The place is a Saturday market; the town, Bergerac of Cyrano fame, in the Dordogne region of southwestern France; the time, July 1989; the occasion, a working vacation at an old farmhouse that needed restoring. Prominently displayed on this vintner's stall is a jeroboam of wine, probably a rich robust cabernet from just up the road in the vineyards of Sainte-Foy, in the Bordeaux region. Soon after this photo was taken, I purchased the bottle to share with my landlord and his friends. As a direct consequence, I thought I saw my first UFO that night, a huge red spacecraft hovering overhead. I became quite agitated until they told me to calm down and explained that it was only the moon, which was very big and bright and ruddy at that time of year. "A revolutionary moon," they said. Of course: It was the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. No wonder the moon was red.

Where are the jeroboams of yesteryear? All empty now.