A Birthday Abduction (part 2)

I left you with the following clue at the end of part one of the birthday abduction:

Lee was the only one to figure out the clue, and he did it with ingenuity, so I think he deserves the credit. Clue #4 lead us to Cowgirl Creamery. I had never heard of Cowgirl Creamery before, so I couldn't really guess it and didn't have any way to figure it out (as Lee did). I came up with "cowgirl cheese," which just made my wife laugh. She kept saying, "You don't know how close you are," and she was right.

At the creamery, we got a demonstration of how cheese is made (which was pretty darn cool) and got to taste a bunch of cheese. There were a couple of cheeses that came in cups and were similar to sour cream, but I didn't like those; I don't like sour cream, either. The others were good, but one in particular stood out: Red Hawk. It's very similar to a brie, and it was awesome! We bought a hunk (which I later used to make some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches (possibly the best cheese I've ever had)). We also had lunch there.

That cheesy looking thing on my wife's plate is called a toastie. It's like a piece of bread with grilled cheese and onions on both sides. It was teh awesome!

I got the mac 'n' cheese, one of their signature dishes. It's made with two different of their cheeses and was SO good. But it was also too much for me to finish. I brought it home and was going to share the rest with my kids but, while I was out, they stole it and ATE IT! Later, when I was going to get it, it was gone! It was sad-making, but at least they enjoyed it.

Cowgirl Creamery is definitely on my list of places to visit again.

After lunch, I was given my final clue card:

This one should have been much easier for me than it was but, I guess, I was out of context. I did come up with "honey" and "wine," though. Of course, that's why I should have gotten it. Do any of you have it?

The answer is "honey wine" or mead, and I should have known that, because I had been talking for months about wanting to try some. The whole adventure actually started with the mead, because my wife wanted to take me to a meadery. Heidrun Meadery to be precise.

We got a tour of the facility and did a tasting.

Normally, we get to see the bees, too, but, well, there was the rain and stuff, and, even if we had wanted to trudge through the mud to get to the bees, they were all inside sitting by their little hive fires or whatever it is they do on a rainy day. Certainly not out flying around, though.

I bought a jar of macadamia nut honey and a bottle of Alfalfa and Clover Blossom mead. It was tasty. That's another place I want to go back to, because I still need to see the bees.

That was the end of the adventure, but it's not the end of the story, because I had a surprise of my own in store for my wife and my family!

This year, I decided to give everyone else a present on my birthday, so I got Lego all around. The kids each got something small, but I got a big Lego for my wife. Well, it's kind of for the family, but it's mostly for my wife, because for a while now she has been talking about how cool it would be to make a little Lego town. She didn't know they actually have such a thing, so I got for her the first building for her little Lego community:

She was so excited and surprised by the Lego, she conceded that I may have equaled her on the birthday surprise thing. Once we've made a place to display it and get it put together, expect another post.

A to Z Flashback: 2013 -- How To Be...

All the background here is the same as it was in my last flashback post so, rather than go through all of that again, just click the link to check it out.

Which brings us to last year's theme: How To Be...
You can go back and read the intro post, or you can go off of this summation: With the Internet, we can be whatever we want to be. Or, at least, we can find out how to be whatever we want to be. Or, more specifically, as a writer, I can find out how any of my characters can be whatever I want them to be, and I never have to leave my house to find those things out. Pretty amazing, don't you think.
And, yeah, I'm pretty sure last year's theme was my wife's idea, too, although I didn't seem to mention that in the intro post. Oh, well, I'm sure it's there somewhere.

So here's the A to Z of "How To Be..."! Remember, you can still leave comments. The posts won't bite. Probably. Okay, well, one of them might smash you, but, other than that, you're probably safe.

How To Be...
an Archaeologist
a Brain Surgeon
a master Chef
a Demolition Expert
an Electrical Engineer
a Fighter Pilot
a Genetic Engineer
a Human Cannonball
an Incredible Hulk
a Juggler (this post contains a juggling lesson from our very own A-to-Z founder, Arlee Bird)
a Knight
a Lumberjack
a superModel
a Ninja (the favorite post of Alex Cavanaugh)
an Ornithologist
a Paleontologist
Q (you just have to read this one to understand)
a Race Car Driver
a Super Spy (this is the one that explains how the "How To Be" idea came about)
a Translator
an Umpire
a Ventriloquist
a Werewolf (my number one most viewed post of all time... by a lot)
an X-ray Technician
a Yodeler
a Zen Master

After the series was over, I summed it up with a post about what the series had really been about:
How To Be... a Writer

Based on the popularity of the werewolf piece, I followed it up about six months later with
How To Be... a Vampire
Surprisingly, that post has not really proven to be all that popular. The werewolf post continues to get dozens of views each week. Sometimes, the Internet is weird.

