Perfect Moments

by Beth Alexander Walsh

I have a picture as my background on my computer that I consider a perfect moment. We were in Napa Valley for our thirtieth wedding anniversary visiting various vineyards. I had spent hours researching, booking and making our itinerary months in advance. We were half way through our second day of sipping wine when my husband received a text from a friend, telling him we must visit Pride Mountain Vineyards and bring a picnic lunch. My husband was immediately keen on visiting the next day. I explained to him that we already had reservations elsewhere and most likely couldn’t get in on such short notice. I was also a bit annoyed that he wanted to change an itinerary that I had spent so much time on and that he had approved. I finally gave in and called the vineyard and much to my surprise they had room for us to attend the tour the next morning. I cancelled our previous plans and then asked my husband to stop at a grocery store for our picnic lunch before going back to our hotel. He replied that we didn’t need to do the picnic part and didn’t feel like stopping. My terse response was that we were going to HIS vineyard and we WOULD be taking a picnic lunch. He obliged and we stopped and picked up a few dubious looking premade salads.

The next morning, we headed out to the vineyard which was almost an hour away from our hotel. I was still slightly perturbed that we would not be visiting the other destinations that I had booked. The ascent to the summit left me breathless, not only because of the views along the way but the narrow winding roads had me grabbing the roof handles in the car. We made it to the top in one piece and climbed the stairs into a very ordinary looking building. Our tour guide turned out to be from Massachusetts and she gave us a taste of their Viognier wine. To this day it is still one of the best tasting white wines I have ever had. The tour was typical of many that we had taken and I wondered if we should have kept to our original schedule. At the end of the tour, the guide took us through huge double doors to an outside deck and astonishing views of the mountain, vines, and valley. We bought several bottles of wine to ship home and asked for a chilled bottle of the Viognier and directions to the picnic area. They supplied us with a basket with plates, napkins, cutlery and of course wine glasses. We made our way to an even more stunning view and sat quietly eating our meager salads, which now tasted as fantastic as our wine and vista. Our change in schedule became a perfect moment and we loathed to have it end.

I have been lucky to have many picture-perfect moments in my life. Our wedding day. Eating fish on a deck overlooking the ocean on Maui during our honeymoon. The first pictures of our babies soon after they were born. Standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon with our children. The innumerable photo opportunities at Disney World and the countless sunsets from land and sea.

It is the ordinary moments in my mind’s eye (and heart), however, that I find to be the most extraordinary. The many private moments a husband and wife share. Feeding an infant in the quiet of the night where it feels like there is no one else on earth besides us. The sublimity of every dog that has graced my life. Vacations at the lake when that good kind of tired sets in from swimming, snorkeling and fishing all day and you fall into easy satisfying sleep. Weekends away with friends or family where my jaw aches from laughing too much. Sometimes it is just sitting on the deck watching the birds come and go from the feeder. They are all perfect moments where time has stopped and my mind is present for the gifts before me. The beautiful part of perfect moments is that they happen every day, you just have to stop and notice them.