Today’s Daily Stoic writing prompt: Nice cars, jewels, fine wine–what are these things, really?

Not mine.

Up until last fall, we owned a Porsche.  It was a lot of fun while we had it, and it fulfilled a particular wish, but it was mostly left in the garage.  It just wasn’t practical to have a car like that sitting doing nothing for all but maybe an hour every other week or so, and the joy we obtained from it was not worth what we were paying to insure it, or–once our five-year maintenance plan ran out–the regular maintenance costs.  So we traded it in for the current car, which is much more practical but still a little fun.

Jewels?  I have my mother’s pearls and her diamond ring, as well as a pair of earrings made from the diamonds that came from the ring she wore on her right hand.  I have a lot of garnets and other semi-precious jewellery, but none of it’s worth all that much.  I probably have too much of it, which is why I’ve cut back drastically on buying it in recent years.

Fine wine?  I drink wine–or good scotch–maybe a couple of times a year (and pretty much not at all right now).  And even then I’ve never seen what is so super special about high-end liquor.  It’s gone within minutes, and does not taste incrementally that better than regular ol’ decent liquor.  That’s even assuming that alcohol is something I’d actively seek out.  I have an LCBO gift card sitting on my desk from last Christmas from my former manager.  In a regular year, I’d have purchased a bottle to take to a party, but I have no need for that at the moment.  I have a small bottle of scotch and another of vodka down here in the office, but other than a couple of small toasts, they’ve barely emptied over the past year.

The things that matter to me are the items I’ve made, or that friends have created, along with books, CDs, and mementos from over the years.  None of them are expensive, although they are priceless.

*****
This morning I attended the MEDATS AGM and was amused to see how many authors of books on my shelves were also in attendance.  The perfect spring day meant a two-hour walk (where I finally got a photo of one of the snakes we often see in the early spring;  it was about a foot long).  The last part of it I spent with Shostakovich playing his own Piano Concerto no. 2 and some solo works.  Then I cooked a really lovely turkey breast roast for dinner, congratulating myself for keeping my meat thermometer.  There was more than enough for another full meal, and we’ll definitely be buying another one of these as this is much, much better than the shredded Maple Leaf turkey we had been buying (which tasted rather too processed).

Tomorrow one of the RPG games has cancelled, so I will likely spend the time gained working on my Latin poetry.  Tonight I decided to push through and get to the point on the second panel of my diptych (which may turn into a triptych, with the third panel being either all painted or partially painted, partially embroidered.)