Hang out and wait

This morning there were two images that leaped to the forefront as I sifted through my files.  Both were taken at Verrazanno Castle in Italy, and both have to do with guarding, protecting and ripening.

This boar's head hangs (if I remember rightly) in the room where they hang all the ripening grapes that have been gathered in the harvest; I believe that's a mirror on the wall, reflecting the long strands of grapes.

It's possible, of course, that the boar's head is just there for decoration, or atmosphere, but it feels to me like a warning to leave the grapes alone until the ripening process is complete.  "To everything," it says in Ecclesiastes, "there is a season."

It is a gentle reminder, I think, not to rush or hurry that which is ripening within us; a reminder that someone else is in charge here; someone who knows what the timing is for the end product to be the best wine it can possibly be.  We are only the grapes, and sometimes all we can do is hang out and wait.  You cannot rush perfection.