Vineyard Sunset

Hello, and thank you for joining us this evening at the vineyard. We're happy you could be here. From your seat on the outdoor patio you watch as the final rays of sunlight make their way across the horizon. At this time of day, the warmth of the waning daylight blends harmoniously with the stillness of the approaching night. On the surrounding hills, vast fields of grapevines are arranged in long, narrow rows that bound along the natural contours of the landscape. They bend and curve like the grooves of a fingerprint, moving in perfect parallel. At the foot of the patio sits a large stack of aged wooden barrels. While seemingly lifeless on the outside, the inside of each barrel brims with activity. In the stillness of the approaching night, you can almost hear the gentle bubbling of last season's harvest, as the sugars ferment and dissolve before taking on their new form. Now, as you settle in for the evening, let us deepen your state of relaxation with a short wind down exercise. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. So first get yourself comfortable. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, just noticing where you feel it in the nose, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm. You're nice and relaxed. We're going to be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four and then breathing out for six. So are you ready? Let's begin. In for four, two, three, four. Hold it for four, two, three, four. Now breathing out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. Great. Now returning the breath to normal. Arching over the patio is a large trellis draped with lush fines. Here, the grapes are encouraged to grow upwards unburdened by the shorter posts in the fields below. The leaves curl down, swaying gently as bunches of grapes are just beginning to fruit and tiny delicate curls ORM from the younger branches. They peak out amongst the leaves like perfect spirals. It feels wild, but perfectly contained, everything growing at its own pace. The vines are twisted with gentle strings of lights that are just beginning to glow in the evening dusk. You notice that someone has constructed a kind of living sculpture. A large wagon wheel fastened to a tall post stands guard in the center of the trellis and the grapevines have begun exploring its spokes. It cuts quite a picture. The sturdy post rising above the patio and the vineyards below. The grapes fearlessly crawling up and around it, inching ever closer toward the setting sun. A stream...