All Bets Are Off

Surprisingly sunny-- no rain, no clouds all day. We narrowly dodged another week full of rain, but the damage is done. The temperature clung around 75F in the sun.

All bets are off, who knows what will happen next.
The last two weeks of rain seriously compromised our fall harvest. Good weather will keep us hobbling a little longer, but more bad weather will end it. I was down in the city visiting Darlin this past weekend (hence no posting) and a lot happened in my absence.

First of all-- Bah has been let go for the season. I couldn't believe when I heard it, I really have a soft spot for the man-- he works harder, smarter and longer hours than anyone I've ever met. It's a shame for him to move along without so much as a handshake. Old Rudolpho and his nephew are still around, but his daughters and friends are gone. But even Old Rudolpho is getting ready to go home for winter-- 1-2 weeks before he boards the plane. Bad news, but worse still-- the boss's daughter told me and Gizzie: Viking rolled her gambit and crashed-- the Boss couldn't afford to give her a raise, so she gave her 2 weeks notice on Sunday. She can't be replaced. Things are gonna get real quiet around the farm-- I hope the boss knows how much we need Viking around. It'll just be me, Gizzie, Newport, the foreman and the boss. It's a sad state of affairs.



But the sun was here. Maybe too little too late, it's here all the same and we made the most of it. I joined up with the boys and we all headed up the hilltop to the fall tomato fields. The weather held this weekend, so there was quite a load ready for picking-- we pulled more than the boss expected (38 full buckets, instead of the 24 buckets last week). The foreman was in a sour mood and stalked behind Gizzie, yelling out furious for every tomato he missed (only 2). Still, Gizzie and I managed to pick along pleasantly-- it was nice catching up after my little weekend trip. We finished the field just in time for lunch.


After lunch it was time for more tomatoes. Gizzie was spared, he was dragged into the kitchen for jam/sauce duty. The rest of us joined Old Rudolpho and his nephew in the big field (what's left of it). The 28 big tomato rows are hanging on by a thread-- the nephew says there is no way they can last more than another week. We marched through the entirety of the field -- filling another 50 buckets (another big surprise)-- before turning onto the trellised tomatoes (18 buckets). Gotta love these solid harvest days, they shake the cobwebs out.

The day had grown late by the time we finished the cherry tomatoes-- one more job left. We hiked up to the forest field and set down in the string beans to get whatever we could manage before closing. The foreman mellowed out a bit and was chumming around with Newport-- I kept up alongside Old Rudolpho, picking fast and hard. We packed 7 full bean buckets into van at closing time and rolled back to the store/home.


Whatever happens the show goes on. This Wednesday the congressman is coming-- so it's time to patch up the pants and wash the work shirts. My trench foot has mostly cleared and I spent all of last night fixing up my boots. They needed serious help. At Darlin's suggestion I mixed up a rubbing alcohol/water solution and covered the interiors of the boots-- killing off the mold starting to settle inside there. Pulled out the laces and scrubbed off a month's worth of mud, then I poured a tablespoon of baking soda into each boot. Let 'em air dry by the fan all night and today (wore my old boots with the busted toes to work). They're looking/smelling a lot better tonight-- so I've reapplied a few rounds of sealant/waterproofing material. Maybe they'll be ready for tomorrow.

Take it easy.