Rocks August 17, 2019 07:00

I like rocks. I like things older than me.

When I look at a rock I imagine how it may have been here before human beings walked the earth. Rocks are nearly eternal.

I accumulate rocks. Pick them up and put them in my pocket, then unload them in a bowl. After the bowl is full I admire them for a while then scatter them back in the vineyard. Catch and release rock collecting.

Rocks are in my vineyards. I have licked rocks. Perhaps you have too. Some are sweet some are salty.  You can taste them in my wine. I know that this is not logical but I feel that I can taste them. Sometimes feeling is better than knowing.

In the vineyard rocks offer visual interest. A smooth bolder here, gravel there to punctuate the soil.

The physical properties of rocks keep clay from clotting. Rocks don’t hold water, but they do help the movement of water through the ground. Vine roots cozy up against rocks for the water that flows along their hard surface.

Without rocks lizards wouldn't have the perfect stage to collect heat from the sun.

If there were no rocks in the vineyard we would not hear the musical clanging of steel harrow discs against them during plowing.

I would have nothing of substance to throw at a marauding crow.

Marking a location in the vineyard would not be so elegantly simple.

Rocks are fixtures in my vineyard. A beautiful reminder of our place in the cosmos.

This is my most rocky wine right now.