Start Where You Are

Start where you are…admonishes the Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron.

My pen moves across a yellow writing pad for the first time since my husband’s sudden, near-death experience.  Nothing can prepare a person for standing inside a real life Grey’s Anatomy scene of life support machines; beeping, wheezing, and blinking.  How fitting that on my husband’s birthday the urge to write finally returns after months of not being able to or wanting to do anything but read.  (By the way, I highly recommend the book, Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; one of the best books I’ve read in ages.) As I see my husband’s huge zest for embracing life return–laughter, teasing, strategic planning and dreaming–my own interests resurface.

I want to thank the community of wine bloggers, loosely brought together by The Drunkin Cyclist’s monthly wine writing challenge, whose posts have been a huge comfort to read over the last few months.  My good intentions at the beginning of 2016 to log the monthly activities of a non commercial wine maker and grape grower came to a halt early in the year.  (Oh well.)  As my wine mentor, Ted, says, “Life happens.”

Consequently, the aging wine in the barn has languished along with my pen.  I hope I can salvage any ill effects of my neglect, as my husband and I dedicate August weekends to wine recovery efforts.  (Fingers crossed.)  Hopefully, as we plow through the work, I will have enough energy left to chronicle our progress in blog posts.

Bare bones things done to keep the vineyard and winery afloat:

1. Regular topping of the wine in the barrels.
2.  6-8 week SO2 checks and corrections.
3. Hire a trusted crew to thin the overgrowth of canes, etc. in the vineyard as needed.
4. Hire the mold/mildew prevention spraying.
5. Plow between the rows to keep unwanted weeds controlled.

That’s it.  Hope it was enough to keep us from having to scrap a whole year’s harvest.  I’ll keep you posted, hopefully.

How happy (ecstatic, really) I am to be celebrating my husband’s birthday today, a symbol of recovery, of hope, of a wonderful future together!