A Hobby That Is Lucrative?

  Yes, it sounds a little too good to be true. The story told always about a friend of a friend, never first hand. An urban myth, even. The idea of having a hobby, something you like to do, that brings revenue beyond time and expenses. I have always been skeptical of claims of this nature, thinking them a beautiful dream and nothing more.
  I have a relatively new hobby, wine-making, that I wonder, could it fill this elusive role? I have made only one batch, but it was well received by those who tried it, so, why not? I could turn this hobby into a small boutique winery with little capital investment and a tasty back-up plan in case of inability to move product. The biggest downside or most difficult part of this idea seems to be in the need to spend time sitting at farmers markets trying to sell wine here in the heartland. Homemade wine, to boot.
I will be starting a new batch soon and contemplating as I go through the process and I'll keep you posted!

An Inelegant Interest... Or Not!

I had the privilege of watching the final game of the premiere league season for my beloved Red Devils (Manchester United; English Soccer League- for you unenlightened ones.) It got me to thinking about sports and other pursuits that we humans indulge in. It would seem on the face of things that a sport that consists of running and sweating and hard work would be anything but elegant, however, watching soccer, especially the English variety, always impresses me with it's grace and symmetry. So that, though the participants are sweating and sliding in the grass and mud and even bloodying each other on occasion, the game as a whole comes out to be a smooth and even sensually elegant pageant of color and movement swirling over the canvas of green turf.
The directors of this parade of unexpected elegance strut smugly up and down the sidelines showing off the latest offerings of Savile Row or wherever and add the fine touch of classy tailoring to the carnival of excitement that surrounds this record breaking nineteenth championship win.