Looking out over the vineyard from our home, I see Winter asserting its cooling authority and I remember the warm magic of Spring and Summer.  How excited all of us were in March and April to see the first green leaves on our winter-darkened vines. It will be here shortly.

And then the coming of the tiny green berries on the vines. Soon, we hoped, they would become the golden grapes of Chardonnay followed by the black red grapes of Cabernet…and they did! That rhythm of each year always reassures me that, yes, there will be another harvest…and another vintage of wine. Nature’s promise is rarely broken here in California. We know Nature’s blessings and are deeply thankful for them.

But then, I think, waiting beyond every harvest is another gift. That’s when the vines bid farewell to the year in a swath of colors like a great banner laid across our land and our neighbors’ lands.

Endless shades of gold and orange and red…and the myriad blendings of each and all. Look quickly, I often think, because as with all such wonderful performances of Nature, soon it will be gone, leaving behind the dark vines in their somber browns of Winter again.