Svaneti is by now experiencing below freezing temperatures nightly. While Etseri’s early dump of snow, as we were leaving on October 20, has now melted, Ushguli’s whiteness more or less remains. Descending, however, means going backward a season, as you re-enter warmer lowlands. Such has been our experience returning to Tbilisi, and now, visiting my mother in law, to Kakheti, in eastern Georgia.
Here, we find that Leliani village’s street, formerly named Rusis Tsili, is now officially called Galaktion Tabidze Street. Signs, every house numbered and everything. Lali’s mother is waiting for us as we roll in at about midday, lunch ready.
I voiced my strong displeasure on the way in, discovering that the reasonably young, still good asphalt between Gurjaani (famous for its brand of creamy ice cream) and Leliani is being torn up and re-done, likely to be no better than before, and I would say entirely unnecessarily. Elections are over! Give it up! Meanwhile, the short stretch between our street and Apeni village has never been paved and is just as disastrously potholed as ever. Grinding of teeth!
Lali had arranged for a truckload of firewood to be delivered and dumped in the yard and now, split, it needs stacking to feed the house’s small wood stove through the winter. Ordering it under roofs or other shelter will both protect it from rain or snow and let it dry out, as it’s fairly freshly cut. There is still some from previous winters to use in the meantime, hopefully allowing some of this new stuff to cure sufficiently to be useful in a couple of months or so.
I begin, reminding myself of the joke about how one eats an elephant (or, say, a 1-ton pumpkin): a bite at a time. First, stacking the wood right close to where the pile is, against the neighbor’s fence, where two runners of wood are ready for it to sit on and get it off the ground, Here I go with armfuls, as I only have a couple of steps to this stack.
Then, the rest under the house’s roof, in a couple more long stacks. These being a few more meters away, I use the family’s wheelbarrow, so I’m able to move more wood at a time. I work until encroaching darkness prevents me, then retire for the night, the cool air giving us both a great, deep sleep.
Next day, aside from some local visits to Lali’s relatives and neighbors, I’m back at the stacking. It needs a bit of care so as to minimize the risk of the stack falling in any direction: to keep it stable, in other words, even as it’s being depleted. By evening’s end, with a last push of help by Lali and her sister, who also lives here, we finish. I’m a bit surprised at not being more tired or work-sore, but the rhythmic pace over two days and the non-huge loads have allowed us to do the job and not collapse at the end of it. We put aside all the little scraps in one place, as these will dry out much faster and are useful for starting the fire each day.
I also go back into the family’s vineyard, as I do on every visit, to re-acquaint myself with its grapevines, camera in hand. Mostly black and white close-up work: the grapes have been harvested, the vines are looking a bit sad, but strong graphic forms present themselves to my eye. Same when I see a stick of newly made churchkhela, the Georgian national sweet. The walnut or hazelnut strings are dipped in flour-thickened boiled grape juice and hung in pairs to dry. These are still nice and fresh, not chewy at all, and are also another beautiful macro subject. I only resort to color for them, and backlit barberries and few remaining autumn grape-leaves.
We say our goodbyes and drive back to Tbilisi, hoping our next visit will be longer and less rushed. With the new Kakheti highway extending farther east every week, it’s already only a two-hour trip from Tbilisi. See you again soon!
Blog by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
