Do You Really Evacuate The Wine?

Wednesday August 26, 2009

DO YOU REALLY EVACUATE THE WINE?

Yes, I really evacuate my best bottle (or perhaps two) of wine along with some emergency chocolate and a good book. You don't have to take my word for it I can supply you with witnesses to vouch for me.


I have been through too many storms and disasters to not know the pattern of activity. First, it is the apprehension of deciding if you will need to evacuate or not. Then you have the frantic activity of packing up and securing your house. Next comes a tense drive through difficult weather conditions to your destination. When you finally arrive at the destination you are stressed out and exhausted. You think, "I just want to go to bed and sleep," but you can't go to sleep. Instead you listen to the TV or radio reporting the same news over and over again until the power fails and the batteries die.


It is only when I am in the silence and darkness of a complete power failure with only the glow of an emergency flashlight or a camping lantern that I finally open the evacuated wine. I take my time and give the wine a chance to breath (usually about 10 pages of my book). I then pour myself a glass of wine, open the chocolate, and proceed to read, drink, and nibble my way through the anxious night. Since I am not going to be able to sleep anyway I believe fine wine and chocolate accompanied by a good book are just the companions needed for dark and stormy nights.


The ritual of the wine and the rhythm of the reading serves to calm me down. I have seen first hand the power and destruction Mother Nature can visit on a place. I would hate to leave a prized bottle of my wine behind and have her destroy it. Although I deeply respect Mother Nature, this doesn't mean I have to share a bottle of wine with her.

There is more evacuation information at www.wineandchocolateplan.com