Sterling Elysian unleashes MADEIRA

Little island or big prison...the sights and smell of the ocean...are all around when you are island bound...MADEIRA, home of sweet wines...prison of independant spirits...sweet captivity it must be, surrounded by the sea...Fishing villages squeezed on sundrenched steep slopes...candy to an artists' eyes...Thick fog seems to swallow all light, leaving an occasional flash of color amid the greys...Then, as if by magic, a stiff wind sweeps the gray veil away, revealing flawless white sand beaches bordering turquoise waters stretching miles to the east then kissing Morocco...Those same gentle winds caressing the noble grapes that will become Verdelho, Malmsey, Bual and Sercial...Resting in musty, dimly lit caverns, waiting to delight those who come to serve their moment of solitude... Heavy and sweet, wines that brought fame to Madeira and pleasure to the souls in captivity, who may head south to visit the Canaries...Then, perhaps, craving adventure and more...Venture Northwest to the Azores.....

Sterling Elysian presents WHITE PINE

Years of growth in the Summer sun...Long winters in Frosty Slumber...Now, fragrant little chips of History spew from the saw cut...I sense that the forming pile of sawdust is something more than wood... That my saw is biting stroke by stroke, decade by decade into the chronology of a lifetime written into the concentric rings of this Stately White Pine...From the time I first laid eyes on it in the late 1970's when it stood five feet tall...Thru the birth of Colleen, Jennifer and Phillip....Through the 1980's as it was withness to countless birthday parties...Shading a slip and slide....Sometimes guarding a tent...Through the 1990's when it had to endure the insessant sound of hockey pucks hitting a nearby target of lowly plywood...To the present day...a new millenium where it now stands almost thirty feet tall...a constant threat to the power lines running overhead... In this decade it has seen Susan and Eileen and even myself snowshoe on bye under a perfect sky of blue...Through all of these decades it has stood and stared at our little humble home...All of this while providing shelter for the Whitetail deer who come around for a quick meal and a lick of salt....And now, it has given itself up to be transformed into light and heat as we all gather together enjoying a quiet nite on the patio...Thank you White Pine......