Summer's Straw Wine

The straw wine was ripening beneath the cellars, waiting to be drunk at the midsummer's celebration. It had come a long way from strawberries picked at the beginning of summer, dried across summer's hottest days, and fermented through the long winter. It was a celebration of the warm days, the days when food was easy to hand, warmth was free, and a man or woman could walk for weeks to see their kin or to go on adventure, all without fear of a sudden storm that could kill them sweeping up. Money and power lost their sway in the summertime, and the best of the nobles knew and accepted that. The worst lot regarded it with thin-lipped sneers and sought ways to make summer's freedom limited and restricted and more like their favorite winter--

Inspiration: "Straw wine"
Story Potential: Low.
Notes: Mmm...nice celebration of the passing of winter. Interesting idea for how a society works--there's always been a certain licentiousness to summer celebrations, but I like the idea of a double society: one for winter, one for summer.