Wednesday, June 7, 2017

while driving in south GA...

... early on Monday morning, I passed through miles of rural farm land. Saw acress and acres of beautiful corn growing in the fields: dark green stalks and leaves, and ears that has tassled out, almost ready to be harvested. It was a pretty sight, especially after seeing so much in recent years that died in the fields without ever maturing, due to lack of water. We have had more rains this spring than in recent years, plus I see more and  more irrigation, as farmers realize they have to take the matter into their own hands.

On farther to the east, near the interstate, as it was getting lighter, I passed though an area where there are usually truck crops planted. Farmers producing vegetables to harvest and sell to brokers who will ship the product to markets. I often seen cabbage growing, and fields with rows of black plastic all the way to the distant horizon line, with tomato plants staked for picking. When I was cruising along in the early morning, I noticed a field with a couple dozen of workers, bent over picking some item to put in big five gallon buckets. It was not actually light enough to see what was growing there. But knowing they would go from field to field, and crop to crop day after day. Making me very thankful that is not my work and life.

I have days when I get off work all I want to do is sit down. Like today, when I went in at 6 a.m., and left at 4 p.m. Even with a break - that makes for a long tiring day. All day long, I thought about those workers, likely poorly educated, and making very poor pay - thankful for this employment I occasionally gripe about. Not working in all sorts of weather, not out in the south GA gnats and mosquitos, not stomping through a muddy field. Not getting up before daylight to do that same demanding physical labor over and over and over.

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