Blog - UPDATE POSTS HERE — Bob Desautels

“Life is a sum of all our choices.” Albert Camus

I like the idea that we create our own values and determine a meaning in life… and are wholly responsible for our actions.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsAugust 3, 2018

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Michelangelo

The realization that there is no such thing as perfection will always keep your goals alive.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJuly 27, 2018

“If men can run the world, why can’t they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?” Linda Ellerbee

The history of humans is as much a story about clothes as anything else.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJuly 19, 2018

Michel de Montaigne on Death and Other Related Tangents

The world I’ve experienced has not seen a major war for decades … none of my generation has gone off to battle. We have not tasted death. Does that disqualify me from writing about it? I think not. But it does make me treasure the life I’ve been given.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJuly 13, 2018

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” Stephen Hawking

My message is, quite simply, no one has all the answers. And if you think about our precarious existence on this tiny orb called earth, which could be wiped out at any moment by a giant asteroid or a nuclear war and is located in an infinite and ever expanding universe, it all seems beyond understanding.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJuly 6, 2018

“If you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will take you there.” Lewis Carroll

I felt more satisfied than ever because I was living my values through my business. My life had become authentic.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJune 29, 2018

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one,” wrote playwright George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill.

After 25 years of marriage a couple has just finished dinner and are half way through a second bottle of wine. The wife lifts her glass…

Wife – “Without you I would have never made it through all these years.”

Husband – “Darling, is that you or the wine talking?”

Wife – “That’s me talking to the wine.”

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJune 21, 2018

“A really intelligent man feels what other men only know.” Baron de Montesquieu

I know about the key activities required to create a successful enterprise, especially the restaurant business. They involve progressive staff management, production and selling techniques, accounting and finance know-how, strategic thinking and a sound vision for your business.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJune 8, 2018

“Our anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than the things themselves which anger or annoy us.” Marcus Aurelius

The great lesson for us to remember is that our perspective on things is often what counts the most.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsJune 1, 2018

A Week in Provence, France “Off the Beat and Track along the Luberon”

It seemed the buildings almost clung to the cliffs, with some structures built right into the limestone. The cliffs are 35 meters high and had helped protect the village from plunder during the times of barbarian invasions. There were olive trees and many stone walls built without grout (which have been standing for centuries).

Locavore's DigestBob DesautelsMay 24, 2018

“I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons in one religion, and it is spirit.” Khalil Gibran

If everyone adopted the golden rule, and truly believed and endorsed its logic, then a secular society, devoid of any religion, would work.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsMay 18, 2018

“The conquest of nature by an intelligence that does not love it.” Northrop Frye

Since the beginning of time, and especially since the Industrial Revolution, mankind has had a voracious appetite for earth’s resources. We extract all that we can with no consideration for the next generation - blindly using resources at any cost.

“To my parents – who held me close but never fenced me in.” Polly La Barre

Child rearing is also a craft that requires discipline, skill and consistency along with pragmatic advice that is sprinkled with words of wisdom and warmth. And never forget encouragement.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsMay 4, 2018

Carriacou Revisited “Gastronomic Adventures at the Tail End of the Grenadines”

A beautiful but small island is Carriacou, part of The Grenadines. I’ll take you on a tour of some of the eateries there.

Locavore's DigestBob DesautelsApril 27, 2018

“Except for memory, time would have no meaning.” Pat Conroy (Beach Music)

Memory and time are inextricably connected!

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsApril 20, 2018

“Save money. Live Better.” Walmart Slogan

We need to stop focussing on what we don’t have and start living richly with what we do have. As Gandhi pointed out, “The earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed.”

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsApril 13, 2018

“What is the meaning of Zen”, asked the monk. “What is the meaning of now” replied Ma-Tsu. Zen Mondo

In the leavened loaf there is strength; in the bottle of wine there is gaiety. Let us look to our kitchens and stock our cellars. Call friends and family to the dinner table.

The Rummagings of a Lapsed BoomerBob DesautelsApril 7, 2018