Every time I cast my gaze toward what is slowly becoming a vineyard, I think of my late sister-in-law, Lynn. Her last visit to Four Cedars Farms came just one year ago, when she and Tony drove down for lunch before going to the Rock Bend Folk Festival.
The weather was miserable that day; rain was persistent and there was a bone-chilling wind that foreshadowed November. When they arrived, I mixed up a salad, turned on the oven and we baked fresh hand-tossed pizzas and focaccia. Tony opened a bottle of red wine made at the nearby Cannon River Winery and we had a wonderful lunch. We ate. We drank. I updated them on our research into grape growing and told them we’d decided to proceed with a vineyard.
If we could have subtracted the affects of the weather outside, it would have been a perfect afternoon. But they couldn’t ignore the weather because they were heading to an outdoor festival in St. Peter to hear Eliza Gilkyson, who was performing at 5 o’clock. She was Tony and Lynn’s favorite folk singer (and since has become a favorite of mine). After lunch, as they put on a few extra layers of clothing, I dug out a blanket to lend them and they were on their way. I worried about how they’d fare in the rain, but Tony assured me they were well prepared. He thanked me for the blanket and later told me how, under it, they’d huddled closely together to stay warm.
The 2007 Rock Bend Folk Festival in St. Peter is coming up this weekend and as I look at the cloudless sky, I wish some of that day’s rainfall could be conjured to moisten the 500 pounds of grass seed we just spread across the vineyard floor. Historically, September is the best month to seed a new lawn since temperatures usually moderate and morning dew provides substantive moisture. But it’s hot, near ninety degrees, it was hot like this yesterday and the forecast is for more of the same at least until Friday. Two and a half acres of seed is too much ground on which to lay a protective cover, too much soil to sprinkle.
That leads us to prayer. We look skyward and pray that a kind rain will come yet hungry birds will not. We pray that despite summer-like temperatures, the morning dew will provide the moisture this seed needs to germinate. In other words, we put our investment in the hands of God much like farmers do each spring. And while farmers do put their faith in prayer, wise ones also buy crop insurance. We don’t have that option.
But we have Lynn – our vineyard angel. I’ve written how it was she who first envisioned this land as a vineyard and we’re proceeding with our plans in her memory. On Sunday, on the north end of the vineyard, we started a memorial garden including a statue of an angel set in place to watch over the land. The statue represents Lynn perfectly; she was a gifted gardener and a woman who trusted God completely. She also was a get-it-done kind of person; if anyone can implore God to send us some moisture, it’s Lynn.
Of course, if anyone of you have time to send up a prayer, for Lynn, for her family, or for rain, we’d be much obliged.
The weather was miserable that day; rain was persistent and there was a bone-chilling wind that foreshadowed November. When they arrived, I mixed up a salad, turned on the oven and we baked fresh hand-tossed pizzas and focaccia. Tony opened a bottle of red wine made at the nearby Cannon River Winery and we had a wonderful lunch. We ate. We drank. I updated them on our research into grape growing and told them we’d decided to proceed with a vineyard.
If we could have subtracted the affects of the weather outside, it would have been a perfect afternoon. But they couldn’t ignore the weather because they were heading to an outdoor festival in St. Peter to hear Eliza Gilkyson, who was performing at 5 o’clock. She was Tony and Lynn’s favorite folk singer (and since has become a favorite of mine). After lunch, as they put on a few extra layers of clothing, I dug out a blanket to lend them and they were on their way. I worried about how they’d fare in the rain, but Tony assured me they were well prepared. He thanked me for the blanket and later told me how, under it, they’d huddled closely together to stay warm.
The 2007 Rock Bend Folk Festival in St. Peter is coming up this weekend and as I look at the cloudless sky, I wish some of that day’s rainfall could be conjured to moisten the 500 pounds of grass seed we just spread across the vineyard floor. Historically, September is the best month to seed a new lawn since temperatures usually moderate and morning dew provides substantive moisture. But it’s hot, near ninety degrees, it was hot like this yesterday and the forecast is for more of the same at least until Friday. Two and a half acres of seed is too much ground on which to lay a protective cover, too much soil to sprinkle.
That leads us to prayer. We look skyward and pray that a kind rain will come yet hungry birds will not. We pray that despite summer-like temperatures, the morning dew will provide the moisture this seed needs to germinate. In other words, we put our investment in the hands of God much like farmers do each spring. And while farmers do put their faith in prayer, wise ones also buy crop insurance. We don’t have that option.
But we have Lynn – our vineyard angel. I’ve written how it was she who first envisioned this land as a vineyard and we’re proceeding with our plans in her memory. On Sunday, on the north end of the vineyard, we started a memorial garden including a statue of an angel set in place to watch over the land. The statue represents Lynn perfectly; she was a gifted gardener and a woman who trusted God completely. She also was a get-it-done kind of person; if anyone can implore God to send us some moisture, it’s Lynn.
Of course, if anyone of you have time to send up a prayer, for Lynn, for her family, or for rain, we’d be much obliged.
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