Half Life – 50 – grapes
October 15th, 2021
Most years the juicy sweet grapes from the two vines stretched along the garden fence get squished, mixed with vodka, and, after filtering out most of the solids, put into bottles. Hooch, as is has become known in the house, matures a bit over time and gives a rich sipping aperitif, wonderful when served chilled. The Wife likes it mixed with Prosecco. It has become a small annual ritual, where we discuss when it’s the right time to pick, choose which bunches need weeding out as not good enough and, with The Boys and some helping hands from friends, turn the kitchen into a Hooch factory for a day. It’s messy, but fun.
With Older Boy out of action and locked in his room containing his Covid, Younger Boy took it upon himself to maintain the tradition. He started enthusiastically, clipping off the better-looking bunches of red grapes and was brutal with his decisions about those who did not meet the grade. Stopping suddenly, he said felt ill and hot. The test, quickly administered, showed the inevitable. He had Covid too. Bundled off to his room, miserable and not a little scared by the idea of the virus, he took some comfort that at least he would be off school and in isolation with his brother in the room next-door to him. After disinfecting any object he might have touched, The Wife started the long process of firing off emails and texts to cancel everything our new virus victim had planned over the coming ten days.
Medically, timing could not have been worse and, for the first time, genuine fear of Covid has crept into my head. In addition to pausing life in the house for at least another ten days, it has hit just as the chemotherapy will start to have an impact on my immune system. Hoping the vaccines do their job, combined with a heightened paranoia on sterilisation and mask wearing, is the best, and only, course available.
Hooch-wise the timing is an equal disaster and the fate of the still hanging grapes is unknown. The Covid wind is probably blowing in favour of the birds and squirrels, who have not yet discovered the vines as a source of food. Why they haven’t raided them over the past years has been a bit of a mystery. Birds love grapes and squirrels will gorge on anything that’s there, although the hazel tree in the garden, heavy with nuts, has been their favourite haunt. Leaving the grapes hanging not only seals their fate this year but also risks all future Hooch creation. Our garden residents are unlikely to forget such abundance; they are quick to adapt.
Adjusting to new situations, making the most of them, and carrying on with the day to day is a reality which has been forced on The Boys over the past years. Once over the initial unpleasantness of feeling unwell for a few days, Older Boy seems to have to started to enjoy being able to stay in his room and communicate with the outside world via phone and laptop. The additional thrill of being brought food, drink, and things to do might tip it over to a teenage paradise. Even Younger Boy, who is more a creature of habit and who likes a know what a day will hold, found that after a few days there were clear positives, especially not being told to stop using his phone all the time. He has declared that he will only wear pyjamas for the duration although, after negotiations, he has agreed they won’t be the same pair.
Least able to deal with the covid-forced changes is JJ the dog. Staring back longingly at The Boys, her best playmates, as she is called away when she tries to visit them causes her tail to droop and her big brown eyes to deliver their most doleful look. Unable to get the attention she wants from The Wife, with disinfecting taking up what was playtime, and the other one, the one on the crutches, simply siting in a chair groaning, she has resorted to her puppy prank of stealing tea towels. Her life might improve when she discovers the squirrels spending more time in the garden nibbing their way through what should have been Hooch. Her dedication to catching a squirrel, undeterred by never succeeding, may be given new opportunities as the prize of grapes distracts her fury-tailed targets.
Cancer gives few benefits, but it prepares you to respond quickly to changes as they hit. What can start as a quiet, unremarkable, day can transform in hours to a flurry of re-arrangements. Plans, from the moment they are made, are fluid, and when there is a change it always comes with collateral damage. Dinner that is half cooked and has to be thrown away, trips wasted, appointments missed, and last-minute cancellations followed by apologies. If the only collateral damage from having Covid in the house are the grapes, then the birds and squirrels are welcome to them. Shame about the Hooch, but there’s always next year.
The timing is awful! Hope everyone is starting to feel better and you have managed to stay covid free. Great depiction of life in your house as ever. Can you train JJ to pick the grapes?
Put me down next year for a tipple of Hooch please.