How To Be... a Juggler

When I was in high school, I decided one morning that I should be able to juggle. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. It wasn't that I wanted to be able to juggle, just that I thought that I ought to be able to juggle. No, I have no idea why I decided that. At any rate, it was a Saturday morning, and I was at work in the gym at church, but it was a pretty slow day or too early or something, because I only had a couple of kids. They were both just skating, so it didn't leave me with a lot to do other than just be there. Maybe I was just bored, but I don't remember that as having anything to do with my idea of "oughtness" about juggling.

A few tennis balls later, and I was learning to juggle. I worked on it for a few hours until I had it down. Or up. Or around. Or whatever.

Once it was late enough that people my age were crawling out of bed, teenagers began to show up, and I had to actually do some other work; however, my best friend showed up, and I demonstrated my new skill. His response was something like, "That's great, but you're doing it wrong." He took the tennis balls from me and showed me the proper way of doing it, which was not around in a circle like they do it in cartoons. My reaction was something along the lines of, "Well, this is how I'm going to do it," because I wasn't going to go back and try to learn some other way of doing it.

Maybe if I'd had access to Arlee Bird, I would have learned to do it right the first time. What? You didn't know Lee could juggle? Well, now you do. And, due to the miracle of the Internet, something I didn't have back when I was in high school, here he is to tell you how to juggle!

Take it away, Lee! Or something like that...

     It takes a lot of balls to be a juggler.  You've got to learn to throw up and then catch what you've thrown up.  Er, this is not coming out right.   Let's just toss out this opening and let me start again.

     Juggling is an art that incorporates the mental disciplines of math, science, and physics and blends them with the physical disciplines of movement and balance.  Juggling is not difficult if you are willing to focus on what you are doing and then practice.  Once it comes to you it's much like riding a bicycle or something of that nature.

      Want to learn to juggle?   Start by learning the basic three ball cascade pattern.  This is a matter of keeping three objects moving in regular alternating arcs for a sustained period of time.  You must learn to maintain a continued one, two, three waltz rhythm with the three arcs.  A juggling count is very helpful in the beginning.

      The first step is to master one object, preferably a ball or a spherical beanbag, tossed from one hand to the other.   Learn this toss from right to left, then left to right, repeatedly without dropping and keeping the same identical arc each time.  Back and forth, back and forth, until you've perfected the feel of the toss and the catch.

     When the first arc is mastered, then start with a ball in each hand.  Focusing on the arcs, toss the first ball from the right hand.  When that first ball reaches the peak of the arc and begins to descend toss up the ball in the left hand in an equal arc, but not on a collision course with the first.  Repeat over and over until the movement comes naturally.

      As you continue the alternating passing of the two objects between your hands, begin to imagine the third object becoming a part of the pattern.  Now instead of the one-two repetition of throws, think of the one-two-three rhythm with the two objects and one imaginary object.   After the tosses, the hand movements, and the rhythm are ingrained in your mind you can add in the third ball.

      The visualization should have helped, but the actual third object might be intimidating and confusing at first.  The main thing is don't give up and keep that waltz rhythm in your mind.  In the basic juggling pattern your hand and arm movements remain the same and the arcs of the objects should also be repetitive.  Juggling is like music.

      I recommend that you practice over a bed so you don't have to chase balls or bend over too much.  You will be picking up dropped objects a lot at first.  Juggling is good exercise, but in the learning process it might be more exercise than you'd want.  Your focus on the juggling pattern will also be better if you aren't chasing objects all over the room. 

      After you've essentially mastered the basic pattern you will be ready to experiment with more arcs, heights, speeds, and other pattern variations.   And don't forget the essential rule when performing your new skill before an audience:  If  you drop something just keep going and act as though it was meant to be.   Learning the skill of recovery is one of the most essential components in a jugglers bag of tricks.

      Now go learn to juggle!  There are many healthy benefits for mind and body.  You might even be able to pick up a few bucks juggling on the street for tips.