Saturday morning Suzy was cutting out the daily crossword puzzle from the paper, which we dutifully send to Frog Mom every couple weeks. She came across a week-old ad for a "3rd Annual Harvest Celebration" at the Moonrise Bay Winery, to be held that afternoon. Lacking other pressing obligations, and ignoring the growing pile of laundry and dirty floors, we set out for Knott's Island, NC to check out the festivities.

After more than an hour of driving, through southern Virginia Beach and a national wildlife refuge, we arrived at a beautiful little winery on the shores of Currituck Sound. There were about 150 people in attendence, a curious mix of yuppie types in BMWs, country types in old pickups, and biker types on Harleys. For $15, everyone was entitled to all the wine one could drink, all the pig one could pick, and all the bluegrass one could hope for. Unfortunately, "all the wine one could drink" was severely limited by the narrow, winding, water-logged drive to be negotiated subsequently.

A Golden Lab, eager to retrieve, passed the afternoon carrying a wooden stake to anyone that looked her way, begging for a good long throw. People were happy to oblige, and the Lab dutifully chased that stick across ditches, into hedgerows, into lakes, and across fields.

The wine was very good, the people very friendly. We look forward to attending the 4th Annual Harvest Celebration next year.