About
I was born in Walla Walla, Washington. I never imagined I would return and settle down. It took years of traveling and living in another country for me to return with a true appreciation for this place I once again call home.
For the last few years I taught at Walla Walla Community College. During a poetry lecture one afternoon, I remembered Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to Wine” from my own college days. I had memorized the poem just as I was awakening to life, to love, as the world was brightening for me.
Wine, color of day,
wine, color of night,
wine with your feet of purple
or topaz blood,
wine,
starry child
of the earth,
wine, smooth
as a golden sword,
soft
as velvet,
wine spiral-shelled
and astonished,
amorous,
oceanic, …
Yet, as Neruda explains, wine is about so much more than love in the desert, the birth of song, joy that “grows like a plant.” Although wine “moves the whole springtime,” it is still about more. As I continue to learn, wine is largely about community and fellowship. In the spirit of fellowship, I am reminded of the joy of wine “on the table.”
I love to have on the table,
while people are talking,
the light of a bottle
of intelligent wine, …
“Ode to Wine” struck a chord; I found one more connection to this valley. I have experienced that “light of a bottle of intelligent wine” and how it can shape an afternoon, an evening, a friendship, a sense of place.
Since that afternoon lecture I have become more involved in the community, from poetry readings to wine bottling. While working at a local wine bar, I worked on wine list selections and tasting notes, and I came to enjoy helping others find the right wine for their tastes. Wine is about community.
I write to share my love for this valley, for the rich culture of this small town, for literature, art, and wine. I work, as Neruda demands, to “propagate the canticle of the fruit.”
