I am well aware that wine is not the normal drink of choice at a poker game.  But that night, that’s what I wanted, so I brought some with me.  Unfortunately, the host did not own a corkscrew, so my desire was left unfulfilled.

The same thing could have happened on my first night in Quebec.  Just before our arrival, my friend and I stopped at a gas station where I was surprised to see a lovely selection of wine including my favorite: Montepulciano.  I bought a bottle for our host (well, for me, but you know what I mean).  That evening, we brought the bottle out to the patio to have with dinner.  He looked at it and confessed that he did not own a corkscrew, but then mumbled something and went back into the house.  He returned with a power drill, a screw and a hammer.  He drilled the screw into the cork, then, as if pulling a nail out of a wall, he used the hammer as leverage and popped the cork.  My friend and I stared in amazement.

Three days and plenty of sight-seeing later, this is still my favorite moment of the entire trip.  It sums up what life is about in a way: you can either say it can’t be done, or you can instead figure out how to accomplish it:)