Geek Enough For a Drink?

 I have a

sleek little ultrabook laptop

and a smartphone

and an ipad,

which gets whipped out

and flashed around

(not so much!)

at staff meetings. 

 I help teachers out

with computer stuff…

I think this makes me

very right to celebrate

“Geek Pride Day”. 

But then,

before I get too excited,

I notice it is also… 

Wine Day

 Hold the phone! 

 Wine Day!

Forget Geek Whatever day

 I’m all in for Wine Day! 

Woohoo!  

Better get some cool facts

or something before I get

 into the sipping…

Ok, It’s an American Day

– but I’ve been to America,

 so I can celebrate, too! 

 I am extremely pleased

that I was not born

as an Early Roman Woman…

they were forbidden

from drinking wine. 

If their husband

found them drinking wine,

they were at liberty

to kill her! 

 The last recorded divorce,

on the grounds of a

wife drinking wine,

occurred in Rome in 194BC.

  (Bit rough!)

Again, luckily I escaped

life as an Ancient Roman…

in an attempt to preserve wine,

they added lead –

which also gave the

wine a sweet taste. 

Not surprisingly,

lead poisoning

killed the drinkers…

apparently, this is one

of the causes

of the decline of Rome!

Even knowing that women

 now drink wine

without running the risk

of divorce or death,

it is surprising to learn that

 wine grapes are the most common

 fruit crop grown in the world.

 Before you take your first sip

 of wine…

think about this:

 Wine was often transported

 in “wineskins”. 

So? 

Well, Pigs would be skinned…

the skin would be cleaned,

tanned and turned inside out

 and the wine

would be poured in!

  (The wine was in contact

 with the hairy side

 of the skin.) 

Even worse –

and it’s the Ancient Romans again!

  They decided to season

their wine with fish sauce,

 garlic and onion root!

(and don’t forget the lead!) 

Finally, I am very glad

that I do not suffer

from oenophobia

(an intense fear

or hatred of wine)!

It's Wine Day...

Cheers!

(For more reasons

to drink, check out

 an earlier post I wrote.)

Find out more on this page.

Photos from a local winery.