Dumbstruck

Sunday I was sure the secondary roads would be icy at 9:15 in the morning. So, fearing black ice, I missed my appointment with my friends at church for our Bible study.

Monday, however, turned into a cold, but sunny day. At around 2:00 I bundled up and headed for the vineyard to prune a few vines in the first row. When I drove my golf cart down the rows, I could not believe my eyes. Every vine had been neatly pruned in both rows and I just sat there. I was remembering the Cobbler in the fairy tale who left his work on the bench to be finished in the morning. The elves came in the night and made the shoes. Like the cobbler, I had no work to do, for someone had done it for me. Of course I knew there were no fairies to prune vines so I began to think my son-in law had instructed his workers to do this on Thursday when he was up here. Common sense told me that could not have happened as they were busy all day where I could see them.

One other possibility came to mind, it must have been Rick. But how could he have done it when we had all of this rainy, cold unpleasant weather. I could think of no other person, that must have been the answer. Not wasting any more time on wondering I began to pick up the vines on the ground where they fell. Such long, fine vines would make excellent wreaths or baskets. My mind kept going back to how anyone could have worked so fast in such cold air.

I will explain Rick and how he may have done this. I met Rick one day last summer when he showed up at my front door. He had two bottles of wine in his hands and wanted to give them to me. He had heard that I grew grapes and he was looking for some to use for wine making. I told him he was welcome to pick the grapes in the fall. I do not like to see them fall to the ground to no purpose.

About two weeks after this meeting I was driving to town past my vineyard. I saw men working in the second row of grapes, putting in posts and shoring up the posts needing better support. I stopped and over came Rick with his friend, T.J. He saw that this work needed to be done and he just came over and did it. He worked six hours in the boiling sun. I was impressed with his initiative. He asked what was growing down below the grapes. I took him to see the kiwi. He had not seen them growing before and was like a little kid learning about them. I said maybe next year when I expected a good crop he might want to try and make wine with them, if it could be done. His response made me laugh. He said "You could make wine with manure, but you might not want to drink it". Amen to that !

Rick did come in the fall and pick grapes, buckets and buckets of them. I lost count of how many gallons of wine he made. He just loves to make wine and give it away. The wine he brought me that day is still in the bottles, never opened. Wine is fine but not for me. I am more inclined to things like grapefruit juice and water, or a cup of hot tea. I like to keep my mind clear and to have my wits about me. Then, when I see something that my eyes can hardly believe, I know it must be so, even when it seems impossible.