“I’m telling you, it was just spectacular!!” Bruce could not stop raving about Gouveia Vineyards in Wallingford, the setting for Episode 49. On and on, he gushed like a school girl about the “beeyoutiful property”, “incredible” panoramic hilltopviews encompassing acres of vineyards, the elegant stone and timber-frame winery building, pleasurable wines and oversized hospitality of the Gouveia staff. “What sensational scenery!!”….”Such a fabulous place to spend an afternoon!”….”You just have to get over there!!” Having missed this particular recording to attend an out of town family celebration, I realized that Bruce’s urgent directive and effusive praise reached way beyond his typical “Bruceified” accolades. Could his emotive “Ode to Gouveia” pass muster in a poetry anthology? Who would read this Elegy Written in a Country Winery? How many words rhyme with “guide”?
For starters, we could ask one of our Gouveia guests, the award-winning poet and senior lecturer at the University of Bridgeport, Amy Nawrocki. The poems in her latest collection,Lune de Miel, were inspired by her 2008 Parisian honeymoon with husband Eric Lehman, whose presence (and perceptive observations), unquestionably enhanced the Gouveia repartee. Furthermore, Lehman & Nawrocki’s comprehensive tome about local wineries – A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard – features a spectacular photo of Gouveia Vineyards on its cover. Doesn’t the iambic synchronicity of it all make you want to pack a picnic, take a scenic drive up to Wallingford and spend a sun-kissed afternoon drinking wine and reading poetry under a tree? I don’t know about you, but this activity rates pretty high on my summer 2012 MUST DO list.
Joining Nawwrocki and Lehman on the Gouveia show was Liz Petry, another accomplished author and blogger. A devotee of our radio show, Liz reached out to us through our website. In her email, she politely suggested we should endeavor to invite a more diversified pool of guest editors, or, as she gently put it, add, “a little bit of soul” into the RLSG mix. Liz’s spot-on observation gave us impetus to stand back, reassess and recalibrate. If we have learned anything from our show thus far, it is that real life = change. Changeability helps us learn and quite thankfully, forces us to adapt.
Heretofore, we promise to add dashes of soul, salsa, soy, dashi, curry, za’atar, piri-piri, rainbow sprinkles and whatever else it takes to concoct a more flavorful RLSG stew. Responding to listeners is tantamount to our mission. So, please don’t be shy. Just click HERE to submit your comments, suggestions. We really want to hear from you!!
A votre santé!
-CPG
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