Yes, I know, it’s been a while. I could say I have a plethora of legitimate excuses, but the definition of excuse would render legitimate as a sneaky cop out.
A lot has happened since I stole minutes from your priceless allotted time, and left you numb from trying to figure out what I was saying. There, I did it again.
Recently we have been tasked with getting last falls bounty in the bottle. Long days spent standing on hard concrete, letting muscle memory take over to put our bodies into a rhythm, which, in a way, is much like that of a beautiful piece of music. In that rhythm though, comes lighthearted chatter with a look into what each one of us sometimes holds back for only themselves or those dearest to us. We see each other in this type of labor as we are: fair, and empathetic of each others sore bodies; hanging in there together.
In the short time I’ve been with Trish and Les I see their realization of what it means to take on the task of a fully integrated farm to market operation. On a farm winery using “Farm to Market” is probably a gross understatement, because your product lives on; you see it change much as a parent sees a child change through the years.
The part of this I see to have the greatest influence on all of us are those friends that come from this fascinating journey, and make it all worth continuing the cycle. I see Trish and Les building friendships that at a distance, seem to have been nourished for years, yet here they are, not even two years down the road. We would like to thank all of you for sticking with us, and especially those that have helped at bottling. These are not friends living vicariously through us; they worked there butts off, and deserve titles of : “Master Corkologist”, “Doctor of bottle Placementology”, and many others. Heal up, and pat yourself on the back.
We’re busy, busy in the vineyard now. Going out to check vineyards this week, and get ready for doing some grafting of a new variety from the University of Minnesota called Itasca. Also grafting some of my new varieties.
Okay, now for the photo. This was taken after a final blending session, and looks more serious than it was. Les had just commented on how much he enjoyed blending wines, and could probably see it as a lifelong venture. Mitchell was wondering how 3 people could be tasting the same wine when they gave descriptions that varied so greatly—I’ll forgive him for forgetting there was a fourth person involved. At this time I’m not sure what Trish was thinking, but that night I had a dream about this very photo, in which Trish looked up at me and said: “Ed, you know you can’t take a picture with that. Put the toaster down, and come sit with us. It will be all right.” Even in reality, my mind does tend to wander; once a dreamer, always a dreamer.
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