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Another Divinum is in the books. 5 days of 15K steps. Hundreds of crates of glasses schlepped. I still love it. It’s my 8th (?) year volunteering, and by this point, I know most of the regular winemakers by face, and a few by name. They seem to remember me as well, as the thumbs-up gesture remains a constant to say “we’re all good for glasses”.

I would like to think I do a good job. I’ve seen people just take off their volunteer t-shirts, park their carts somewhere, and spend most of their time drinking at stands. I’ve heard stand owners complain about the lack of glasses, but they never seem to do that while I’m around – mostly because I make it a point to individually ask them if they’re ok, and not just walk around pushing a cart and hoping to be called when needed. I’ve been told by other volunteers “oh, I’ve been down that aisle, nobody wanted glasses” and yet still managed to swap a full cart of clean glasses for dirty ones before reaching halfway down a “done” aisle.

On Monday night, during the manic glass collection rush, I was maneuvering two carts – 12 crates – while the only other person helping me was managing 4 crates in one go (and to be clear, I once managed 9 crates on one cart). It may seem like I’m bragging, and maybe I am a bit, but I’m also very efficient and diligent about doing a good job – and I think the winemakers appreciate and recognize that. Case and point – this year, the usual big personality guy who would nab bottles for the dishwashing crew wasn’t there and no one else was stepping up. So I did -and I managed to score half a dozen bottles, if not more. You’re welcome for your Rose, you lovely mad Ukranian lady :)

We always make a point, Katy and I, to visit and support our favourites – most of whom are always telling me to stop and have a glass of something while I’m walking with a stack of glasses. There were a few new and interesting things this year, and I can’t wait until next year now.