Although late July is still a hundred-plus days away, the only thing on my mind, as far as anything with a resemblence to a career move is concerned, is this year's harvest. This will be the first time that I'm truly elligible--i.e. not encumbered by a salaried and fully-comitted career, and possessive of the power of mobility. I certainly don't want to leave the Midwest forever--especially now--when life is particularly nice... but the largest impediment to my start in the wine world is location. Location, location, location. It all boils down to that!
If my application history with the wineries last year was any evidence--with the generally pleasant replies, always footnoted with an undertone of "we'd love to have you, but you live in... Wisconsin...?"--they provided a light but expected letdown, equally peppered with an encouraging and telling quality. If I actually get myself out West, my chances should increase pretty dramatically.
So anyway, Greg and I are working on previously-hatched plans to secure me a spot at his winery. With any hope, THIS is how things will play out. As this whole crazy idea is ours, why not work together at the outset, and progress at the same time and place? If this does fall through, however, I'm back to square one... or maybe square two. I'll be making the effort to relocate, which will hopefully tip the odds in my favor, but will still face the major challenges of finding housing and having enough cash on hand. I guess no one ever made it without taking some big risks, though... which I'm particularly good at.
In any case, our France excursion comes first. The planning process itself has presented a strangely high number of potential opportunities to be uncovered, so who knows what'll truly happen next! I just have to keep my head held high, stay positive, as Greg has reminded me, and not be afraid to see where this path takes me.
