LE WEEKEND

I woke up at eleven, mostly because they were knocking on my door. The father wanted me to know they were serving lunch down in the restaurant. I looked back at my little stove and inaudibly replied “J’ai mangé.” I told him I had already eaten which was totally untrue but I just wasn’t ready for the day. It was the first night that I had slept through without getting up in some rushed manner to do things that you rush from bed to do. He took my answer in stride and walked off. I sat down, had some cereal, then went back to bed until two where I watched television until four, fell asleep again until the father knocked on my door. It was now dark as I opened the door. We basically repeated the lunchtime scenario with dinner and the result was the same. I sat down, ate some cereal, realized I was still wearing sleeping attire and went back to bed as French game shows played on television.

            You think that sounds bad, Sunday was exactly the same except on Sunday I actually stepped outside to see if it was cold or not. It was so I went back in and turned the radiant heat up just a notch. That night as I thought about my first day at work tomorrow I was stricken with the notion that although I am now feeling very good, my second impression was actually worse than my first. I arrive in France only to literally sleep for two days and watch game shows. “I have to train my ear,” I told myself and the television is a great way to do that. That is true but getting out and being social with folks who actually speak the language and by enjoying the hospitality of my host would have been a much better way to do it but I had to convince myself I did the right thing since for the first time in nearly five days I felt up to snuff. Luckily I was, as I would find out the next few days just how hard of work it is out here on the vineyard. You think the vineyard life is glamorous? Maybe if you got the bucks to hire a field of hands but if you have to do it yourself with a small team then you are in for a very tough and long day.