The fall season lends itself to introspection and emotion, and many formative and tragic events have marked these months for me with a layered memory of strong feelings. The Trade Center attacks, the Ghost Ship fire, and the last presidential election, to name just a few. And now, with ‘fire season’ upon us again, it is important that we pull together and be kind to each other.
Seven years ago, in the wee hours of October 29th, a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane- force winds landed in New York and New Jersey. This storm, named Sandy, had already destroyed much of Cuba and Jamaica, and it arrived in New York along with a full moon high tide. This was way too much water for the edges of the city, and our friends in Red Hook and those by the Gowanus Canal were submerged.
The water was full of sewage and fuel oil and downed electric lines, and in the darkness of the power outage, parked cars, their headlights lit by shorted circuitry, floated through the flooded streets, luminous and unmanned. Our friends Barry and Jens went to check on Barry’s watering hole, the Bait and Tackle, and found themselves waist-deep, inside the bar.
The morning of the 30th was a cold, wet, complicated mess, and it was hard to know where to start the cleanup. My wife, Julia, helped lead the relief and rebuild efforts in Red Hook, first by gathering generators and volunteers, later with community organizing and grant applications. We worked alongside our old friends, and made new friends, emptying their basements of all things soggy and toxic, helping them to see beyond what still seemed insurmountable - and these memories, stinking of whiskey and petrol and laughing through the tears, are some of the best that I have.
TONIGHT: Thursday Night FIRE AID Flights! CALIFORNIA REDS and WHITES featuring wines from Arroyo Seco, Santa Barbara, Clarksburg, Lake County, and Mendocino. Flights $15 from 5-9 and wines by the glass until 9pm. All proceeds from tastings tonight will go to the Latino Community Foundation’s Norcal Wildfire Relief Fund. Help us put a dent in the troubles of our dear neighbors.
SATURDAY 11/2: CATALAN Tasting Flights: Exciting new wines from northeastern Spain. from Celler del Cesc, Mas Candi, and Ramon Jané. Flights $15 from 2-5pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.
SUNDAY 11/3: MORE SPANISH tasting flights and WINE CLUB PICK UP PARTY: New wines from Ribeiro, Rioja and Bierzo. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 8pm.
Cheers,
Max