Life Lately

Posted by H.A. Larson November 19, 2024

Life Lately

As usual, life doesn't sit still for me, and I'm more than fine with that. Life is best when you're actively living it, after all. The first two weekends of October saw me in the UK (or recovering after the trip) but the following weekends have been just as busy.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am signed up for several email newsletters, one being the Nebraska Game & Parks. I saw that they were collaborating with Glacial Till Vineyard.

The collaboration is a limited-edition tangerine-flavored cider called Slow Poke, in honor of the Ornate Box Turtle, Nebraska's State Reptile. In honor of the occasion, a special event open to the public was held at Glacial Till Cider House on Friday, October 11th. I asked my friend Libby if she wanted to go, so we headed out after work.

We saw that the event was going to be more of a presentation and we didn't want to get stuck there because we had a second event we wanted to attend. Still, we drank a glass of Slow Poke and each bought a 6-pack to take home. It's a delicious and refreshing cider. So, what was important enough to take us away?

Oh, only Hector Anchondo playing at the Soaring Wings Friday night concert series! If you don't know who Hector is, he's a world-famous blues musician from Omaha who got a start in a rock band aptly named Anchondo. This was the next to last weekend of the Friday night concert series at Soaring Wings and I was sad to see so few people in the crowd - unusual for this place.

It was a beautiful night and Hector's voice weaved a bit of magic into it all.

The next night, I had tickets to a metal show (my favorite) where I was excited to see all the bands,

but in particular Kublai Khan (hardcore), and

Lorna Shore (deathcore). I used to be like other metal elitists and make fun of deathcore, but I have to admit that deathcore has come a long way and Lorna Shore is the best of the best. The whole evening was great, but these two bands in particular made my night.

That Tuesday, my son and oldest child, turned 25 - no joke. Remember here, back in the day, when I referred to him as "The Teen"? LOL Time sure does fly.

Anyway, since I give my kids experiences now instead of gifts, I had talked with my son to see what he wanted to do for his birthday. He took work off the weekend after his birthday to come down to Omaha.

I hadn't seen him in like two months (except briefly) so I was quite ready to spend some time with my boy. In anticipation, I picked up some of his favorite wine, a cake, and a nice charcuterie spread. He, myself, and my daughter greatly enjoyed this over a nice conversation. After a while, my son was like, "I want to go do something." So, I asked, "Soaring Wings?"

I loaded up the charcuterie in my "on-the-go-charcuterie-board" which in reality is a pie-carrying, locking-cover tray that I bought earlier this year from Dollar Tree. It just so happens to make an excellent mobile charcuterie board which is the reason I bought it. Anyway, since it was the last Soaring Wings Friday night concert series of the season, it was nice to get out and enjoy the weather and some live music. The two of us enjoyed wine, while my daughter (who's 18) had a few mocktails.

The main event for the weekend was that my son wanted to go to Vala's Pumpkin Patch, so after a leisurely Saturday morning we headed there for the evening.

He convinced me to buy their food pass in addition to tickets, and that turned out to be a great idea. When we went to the Sip Nebraska event in May, we got to sample some of Vala's hard cider, something they never used to sell. Since I hadn't been to Vala's in years, it was cool to see how much it's grown and the big Cider barn was our first destination, where we also got a pretzel using the food pass.

Drinking and using a map to figure out our game plan. Cheers!

We sat two different times to watch this band play, and they were pretty good.

We rode the tilt-a-whirl.

Watched a gorgeous sunset.

Took in a magician/comedy show.

And got to see the patch in all its evening glory.

I had never been there at night, and it was a completely different experience.

We loved it.

The next day, we were up pretty early and had planned on taking an Autumn Drive - something I do every year.

We headed down Hwy 75 so we stopped at Union Orchard for a glass of wine. We headed to Kimmel Orchard after this. It still wasn't great, just like the last time I had been there, but it was along the way.

We then made our way across the border into Iowa, and over to Bodega Victoriana Winery. They had live music on this beautiful Sunday, which was a nice surprise, so we enjoyed our wine on the back patio.

The last stop of the day was Keg Creek Brewing. They moved locations from the last time I was there.

The following Friday, I started at my new position on campus and had a quiet weekend.

The Friday after that, I had a colonoscopy - oh the joys of getting older. It wasn't a pleasant experience, so I spent the rest of the weekend sleeping and recuperating. On Sunday, I felt better and really wanted to get out. My friend Rebecca agreed to go with me on an Autumn Drive, my second within a few weeks.