Let’s get started
It’s been awhile since our last post and I’ve realized that one of the barriers I created for myself is thinking everything I published had to be a long-form, polished piece. Those take time to produce – at least for me, they do. And they’re easy to postpone for days, weeks, or as we see now, even months!
So I’m taking a cue from the folks who create “digital gardens” – places on the web that “aren’t refined or complete – notes are published as half-finished thoughts that will grow and evolve over time.” This is an experiment. I’m starting it here – the key word being “starting”… not waiting for the perfect time or perfect content.
Like so much else we’ve done right, this was Mary’s idea
While we sat on our patio last night, she said “I think that wherever we go this year, we should tell people we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary”. And, like I usually do, I agreed. Then I decided that I’d like to write about how we celebrated, which brings me to this post.
I’m going to start it today with a short vignette about how we’re celebrating this year. And I’ll add to it over the coming days, as good digital gardeners do. At the end of May, I’ll start a new post for June. Then one for July, and so on, until I finish the year or run out of gas, whichever comes first. (It’s an experiment, right?)
Here we go!
Day -1: May 23,2026
Our anniversary is May 24, but we had a lovely time the evening before at the Rivaura Winery in Juliaetta, Idaho, about 17 miles from our home. Mary had been there a few weeks earlier on a girls’ night out with a couple friends and had been waiting for a chance to take me there.
The winery estate vineyards are located on both sides of the Clearwater River, northeast of Lewiston. The tasting room, where we sat, has one of the best views we’ve seen anywhere.
We enjoyed a bottle of Rivaura’s 2024 Viognier. It’s a white wine varietal that we like, but don’t often find in regional wineries. Along with the wine, we had a charcuterie tray prepared by a food truck that was on site.
After we got home, we sat on the back patio with another glass of wine and took advantage of the warm, quiet evening.
It was a great way to kick off the anniversary year.
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Day 1: May 24, 2026
This morning, after we ate breakfast, Mary spent 30 minutes reading me jokes posted on Bluesky by a guy named SeaTea. We both laughed our asses off. Starting your day with that kind of endorphin rush pretty much guarantees it’s going to be a good day.
Here’s a sample.
And another.
I’ll stop now or we’ll be here all day.
I wasn’t looking for another social media account, but decided that I should sign up for Bluesky today. You can follow us there:
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There’s more to come.
We’ll be adding new vignettes as the month progresses. We hope you’ll visit this post again to see what we’ve done to celebrate.
Until next time,
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
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