The Wrath of Grapes

  We've had a self-styled grape arbor here for years. We'd planted a vine or two, and Dorothy contributed a few more from her gardening days. The crop used to be plentiful. For years, I would make grape jelly, or, easier to do, grape juice. The birds were happy to help harvest the crop.
   However, a while ago, maybe a decade or more, the grape crop has failed. No grapes at all. They grow fine until just as they start to ripen they fall victim to what looks like a sort of blight. The fruit shrivels and dies. Last year looked promising. I thought maybe we'll  have grapes this year. But in the final stage, the grapes again shriveled and dropped off the vine.  I was so discouraged that I decided to tear the vine down, the disappointing old thing. I tried cutting it off and pulling it away from the  makeshift swing set that serves as an arbor, but I was only partly, minimally, successful. I had to stop  as I thought the crumbling old structure might fall on me. The vines were what was holding it up.
     Today the grapevines look as healthy as ever. The pruning may have helped them grow. They are covered in little green grapes.  Maybe this year???

(And, one perfect rose)