F
or baseball fans, April is a month when everyone dares to dream of their team bringing home the ring. When the wins are tallied in October, one team is declared the victor, and there are plenty of champagne bubbles and parades to celebrate what was likely a hard-fought year. There is so much to love about the lessons of baseball, but none more than the fact that no baseball team gets to the finish line with a perfect record. Most teams hope to win as many as they lose, and even the greatest teams win only 70 percent of their games, and even that average is rare. Let that sink in; even the winningest teams in baseball lose at least 30 percent of the time.
What a wonderful perspective for our own lives. Even the best lose some of the time, but you get up, go back in and keep the attitude that the next time, you will be better. The losses are not failures, but rather experiences from which to learn, and we are all better from the experiences.
Perhaps learning from experience is why we use the term “practicing medicine” — there is no such thing as perfection. More than any other profession, medical doctors must be forever students, continuing to acquire and hone skills. When first reading this month’s Home Tour of the Visalia home of Dr. Mathias and Danka Daniels, one special room — the upstairs library — really captured my attention. According to Dr. Daniels, it is his favorite room. “It is quiet and I can study there before surgery,” reviewing the entire surgery step-by-step. A successful orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Daniels understands that to win, you must be prepared, and it is something that I had not given much thought to until the moment I read it. For those interested in what a truly spectacular home it is, please turn to page 24. “The Daniels Domain, Mediterranean Elegance Envelops Young Family” is beautifully written by Lisa McEwen, with stunning photos by Steve Cory.
I’m a “wanna-be chef,” so Lifestyle’s Epicure feature is always one of my favorites. Since Lifestyle’s launch in October 2003, I have spent countless hours in the kitchen trying to perfect one of the recipes submitted by a contributing chef. Not sure that I have a favorite, but this month’s Grilled Salmon with Lemon and Honey Dressing and Fennel and Citrus Salad by Visalia Country Club Chef Karl Merten on page 20 looks just delicious, and there’s a very good chance, like most of you, that I’ll give it a try this weekend. We so appreciate our contributing chefs as they are also continually acquiring and honing recipes for us to enjoy and, boy, do they do a great job.
As always, we want each of you to know how much we look forward to bringing you our best each month. There have been times that our staff has thought, “There is no way we can top this issue,” and then we do. We always enjoy hearing your positive feedback, and even when it’s not, we use that to continue to evolve our content. Although we are not quite ready to let the cat out of the bag, stand by for the May issue as we have some very exciting news to share with you.
Until next time,
