Back in the Vineyard and ready to show you around throw me a DM and I will send you the location Saturday 10 AM. It’s gonna be awesome.
🔈🆙 We are a bunch of Mamas Boys.
What can you really say about the woman who made your heart in her belly? The person who loved you through every little thing you did. Who cheered for you, who was there when you cried, who was there when you needed someone most? Who yelled at you when you needed to be yelled at? Mom is the person who prays that she is sick rather than you.
When she said, “This hurts me more than it hurts you,” she really meant it.
Mom was the woman who, out of complete instinct, would look into your eyes, put out her hands in a cup, and catch your barf as it happened.
That is the definition of love.
To go against every rational thought and put out your hands to catch.
You probably didn’t think you would read that when buying a wine.
But you know exactly what I am talking about.
Mom is the person running double, triple, and quadruple duty and working, Providing, The emotional Rock, the Center of the Household. Mom is the glue that holds it all together. Constantly giving and making it work....
Maybe your Mom isn’t perfect. Maybe your Mom isn’t even close to the person I just described.
But not all Mom’s are related by birth. They are the people that sit and listen when no one else will.
They are your friends that watch your kids when you need it.
The people that pack the extra jacket and see when you need a hug.
Some of the best moms I know are younger than me. Some don’t even have any kids. But they are, by definition, MOM.
PROPS TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE RUNNING DOUBLE DUTY.
RESPECT.
My children have been raised in a bar.
On its floor.
They were there when we were painting the walls.
They were there when we ate pizza sitting on the floor.
They were there right beside us.
Every single step of the way.
Their heights, their progress, are etched into it’s walls.
I didn’t do any of this because this was my dream.
It was simply because:
My father had grapes to sell and we had children to feed.
In a word: Providence
I don’t belong here.
We’re not really in the wine business.
We’re in the Kid Feeding Business.
We’re in the monster raising business.
We’re in the good human raising business.
We’re in the make sure those kids hit their starting line at 100mph And running businesses.
We’re in the FAMILY BUILDING BUSINESS.
Family, Farming, Vineyards, Wine.
In that order.
Since day 1.
We’re in the : Honoring those that have come before us, and preparing the way for those yet to come… business.
Everything else serves that.
But wine wasn’t the goal
It’s the byproduct of the goal.
I just fell in love with everything else
along the way.
Was it all of it worth it?
Without question.
I’d do it all again 1000 times.
This is our home.
I visit my house to sleep.
….
That’s the answer to: the Why
I can’t paint
I can’t sculpt.
I can’t play a musical instrument.
I can’t sing.
however, if you give me a tractor and a tank of diesel
I will turn that into noise
And I will give you this.
If you wonder what I’m doing
It’s this
Every single day.
thank you for the job
I do it for you.
🏴 | #saarloosharvest | #blessthishustle | #wine | #losolivos | #losolivosca | #SSCo | #HonorAndPrepare | #sscoordie | @santabarbarawinecountry
The Ballad of Cash Saarloos - Cash and I had a discussion before he started playing water polo and swimming.
We were driving to school, right on the stretch where they are growing produce on both sides.
I said, everyone has something inside of them, they are scared to let out.
Something the good person in you is afraid of.
I know I have it.
Some people, go their whole lives and never let it out.
And that’s a shame.
They never go.. All The Way
And secretly, they regret it.
It haunts them.
In secret.
I made the right turn, on the long stretch to school.
I said, this may be bad advice from your father.
But, I want you to let it out.
When you hit that water,
And you go under.
Let out that terrifying monster out.
Become the beast.
Let it ALL THE WAY OUT.
And when you get out, put it back in the cage.
Be the kind person you are.
He replied. OK.
He got out of the truck and walked into his first practice.
I wondered what he would do with that little chat.
This year I have watched my son - Let It Out.
He went from zero to reco the coaches award his first year in water polo.
I watched him never swim competitively to being pulled up to Varsity as a freshman.
I have watched him transform his body
I have watched him stoically apply discipline to himself.
I have watched him eat like a criminal
I have watched him transform into a monster in the water
And when he gets out, cheer, laugh be kind.
His coach’s young son called him, “his best friend”
I am proud of my son.
I am proud I to get to be his father.
I don’t know much about swimming competitively.
