For some strange reason, when this pond was originally built in 1967, there was no back side. After the water reached a certain level, it just spilled out into the woods, finding its way down the mountain into the lowest elevation. That plan made for nice waterfalls and streams but is an odd concept for a containment pond.
As you can see from the photo above, there is a distinct delineation in the color of the soil on the outer right side bank and the back bank. This is because the entire back bank had to be built from the ground up. This is the area where the water previously just flowed out into the woods. Obviously, this is not complete, but for those of you who have asked for an updated photo, I think you will find this progression impressive, considering we are only seven days forward from the picture taken in the earlier post at the beginning of the project.
Now...........news on the vineyard.
For those who have followed this project, you know we are five years into this venture that few expected to be successful. The first two years, Dennis spent studying the sun patterns, the water drainage, tested soil samples, read countless books, attended wine schools from the University of Arkansas to Paris, France, talked with growers across the country, and prepared the plot of land. Before he got sick, my dad would come up here and listen to Dennis explain the plan and how he felt it would work. More than once, I could see a look on dad's face that clearly said "This city boy is off his rocker". Fortunately, Dennis never made that translation.
Three years ago, the tiny little Cabernet and Chardonnay sprouts were shipped from California and Audry House called from Altus to say the Cynthiana (Norton) cuttings were ready. And we have waited patiently, through drought, record cold and icy winters and extremely hot summers for the past three years to see what would happen. Dennis has tended these fragile vines in 100+ temps, sometimes hauling water by hand because our wells were so low. He has babied them when they were covered in ice so thick we feared they would break under the weight. But his spirit, nor the tiny little vines never did.
So, to see them doing so well is a delight we can't even describe. And this may just be the year we know what all of that means. If anyone deserves a reward, in this case healthy grapes, it would certainly be my husband who refused to give up or believe this couldn't work.
This rock wall is also a five-year labor of love. It is a long way from being finished, because it is literally being built, ONE ROCK AT A TIME. In the tradition of the centuries old vineyard walls in Italy and France, the rocks are stacked with precision, using no mortar. Each rock as come from the woods of the mountain and the four sides of the wall are very long. So this may be the project that never ends. But each rock has a history and together, they all tell a beautiful story. I sort of like the idea that it is ongoing.....
From day one, this project has been a hopeful one........each phase has given me hope for the next one to come. I have come to realize that these projects are really just metaphors for our lives. I believe we all have a need to leave something behind that is just a little better than the way we found it. Whether it be children, land, the environment, or living conditions for those around us.......we need to justify our time here. Otherwise.........what is the point?
