Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
(This poem was written in 1923 and published in October of the same year)
We are into the month of October now, and I've been looking around the web to find interesting words relating to October. October is derived from the Latin "octo", meaning eight, because October was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar. It is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
My word for this week is "vendange", and it's the French word for grape harvest. Nowadays, wineries have automated presses to crush the grapes and get the precious juices for wine. But a few centuries ago, the grapes were crushed by dumping them in a huge container and the people of the village would take off their shoes and stomp the grapes with their bare feet. That always makes me think of the old "I Love Lucy" episode. ;) Does anyone remember that?
When I first started my blog, I had several ideas of things I wanted to write about and photograph. I knew I definitely wanted to blog about our local wineries here in North Carolina. We live in the Yadkin Valley region -- the Yadkin River is about three miles from our home (as the crow flies). We've visited these wineries many times over the years, and we're always amazed at how they've grown and multiplied. The first winery to open in the Yadkin Valley was West Bend Winery, and it's about half an hour's drive from where we live. I actually did a post on it back in the winter; you can read about it here. Unfortunately, that's the only winery we've had a chance to visit this year, what with all of our other traveling here and there. :-) I'm hoping we'll be able to do some winery tours before winter arrives.
Mary at Home Is Where The Boat Is has done some recent posts on North Carolina wineries, so if you get a chance, you should stop by and see her blog. Her pictures are always gorgeous! Mary's "Celebrating The Grape" posts are about Wine Appreciation Month (actually designated for September) in North Carolina. Even though it's now October, I think it's still a prime time of the year to visit the vineyards. We've probably missed the actual "vendange", or grape harvest, but you can still enjoy visiting your local winery.
Thanks for stopping by House at Forest Manor! Your visits are always appreciated!
Denise
