Whenever wine is flowing, small accidents are bound to happen. If you then pack everyone into a cattle tank to stomp grapes, the likelihood of injury increases by about 37%, roughly.
Not only did I witness this phenomenon, I myself became an example of that made-up statistic during the grape stomp at Kimmel Orchard on August 6th.
The grape stomp was scheduled to begin at five, and anticipation built as everyone began to crowd around the cattle tank, which was wrapped in vertical wooden planks to make it look like a barrel. In the initial excitement and rush to get into the grape tank, everyone crammed in, due to an apparent irrational fear that the grapes would suddenly disappear. Children were supposed to get into the tank first, but the adults were more excited and clamored over them.
Katherine and I were finally able to squeeze our way into the tank, but could hardly move enough to actually stomp any grapes. We snapped a couple of pictures, then decided to get out and return after the initial wave of stompers retired. As I was getting out, someone jostled me in an attempt to regain her balance.
I, in turn, lost mine.
As I toppled forward out of the tank, I cracked the top of my foot on one of the wooden panels. When I rinsed the grape skins off my feet, I realized that I had a large gash from my stumble. I limped around for the rest of the night, wining and whining about my foot - but it didn't stop me from getting back in the tank later.
Things could have been worse. I hadn't put a lot of thought into my outfit selection that day, and had settled on a tank top and a white skirt. Thankfully, I didn't get any grape juice on my skirt when I fell, but another lady and her white capris didn't come out as lucky. She ended up falling inside the tank, and everything from her lower back to her ankles was stained with grape juice. A few of her friends helped her get out and rinse off, while her other friends took several pictures.
A bit of water and wine cured us both, and managed to heal our battered and bruised foot, bottom, and egos.
Wining and Whining. Brilliant! Sorry to hear about the gash. I hope they didn't have to call the health department:)
ReplyDeleteSo they let you back into the tank with an open wound on your foot? Not sanitary! But at least you were drinking so it's cool!
ReplyDelete