Harvest 2023: Recap

Harvest 2023.

What a ride.

My harvest season has come to an end. What a ride it was.

Before I did this internship, the closest I had come to harvest was traveling to a winery for a day of cutting grapes, followed by wine and lunch. Those were the days! 🤣

🧹 Harvest is cleaning. A LOT of it. Cleaning things once, twice, three times, then flushing with water - A LOT of water. Lifting heavy things, over and over and over again. Pallet lifters. Moving tanks. Cleaning tanks. Going inside of tanks through tiny doors that seem impossible to fit a human. Climbing up rows of barrels to get a requested sample from a barrel that is (of course) at the very top. Cleaning piles and piles of grape skins off the floor. Sorting. Crushing. Pushing down and pumping over. Very early mornings and late nights. It is sweat, it is exhaustion, and maybe it’s a little bit of tears (shout out to my first time inside a tiny tank 😅).

💪🏽 I’m not the same person I was before I started this job. I am stronger - both physically AND mentally - because of it. Even through the tougher tasks, I would remind myself that I was currently having an experience I would never forget. And it’s true.