The There There Letter: Enology, Elevation, and Endings
Three things from DAH.
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week: Enology …
Enology, or oenology, is the study (science) of winemaking. The word comes from the Greek: oinos means "wine" and logia means "study of." Long ago there wasn't any practical difference between enology and viticulture (grape growing). The winegrower did exactly what that sounds like: grew the grapes and made the wine, all on his farm property. With capitalist-scaling-up came specialized separate professions, which is why we have schools of viticulture and enology, rather than schools of winegrowing. Davis, near where I live, is well-known in wine circles for its University of California School of Viticulture and Enology. There's also a respected program at the California State University in Fresno, California. More recently major winemaking programs have been developed at other colleges in major California wine regions: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Napa College, and the California State University in Sonoma. So much study of this liquid elixir, wine. My graduate work in history focused on winegrowing in France after phylloxera (when one wacky and ineffective idea was flooding vineyards with wine to kill the root louse), got me where I am today. Sort of.
Wines Higher Education
Second up this week: Elevation …
When I was growing up in Davis, kids used to talk about what would happen if the nearby Monticello Dam were to break, releasing the waters of Lake Berryessa to flood down upon us. If the dam were to completely disappear, Davis might have nine feet of standing water in short order. I live a few miles away from Davis now, and Woodland's 69 feet above sea level elevation ought to keep us safe (Davis is only at 52 feet above sea level). I got thinking about how important elevation was when I recently read about the increased potential for major flooding in California, with reference to the Great Flood of 1862 that completely covered the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys with water up to 30 feet deep. With our current drought-or-drowning seasonality in California, I'm wondering where we'll end up when the waters get that deep again. Major disasters reshape our places and lives.
Bigger, badder storms coming in years ahead, and California is right in their path
Third up this week: Endings …
I don't actually anticipate losing everything to a huge seasonal flood, but then I didn't anticipate sheltering at home, wearing masks, and social distancing for months on end, as is the case in our current worldwide pandemic. Obviously, big things do happen that upend the status quo. These big things require that we either surrender to the fates or pick ourselves up to figure out what next. Although I'm occasionally tired and discouraged, I still fall in the "figure out what next" camp. And so I call to mind stuffed animals. The last chapter of A.A.Milne's book "Winnie the Pooh" is titled "In Which Christopher Robin Gives Pooh a Party and We Say Goodbye." It's a party to celebrate Pooh for cleverly and bravely rescuing Piglet from the floods. At the end of the chapter, and the book, Pooh and Piglet walk home together through the forest.
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
How to Start Over In Life When You Feel Stuck
And a little bit extra …
A DRINKING SONG, by William Butler Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week: Enology …
Enology, or oenology, is the study (science) of winemaking. The word comes from the Greek: oinos means "wine" and logia means "study of." Long ago there wasn't any practical difference between enology and viticulture (grape growing). The winegrower did exactly what that sounds like: grew the grapes and made the wine, all on his farm property. With capitalist-scaling-up came specialized separate professions, which is why we have schools of viticulture and enology, rather than schools of winegrowing. Davis, near where I live, is well-known in wine circles for its University of California School of Viticulture and Enology. There's also a respected program at the California State University in Fresno, California. More recently major winemaking programs have been developed at other colleges in major California wine regions: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Napa College, and the California State University in Sonoma. So much study of this liquid elixir, wine. My graduate work in history focused on winegrowing in France after phylloxera (when one wacky and ineffective idea was flooding vineyards with wine to kill the root louse), got me where I am today. Sort of.
Wines Higher Education
Second up this week: Elevation …
When I was growing up in Davis, kids used to talk about what would happen if the nearby Monticello Dam were to break, releasing the waters of Lake Berryessa to flood down upon us. If the dam were to completely disappear, Davis might have nine feet of standing water in short order. I live a few miles away from Davis now, and Woodland's 69 feet above sea level elevation ought to keep us safe (Davis is only at 52 feet above sea level). I got thinking about how important elevation was when I recently read about the increased potential for major flooding in California, with reference to the Great Flood of 1862 that completely covered the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys with water up to 30 feet deep. With our current drought-or-drowning seasonality in California, I'm wondering where we'll end up when the waters get that deep again. Major disasters reshape our places and lives.
Bigger, badder storms coming in years ahead, and California is right in their path
Third up this week: Endings …
I don't actually anticipate losing everything to a huge seasonal flood, but then I didn't anticipate sheltering at home, wearing masks, and social distancing for months on end, as is the case in our current worldwide pandemic. Obviously, big things do happen that upend the status quo. These big things require that we either surrender to the fates or pick ourselves up to figure out what next. Although I'm occasionally tired and discouraged, I still fall in the "figure out what next" camp. And so I call to mind stuffed animals. The last chapter of A.A.Milne's book "Winnie the Pooh" is titled "In Which Christopher Robin Gives Pooh a Party and We Say Goodbye." It's a party to celebrate Pooh for cleverly and bravely rescuing Piglet from the floods. At the end of the chapter, and the book, Pooh and Piglet walk home together through the forest.
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
How to Start Over In Life When You Feel Stuck
And a little bit extra …
A DRINKING SONG, by William Butler Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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