Weekend Wrap-Up: Wine, Water Polo, Hike

Such a fun, extended weekend of get-togethers with friends featuring beautiful snack boards and great wine. On Thursday and Friday, I got together with a friend of mine from San Diego. She was in town for her son’s water polo tournament. He’s an accomplished water polo player and his team was competing in one of the two annual major events for CA high school water polo. She and some Moms AirBnB’d a nice house nearby so we hung out two nights in a row. It was great to see her. She’s a wonderful person and I really liked the other women she was traveling with.

I also went to a quarter of a water polo game. The athleticism required is impressive. The sprint swimming, legs-only water treading, and just understanding the movement and flow make the game seem very challenging. Also, as someone who was not a standout athlete in high school nor would have spent the money on travel teams, it’s a pretty wild scene in terms of how much they are spending on the sport and the team. I didn’t say anything because it would likely sound rude, but it seems a little nuts for high school amateur sports. Although for some of them, it’s their ticket to an impressive university so I get it- there is more than one game being played.

As I left the pool, I passed the school’s animals. I felt like it was a small petting zoo!

On Saturday, SMS and I hosted a vertical party, where we opened four bottles of the same vineyard’s wines from four different years: 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The wine was from Bohème and a pinot noir from their English Hill vineyard. Initially, we planned a dinner but given that everyone turned up mid-afternoon and hungry, we had a snack-y linner-style meal. It was a lot of fun. SMS had some tasting notes and it was so much fun to taste together. Everyone gave their thoughts but we’re definitely not professionals. 2018 and 2019 were the preferred years, with 2018 having a slight edge.

I had made cheese and fruit plates. For more substantial eats, we had a chickpea salad, romaine/dill/feta salad, and delicious garlic yogurt marinated grilled Za’atar chicken with tzatziki. I tried to have a complimentary food + wine menu but our tasting was wine-only, which I think it good for a pinot. Sometimes cabs are strong enough to almost need food, but pinots seem more drinkable. We certainly didn’t run into any problems drinking them so I think my plan worked.

Even though it was a warm day, we didn’t go into the pool too much. One couple brought their kids, who I’m sure thought we were the height of boring. I still have such a clear memory as a child wondering how adults could just sit around and talk for hours. And now, here I am. SMS did go into the pool with the older kid though. We’ve known him since he was two and while he tolerates me, he and SMS have a special bond. Yesterday, the big bonding topic was Taco Bell and since SMS worked at Taco Bell in high school, the kid thought SMS was even cooler than before. Which didn’t even seem possible, and yet.

This morning, I wanted to head out for a hike. It had been awhile and it just seemed right. SMS was feeling a little lazy, but rallied and we were both glad we went. Because it was warm and sunny, we picked a shady hike we did a little over a year ago: Grabtown Gulch. It was drier than before, so no banana slugs this time. It’s a little over 4.5 miles and a loop that takes you by Purisma Creek through second-growth redwoods.

An interesting fact about how redwoods grow is that when there is a large tree that falls (or is logged), smaller trees will arise from the original tree’s root bundle. This results in several trees growing in a circle that, at least according to the ranger at Armstrong National forest, they call a fairy circle.