But I know when I see someone that is beating on the water like it owes him money And a full commitment turn.
I know what my son did with that chat.
He let it out.
Animal.
My Grandfather once asked me my name - I said Keith Saarloos - he said your last name belongs to me “I had it first” - what you do out in the world reflects on me.
My Father gave that same speech to my children.
Your name belongs to me, I had it first - what you do with it reflects on me.
We are not a special family.
Saarloos is a bunch of vowels and some consonants
Meaningless.
Unless you give it meaning.
It is a flag you run into battle with.
Facing each day and each challenge
You can either fly it high with pride or you can let it touch the ground.
I have watched my father and mother’s grandchildren rise in my father’s absence.
Goals are set and accomplished with focus and tenacity -
On their individual passions they compete
Accolades are shared and celebrated.
The unit is strong.
I have asked myself many times - do I think it would be like this if dad was still here….
My answer is - sadly - no.
The job isn’t to be “as good” as Dad -
It’s to be even better.
To work harder, to be kinder, to be generous with our recourses, to be more welcoming, to fix, to mend, to help push, to praise others, to cheerlead, to be the first phone call,
To build longer tables and not taller fences.
To - Do - What - Is - Right
To not be Selfish.
Dad leaned all of these things over the course of his life.
He was a different man when he left this world than he was when I was younger.
He Progressed as a person.
His finishing line is our starting line.
We will Honor him with our lives.
We will honor him with our work.
His name belonged to him first.
But now it’s ours.
And there are generations coming.
And they must be prepared for.
That is how this works.
We live to Honor those that have come before us
+ to prepare the way for those yet to come.
That is our purpose.
That is the burden of glorious purpose.
I know Dad would be proud.
Of each of us.
I know he is cheering for us all.
The legacy of my father’s life will echo for generations
We will make sure of it
House Money - I don’t know how my father convinced my mother to marry him.
But I am sure glad he did.
He must have been the best salesperson in the world.
Had To Be.
One of the things that I learned from my Father in this regard
was sometimes you make promises….
and then you have to make them real.
I have never asked my parents about this directly.
I think I may just be happy to be here as a product of this marriage.
But one thing is for sure.
That when Dad convinced Mom to marry him, he was playing with house money.
I speak from experience in my own life….
I, too, married way above myself
. In a broader sense, “playing with house money” can be applied to any situation where someone feels they have little to lose because they are using money or resources that they didn’t initially have.
This can lead to a more relaxed attitude towards risk-taking.
But one thing happens when you play with - HOUSE MONEY -
You feel Undefeatable.
My Old man took my mom on a date way back in high school,
They ate fried chicken in Long Beach,
My mom said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to live here someday?”
20 Years Later They Did….
House Money
Dad Had Mom
Mom Had Dad
They were in love with the person who loved them more than any other person in this world.
They had that… It is easy to fall in love.
But when the person you love is also in love with you.
That is House Money.
You secretly hold some sort of magic in your pocket,
You have something so valuable to just you,
You can’t believe it..
You Just Can’t.
You walk through life waiting to be caught,
and it never comes.
You simply can’t believe that you are the luckiest person on the planet.
But there you are,
The Person you love more than anyone else in the world,
The person you are so impressed by,
So in Love with,
ACTUALLY FEELS THE SAME WAY ABOUT YOU AS YOU DO ABOUT THEM…
You become, Bulleproof.
Once you have that Love, everything else is trivial.
Dad always placed the Game of Life like he had House’s Money
He was married to Mom.
He actually Ways…
And, If he had that,
What more could you want?
From the Moment Dad Married Mom…..
He was Playing with the House’s Money.
What can you say about the woman who stitched you together in her belly - who set the metronome of your heart with hers.
Linda Saarloos
Mother of two sons.
Wife of the Bull.
Youngest of 6 wild brothers and sisters.
She road from Minnesota to california in the back window cubby of a car.
Daughter of the only man who would climb 60 feet to the peak of the church to set the beams together.
A four sport varsity athlete and cheer leader and CIF woman of the year.
The woman my father had to wait 6 weeks just to get a date with.
And when he did, after the first date - told his mother “she is the one”
2X cancer survivor and currently wrestling the third bout into submission.
