Just two small grapes

My regular walking route takes me on a trail where a grapevine has run wild, entangling itself in a tree. All summer long, I watch and wait for the grapes to ripen and turn purple. One summer, I sampled a couple of grapes, decided they were ripe, plucked a bunch and shoved it in my pocket to eat later. I never got to enjoy them, though, since I ended up having an emergency appendectomy that day. I remember it because nearly every medical person I saw asked the same question:

“Have you had anything to eat today?”

And my answer was always the same:

“Just two small grapes”.

It was, of course, the surgery that led to my appendix cancer diagnosis. Well, the grapes were ripe last summer, as you can see from this picture. It was my third harvest since the cancer diagnosis and I am looking forward to my fourth. I’ve just been to check on them today. I swear those grapes get sweeter every year.

– Karen