Excerpt No. 0012

If It's Worth Remembering, It's Worth Writing Down

Not everything belongs in the Almanac.

Some things are just interesting.

Some things are entertaining.

Some things make for a good story around the dinner table.

That's not enough.

Every page in this book has to earn its place.

I ask myself one simple question before I write anything down.

Will this still matter after I'm gone?

If the answer is no...

It probably doesn't belong here.

This isn't a diary.

I'm not keeping track of what happened on a Tuesday afternoon because it happened.

I'm keeping track of what happened because it taught me something.

There's a difference.

One records events.

The other preserves wisdom.

Some lessons come from success.

Most don't.

Some come from a perfect harvest.

Others come from watching an entire year's work disappear in a weekend.

Both deserve a page.

The vineyard doesn't care whether the lesson was expensive.

Only whether you learned it.

There will be entries in this Almanac that answer questions about grapes.

Others will answer questions about people.

Some will explain why a vine behaves the way it does.

Others will explain why a father does.

If the lesson is true...

It belongs.

I've learned that the smallest observations often become the biggest lessons.

A note scribbled in the margin.

A weather pattern.

A sentence my father said without realizing I'd remember it forever.

Those are the things that disappear first if nobody writes them down.

They're also the things that become priceless fifty years later.

If my grandchildren ever read this Almanac, I hope they don't see a man who had all the answers.

I hope they see someone who thought enough of the future to leave behind what he learned.

Maybe they'll agree with me.

Maybe they'll improve on what I've written.

I hope they do.

Because this Almanac was never meant to have the last word.

It was meant to make sure the conversation never ends.

Tomorrow we'll start talking about grapes.

But before we do...

Remember this.

You're not reading these pages because I wanted to write a book.

You're reading them because I didn't want a lifetime of lessons to disappear.

Filed Away

Knowledge becomes wisdom only when someone cares enough to pass it on.

Keith Saarloos
Farmer
Saarloos & Sons