She possesses a warriors ethos and an artist soul.
She paints - she builds - she mends - she makes.
Her talents overwhelms
She treats everyone the same.
Status is meaningless to her.
She befriends everyone.
If a coach couldn’t make practice she would lead it herself.
There is nothing she cannot do.
She seeks challenge.
She loves competition.
She will never let you win, but she will teach you how to play, and give you her secrets until you become a worthy opponent.
She will love you beyond measure
She will patch you up and send you back out.
She raised two barbaric sons.
Sons that punched in the face.
When we tore up the house she would just “send us outside” to finish it.
Even when we thought we were getting away with it, we weren’t.
Yet - in the midst of our chaos
She made the choice
To not break our spirits.
To not demand control- but to lovingly point us in the right directions.
Her Grandchildren are her testimony.
She loves them, she fosters their creativity, their audacity, their tenacity, and cheers their victory.
She has their love.
But she also has their respect and admiration.
Her sons are in their 40’s and are still mamas boys.
Each of her sons married young, to women of her caliber.
Simply because we knew what to look for.
I’ve always suspected she could lift a car if no one was looking…
My mother would have made a fine astronaut.
It is impossible- not to Love My Mom.
Wonder Woman is real.
Her name is Linda Saarloos.
Love you Mom
Everyone in life needs someone - someone who shares your blood, your code, your name.
Someone that would come over the boards for you.
@brady.saarloos and @cashsaarloos have that in each other.
They are each others brother.
Since they had been wee little ones, their magic has been real.
Their hugs were long, meaningful, and deep.
They would size each other up,
See who was stronger
They have been each others measuring stick.
Separated by distance - but their code is the same.
Each are their own individual
Perusing their own passions.
Becoming their own Men
They are a contrast of each other.
But ultimately bound together in their core value, their code.
I couldn’t be more proud of them.
The better, more refined, versions of my brother and I.
I would do anything for either of them
I know my brother would do the same.
Last summer I watched them watch the entirety college World Series in the dugout - their shoulders touching the entire time.
Leaning on each other.
Their individual personal space at zero.
Yesterday we bottled their wines - Mischief + Mayhem
I took a couple labels and stuck it to a picking bin
Their Shoulders lined up and touched perfectly.
I wish I could say I planned this.
But I did not.
It happened. All on its own.
A true moment of beauty.
Since the beginning - I have put the photos of those I love on the wines we have made.
If we only got to do it once, I wanted that.
Looking at people I love gave me hope.
It made me work harder.
There was no guarantees of success or a second shot at this.
If I did one thing right - it was that.
Now - I get to watch those I love grow up on these bottles.
Marking the inevitable beauty of the passage of time.
Everyone needs someone that would come over the boards for them.
Even if they never need them to.
To know that, gives you a sense of pride, of honor.
It propels you to do something great in your life.
A measuring stick
I have my brother.
These 2 have each other.
Fine young men with sisters they love and love them.
Benchclearers - Mischief and Mayhem
I couldn’t love them more.
Fine young Men.
Shoot me a DM to have fun on Saturday.
It’s a hoot.
Earth Say : Farmers are the fairer Conservationists. Us little guys are fighting the good fight. Balancing our ecosystems to provide for those around us.
Raising Healthy Livestock - Growing Healthy Food.
We are Stewards of our Land.
We value the long game more than the immediacy
We are not the enemy.
We are the providers.
Drink Local - Eat Local
Happy Earth Day.
Eart may not be perfect,
But it’s still he only planet
you can get a decent meal.
🏴 | #saarloosharvest | #blessthishustle | #wine | #losolivos | #losolivosca | #SSCo | #HonorAndPrepare | #sscoordie | @santabarbarawinecountry #earthday
Go check your email.
In honor of BIG LAR
Link in profile and on my stories
I wrote way too much in the email and on the website, so I’ll save you some words here.
Go look.
Tell the World! 🌎 Send me direct message and I’ll send you the location this Saturday morning.
It is awesome.
Best tour in the World.
I promise a good time or 100% of your Money Back
Gar-Ron- Tee’d
🏴 | #saarloosharvest | #blessthishustle | #wine | #losolivos | #losolivosca | #SSCo | #HonorAndPrepare | #sscoordie | @santabarbarawinecountry