grapes of goodness

{no wrathful grapes here!}

Nearly two years ago, the Chupp family began the task of pruning, weeding and reshaping the grape vines in the backyard. We had always had muscadines and scuppernongs here and there between the gnarling strands of this plant, but the entire structure had become muddled and messy.

Last year, although the vines were finally beautiful in appearance (ready for Kyle and Vanessa's wedding), we only received a handful of the sweet Concord grapes. We relished what grapes we were given and thoroughly thrived in the abundant muscadine and scuppernong production (and discovered an amazing new cake recipe). 

Continuing to prune and prod in the right direction for growth brings us to this year--this week, to be exact. Sunday afternoon my mom and I went down to collect some garden goods when we saw beautiful color popping out from beneath the leaves of the vines. To our wonderful delight and surprise, we had grapes galore (especially considering where we had come from)! 

I don't know if these deep purple fruits are so sweet because they are like nothing you've ever tasted in a grape or if it's because we prepared for them for so long, but they are amazing.

While soaking up the afternoon sun, popping plump grape after grape into my mouth, I recalled part of a story Steve shared at church Sunday morning in which a tightrope walker explains, "The path is just as important as the result."