Horseradish Wine

I have been coming to the Freeborn County Fair every summer for the last 25 years.  Around here people have been going all their lives.  After working all year, they get together to celebrate their hobbies, interests and pleasures.
At first I didn't get it.  I had never heard of the country band playing on Friday night.  I am not in love with pigs enough to watch them waddle about an echoing shed.  All the fried food is hard to stomach, and the caged area referred to as the "beer garden" is a bit intimidating. I am already planning on avoiding the political booths this year.  My children have no exhibits in the 4H building nor do I have friends to bump into and catch up with.  Every year I go... and feel foreign.
Then this year I was asked to help out with the homemade wine judging. Interested, I showed up early ready to work.

Nothing was happening yet, so I cornered one of the judges about her wine making experience and asked how the judging worked.  She expertly explained the categories, the spitting and the use of electric light bulbs in judging clarity.  She also told me of how the jalapeno wine last year had ruined her taste buds for the rest of the evening.
I then perused the wines; dessert wines like black cherry and chocolate raspberry sounded good.  There were other fruity wines: plum, peach sangria, pear and lots of apple.  I wasn't sure about the tomato, potato and rhubarb.

I found out that my job was to wash the wine glasses between rounds of tasting.  I rolled up my sleeves and listened to the other ladies talk.  They spoke of past fairs and exhibits, their flowers and baked goods, animals, gardens and grand-kids.  I joined in... and we bonded in the time it took to wash and dry over 1000 wine glasses.
The formal judging over, it was our turn to start tasting the wines.  Everyone had an opinion.  The green apple was too sweet, and the French Merlot lacked body.  The horseradish was surprisingly good if you weren't put off by the smell.

I sat down to eat with another glass of chocolate wine, between a lady Lutheran pastor and a special ed teacher.  I found I could follow their conversation, recognizing the names of teachers and the pastor who married me all those years ago.  It could have been the vodka wine (the winner, by the way), but I had no trouble fitting in.
The county fair brings people together who have similar passions and, just like the horseradish wine, it is surprisingly enjoyable after you get past the awkwardness that goes along with being different.