W(h)ine and cheese

This is the part of blogging that is totally self-indulgent.  Probably a bore to the reader, but very cathartic for the writer.  Tuesdays are my late day at the clinic.  Sometimes I get out by 6pm, but often it is later.  Today I had the extra pleasure of having to run to the grocery store after work.  A short trip, but still it had me getting home at around 7:45pm.  After being gone for 11-12 hours, the first thing I want to do when I get home is sit.  Oh sitting sounds so good.  But I know me and I know if I sit, I am done for the evening.  Animals come first.  Every Tuesday it is the same.  I come home and inside my head is this incredibly whiny voice that is complaining about having to do evening chores.  It is funny how I struggle with this every Tuesday.  Seems as though being tired = being whiny inside my brain.  In the summer it is a little easier because it is warm and light outside.  But today, it was chilly and rainy and dark.  But I went outside to feed and water the chickens because I have to.  Because they can't take care of themselves.  Doing the chores in the morning is way more distasteful to me then just getting them done in the evening.  My brain says "just get it done".

And every Tuesday it is the same.  I get home from work.  I want to sit. But I go out to do chores.  And when I get into the chicken pen and it is dark and quiet, I hear this quiet cooing from the roost.  It is one of the most beautiful of all sounds.  It is the sound of contentment.  To know that the animals you care for are content is a beautiful feeling.  My soul is healed and the whining is gone.

So to celebrate my incredibly whiny voice that was mellowed out by the simple purring of chickens on the roost, I decided to open a bottle of wine to have with my 8:30pm dinner.  River Rouge from Chalet Debonne winery.  Here's a trivia question for you: how many wineries are  there in Ashtabula County?  There are 17.  Or least according the visitashtabulacounty.com web page.  All along the south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario is winery country.  It's not like California wine.  But whenever possible, I like to support the local wineries.  I just don't advertise it much because even though I love a glass of wine with dinner, I am no wine connoisseur.  Tonight's pairing with the wine was leftover chicken taco burgers with pepper jack cheese.  They were entirely homemade chicken taco burgers starting with butchering my own chicken, but for some reason that pairing just seems odd.  It works for me though and in the end, that is what counts.