grapes

I didn't dare write on January 1 because that would indicate resolve! I know far better than to assume that I will write faithfully every day of 2016 so I had to skip the first day for sure! Almost every day I think -" I should write about that" - and just as quickly that thought is replaced with another and - poof! gone!

Well, I can't change the sure-fire arc of aging, but I will try to be a bit more faithful. Its not that I think someone out there is holding their breath for my next dazzling insight, but I do feel that I owe it to myself to prime the literary pump.

And speaking of pumps, remember using old-time outdoor pumps? I especially remember the one at my Grandma Weaver's house that stood next to the grape arbor. Often the first time you pulled down on the handle -(and mind you, I was so small the upward motion lifted me off my feet!) - nothing would come out of the spout, at best a wheeze and gurgle. But when you persisted with a few additional pumps the water would burst out, with a gasp of air mixed in, and then finally that sweet, pure water would flow smoothly. What an amazing concept - to have to exert a bit of effort for the simple act of flowing water!

And while that water usually just slaked our childhood gaming thirst... or washed off the stickiness of the Concord grapes - "suck grapes" as we called them - that we had pillaged from the laden vines nearby, for my grandmother and mother it represented quite a different story. That water had to be pumped for everything, - washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning, ironing, scrubbing floors and on and on. My back aches just thinking about it. Just the simple act of living took so much effort such a short time ago in our country and still does in many areas of our planet. Hard to think about.

So instead I will think about Grandma's grapes with their sweet nectar and the tart squishy green centers that lay on your tongue as you sucked out every bit of goodness and then tossed the useless shell. May 2016 be filled with such small delicious pleasures!