"I never knew the earth had so much gold—"

Poem
"Feuerzauber" - Louis Untermeyer

I never knew the earth had so much gold—
The fields run over with it, and this hill
Hoary and old,
Is young with buoyant blooms that flame and thrill.
Such golden fires, such yellow—lo, how good
This spendthrift world, and what a lavish God!
This fringe of wood,
Blazing with buttercup and goldenrod.
You too, beloved, are changed. Again I see
Your face grow mystical, as on that night
You turned to me,
And all the trembling world—and you—were white.
Aye, you are touched; your singing lips grow dumb;
The fields absorb you, color you entire . . .
And you become
A goddess standing in a world of fire!

Beverage
Piri Naturel Weißburgunder

I went to a "meet the winemaker" tasting on Thursday night with Christine Pieroth from Piri Naturel, lucky runoff from the Karakterre wine festival. All of her wines were so personal and vibrant, but I especially loved her Weißburgunder — Pinot Blanc, for the Francophiles. Light and bright and vivid and a bottle with a beautiful pressing of wild carrot.

Scent
Les Jardins Français de l'Officine Universelle Buly Huile Antique Patate Douce de Caraïbes et Carotte d'Afghanistan

I just smelled this oil at my friend Amy's apartment, and it is lovely. The oil melts away super quickly and just feels velvety and supple on the skin. The scent is warm and dry and vegetal with a little spice. Subtle and earthy. The amount I'm sold on Caribbean sweet potato and Afghan carrot is no surprise, but I really must smell Scandinavian red currant and Peruvian tomato and Iraqi beetroot and Egyptian rhubarb. Like... !!! I am a sucker for garden scents of all seasons, and Officine Universelle Buly is really calling my name with these.

Now playing via Spotify "daylist"

Other notes

At the Piri Naturel tasting, Christine talked about the balance of art and craft in winemaking, and that line of what is art and what is craft is always so fascinating to me. It shows up in the creation of everything, and I've had the conversation with friends who work across all sort of different media without really coming to a clear delineation for myself.

But Christine said something about wine as a medium to express something about herself, her own identity, and her understanding of the world, and I do think there is something to that in the conversation. Is it art when the creative act asks for or demands more than the manifestation of the object? But that sells craft too short for me. I continue to wonder!

About making natural wine, Christine said, "Wine is changing. Climate is changing. Ten years ago, I was a different person — we're all changing all the time, and my wine reflects that."

And I think makes for better wine and better art.