A small observation on a cold winter's day:
Although the temperatures on the thermometer may register subzero, it is a great time to witness, first hand, the awesome power of solar heat.
Pictured above are bits of vine prunings, resting on top of our insulating blanket of vineyard snow.
We pruned these vines yesterday morning.
Despite the arctic temperatures, in the course of a January afternoon, each rosy brown twig absorbed enough solar energy to melt a little depression in the snow around it.
(You witness the same thing at the base of the young vine on the right side of the picture.)
Solar energy, absorbed from the sun, stored in the tawny bark of the vine, and radiating back out onto the snow, melting a depression.
The things that cross your mine, trudging through the vineyard on a cold winter's day.
