sleep in so that we would all look great for those morning  pictures...hanging hollow stockings each bearing our names... Dad singing carols in French...struggling at bedtime to sleep and giving way to maniacal laughter with siblings...parents pleading unsuccessfully to quiet the antics with "If you make too much noise Santa won't stop here" or some other pointless statement.  Young adulthood recollections of coming "home" from your little apartment excited to tell how life is going or ...