Hi fellow Hiveians,

Today I wanted to share a few photos, and some thoughts, from the recent grape picking expedition that I went on with the little man!

Grape Harvesting Season

As I mentioned in a post the other day, grape picking season is upon us!

Grapes are definitely one of the oldest things I remember doing as a kid in terms of picking. I had a great aunt, who is still alive today, that had a house where she had a trellis over her back patio and on it were quite a few grape plants. That meant that we got exposed to quite a few grapes as time went on, my siblings and I! This didn't really go anywhere for many years though, until my wife and I stopped at a vineyard a few years ago and happened to make pretty good friends with them and the owner. The rest is history!

There is nothing wrong with a hard days work, that's for sure! This is something that we are trying to instill in the little man as much as possible, because it's such a lacking factor in the world we live in today. There are people who are simply refusing to work because they are lazy, entitled and petulant children. I am stating what I observe here!

There are definitely a lot of people who DO want to work, and will put in a hard days work, but that is sadly not as common as I would like it to be, and it's clear as day. When we are picking grapes at the vineyard, the little man is right there with us in the mix of it all, picking and having a good time but most importantly putting in a hard days work and sweat! This is a really important thing for him, and a building block for future development we hope.

I am not trying to decry everyone that has issues being a good worker. There are a lot of factors involved with that type of stuff, unfortunately. A lot of it being that they were raised in a home where hard work may not be as appreciated as it could be for various reasons. Some of it is entitlement, others is a whole list of other factors it's really hard to say.

What I do try to make sure that I do though, is show my son that putting in a hard days work is important. I don't tell him to go do a bunch of work while I sit there like a king on a throne while he toils away. I am picking grapes, hauling buckets, helping people, being organized and all that. I am trying to model the behavior that I want him to see and it's really important, and I think he definitely gets it.

Whenever we go to the vineyard to pick grapes he is the star of the show that's for sure. All of the people that are there are volunteers, save for the owner who is in the fields picking with us. This is important because it saves the owner a lot of costs but it also produces a really great atmosphere of people who want to be there. The folks who have been doing it year after year are the ones who care for the owner and want to see his continued success, but one thing is for sure, we are all working hard! It's a good 4 or 5 hours depending on the day and the weather, and it ends up being some really grueling work which is perfectly fine with me.

We get to spend a few hours doing some really good work, spending time with people that we really enjoy and it helps out on multiple different levels. I think this is why we go back week after week and year after year to do it. It's not someone who is sitting in a chair on the truck directing people to do this and do that, correct this mistake and fix that. The owner is in the leaves with us, picking grapes, helping people out and participating. This is why people are doing it with him, because it's a worthy cause and we get to share some bonding time together.

The little man needs to see these types of things as much as possible, because the world is a pretty ugly place. There are going to be much worse times but the important thing that we try to show him the value and importance of community and collaboration. I think this is what so many people are missing, and it's so evident in the world we live in. We are so fractioned, disjointed and disorganized that it's a wonder anything happens in the first place.

By making small, repeated events like this a reality, we are trying to make sure that we show the little man as much positive reinforcement as we can outside of our normal life in the house. When we can take him to something like this where there are loving friends, good times and working together, it really makes a difference in his mental state and seeing how people are supposed to do things. I think this, among being with friends, is why we enjoy this activity so much every year!

^-CmplXty. _{Real human written content, never AI. All pictures are mine unless otherwise stated}

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