turkey talk

Back on the scene from holiday fun up in Northampton, MA., a happening little town with lots of cool shops and places to grab a bite. Kate and I got started on Christmas shopping on Friday, so that was a job well done. Had a hell of a time with a wine opener when our hosts asked me to uncork a few bottles before the Thanksgiving dinner with a classic, basic opener which requires a bit more dexterity that the ol' double-handled corkscrew. Now, just because I'll have a glass or two and might, from time to time, talk about wine as if I know something, doesn't necessarily mean that I can always open a bottle without either a) breaking the cork in two or b) hurting myself. Fortunately, it was the former this time, which I'm pleased about given that a puncture wound on my left leg from Easter has only recently healed up. Sure, it was a little embarrassing to look at half the folks at the dinner table with cork stuck between their teeth, but I just told myself it was wild mushrooms from the stuffing.

Anyway, this experience marked the second time I was done in by a wine-opener, the first time happening a few years ago when someone asked me to "Grab the Rabbit from the top drawer," while handing me a bottle and heading out to guests seated in the dining room. Before I had a chance to explain that I didn't roll that way, I was left to hunt down the Rabbit - a fancy, schmancy wine opener that's grown popular over the past decade or so - and try to figure out how it was employed in opening the bottle. A few minutes went by and I just could not get the job done. Guests were at the table, empty wine glasses in hand, surely wondering about the delay. So, totally flustered, I stuck my head into the dining room and asked, "Does anybody know how to use a Rabbit?", which, in hindsight, was probably not the best entreaty for help. After all the giggling and inappropriate comments died down, one of the guests came in and saved me, explaining that the Rabbit was tricky, but he used it all the time at home. (You think that I'm making this up at this point, I know, but the man said it.) I could only manage a quick thank you before grabbing a beer from the fridge and heading back out to the dining room. And I still don't know how the friggin' Rabbit works, so I'm just hoping it goes out of style. I'm already getting nervous about Christmas.

Nautical Agent is still a racehorse, yes, but we continue to have a tough time getting her in. We might have a little something, something that works for her later this week down at Philadelphia Park. I'll know more Mon/Tue. She'll need a race off of this break before firing her "A" race second off the layoff. I didn't really plan for this freshening, but it could work out and get us a few solid efforts from her as the winter months rolls in. Veiled Reference is back on the track now at Fair Hill. She'll have a light work load over the next few weeks before Tim cranks down on her in preparation for a start in late December. It seems that she's come out of that last one in good shape.